Taresa Miller
Professor Coronado
English 226
11 November 2014
Illustrations
of Sleepy Hollow
For
years the Legend of Sleepy Hollow has
populated the minds of the American people. Since the short story was first written
by Washington Irving in 1817, it's held a special place in American culture.
Now, in 2014 it's still a popular story where a modern TV show turns this
classic tale into a supernatural/police drama on its second season. Besides
this modern TV series, this short story has also been recreated into films.
These TV shows and movies bank of the short story's allure and popularity, but
what makes this story so popular. This story was so popular at the time that
Felix O.C. Darley created a series of illustrations depicting certain events in
the story. There are a series of six illustrations made by him. They show a
scene of a group of children, a man and a woman sitting on a rock, a man
telling a story to an older woman and a couple of children, a man and woman
dancing surrounded by villagers, a man stumbling across the headless horseman,
and then him fleeing from him. Each portrayal of a point in the story is
elaborately etched by Darley and is a great companion to the short story. These
illustrations were published in 1850 in a small book from the American Art
Union. They were paired with the short story and released to all of the members
of the American Art Union. These are a great piece of history, and they show
just how important literature and art were to the people of the 1800s. If this
piece of literature was not popular, and important there would have been no
reason for Darley to create these illustrations for the American Art Union. The
American Art Union also would not have had any reason to publish or pass out a
book with the short story and its companion illustrations.
One
of the many books of artwork that were published by the American artwork was a
book on the Illustrations of Felix Octavius Carr Darley. Darley was born in
1822 and died in 1888. He was a very popular illustrator and worked on
illustrations for "works by Charles Dickens, Washington Irving, Edgar
Allan Poe, Henry W. Longfellow, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and
many others" (Focdarley.org). Darley illustrated for many different
writers, most with names we recognize today. The amount of stories he
illustrated for shows his talent and popularity as an illustrator. His
popularity stemmed not only from his talent though, it also emerged as a
side-effect to the growing and evolving technology in the printing business.
This allowed for "more publications with more illustration to be produced
at an ever-decreasing cost" (Society of Illustrators). Part of the reason
Darley became so popular was because of the new technologies in the printing
press. This allowed for the price of copies to decrease, which allowed for both
publications and illustrations to be produced more readily. The Society of
Illustrators claims that this is part of the reason for Darley's growing
popularity, as well as the fact that he was one of the first artists that most
incoming American's had access to. Regardless of what made him popular, Darley
became a bit of a celebrity and eventually "books featured Darley's name
as a selling point; soon it became common practice to credit illustrators"
(Society of Illustrators). The Society of Illustrators contributes the
acknowledgement of illustrators today with the popularity of Darley in the
1800s. Using Darley's name as a selling point meant that enough Americans knew
Darley and his illustrations to want to buy books based on Darley's name. Knowing
this, it is understandable that the American Art Union wanted his work to be a
part of their collections.
The
American Art Union published the illustrations by Felix O.C. Darley in 1851 in
a hardcover book. The illustrations by Darley are one of many sets that were released
by them as they tried to raise the popularity of art in the new country of
America.
The
American Art Union is well known today for the thirty-six engravings it published based on the paintings of some of the most
luminous names in American
art... The Association is especially important for the seminal role it played in stimulating
American art and for spreading an awareness of this art throughout the country (The
Philadelphia Print Shop).
Today the American Art Union is
know for a total of 36 engravings that it published in its issues. The American
Art Union helped to get the country interested in its own artwork in the early
years of the country's life. Out of a total of thirty-six prints Felix O.C.
Darley had six of them in the issue released with the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The
example of the London-Art Union in the fall of 1888 suggested to a few gentlemen in New-York the possibility of doing something
for art in a similar manner
in New-York... It was, however, finally determined that an effort should be made to form
an association that should have for its purpose the patronage of artists and
the cultivation of the people, by means of a periodical exhibition of pictures by good
artists, ancient and modern. (Bulletin of the American Art- Union).
The American Art-Union was modeled
after something similar in London, because of the suggestion to some gentlemen
from New York. By this suggestion, the American Art-Union formed itself,
because America needed to raise awareness of their own artists. Although it was
not possible to recreate this Art Union in the same way the London one
operated, it was eventually determined that this type of association should
exist in America. London was a large metropolis and America was a newly founded
country with a much smaller group of people, who were much more spread out. It
was decided that this association would have at its disposal a group of
artists, and would show the American people periodical exhibits from various
good artists, both young and old. By creating this Art-Union America was able
to begin creating its own set of artwork and respected artists.
As
the American Art Union was looking for people to include when getting people in
America interested in art, it would make sense that they wanted Darley
involved. The illustrations that Darley made about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow not only show the growing art movement,
but also give a modern audience a view of life from the past. The first,
second, and fourth illustrations give us the best look into what life was like
in the 1800s. The first illustration is of Ichabod Crane with his group of
students in the school house. The children, of seemingly many different ages,
surround Ichabod and they are all going about various deeds. Some are drawing,
others passing apple through a window, some whisper to each other and some cry.
Ichabod, who sits on a high legged stool, seems only to be interested in
sharpening his quill. This illustration not only shows the state of the
classroom that Ichabod is teaching, but also gives a little insight into the
classrooms of the 1800s; varied and full of many different ages of children. In
the second illustration Ichabod tells a story to an older woman and a group of
small children. One child looks scared, one is asleep, and one listens
interestingly, the woman also seems entranced by his story and although you
cannot see the other man's face he leans in as if he is just as interested.
This illustration shows just how good of a story teller Ichabod is, how he
could draw in the people he visited. I think that the way Darley has portrayed
the characters who surround Ichabod shows exactly how interested they are. I
believe that this also shows one of the things that were valued, an imagination
and great ability to tell stories. Because of all the abilities that Ichabod
had, Darley choose this one to portray in the illustration. The fourth illustration shows Ichabod dancing
with the same woman he sat next to in the previous illustration. They are
surrounded by other adults, many of whom are dancing with partners themselves.
Among the guests at the part there is a man playing a violin and a man sleeping
in a chair. I think that this shows what many people did for fun in the novel
and in the 1800s. The young people in the illustration are much more interested
in what's going on than the older ones. The fact that this illustration
portrays those older members at the party, even though one is sleeping, seems
to highlight the fact that this was an event not to be missed. Most of these
people look to be enjoying themselves.
Darley's
third illustration shows Ichabod staring lovingly at a young woman. They sit
beneath a tree, next to a lake. They don't seem to be having a conversation,
but simply to be enjoying each other's company. In the background another woman
leans back, watching them. She appears to be cooking something outside of a
small house. In illustration five Ichabod is startled by another man on a
horse. The other man is in a cloak, and doesn't appear to be phased by Ichabod.
In the sixth and final illustration Ichabod flees as the headless horseman
chases after him. Ichabod looks terrified and so does his horse. The horse
strains against the speed, and neither of its hooves touch the ground. Although
these three illustrations are just as important as the other three, they do not
have as large of a connection to life in the 1800s.
The
illustrations done by Felix O.C. Darley of The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow is important to history because of their ability to
transport the onlooker into another era. By looking at these illustrations, we
can see a little piece of the 1800s when they were done and published. On top
of this, the history of the American Art Union makes us realize how important
art was to the 1800s. The fact that the idea was taken from a similar thing
done in London and mimicked here but changed so that it would work for a larger
country, shows just how important this art was. Without this Art Union art may
not have taken hold in America. Darley was a very popular artist in the 1800s
and I think that his artwork has a lot of value not just because of that
popularity. Darley was popular enough to get published by the American Art
Union, and his work should be known to a wider group of individuals. It was
important enough to be published by an organization that was interested in
promoting art, and today shows just how important art was to early Americans.
Works
Cited
Bulletin of the American Art-Union.
JSTOR. 2.11 (1849-1853)
Darley, Felix O.C.
"Illustrations of The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow" The American Art
Union. New York. 1849.
Hester, Ray. Meet Felix Octavius Carr Darley. 1999. Web. 11 November 2014.
Philadelphia Print Shop. Updated
2013. Web. 11 November 2014.
Taraba, Fred. Felix Octavius Carr Darley. Society of Illustrators. 2001. Web. 11
November 2014.
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