Shepperson: The Diary of a Goose Girl, 1901

It's not a simple task to track down biographical information about Claude A. Shepperson. He was British, born in 1867 and departed this life in 1921, just a few years after a tour of duty as a war artist (nearing the age of 50) in World War I. Some of his pictures may be seen at this Tate Gallery link. Most of his illustrations below may be enlarged by clicking on the image.

Inasmuch as we were discussing black and white line in pen and ink, I thought you might like to admire some of the work he did for three installments for Scribner's Magazine in the issues of May, June and July of 1901. Kate Douglas Wiggin is the author of the childrens' classic Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

Not only was Shepperson superb at drawing animals but he was equally great at depicting people of all ages. Add to that his wonderful feeling for figures in action. These illustrations were done in an age when serious illustration was often as stiff as the subjects depicted. Often that was exacerbated by the ponderous techniques used that got in the way of the story. Shepperson's work is straight forward, extremely competent, and without the heavy hand of virtuosity. I was very happy to discover his work and I'm delighted to offer it here.