Charles Howard Johnson (December, 1865 – July 3, 1896) was an American illustrator and newspaper artist, best known for his sparse illustrations of the 1890 U.S. edition of ''The Princess'' by the English poet

Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

and illustrating many periodicals during the latter part of the 1890's.

Early life and education

Little is known of Johnson's life. He was born in Vincennes, Indiana in 1865, and moved to New York City in about 1889 after studying art for a year in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Career

He worked for a number of magazines including ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', ''

Truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

'', ''

Munsey's Magazine ''Munsey's Magazine'' was an American magazine founded by Frank Munsey in 1889 as ''Munsey's Weekly'', a humor magazine edited by John Kendrick Bangs. It was unsuccessful, and by late 1891 had lost $100,000 ($ in ). Munsey converted it into ...

'', and on some of the daily newspapers. He illustrated more than ten books. He was particularly effective in decorative work, often making the pictures fantastical. Though his skill as an artist was widely recognized during his lifetime. The work "A Young Girl Dancing" (1893, Pen and Ink) captures his whimsical skill. Young Dancer by CH Johnson

Personal life

He was engaged to be married to the actress Elita Proctor Otis, before he died at his apartment in the Union Square Hotel of

brain fever Brain fever (or cerebral fever) is an outdated medical term that was used as a synonym for phrensy, beginning in early 19th century medical literature. Supposedly the brain becomes inflamed and causes a variety of symptoms, most notably mental co ...

on July 3, 1896, after an illness of ten days. His wife (one "Miss Gallagher") had died two years earlier, with whom he had a daughter named Gladys born 1887-1891.

References

* *
Johnson's Death Certificate
* Illustrations from Tiddleywink Tale

External links

* *
Charles Howard Johnson
at AskArt.com

at The Victorian Web (victorianweb.org) * 1865 births 1896 deaths 19th-century American illustrators {{US-illustrator-stub