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American artist and illustrator (1848–1936) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Thayer Merrill (December 14, 1848 – October 12, 1936)[1] was an American artist and illustrator. He is best known for his drawings for the first illustrated edition of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women, published in 1880. Over a five-decade career, he illustrated a wide variety of works for adults and children.
Frank Thayer Merrill | |
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Frank T. Merrill, self-portrait | |
| Born | December 14, 1848 Roxbury, Massachusetts, US |
| Died | October 12, 1936 (aged 87) Dorchester, Massachusetts, US |
| Known for | Book illustration |
| Notable work |
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| Years active | 1870s–1920s |
| Signature | |
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Frank Thayer Merrill was born on December 14, 1848, to George William Merrill (1824–1879) and Sarah Rose Merrill (née Alden, 1822–1895) in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Both parents were natives of Westbrook, Maine. His father was descended from Nathaniel Merrill, who emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1635.[2] His mother was a direct descendant of John Alden, of the Mayflower crew.[a]
He attended local public schools, graduating from either Roxbury High School[3] or Boston Latin School[4] — sources disagree. (The 1865 state census lists the 16-year-old Merrill's occupation as "clerk" rather than "student".[5]) His mother "greatly encouraged Merrill's artistic development and from her much of his talent is said to have come".[4] Merrill participated in the free drawing program at the Lowell Institute from 1864 to 1875, and entered the school of drawing and painting at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1875.[6]
In 1870, Merrill established a studio in Roxbury[b] where he dedicated himself to a career as an illustrator as well as painting in watercolor and oil. He traveled to Europe in 1884, painting and sketching in France, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands and England.[6]
He drew on his observations of Parisian life along the Seine river to write a story titled Through the Heart of Paris. It appeared in the January 1886 issue of the children's magazine Wide Awake[7] and was included in a collection of Wide Awake travel articles, Sights Worth Seeing by Those Who Saw Them, also published in 1886.
Merrill's first major commission was to illustrate a new edition of Little Women.[8] Originally released in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, a single-volume revised edition was published in 1880 to capitalize on the book's popularity and to deter copyright violators.[9] Merrill created over two hundred pen-and-ink drawings for the new edition.
In 2002, the Concord Museum in Concord, Massachusetts, mounted an exhibition of sixty-five of Merrill's original drawings for Little Women, some with annotations by the author giving both praise and editorial direction.[10]
Alcott was pleased with the final drawings, writing to her publisher:
The drawings are all capital, and we had great fun over them down here this rainy day.... Mr. Merrill certainly deserves a good penny for his work. Such a fertile fancy and quick hand as his should be well paid, and I shall not begrudge him his well-earned compensation, nor the praise I am sure these illustrations will earn.
Merrill also illustrated some of Alcott's books re-issued after her death, including: An Old-Fashioned Girl (1898 Roberts Brothers edition) and Little Men (1904 Little, Brown & Co. edition).
Shortly after Little Women was published, Merrill was asked to supply illustrations for the first edition of The Prince and the Pauper (1881) by Mark Twain. He shared credit with John J. Harley and Ludvig Sandöe Ipsen for the 192 illustrations.
Twain commented favorably on Merrill's drawings in letters to his publisher:
As to the pictures, they clear surpass my highest expectations. They are as dainty and rich as etching.
— Letter to Benjamin Ticknor, August 1, 1881[12]
Over the course of his career, Merrill created thousands of illustrations for a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. Some of his earliest work appears in a history titled Pioneers in the Settlement of America published in 1877.[13] He went on to illustrate a number of other histories, primarily for children, sharing his deep interest in American history, particularly the colonial and revolutionary eras.[14] These include:
Many of the works Merrill contributed to were reissues of American and English classics:
He also supplied illustrations for contemporary, or popular, fiction:
Merrill specialized in children's books, or what might be called Young Adult fiction. Many were entries in multi-book series for which he provided illustrations for one or more volumes.[15]
Merrill displayed considerable skill as a calligrapher. His editions of two Christmas poems, Thackeray's The Mahogany Tree[16] and A Christmas Carroll, written in 1622 by George Wither,[17] are entirely rendered with full-page drawings, decorative elements and hand-lettered text.
Merrill exhibited in a number of art galleries, including the Salmagundi Club in New York City.[18] A Boston newspaper reviewed an 1885 exhibition of watercolors at Chase's Art Gallery. (The Bromley Arms, which became the Donnithorne Arms in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede, was painted by Merrill when he was in England.)
The first twelve have a double interest, being sketches from the scene of "Adam Bede", and to the readers of this immortal book they will prove very interesting. "The Bromley Arms" is very delicate in handling, and the color is quiet and cool; the grays are soft but rather ordinary; there is a lack of fine feeling for minute gradation. The perspective is more than good; the tottering stone wall in the left foreground is particularly well managed; the geese are cleverly drawn and with considerable character.
Another newspaper review of a 1905 exhibition at Walter Rowland's galleries was also complimentary.
The artist had a desirable opportunity opened to him when he was commissioned to illustrate new editions of the poems of Keats and Shelley, and, with the opportunity, a severe test was imposed. [...] We all know how much more beautiful are the pictures which have never been painted than any pictures that actually exist. [...] it must be said the Mr. Merrill has acquitted himself of his task very creditably indeed. Among the thirty illustrations [...] are many which are most interesting and sympathetic. Not less so are the drawings made to illustrate Dumas's romances.
— Mr. Merrill's Exhibition, Boston Evening Transcript, March 1, 1905[20]
In 1914, Merrill appeared as a witness in a case of "larceny and conspiracy" regarding the sale of a collection of books.[21] When asked his opinion of the illustrations in one of the books, he replied, "It's not a very gracious thing for one artist to criticize another but as I see this I will say it doesn't appeal to me". Merrill also stated that he was paid "a little in excess of $1,900" for illustrations made for editions of the collected works of Keats and Shelley, which were among the books involved in the lawsuit. He added that he was paid $60 for each of four drawings for books by Mark Twain, probably referring to a commission for four full-page illustrations for a new edition of The Prince and the Pauper which was published in 1899.[22]
Merrill married Jessie S. Aldrich (1858–1936) of Boston on December 14, 1881, at the Walnut Avenue (now Eliot) Congregational Church in Roxbury.[23] The couple lived in Roxbury until 1886 when they moved to a newly built house and studio on Tremlett St. in the Codman Square neighborhood of Dorchester. Merrill worked out of this studio for the rest of his life.[24]
The Merrills had four sons:
A life-long resident of Boston, Merrill was active in the community. He gave talks to local groups on illustration and historic costuming, drawing on his experience collecting and restoring American antiques.[14][32] In 1886, a charity event, "Music of the Centuries", was staged for the New England Conservatory. Merrill was credited for work on two tableaux: as artist for "Court of Charlemagne (A.D. 800)" and as artist and manager for "Cavaliers and Roundheads (A.D. 1645)".[33] A Republican, he served as an inspector of elections for his city precinct. He was elected vice-president of the Corporation of Mount Pleasant Home for Aged Men and Women in 1908. Mrs. Merrill was also on the executive committee.
On December 14, 1931, Jessie and Frank Merrill celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary (which was also Frank's birthday) at the home where they had resided for 45 years, in the company of friends, and their three sons.[34] Jessie died a few years later,[35] followed by Frank within three months.[36] Both were interred in the family plot at Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.
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