Edmund Joseph Sullivan (1869–1933), usually known as E. J. Sullivan, was a British book illustrator who worked in a style which merged the British tradition of illustration from the 1860s with aspects of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

Life

Sullivan was born in

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

, South West London to Michael Sullivan, an Irish art teacher at a Roman Catholic school in

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes, London, Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes ...

, and Mary Anne (née Melady). He was the second eldest son and third eldest of twelve children. In the early 1870s, the family moved north to

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

, Westmoreland before moving again to

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, Sussex later in the decade. Sullivan decided to concentrate on the emerging field of

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

and

book illustration The illustration of manuscript books was well established in ancient times, and the tradition of the illuminated manuscript thrived in the West until the invention of printing. Other parts of the world had comparable traditions, such as the Per ...

, which was flourishing at the end of the nineteenth century. Sullivan worked at the ''

Daily Graphic ''The Daily Graphic: An Illustrated Evening Newspaper'' was the first American newspaper with daily illustrations. It was founded in New York City in 1873 by Canadian engravers George-Édouard Desbarats and William Leggo, and began publicati ...

'' from the age of nineteen, moving to the ''

Pall Mall Magazine ''The Pall Mall Magazine'' was a monthly British literary magazine published between 1893 and 1914. Begun by William Waldorf Astor as an offshoot of '' The Pall Mall Gazette'', the magazine included poetry, short stories, serialized fiction, a ...

'' in 1893. During this period he produced standard news and portrait illustrations, but began to work on illustrations to literature at the magazine. He soon graduated to the more prestigious role of book illustrator, producing illustrations for editions of ''

Lavengro ''Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest'' (1851) is a work by George Borrow, falling somewhere between the genres of memoir and novel, which has long been considered a classic of 19th-century English literature. According to the author, i ...

'' and the plays ''

School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...

'' and ''

The Rivals ''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick ...

''. Sullivan's style is comparable to that of

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...

, but is more romantic than Beardley's acerbic manner. He also illustrated

The Compleat Angler ''The Compleat Angler'' (the spelling is sometimes modernised to ''The Complete Angler'', though this spelling also occurs in first editions) is a book by Izaak Walton, first published in 1653 by John and Richard Marriot, Richard Marriot in Lon ...

and

Tom Brown's Schooldays ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is a novel by Thomas Hughes, published in 18 ...

. By the end of the decade Sullivan's designs were in high demand, leading to the publication of his most ambitious work, an illustrated edition of

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

's ''

Sartor Resartus ''Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh in Three Books'' is a novel by the Scottish people, Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in November 1833 ...

'', published in 1898. This contain
79 illustrations
ranging from emblems to full page pictures. Sullivan adapted his style to use the faux-

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

techniques he had developed in his play-illustrations in order to combine them with bizarre images of strange fantastical figures, drawing on the genre of the

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

. Sullivan later also illustrated Carlyle's '' The French Revolution'', though his work was far less varied than for ''Sartor Resartus''. He used the same combination of Rococo and Grotesque to emphasise the violence erupting into the decorative world of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

and

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

's court. Later books include ''

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dubbed "the Astronomer-Poet of Persia". Alth ...

'', first published in 1913 and in many subsequent editions. Here, among many fanciful and beautiful black-and-white drawings, he used images of skeletons and animated pots. One such skeleton image was appropriated by

Stanley Mouse Stanley George Miller (born October 10, 1940), better known as Mouse or Stanley Mouse, is an American artist who is notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs and album covers for the Grateful Dead, Journey, and other bands. ...

and

Alton Kelley Alton Kelley (June 17, 1940 – June 1, 2008) was an American artist known for his psychedelic art, in particular his designs for 1960s rock concert posters and album covers. Along with artists Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Victor Moscoso ...

for a

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

poster in 1966, and album cover in 1971. Sullivan also used his skills of satire in 1916 in a collection of wartime designs called the ''Kaiser's Garland'', which attack Prussian militarism. Sullivan was one of the leading illustrators selected by

Percy Bradshaw Percy Venner Bradshaw (27 November 1877 – 13 October 1965), who often signed PVB, was a British illustrator who also created the Press Art School, a correspondence course for drawing. Biography Percy Bradshaw was born in Hackney, part of L ...

for inclusion in his '' The Art of the Illustrator'' (1917-1918) which presented a separate portfolio for each of twenty illustrators. He served as a Master of the

Art Workers' Guild The Art Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects, and designers associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of al ...

in 1931 and taught illustration at Goldsmiths' School of Art.Bryant, Mark. ''World War I in Cartoons''. London: Grub Street Pub, 2006, page 17,

Notable works

Books Illustrated

William Ernest Henley William Ernest Henley (23 August 1849 11 July 1903) was a British poet, writer, critic and editor. Though he wrote several books of poetry, Henley is remembered most often for his 1875 poem "Invictus". A fixture in London literary circles, th ...

– ''A London Garland: Selected From Five Centuries of English Verse'' (Macmillan, 1895) *

George Borrow George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...

– ''

'' (Foulis, 1896) *

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 1822 – 22 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had atte ...

– ''

Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is a novel by Thomas Hughes, published in 1 ...

'' (Macmillan, 1896) *

Izaak Walton Izaak Walton (baptised 21 September 1593 – 15 December 1683) was an English writer. Best known as the author of ''The Compleat Angler'' (1653), he also wrote a number of short biographies including one of his friend John Donne. They have been ...

– ''

'' (Dent, 1896) *

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...

— ''

The School For Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...

'' (and) ''

'' (Macmillan, 1896) * Captain

Frederick Marryat Captain Frederick Marryat (10 July 1792 – 9 August 1848) was a Royal Navy officer and novelist. He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiographical novel '' Mr Midshipman Easy'' (1836). He is ...

– ''The Pirate'' (and) ''The Three Cutters'' (Macmillan, 1897) *Captain Frederick Marryat – ''

Newton Forster ''Newton Forster or, the Merchant Service'' is an 1832 novel by the British writer Frederick Marryat. Like much of Marryat's work it is a seafaring novel about a young man impressed into the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. He is subsequen ...

'' (Macmillan, 1897) *

– ''

'' (Bell, 1898) *

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 ...

– ''Maud'' (Macmillan, 1900) *Alfred, Lord Tennyson — ''A Dream of Fair Women and Other Poems'' (Richards, 1900) *

Gilbert White Gilbert White (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his '' Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on 18 Jul ...

– ''

The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne ''The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne'', or just ''The Natural History of Selborne'' is a book by English parson-naturalist Gilbert White (1720–1793). It was first published in 1789 by his brother Benjamin. It has been continuou ...

'' (Freemantle, 1900–01) *

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

– ''Poems'' (1901) *

Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centre ...

– ''The Old Court Suburb. Or, Memorials of Kensington'' (Freemantle, 1902) * Robert Barr – ''A Prince of Good Fellows'' (Chatto & Windus, 1902) *

Thomas Lodge Thomas Lodge (September 1625) was an English writer and medical practitioner whose life spanned the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Biography Early life Thomas Lodge was born about 1557 in West Ham, the second son of Sir Thomas Lodge ...

– ''Rosalynde'' (1902) *

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

– '' The Sketch Book'' (1902) *

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish poet, novelist, playwright, and hack writer. A prolific author of various literature, he is regarded among the most versatile writers of the Georgian e ...

– ''Letters From A Citizen of The World To His Friend In The East'' (Wells Gardner, Darton, 1904) *

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

– ''

A Modern Utopia ''A Modern Utopia'' is a 1905 novel by H. G. Wells. Because of the complexity and sophistication of its narrative structure, ''A Modern Utopia'' has been called "not so much a modern as a postmodern utopia."Michael Sherborne, ''H.G. Wells: Anot ...

'' (Chapman & Hall, 1905) *

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué (; 12 February 1777 – 23 January 1843) was a German writer of the Romantic style. Biography He was born at Brandenburg an der Havel, of a family of French Huguenot origin, as evidenced in h ...

— ''Sintram and His Companions'' (Methuen, 1908) *Thomas Carlyle – '' The French Revolution: A History'' (Chapman & Hall, 1910) *

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

– ''Poems'' (T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1910) *

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

– ''The Works of Shakespeare'' (Photogravures) (Dent, 1911) *

Omar Khayyam Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīshābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131) (Persian language, Persian: غیاث الدین ابوالفتح عمر بن ابراهیم خیام نیشابورﻯ), commonly known as Omar ...

— ''

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald (poet), Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian language, Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dub ...

'' (Methuen, 1913) *Oliver Goldsmith – ''

The Vicar of Wakefield ''The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale, Supposed to Be Written by Himself'' is a 1766 novel by Anglo-Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774). It was written from 1761 to 1762 and published in 1766. It was one of the most popular and widely read 18 ...

'' (Constable, 1914) *E. J. Sullivan — ''The Kaiser’s Garland'' (Cartoons) (1915) *

George Outram George Outram (25 March 1805 – 15 September 1856) was a Scottish humorous poet, Scottish advocate, friend of John Wilson, and for some time editor of '' The Herald'' in Glasgow. Life Outram was born on 25 March 1805 the son of Elizabeth Kn ...

– ''Legal and Other Lyrics'' (Foulis, 1916) *E. J. Sullivan – ''The Art of Illustration'' (Chapman & Hall, 1921) *E. J. Sullivan – ''Line, An Art Study'' (Chapman & Hall, 1922) *E. J. Sullivan – ''Still-Life and Flowers'' (

Press Art School Percy Venner Bradshaw (27 November 1877 – 13 October 1965), who often signed PVB, was a British illustrator who also created the Press Art School, a correspondence course for drawing. Biography Percy Bradshaw was born in Hackney, part of L ...

, 1929)

Contributions

* ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company, Illustrated Newspapers Ltd with Thomas's brother, Lewis Samuel Thomas, as a co-founder. The Graphic was set up as ...

'' (1889) * ''

The Daily Graphic ''The Daily Graphic: An Illustrated Evening Newspaper'' was the first American newspaper with daily illustrations. It was founded in New York City in 1873 by Canadian engravers George-Édouard Desbarats and William Leggo, and began publicati ...

'' (1890) * ''

The English Illustrated Magazine ''The English Illustrated Magazine'' was a monthly publication that ran for 359 issues between October 1883 and August 1913. Features included travel, topography, and a large amount of fiction and were contributed by writers such as Thomas Hardy ...

'' (1891–4) * ''

Pall Mall Budget The ''Pall Mall Budget'' was a weekly magazine published in London from 1868 until 1920. It was a weekly digest of articles from evening newspaper '' The Pall Mall Gazette'' (1865 to 1923). The ''Pall Mall Budget'' was re-launched in 1893 by ...

'' (1893) * ''

The Yellow Book ''The Yellow Book'' was a British quarterly literary periodical that was published in London from 1894 to 1897. It was published at The Bodley Head Publishing House by Elkin Mathews and John Lane, and later by John Lane alone, and edited by th ...

'' (1894) * ''

Daily Chronicle The ''Daily Chronicle'' was a left-wing British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the '' Daily News'' to become the '' News Chronicle''. Foundation The ''Daily Chronicle'' was developed by Edward Lloyd out of a ...

'' (1895) * ''The New Budget'' (1895) * ''

Good Words ''Good Words'' was a 19th-century monthly periodical established in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consist ...

'' (1896) * ''The Lady's Pictorial'' (1898) * ''

The Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed i ...

'' (1899) * ''Black & White'' (1900) * ''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

'' (1903, 1910–11) * '' Punch'' (c. 1920) Also ''

Penny Illustrated Paper The ''Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times'' was a cheap ( 1d.) illustrated London weekly newspaper that ran from 1861 to 1913. Premises Illustrated weekly newspapers had been pioneered by the ''Illustrated London News ''The Illus ...

'', ''

The Pall Mall Magazine ''The Pall Mall Magazine'' was a monthly British literary magazine published between 1893 and 1914. Begun by William Waldorf Astor as an offshoot of ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', the magazine included poetry, short stories, serialized fiction, and ...

'', ''

The Gentlewoman ''The Gentlewoman'' was a weekly illustrated paper for women founded in 1890 and published in London. For its first thirty-six years its full title was ''The Gentlewoman: An Illustrated Weekly Journal for Gentlewomen''.Nos. 1 to 1,853 dated bet ...

'', ''

The Ludgate Monthly ''The Ludgate Monthly'' was a London-based monthly magazine, which published short fiction and articles of general interest. There were 118 issues from May 1891 to February 1901; the magazine then merged with ''The Universal Magazine''. The mag ...

'', ''

The Windsor Magazine ''The Windsor Magazine'' was a monthly illustrated publication produced by Ward Lock & Co from January 1895 to September 1939 (537 issues). The title page described it as "An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women". It was bound as six-monthly ...

'', and ''

Pearson's Magazine ''Pearson's Magazine'' was a monthly periodical that first appeared in Britain in 1896. A US version began publication in 1899. It specialised in speculative literature, political discussion, often of a socialist bent, and the arts. Its contribu ...

''.

Gallery

Notes

References

External links

* * *
''The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám''
illustrated by Sullivan, at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, E. J. 1869 births 1933 deaths Artists from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Artists from the London Borough of Wandsworth Artists from Sussex Art Nouveau illustrators English illustrators English people of Irish descent Masters of the Art Worker's Guild Artists from Hastings People from Kendal People from Mortlake, London People from Putney