G. H. Evison

George Henry Evison (25 November 1871 – 1928)[2] was a Liverpool artist and book illustrator who illustrated many cheaper books with his strong line drawings. He illustrated magazines with both line drawings and colour wash drawings.

George Henry Evison
G H Evison in 1899
Born	25 November 1871 Bootle, Lancashire, England
Died	1928 (aged 56–57) Harrow, England
Nationality	English
Other names	Signed as G . H. Evison or Henry Evison
Occupation	Artist and Book Illustrator
Years active	1890 – 1925[1]^:297
Known for	Illustrating the Daily Mail's Sixpenny Novels

Early life

Evison was born on 25 November 1871 in Bootle, Liverpool He was the second child of William Flinn Evison (baptised 24 May 1831 – October 1872),[3][note 1] a clerk for the Liverpool and America shipping trade, and Sarah Ellen Emson (born third quarter 1845),[6] the daughter of a publican. His parents married on 28 May 1867 at St Simon's Parish in Liverpool.[7][8] Evison's elder sister Lillie (c. 1870 – 25 December 1871)[note 2] died shortly after he was born. Evison's father died the following year, before Evison's first birthday.

Training

The former Liverpool School of Art

Evison began his career with a five-year apprenticeship to a lithographic artist in Liverpool, while attending evening classes at the Liverpool School of Art.[11] Typically, apprenticeships began at 14 or 15, and Evison would have been fourteen in November 1885. He attended the Liverpool School of Art[note 3] He was attending the school in September 1888 when he was awarded a small class prize (7s. 6d.) for attendance and success in exams.[13]

However, at the end of his apprenticeship (c. 1890), he was not satisfied with lithography, and gave it up in favour of pen and ink. He studied pen and ink drawing full-time under John Finnie[note 4] at the Liverpool School of Art, where he won a scholarship worth £60.[11]

Front Cover for The Poster for April 1900

He had already begun to have some drawings accepted by Magazines like Pick-me-up or Judy and this success led to him coming to London and joining the Slade School where he worked for 12 months. His April 1900 profile in The Poster and his cover illustration for that month indicate that he had found acceptance in London.[11]

Exhibiting

Evison exhibited seven times at the Walker Gallery in Liverpool and four times at the Royal Academy.[14]^:169 His pieces at the Royal Academy were story illustrations in at least two cases.[15] At least one of his works shown at the Walker Gallery resulted in a sale, Tea-Time sold for £10 in 1894.[16]

Magazine illustration

Initially Evison appears to have concentrated on magazine illustration. He contributed illustrations to a wide range of magazines including:

• Judy[17]^:101[11][note 5]
• English Illustrated Magazine[17]^:144
• The Idler[11]
• The Poster[11]
• The Wide World Magazine[20]
• The Strand Magazine[21]
• The Bystander[22]
• To-day, where he had already illustrated two serials for Barry Pain by 1900.[11]{{refn|group=note|This version of To-day was a weekly magazine that ran from 11 November 1893 to 19 July 1905, and was then incorporated with London Opinion.[19]^:155 It cost 2d. and had a circulation of 40,000.[18]^:342}

The Poster reported that by 1900 Evison had already worked for four of the Newnes' publications[note 6] and four of Pearson's publications [note 7] as well as other magazines.[11]

Example of pen and ink magazine illustration

Evison was a regular illustrator for George Newnes' Wide World Magazine. He did approximately two dozen illustrations for From Job to Job Around the World by Alfred C. B. Fletcher in Wide World Magazine Volume 37, May–October 1916. The serial story covers the adventures of two young Americans who set out from San Francisco to travel around the world with only $10 between them.[20]

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Book Illustration

Evison seems to have made a slow start at book illustration. It was only at the end of the first decade of the 20th century that he began to illustrate any significant number of books, and this grew to a flood with his illustrations of the Daily Mail'sixpenny novels.

The following list of books illustrated by Evison is far from complete. The principle sources are searches of the Jisc catalogue,[23][24]{{refn|group=note|The Jisc Library Hub Discover brings together the catalogues of 165 Major UK and Irish libraries. Additional libraries are being added all the time, and the catalogue collates national, university, and research libraries.[25][26] and the page about Evison[2] on the Charles Pearce Project.{{refn|group=note|Charles E. Pearch (1843 – 1924) was a prolific [[People of England|English}} author of juvenile fiction, crime fiction, biographies and journalism.[27]}}

Partial list of books illustrated by Evison

No	Author	Year	Title	Publisher	Pages	Notes
1	George MacDonald	1893	A dish of orts: chiefly papers on the imagination, and on Shakspere [sic], Enlarged Edition	London, Sampson Low and Company	vi, 322 p., 8º	[note 8]
2	George Humphery	1900	The haunted room : a phantasmal phantasy	Sands & Co., London	217 p., 7 pl., 8º	[24]
3	Eric Lisle	1907	Under Honour's Flag	London, Frederick Warne & Co	vi, 312 p., 8 illus., 8º	[note 9]
4	George MacDonald	1908	Guild Court	London, Edwin Dalton	iv, 331p, illus.	[note 10]
5	George MacDonald	1908	Stephen Archer	London, Edwin Dalton	354 p., Illus.	[note 11]
6	Herbert Escott Inman	1908	The Mill-Lass of Idderleigh	London, Frederick Warne & Co	vi. 424 p., 8º	[23]
7	George MacDonald	1908	The vicar's daughter : an autobiographical story	London, Sampson Low and Company	vii,375p., 3pl. 8º	[note 12]
8	George Mac Donald	1908	Weighed and wanting	London, Edwin Dalton	iv, 379 p., fs., 8º	[note 13]
9	Stella. M. Düring	1910	Malicious Fortune	London, Amalgamated Press	vi. 154 p., 8º	[note 14]
10	C. Ranger Gull	1910	Retribution	London, Amalgamated Press	vi. 150 p., 8º	[note 15]
11	May Wynne	1911	Phil’s Cousins	London, Blackie		[2][36]
12	Effie Adelaide Rowlands	1911	For Ever and a Day	London, Amalgamated Press	136 p., 8º	[note 16]
13	Marie Connor Leighton and Robert Leighton	1911	In the Shadow of Guilt. A novel	London, Amalgamated Press	vi. 178 p., 8º	[note 17]
14	Effie Adelaide Rowlands	1911	Leila Vane's Burden	London, Amalgamated Press	138 p., 8º	[note 18]
15	Stanley Portal Hyatt	1911	The Little Brown Brother	London, Amalgamated Press	vi. 142 p., 8º	[note 19]
16	William Le Queux	1911	Treasure of Israel	London, Amalgamated Press	124 p., 8º	[note 20]
17	Meredith Nicholson	1912	The Port of Missing Men	London, Amalgamated Press	vi. 138 p., 8º	[note 21]
18	Maurice Drake	1912	The Salving of a Derelict	London, Amalgamated Press	vi. 112 p.	[note 22]
19	David Graham Phillips	1912	The Second Generation	London, Amalgamated Press	vi. 158 p., 8º	[note 23]
20	Mary E. Mann	1912	The Sheep & the Goats	London, Amalgamated Press	vi. 136 p., 8º	[note 24]
21	Annie S. Swan	1913	The Farrants: a story of struggle and victory	London, Charles H. Kelly	352 p., illus., 8º	[2]
22	Herbert Escott Inman	1913	Nancy Lee, Mill Lass	London, Frederick Warne	416, 4pl., 8º	[23]
23	Herbert Strang	1917	Carry On! A Story of the Fight for Bagdad	London, Humphrey Milford, OUP	277 p., 8º	[note 25]
24	John Lea	1920	Fights for Freedom – thrilling stories of heroic deeds in the Great War	London, The Epworth Press	Illus.	[2]
25	T. C. Bridges	1920	Martin Crusoe: a boy’s adventure on Wizard Island	London, George G. Harrap	Col fs., pl., 8º	[2]
26	Charles Dickens	1920	The Adventures of Oliver Twist [The Newberry Classics]	London, David McKay	Col fs., 4 b&w pl., 8º	[2]
27	George Forbes	1920	Adventures in Southern Seas : a tale of the sixteenth century	London, George G. Harrap & Co.	251 p., 8º	[note 26]
28	T. C. Bridges	1921	The sky riders : a stirring tale of adventure round the world	London, George G. Harrap & Co.	192 p., col fs., 4 b&w pl., 8º	[24]
29	T. C. Bridges	1923	Men of the Mist	London, George G. Harrap & Co.	4 pl.	[2]
30	T. C. Bridges	1926	The Book of Discovery	London, George G. Harrap & Co.	Col fs., 4 b&w pl.	[2]
31	John G. Rowe	1926	The Island Mine: a tale of adventure in tropic seas	London, The Epworth Press	Col. fs.	[2]
32	Mona Tracy	1927	Rifle and Tomahawk: a stirring tale of the Te Kooti Rebellion	London, George G. Harrap	Col fs., 4 b&w pl.	[note 27]
33	Various	1927	The Lucky Boys’ Budget	London, Blackie & Son.		[2]
34	Mona Tracy	1928	Lawless Days: a tale of adventure in Old New Zealand and other South Seas	London, George Harrap & Co.	Col fs., illus.	[2]
35	R. J. McGregor	1928	The Secret Jungle	London, The Sheldon Press	160 p., 8º	[note 28]
36	Herbert Strang (ed.)	1934	The Great Book for Boys	London, Humphrey Milford, OUP		[2][41]
37	T. C. Bridges	1934	Recent Heroes of Modern Adventure	London, George G. Harrap & Co.	Fs.	[2]
38	William M. Thayer	UD	From Log-Cabin to White House: Life of James A. Garfield	London, Epworth Press	Col fs., 4 b&w pl.	[2]
39	Wingrove Willson (ed.)	UD	The World of Sport and Adventure	London, Aldine Publishing	Illus.	[note 29]

Example of book illustrations

The following illustrations are not from the cheap editions which featured Evison's strong pen and ink drawings, but from a full-priced Christmas book. The book was Under Honour's Flag {Frederick Warne & Co., London, (1907) by Rev. Eric Lisle.[note 30] Evison provide eight illustrations for the book, painted rather than in the pen and ink which he used for cheaper editions.

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Death

Evison died in the second quarter of 1928,[43] probably in early June. He was buried on 5 June 1928 at All Saints Cemetery in Harrow.[44] At the time of his death, he was still living at his cousin's house at Fulwood, Royston Park, Pinner, where he had lived since at least 1905.[45] He appears not to have left a will.

Assessment

Houfe states that Evison was a particularly good figure artist and that he used pen and ink with heavy body colour.[1]^:297. Thorpe noted that his half-tone drawings in the English Illustrated Magazine were promising.[17]^:144 A profound challenge for greater recognition of Evison is that a good deal of book illustration, at least, was for ephemeral editions such as the Daily Mail sixpenny editions. Such cheap editions uses cheap paper and only the boldest of pen and ink art reproduced well. Evison's bold pen and ink drawings were well suited to this constraint. His magazine illustrations covered a much broader range, and were not just restricted to pen and ink work.

Notes

1. Evison's father was buried on 16 October 1872.[4] His death was registered in the fourth quarter of 1872,[5] suggesting that he died in October
2. While Lillie's birth was only registered in the first quarter of 1870,[9] there are several hints that she was born in the last quarter of 1869, including her age at death.[10]
3. This was the first purpose built art school outside of London, having opened in 1883. After serving under various names as a school of art until 2008, it was purchased by the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts to expand their teaching space in 2012.[12]
4. The Poster spells his name Finne rather than Finnie. He was the headmaster of the Liverpool School of Art until his retirement in 1896.[14]^:176
5. This was an illustrated weekly comic and social magazine the cost two pence. It had a circulation of 40,000[18]^:321 and ran from 1867 to 1907.[19]^:102
6. George Newnes published a wide range of publications including The Strand Magazine,[18]^:489 Tit-Bits[18]^:488 (with a circular of the order of half a million at the time), Country Life,[18]^:494 Under the Union Jack,[18]^:342 Wide World Magazine, The Captain (a boys' paper),[18]^:491 and the Traveller[18]^:494
7. Pearsons had a range of publications,[18]^:606 the most popular of which was Pearson's Magazine a monthly with a circulation of over 200,000[18]^:384, but the circulation of publications such as Home Notes could be nearly as high.
8. With Cyrus Cuneo [28]^:1336[29]
9. Available online at Project Gutenberg.[30][31][23]
10. With Cyrus Cuneo.[32] Available online at the Hathi Trust.[33]
11. With Cyrus Cuneo.[34] Available online at the Hathi Trust.[35]
12. With Cyrus Cuneo.[23]
13. With Cyrus Cuneo.[23]
14. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel. no. 108.[23]
15. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel. no. 116.[23]
16. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel. no. 149.[23]
17. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel. no. 136.[24]
18. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel.[23]
19. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel. No. 141.[23]
20. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel. No. 148.[23]
21. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel. no. 166.[23]
22. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel.[23]
23. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel. no. 161.[23]
24. Daily Mail Sixpenny Novel. no. 160.[23]
25. Available online at Project Gutenberg.[37][38]^:734
26. The catalogue entry describes the author as Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Andersonian University Glasgow[24]
27. The Auckland Star commented that Evison's illustrations, though helping the story, would be more effective if they depicted more of what is characteristic in New Zealand scenery.[39][2]
28. The Sheldon Press was an imprint of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge until 2019.[40][2][24]
29. With Others[2]
30. The book centres on a boy from a difficult background whose heroic rescues from fire and water help to establish him in Public School. Kirkpatrick describes the book, as a throwback to the nineteenth century didactic school story, where the saving of a life is placed strongly in a religious and moral context.[42]

References

1. Houfe, Simon (1905-05-31). Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists, 1800-1914. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club. Retrieved 2020-07-14 – via The Internet Archive.
2. Williams, Paul Flo (1905-07-08). "Henry Evison". The Charles Pearce Project. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
3. Liverpool Record Office (1905-07-02). "Reference Number: 283-PET-2-18: Baptisms solenmized in the Parish Church of St. Peter, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster in the year eighteen hunderd and thirty-one". Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1919. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com. p. 135.
4. Liverpool Record Office (1905-07-06). "Reference: 352 CEM 6/2/1: Date of Interrment: 16 October 1872". Liverpool Cemetery Registers. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com.
5. "Index entry". ONS. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
6. "Index entry". ONS. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
7. Liverpool Record Office (1905-07-03). "Reference Number: 283-SIM/3/3: 1867 Marriages solenmized at The Church in the Parish Church of St. Simon, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster". Liverpool, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com. p. 52.
8. "Index entry". ONS. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
9. "Index entry". ONS. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
10. Liverpool Record Office (1905-07-06). "Reference: 352 CEM 2/2/4: Date of Interrment: 29 December 1871". Liverpool Cemetery Registers. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com.
11. "No. VIII". The Poster. IV (XXI): 60. 1900-04-01. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via The Hathi Trust (access may be limited outside the United States).
12. "The History of Our Buildings". The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
13. "Liverpool School of Science and Technology". Liverpool Mercury (Saturday 29 September 1888): 6. 1888-09-29. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Johnson, J.; Greutzner, A. (1905-06-08). The Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club.
15. Graves, Algernon (1905-03-19). "Evison, G Henry. Illustrator". The Royal Academy of Arts: A completed Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904. VI: Edie to Harraden. London: George Bell and Sons. p. 73.
16. "Art Notes". Liverpool Mercury (Monday 15 October 1894): 4. 1894-10-15. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via Newspapers.com.
17. Thorpe, James (1905-04-18). English Illustration: The Nineties. London: Faber and Faber.
18. Smiths Advertising Agency (1905-03-16). Successful Advertising. London: Smiths Advertising Agency. Retrieved 2020-07-28 – via The Internet Archive.
19. Muddiman, Joseph George; Austin, Roland (1905-04-03). Tercentenary handlist of English & Welsh newspapers, magazines & reviews. London: The Times. Retrieved 2020-07-25 – via The Internet Archive.
20. Fletcher, Alfred C. B. (1900-04-01). "From Job to Job Around the World. The Adventures of Two Wanderers". The Wide World Magazine. IV (XXI): 61. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via The Hathi Trust (access may be limited outside the United States).
21. White, Fred M. (1917). "Blind Chance, illustrated by G. H. Evison". The Strand Magazine. 54 (321): 244–250. Retrieved 2020-08-09 – via The Hathi Trust (access may be limited outside the United States).
22. "At the Freezing of the Pipes, cartoon by G. H Evison". The Bystander. 17 (215): 107. 1908-01-15. Retrieved 2020-08-09 – via The Hathi Trust (access may be limited outside the United States).
23. "Search for keyword: ""G. H. Evison""". Jisc Library Hub Discover. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
24. "Search for keyword: ""Henry Evison""". Jisc Library Hub Discover. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
25. "Libraries on Discover: Contributing libraries list". Library Hub Discover. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
26. "About Library Hub Discover". Library Hub Discover. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
27. Williams, Paul Flo (1905-07-07). "The Charles Pearce Project". The Charles Pearce Project. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
28. Shattock, Joan, ed. (1905-06-21). The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. Vol 4: 1800-1900 (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-39100-8. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via The Internet Archive.
29. "Yesterday's New Books". London Evening Standard (Wednesday 01 August 1894): 3. 1894-08-01. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
30. Lisle, Eric (1905-03-21). Under Honour's Flag. London: Frederick Warne & Co. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
31. "Books for Xmas and New Year". Manchester Courier (Friday 06 December 1907): 11. 1907-12-06. Retrieved 2020-08-08 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
32. "Guild Court by George MadDonald". Abe Books. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
33. Macdonald, George (1908). Guild Court, A London Story. London: Edwin Dalton. Retrieved 2020-08-09 – via The Hathi Trust (access may be limited outside the United States).
34. "Stephen Archer". Abe Books. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
35. Macdonald, George (1908). Stephen Archer and other tales. London: Edwin Dalton. Retrieved 2020-08-09 – via The Hathi Trust (access may be limited outside the United States).
36. "For Boys and Girls". Sheffield Daily Telegraph (Thursday 07 December 1911): 11. 1911-12-07. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
37. Strang, Herbert (1905-03-31). Carry On! A Story of the Fight for Bagdad. London: Humphrey Milford, OUP. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
38. Kirkpatrick, Daniel L. (1905-06-05). Twentieth Century Children's Writers (2nd ed.). New York: St Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-82414-9. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via The Internet Archive.
39. "Literary". Auckland Star (Saturday 12 November 1927): 24. 1927-11-12. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via The National Library of New Zealand.
40. Cowdrey, Katherine (2019-01-04). "Hachette acquires SPCK's Sheldon Press". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
41. "Al Hunter's Bookland". Dundee Courier (Wednesday 21 December 1927): 10. 1927-12-21. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
42. Kirkpatrick, Robert J. Auchmuty, Rosemary; Wotton, Joy (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Boys School Stories. Aldershot: Ashgate.
43. "Index entry". ONS. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
44. London Metropolitan Archives (1905-07-02). "Reference: dro/108/020: Birials in the Parish of All Saints, Harrow Weald, in the county of Middlesex in the year 1928: No. 386: George Henry Evison". London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com. p. 49.
45. "Puzzle Solutions". Evening Express and Evening Mail (Saturday 16 September 1905): 4. 1905-09-16. Retrieved 2020-08-07 – via The National Library of Wales.

External links

Note: Evison has two separate identities in Project Gutenberg.

• Works by G. H. Evison at Project Gutenberg
• Works by G. H. Evison at Project Gutenberg