Charles Robinson (1870–1937) was a prolific British book

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

Biography

Born in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, London, in October 1870, he was the son of illustrator Thomas Robinson, and his brothers Thomas Heath Robinson and William Heath Robinson also became illustrators. He served an apprenticeship as a printer and took art lessons in the evenings. He won a place at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in 1892 but was unable to take it up due to lack of finances. The first full book he illustrated was

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

's '' A Child's Garden of Verses'' (1896) which includes over 100 pen and ink drawings. It was extremely popular, going through many reprints, and generated numerous commissions. He illustrated many

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

, children's books and books written by Walter Copeland Jerrold and himself throughout his career. He was also an active

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, especially in later life, and was elected to the

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831, the ...

in 1932. Robinson married Edith Mary Favatt in 1897 in Middlesex, England and they were the parents of four daughters and two sons.

Works Illustrated

* *'' Aesop Fables'' (1895) *Stevenson, R.L. ''A Child's Garden of Verses'' (1896) *Carrington, E. ''Animals in the Wrong Places'' (1896) *Lowry, H. D. ''Make Believe'' (1896) *Setoun, G. ''The Child World'' (1896) * Eugene Field's ''Lullaby Land'' (1897) *A. Bell ''Dobbie’s Little Master'' (1897) *B. Macgregor ''King Longbeard'' (1898) * W. E. Cule's ''Child Voices'' (1899) * William Brighty Rands ''Lilliput Lyrics'' (1899) *George Sand ''The Master Mosaic Workers'' (1899) * Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's ''Sintram and His Companions'' (1900) *J. J. Bell ''Jack of all Trades'' (1900) *''The New Noah’s Ark'' (1900) * W. Canton ''The True Annals of Fairyland'' (1900) *P. Dearmer ''The Little Lives of the Saints'' (1900) *N. Garstin ''The Suitors Of Aprille'' (1900) *

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

''The Adventures of Odysseus'' (1900) *''Aslauga’s Knight'' (1900) *C. Perrault ''Tales of Passed Times'' (1900) *G. Sand ''The Master Mosaic Workers'' (1900) *H. de V. Stacpoole ''Pierrette'' (1900) *E. Rhys ''The True Annals of Fairyland'' (1901) *''The Reign of King Cole'' (1901) *''A Book of Days for Little Ones'' (1901) * W. Copeland ''The Farm Book'' (1901) *Claire Bridgman ''The Book of Shops'' (1902) *W. Copeland ''The Book of the Zoo'' (1902) *''The Shopping Day'' (1902) *J. H. Burn ''The Mother's Book of Song'' (1902) *W. Jerrold ''Nonsense! Nonsense!'' (1902) *''The Coronation Autograph Book'' (1902) *Jerrold ''The Big Rook of Nursery Rhymes'' (1903) *'' Siegfried : A Romance founded on Wagner's Operas'' (1904) *D. W. Jerrold ''Fireside Saints'' (1904) *''A Bookful of Fun'' (1905) *''The Black Cat Book'' (1905) *''The Book of Ducks and Dutchies'' (1905) *''The Book of the Dutch Dolls'' (1905) *''The Book of the Fan'' (1905) *''The Book of the Little JDs'' (1905) *''The Book of the Mandarinfants'' (1905) *''The Book of the Little Dutch Dots'' (1905) *''The Hundred Best Blank Verse Passages in the English Language'' (1905) *I. H. Wallis ''The Cloud Kingdom'' (1905) *''The Child's Christmas'' (1906) *''The Silly Submarine'' (1906) *''The Book of Dolly's Doings'' (1906) *''Bouncing Babies'' (1906) *''The Book of Dolly's House'' (1906) *''The Book of Dolly Land'' (1906) *''Awful Airship'' (1906) *''Mad Motor'' (1906) *K. A. Tynan ''Little Book of Courtesies'' (1906) *''The Sweet Shop'' (1907) *''The Toy Shop'' (1907) *''The Cake Shop'' (1907) *Black Bunnies (1907) *Black Doggies (1907) *Black Sambos (1907) *''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' (1907) * Evelyn Sharp ''The story of the weathercock'' (1907) *''Babes and Blossoms'' (1908) *''The Book of Other people'' (1908) *''The Book of Sailors'' (1908) *''The Book of Soldiers'' (1908) *W. Jerrold ''The True Annals of Fairyland in the Reign of King Aberon'' (1909) *''

Grimm's Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (, , commonly abbreviated as ''KHM''), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Jacob Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm, first publish ...

'' (1910) * Ruth Arkwright ''Brownikins and Other Fancies'' (1910) *J. Pope ''Babes and Birds'' (1910) *N. Syrett ''The Vanishing Princess'' (1910) *''The Dolly Scouts'' (1911) *

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (1886), ''A Little Princess'' (1905), a ...

's ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

'' (1911) *''The Sensitive Plant'' (1911) *''My Book about Australia'' (1912) *Alice Talwyn Morris ''My Book about New Zealand'' (1912) *

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

''Songs of Innocence'' (1912) *A. France ''Bee, Princess of the Dwarfs'' (1912) *Emily Handasyde ''The Four Gardens'' (1912) *Jerrold ''The Big Book of Fables'' (1912) *Pope ''Babes and Beasts'' (1912) *H. Fielding ''Margaret’s Book'' (1913) *W. Minnion ''Topsy Turvey'' (1913) *Perrault ''Fairy Tales'' (1913) *E. T. Thurston ''The Open Window'' (1913) *

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

''The Happy Prince'' (1913) *A. E. Castle ''Our Sentimental Garden'' (1914) *A. T. Morris ''A Child’s Book of Empire'' (1914) *''Songs and Sonnets by William Shakespeare'' (1915) *'' Robert Herrick'' (1915) *E. Sharp ''What Happened at Christmas'' (1915) *''The Story of Prince Ahmed'' (1915) *''he Little Hunchback Zia'' (1916) *Phyllis Austin ''The Goldfish Bowl'' (1918) *''Bridget’s Fairies'' (1919) *M Elsie Gullick ''Teddy's Year with the Fairies'' (1920) *G. Rhys ''The Children’s Garland of Verse'' (1921) *G.J. Stevenson ''Father Time Stories'' (1921) *''Doris and David Alone'' (1922) *Girvin, B. & Cosens, M. ''Wee Men'' (1923) *A.A. Milne ''Once on a Time'' (1925) *''Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes'' (1928) *''The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam'' (1928) *Jennie Dunbar ''Young Hopeful'' (1932)

Gallery

The happy prince and other tales pg 10.jpg, ''The Happy Prince'' (1913) Image taken from page 11 of 'The Child World. (In verse.) ... Illustrated by C. Robinson' (11234355794).jpg, ''Child World'' (1896) Away she danced.jpg, ''The Red Shoes'' (1899) Cindarella illustration by Charles Robinson 1900.jpg, ''Cinderella'' (1900) Page 017 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carrol, Robinson, 1907).png, ''Alice in Wonderland'' (1907) Sensitive Plant image 2.jpg, ''Sensitive Plant'' (1911) She will pass me by.jpg, ''She will pass me by'' (1913)

Biography

''Charles Robinson'' by Leo de Freitas. London: Academy Editions; New York: St. Martins Press, 1976. . (pbk.).

References

External links

* *
Works by Charles Robinson
at Toronto Public Library * * (mainly as Charles Robinson undifferentiated, previous page of browse report) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Charles. 1870 births 1937 deaths Artists from the London Borough of Islington British fantasy artists English children's book illustrators Illustrators of fairy tales Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours People from Islington (district) 19th-century British illustrators 20th-century British illustrators