Book Collecting

Book Illustrators

Biographies and information on collecting books illustrated by notable artists.

R. Crumb

The art of American cartoonist Robert Crumb (b. 1943) displays a distinctive style and satirical tone towards contemporary American culture. Growing up as one of five children with a physically and verbally abusive father and a mentally unstable mother, Crumb spent much time drawing as a kid. He was closest with his older brother Charles and the two often produced their own comics. In the late ’50s, young Robert discovered Mad magazine and later Humbug,…

Ralph Steadman

Ralph Steadman (b. 1936) has drawn everything from political caricatures to wine and beer labels to extinct birds, all in his own distinct style. An organic tangle of ink blotches and lines, Steadman’s art famously distorts the subject, while also revealing them in a new way. Born in Wallesey, Liverpool, Steadman’s first job was with De Havilland Aircraft Company as an apprentice aircraft engineer, but he soon found that he could not settle in to…

Rockwell Kent

Born to a privileged family in Tarrytown, New York, Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was granted the opportunity to attended several of the top private schools on the east coast during his youth. He first studied painting during the summer of 1900 under William Merritt Chase while attending the Columbia University School of Architecture. Just prior to his senior year at Columbia, Kent dropped out and enrolled full time at the New York School of Art, where…