Oliver Herford

Oliver Herford (1863-1935)

Oliver Herford was very versatile artist and if we described him as an illustrator we would do him injustice. He was also known as a poet, humorist, cartoonist and caricaturist. He worked for magazines like Ladies' Home Journal, Life and The Mentor, but the area, where he probably excelled most, were rewritings of known literary works which he presented in new, original and whimsical light. One of these examples are Fables by Aesop and the illustration below comes from the book, published in 1921 by Gin & Co in Boston.

The Lion and the Mouse

Here are few more interesting facts from Herford's life:

- He was born in Sheffield, England, bu moved to USA at six, when his father, Unitarian minister, was offered a job in Boston. Oliver later returned to Europe, to study art in Great Britain and France, until he finally settled back in USA, where he later married and lived to the rest of his life.

- His humorous quotes got him nickname American Oscar Wilde. Some of Herford's quotes are:

• "The Irish gave Scots bagpipes as a joke, but Scots din't get it yet."
• “A woman's mind is cleaner than a man's. She changes it more often.”
• "A man is known by the silence he keeps."
• "Modesty is a gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it."
• "One man's music is another man's noise."
• etc.

- He became the target of a little prank with an interesting twist. Ethel Watts Mumford (1876–1940) and Addison Cairns Mizner (1872–1933) wrote a book titled The Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1903 as a Christmas present. They added Herford's name as a joke, but printer made additional copies which expand private joke in surprisingly welcoming market. When Oliver Herford found out, he demanded 90 percent of the earning, but authors agreed to deal it in thirds. They even exanded the project in several more Cynic's Calendars in next years!

If you want to see more of his works, you can check next link, where all the illustrations from The Happy Book, another interesting collaboration, this time with John Cecil Clay, another caricaturist and illustrator:

http://slikanice.blogspot.com/2014/08/zdravice.html

Bye for now:)