"To die will be an awfully big adventure?" The original story of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan is not the idyllic world we may imagine. Death is real, and "true love" is misplaced or forgotten.
Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie, illustrated by F. D. Bedford, was published by Hodder & Stoughton (London), and Charles Scribner's Sons (New York), in 1911.
Read the story as illustrated by Francis Donkin Bedford, better known as F. D. Bedford, at the Open Library, and in an attractively readable version at Project Gutenberg, which also includes the images in a smaller version than the cover art, the title page, and the twelve illustrations represented here at Art of Narrative.
Francis Donkin Bedford (1864-1954) was a prolific illustrator. He was born in London, studied architecture at the South Kensington Schools and the Royal Academy, and worked briefly as an architect. He went on in the 1890s to illustrate books, including several of his own. He was a member of the Artworkers' Guild. Additional biographical detail is available by following the link, and from art and illustration reference books.
This entry comes from Book Illustrators of the Twentienth Century by Brigid Peppin (Arco, c1984), and is copied here as a page excerpt under "fair use" for educational purposes:
Francis Donkin Bedford (1864-1954)
Born in London. Studied architecture at South Kensington and the Royal Academy Schools. Articled to the architect Sir Arthur Blomfield for four years before embarking, in the 1890s, on a long and successful career in book illustration. He worked in black and white and full colour, and was one of the first artists to take advantage of the then newly developed four colour process. The interior and exterior settings for his drawings clearly reflect his architectural training and often showed a marked liking for the then popular 'Bedford Park' style; his figures and animals were lively and expressive..." ~ Book Illustrators of the Twentieth Century
This quote from Francis Bedford, also copied under "fair use," comes from Illustrators of Children's Books 1744-1945 (Horn Book, c1947):
"The wish to paint and illustrate gradually prevailed... but I have never regretted an architectural training and my work still includes both pictures and illustrations of English and foreign buildings with an occasional return to architectural design. A delight in picture books in my early years led me in the 1880's to try my hand at one for children... Since then I have enjoyed doing others, as well as paintings in tempera and water color. My work has its roots in nature and the designs of the masters based upon its architecture, sculpture, painting and book illustration through the ages." ~ Francis Donkin Bedford
Click on each dynamic image for great detail.
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Cover Detail |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Frontispiece ~ Peter Flew In |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Title Page |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 The Birds Were Flown |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Let Him Keep Who Can |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 The Never Never Land |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Peter On Guard |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Summer Days On The Lagoon |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 "To Die Will Be An Awfully Big Adventure?" |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Wendy's Story |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Flung Like Bales |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Hook Or Me This Time |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 "This Man Is Mine!" |
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Francis Donkin Bedford ~ Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie Charles Scribner's Sons ~ 1911 Peter And Jane |
I love these illustrations from Peter and Wendy. My favorites are the frontispiece, Peter Flew In; Wendy’s Story, which is not derivative, but reminds me of Arthur Rackham; Hook Or Me This Time; The Birds Were Flown; Summer Days On The Lagoon, and Peter And Jane. I find “To Die Will Be An Awfully Big Adventure?” to be poignant, and all of the illustrations to be well conceived, gorgeous and dramatic.
What are your favorites? What can you share about F. D. Bedford?
I read Barrie's "Peter Pan" when I was 7 - kids in my clas were given books in the end of the school year and the teacher chose this one for me, I don't know if on purpose or not. But I'm very grateful to her, because now that I'm grown up I know how lucky I was to know this version of the story, not these awful idealized and censored ones. These illustrations made me remember what it was like to read Peter Pan for the first time - they are very similar to what I imagined while reading the book, I can't stop staring at them. Thank you for posting them, now I'm determined to find out more about F. D. Bedford. It's sad that good books for children with such illustrations are no more published (at least in my country), everything is so simplified, as if children nowadays were less able to understand things than children in 1911...
ReplyDeleteHi Anna,
ReplyDelete"These illustrations made me remember what it was like to read Peter Pan for the first time - they are very similar to what I imagined while reading the book. I can't stop staring at them."
If F. D. Bedford were alive today, I would think he would treasure this comment. It's wonderful when an illustrator captures the mood of a book, interpreting it in their own way while being true to the story.
The other night, I came across illustrations for Frances Hodges Burnett's The Little Princess, by Ethel Betts, I hadn't seen in many years. They brought back memories of the book in ways I'm not sure would be possible through the text alone. On the other hand, the illustrations sparked memories of images that could not be found in the illustrations, evidence that the best illustrated books become a partnership between author and artist.
I've come across a few more works by F. D. Bedford with illustrations I enjoy, and I'll be featuring them here at some point in the future.
My goodness, these are all so stunning, to say the least. F.D. Bedford's work is unlike anything being published in childrens' books today. Thank you for introducing this illustrator to me; before reading this post, I was not familiar with him.
ReplyDeleteHi Juan,
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! There are good illustrators today, but perhaps none to equal the sensitivity and successful composition exhibited by F. D. Bedford.
For contemporary children's book illustrators, I'm thinking of Chris Van Allsburg, Tony DiTerlizzi, and Brian Selznick for illustrators in black and white you may enjoy, reminiscent of F. D. Bedford in terms of detail, drama, and quality.
I have this book with the Bedford illustations. I bought it at a jumble sale when I was a child in the fifties. I always loved to look at the pictures especially the one for 'the birds have flown'
ReplyDeleteHi Jacquee,
DeleteI had never seen these illustrations before I found them at archive dot org. Just the other night, I was looking at them again here at this site, and I kept looking and looking "into" them. It seems as if we can enter that world Bedford created. The illustration you mention is one of my favorites, too, and I was thinking about the drama in the poses of the parents. We can "feel" their despair at losing their children, yet Bedford included the dog's sense of wonder, and, like the dog, we want to follow the children, too... I'm glad you got to enjoy them when you were a child.
I am 70 years old and was born in Spain where I lived until I was 13. I never heard of Peter Pan until I was in my 20s and then only because the Disney film. I just heard of Bedford because I am part of a yahoo group that brought up this subject. I do love Bedford's illustrations and I will go to Gutenberg so I can read the original Peter and Wendy. I do thank you very much for your having posted this material. I am indeed, very, very grateful.
ReplyDeleteAntonio Navarro Jr