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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald Book Cover Detail |
"A new edition, with twenty-five illustrations by John Bell. (Chatto & Windus). --- In the case of this book we have only the agreeable task of announcing its reappearance in a fresh edition which, with the "fairy" figures designed on the cover, and its abundant illustrations within, makes altogether a very attractive volume to the eye." ~ Bookseller: The Organ of the Book Trade; J. Whitacker, ed., 1895
This edition of Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald (London: Chatto & Windus, Piccadilly, 1894) is illustrated by John Bell. Publisher blurbs, announcements, and book reviews from the era reference him, and he is credited on the title page, but I could find no information on John Bell, illustrator or artist. I find it interesting that some of the illustrations are unsigned, and others appear to be signed J. Berg S C, another name without further information accessible through the print sources I've located, or searches on the internet. Who is John Bell?
The illustrations are intriguing and varied. I've omitted a few that are less inspired, bordering on "muddy" or repellent. A reviewer from 1894 notes that there are illustrations that could have been done without, notably one titled A woman-face, the most wonderful I had ever beheld, and I agree, the woman is far from wonderful, though MacDonald's description in the book's narrative lends grace to the elderly individual.
Here is an excerpt from the review of Phantastes: A Faerie Romance, quoted from The Unknown World, No. 5, Vol. 1, December 15th, 1894, edited by Arthur Edward White:
"The new edition is in every way welcome. It is issued at a popular price; it is attractively produced... it is illustrated profusely and with considerable success. At the same time there are some pictures which could have been well spared. Surely it is an artistic mistake to have attempted depicting the 'most wonderful' woman-face of the nineteenth chapter. In the drawing there is nothing wonderful. So, also, the 'Journey towards the capital,' and the knighting of Anodos are poor and flimsy sketches." ~ The Unknown World, No. 5, Vol. 1
The illustrations below are among those executed with "considerable success." Click HERE to see all of the illustrations in their original context. You will see a few appealing surprises I probably should have included in this post, along with the less successful illustrations, and you can read George MacDonald's accompanying text of a classic book, best illustrated, perhaps, by Arthur Hughes in a later edition of MacDonald's book, published by Fifield in 1905.
Follow this LINK to read about the edition illustrated by Arthur Hughes, and considered by George MacDonald's son, Greville, to be a perfect marriage between illustration and text, and this LINK to see 19 of Arthur Hughes' illustrations for this work at my tumblr blog, The Art of Narrative.
Quoting Greville MacDonald from the preface to the edition illustrated by Arthur Hughes, he writes about his reasons for offering a new edition: "My reasons are three. The first is to rescue the work from an edition illustrated without the author’s sanction, and so unsuitably that all lovers of the book must have experienced some real grief in turning its pages. With the copyright I secured also the whole of that edition and turned it into pulp." The edition he destroyed is probably the one illustrated by John Bell, though there are surviving copies available through libraries and book sellers.
The art technique by John Bell is described in a review from the era as pencil drawing, but I examine the images and I wonder if some of them were originally painted in color or in washes of shades of grey. My favorite illustrations are All was life and bustle, The poor animal broke loose, I fell at the foot of one of the large trees, and In Fairyland.
Here's another brief review from the era, found in The Athenaeum, No. 3495, Oct 20, '94, p. 518, from an announcement of Chatto & Windus's New Books, and excerpted from the Glasgow Herald:
"All who do not know this highly imaginative and delightful tale should lose no time repairing their ignorance, and they cannot do it in better company than in that of Mr. John Bell, whose clever pencil has added twenty-five fine illustrations to the text. The artist has caught the spirit of the romance and his drawings are admirable. The books is otherwise a thing of beauty, in paper, typography, and binding." ~ Glasgow Herald
In I sat down before a multitude of little drawers, the first illustration below, note not only the figure of the little woman, but the faces in the cabinet carvings, reminding me of Arthur Rackham's lively world, imbuing the inanimate with sentience. Another touch I enjoy in I fell at the foot of one of the large trees, also reminding me of Rackham and predating him, is the figures of the young woman and the old man emerging from the trees, because of course, the trees are alive.
Click on every illustration for great detail.
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald I sat down before a multitude of little drawers. |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald All was life and bustle. |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald The poor animal broke loose. |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald Curious little figures shot up their heads. |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald I saw the strangest figure. |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald I fell at the foot of one of the large trees. |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald In Fairyland |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald I would clear every lineament of the lovely face. |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald The Spirit of the Flowers |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald One of their number began to sing. |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald Horse and rider had arrived near enough for me to see. |
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| John Bell ~ 1894 Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald "There they are, there they are," cried the child. |
Please comment, and add any information you may have about the artist, John Bell, and your opinions about the merits of these illustrations.
Bell's work here is at the dawn of the Golden Age of Illustration, riding on a wave with Walter Crane, HJ Ford, and several others—all influenced somewhat by Doré and the fairy painters of a slightly earlier time. Bell's work has some nice qualities to it, especially for his day.
ReplyDeleteI was not aware of his work. Nice post, Annie.
Hi Thom,
ReplyDeleteThank you. I've been researching John Bell, and his possible identity. If I can verify my strong suspicion, I will post more about him. His work does remind me of earlier times, rather than the illustrators of the golden age. I agree, there are some nice qualities about his work for this book. I love the illustrations of Arthur Hughes from 1905, which are more airy and ethereal; but Bell also approaches that sense of other worldliness. It's interesting that MacDonald's son hated Bell's illustrations so much, he sought to have them destroyed (unless the unauthorized edition he referred to was not John Bell’s, and it is a book sellers myth to boost sales).
I like the ghostly ones best, and the last one.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year to you!
Hi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, too!
https://archive.org/details/phantastesfaerie00macduoft
ReplyDeleteA link to the book in its entirety, at the Internet Archive. Enjoy!