Edmund Evans

Edmund Evans (1826-1905) was probably the most important printer in the history of picture books. As a kid, he showed a lot of talent for drawing and dropped school at 14 years to become an apprentice at well established and influential Ebenezer Landells.

When he started on his own, he soon got commissions from newspapers, but it was pretty clear his skill and especially a good sense for details would be in much better use in books with longer ‘expiration date’.

Evans improved existing printing technique of chromoxylography, but his major contribution to the development of the market with picture books was probably his cooperation with leading artists from the fields of painting and illustration. He wasn’t only printer and engraver, he also worked as publisher and promoter.

I’ll mention only the most important illustrators working with Edmund Evans which are, incidentally the most successful illustrators of the era in Great Britain:

1. Myles Birket Foster (1825-1899) was his close friend and after Evans married his niece his relative as well. They were working together at Landells and traveled around making sketches and improving their drawing technique.

The picture above is from the first important book by Evans. It’s titled The Poems of Oliver Goldsmith and it was published in 1859. Birket Foster made drawings on wooden blocks and Evans did the printing with very same paintings.

2. Walter Crane (1845-1915) was one of the first illustrators who understood the importance of design and his vignettes are still a must-see for every inspiring visual artist. Evans soon realized his talent and with him, he started a series of relatively cheap but quality picture books which became very popular.

They made about 50 books together before their professional paths split because Crane was more interested in pure art and socialist political movement, while Evans was more into business. This is one of finest examples of their cooperation:

3. Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886) was the first choice when it was clear the cooperation with Crane was approaching the end. They initially agreed on two books for Christmas season 1878 and both were a huge commercial success.

Caldecott was able to choose next projects which were in most cases rhymes for children and he illustrated two books per year for Evans until he died. His Nursery Rhymes in twelve books were sold in more than 800 thousand copies in less than six years!

4. Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) was a kind of backup for Caldecott because Evans already had enough work to commission his projects to other printers. Her style was very well received by the audience and they were just perfect for each other.

Evans was a skilled businessman and Greenaway created sentimental pictures which were in very high demand. Evans was also able to reproduce her style in unprecedented quality, so their success was no surprise.

First project Under the Window (book of rhymes which she also wrote) tested the market, in best possible way - it was sold out in a few weeks and achieved more than one hundred thousand sold copies in her lifetime.

5. I would like to mention one more illustrator: Richard Doyle (1824-1883). He didn’t work so much with Evans for several reasons and illustrator’s own approach to the illustration (he was a chronic procrastinator) was certainly one of them. They, however, created one of the masterpieces of Victorian art where fantasy creatures, Doyle’s favorite subject, met Evans’ knowledge. It was published in 1870 and wasn’t successful in the market because the price was set too high. But we can still enjoy it, right?

I hope you learned more about Edmund Evans, the man, who definitely made one of the the biggest impacts on children’s picture books in history.