H. R. Millar
Encyclopedia
Harold Robert Millar was a prominent and prolific Scottish graphic artist and illustrator of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is best known for his illustrations of children's books and fantasy literature. "His work...has a lively, imaginative charm and a distinctive sense of design."
A native of Dumfriesshire
, Millar first pursued civil engineering before deciding upon an artistic career. He then studied at the Wolverhampton Art School and the Birmingham School of Art
, and established his career as a magazine illustrator with Punch
, Good Words, and other periodicals of the day.
Millar illustrated fables for the Strand Magazine
, and anthologies of tales, The Golden Fairy Book, The Silver Fairy Book, The Diamond Fairy Book, and The Ruby Fairy Book. He illustrated books by a wide range of British authors of his time, including Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
, Robert Louis Stevenson
, and Rudyard Kipling
. He had an extensive working relationship with E. Nesbit
, and has been called "the most sympathetic and perhaps the most talented of her illustrators."
Apart from fantasy and children's books, Millar drew pictures for works like Kate Lawson's Highways and Homes of Japan (1910) and Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore's African Jungle Life (1928). Millar was a noted collector of Eastern art and exotic and ancient weapons, and employed his interest and knowledge in these areas in his artwork.
A partial list of the books Millar illustrated includes:
— among various others.
A native of Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries...
, Millar first pursued civil engineering before deciding upon an artistic career. He then studied at the Wolverhampton Art School and the Birmingham School of Art
Birmingham School of Art
The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, its Grade I listed building on...
, and established his career as a magazine illustrator with Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
, Good Words, and other periodicals of the day.
Millar illustrated fables for the Strand Magazine
Strand Magazine
The Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
, and anthologies of tales, The Golden Fairy Book, The Silver Fairy Book, The Diamond Fairy Book, and The Ruby Fairy Book. He illustrated books by a wide range of British authors of his time, including Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
Arthur Quiller-Couch
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch was a Cornish writer, who published under the pen name of Q. He is primarily remembered for the monumental Oxford Book Of English Verse 1250–1900 , and for his literary criticism...
, Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
, and Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
. He had an extensive working relationship with E. Nesbit
E. Nesbit
Edith Nesbit was an English author and poet whose children's works were published under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television...
, and has been called "the most sympathetic and perhaps the most talented of her illustrators."
Apart from fantasy and children's books, Millar drew pictures for works like Kate Lawson's Highways and Homes of Japan (1910) and Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore's African Jungle Life (1928). Millar was a noted collector of Eastern art and exotic and ancient weapons, and employed his interest and knowledge in these areas in his artwork.
A partial list of the books Millar illustrated includes:
- George EliotGeorge EliotMary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
's Scenes of Clerical LifeScenes of Clerical LifeScenes of Clerical Life is the title under which George Eliot's first published fictional work, a collection of three short stories, was released in book form, and the first of her works to be released under her famous pseudonym... - H. Rider HaggardH. Rider HaggardSir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
's The Brethren - Newman Harding's The Little Black Monkey and The Little Grey Pedlar
- Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
's Tanglewood TalesTanglewood TalesTanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls is a book by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, a sequel to A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys... - Howard Angus Kennedy's The New World Fairy Book and The Canadian Fairy Book
- Kipling's KimKim-Names:* Kim * Kim * Kim * Kim, Vietnamese form of Jin -Places:* KIM, IATA code for Kimberley Airport in South Africa* Kim, Colorado, United States* Kim, a town near Surat, Gujarat, India...
and Puck of Pook's HillPuck of Pook's HillPuck of Pook's Hill is a historical fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. The stories are all narrated to two children living near Burwash, in the area of Kipling's own house Bateman's, by people... - Captain Marryat's Frank Mildmay, The Phantom ShipThe Phantom ShipThe Phantom Ship is a Gothic novel by Frederick Marryat which explores the legend of the Flying Dutchman and, in one chapter, features a werewolf....
, and Snarley-Yow - Mrs. MolesworthMary Louisa MolesworthMary Louisa Molesworth was an English writer of children's stories who wrote for children under the name of Mrs Molesworth. She was born in Rotterdam, a daughter of Charles Augustus Stewart who later became a rich merchant in Manchester and his wife Agnes Janet Wilson . Mary had three brothers...
's Peterkin - James Morier's The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan
- Edith Nesbit's The Book of Dragons, The Enchanted CastleThe Enchanted CastleThe Enchanted Castle is a children's fantasy novel by Edith Nesbit first published in 1907.-Plot summary:The enchanted castle of the title is a country estate in the West Country seen through the eyes of three children, Gerald, James and Kathleen, who discover it while exploring during the school...
, Five Children and ItFive Children and ItFive Children and It is a children's novel by English author Edith Nesbit, first published in 1902; it was expanded from a series of stories published in the Strand Magazine in 1900 under the general title The Psammead, or the Gifts. It is the first of a trilogy...
, The House of Arden, The Magic CityThe Magic CityThe Magic City is an album by the American jazz musician Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra. Recorded in two sessions in 1965, the record was released on Ra's own Saturn label in 1966...
, The Story of the AmuletThe Story of the AmuletThe Story of the Amulet is a novel for children, written in 1906 by English author Edith Nesbit.It is the final part of a trilogy of novels that also includes Five Children and It and The Phoenix and the Carpet . In it the children re-encounter the Psammead—the "it" in Five Children and It...
, and other works - Thomas Love PeacockThomas Love PeacockThomas Love Peacock was an English satirist and author.Peacock was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work...
's Headlong HallHeadlong HallHeadlong Hall is the first novel by Thomas Love Peacock, published in 1815 .As in his later novel Crotchet Castle, Peacock assembles a group of eccentrics, each with a single monomaniacal obsession, and derives humor and social satire from their various interactions and conversations. The setting...
and Nightmare AbbeyNightmare AbbeyNightmare Abbey was the third of Thomas Love Peacock's novels to be published. It was written in late March and June 1818, and published in London in November of the same year by T. Hookham Jr of Old Bond Street and Baldwin, Craddock & Joy of Paternoster Row... - Quiller-Couch's Fairy Tales Far and Near
- Tetta Ward's My Fairy Tale Book
— among various others.