Helen Stratton: Difference between revisions

Stratton was born in Nowganj, [[Bundelkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[India]] on 5 April 1867,<ref>Her birth/baptism is recorded in the India Office Collection at the British Library and has been indexed on the IGI (familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FGQ2-BZ6)</ref> the daughter of a surgeon in the Indian military service [[John Proudfoot Stratton (1830-1895)]] and Georgina Anne Anderson. Soon after Helen's birth, and following her father's retirement, the family moved to England, settling in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]].<ref>The 1871 census shows the family living in Henrietta Place, Grove Street, Bath.</ref> By 1891 Helen was in [[Kensington]], London to attend art school,<ref>The 1891 census shows her boarding in Cromwell Road, Kensington.</ref> where she became a follower of [[Art Nouveau]] in the style of the [[Glasgow School of Art]]. For many years she lived and worked as a book illustrator and painter in Kensington with her widowed mother and siblings.<ref>Both the 1901 and 1911 Censuses show the family at 113 Abingdon Road W, Kensington.</ref> Stratton remained unmarried, and in the 1930s she returned to Bath, living at The Bungalow, Widcombe Hill. She died on 4 June 1961, age 95, at Cran Hill Nursing Home, Weston.<ref>electoralElectoral roll, directories, and probate record.</ref>

From 1896 Stratton became well known for bold and imaginative pen and ink illustrations to classic tales, her first success being Norman Gale's ''Songs for Little People'', of which ''The Bookseller'' wrote in 1896 "Miss Stratton has headed, tailed and bordered the verses with a series of exquisitely pictured fancies".<ref>quotedQuoted in Dalby, Richard "The Golden Age of Children's Book Illustration", Michael O'Mara Books Ltd (1991) p.52.</ref> In 1898 she drew 167 illustrations for Walter Douglas Campbell's ''Beyond the Border'', then a year later reached the peak of her illustration career with upwards of four hundred drawings for a finely crafted art nouveau quarto edition of ''The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen'', published by [[George Newnes Ltd|George Newnes]]. In the same year she collaborated with [[William Heath Robinson]] and three other illustrators (A D McCormick, A L Davis and A E Norbury) to create hundreds of illustrations for ''The Arabian Nights Entertainments'', initially published in sections, then later in a large quarto edition. Although initially noted for her black and white illustrations she also illustrated in watercolour for works such as H.C. Herbertson's ''Heroic Legends'' (1908) and Jean Lang's ''A Book of Myths'' (1915). Her work for ''[[The Princess and the Goblin]]'' by [[George MacDonald]] and its sequel ''[[The Princess and Curdie]]'' (1912) were particularly popular and have been frequently reprinted.<ref>Dalby p.52</ref>

* [[Norman Rowland Gale]] - ''Songs For Little People'' 8 B/W plates &, B/W drawings throughout (Constable, 1896),

* [[Hans Christian Andersen]] – ''Tales From Hans Andersen'' (Constable, 1896),

* [[Walter Douglas Campbell]] - ''Beyond The Border'' 167 B/W drawings (Constable, 1898),

* Hans Christian Andersen – ''The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen'' circa 400 bB/wW illustrations by Lemercier and Helen Stratton (who gets sole credit on the title page) (George Newnes, 1899),

* Anonymous - ''The Arabian Nights Entertainments'' (contributor) (George Newnes, 1899),

* [[George Laurence Gomme]] – ''The Princess's Story Book'' 23 B/W drawings (Constable, 1901),

* [[Edmund Spencer]]Various – ''Fairy Tales Fromfor TheLittle Faerie QueenFolk'', Retold by Clara L. Thompson (Horace Marshal & Son/SpaightBlackie, 1902),

* Various – ''FairyLong, TalesLong forAgo: LittleA FolkPicture Book of Nursery Tales'' (Blackie, 1902),

* Various[[Thomas Malory]] – ''Long,Selections LongFrom Ago:Le AMorte PictureD’Arthur'' Book(Edited ofby NurseryC. Tales''L. Thomson) (BlackieMarshall, 1902),

* [[ThomasClara MaloryLinklater Thomson]] – ''SelectionsTales From LeThe Morte D’ArthurGreek'' (Edited by C. L. Thomson) (Marshall, 1902),

* [[ClaraBrothers Linklater ThomsonGrimm]] – ''TalesGrimm’s FromFairy The GreekTales'' (Marshall, 19021903),

* [[BrothersCharles GrimmLamb]] – ''Grimm’sShakespeare FairyFor TalesYoung People (The Tempest)'' (1903)Alexander Moring, 1904)

* [[Gladys Davidson]] (selected and retold for children by) – ''The Arabian Nights' Entertainments'' (Blackie, 1906),

* [[Bessie Marchant]] – ''A Daughter of the Ranges'' (Blackie, 1906),

* [[Agnes Grozier Herbertson]] – ''Heroic Legends'' 16 colour plates (Blackie, 1908),

* [[Brothers Grimm]] – ''Cherry Blossom and Other Stories from Grimm'' 16 colour plates, 39 B/W (Blackie, 1908),

* [[John Bunyan]] (retold by Agnes Grozier) – ''The Pilgrim’s Progress'' (Blackie, 1909),

* Gladys Davidson (selected and retold for children by) – ''The Arabian Nights' Entertainments'' (Blackie, 1909; extended ed. of the 1906 ed.),

* [[Eliza F. Pollard]] – ''A Saxon Maid'' colour frontespiece &frontispiece, B/W text drawings (Blackie, 1909),

* [[Jessie Mabel Dearmer]] – ''The Playmate: A Christmas Mystery'' (Mowbray, 1910),

* [[George MacDonald]] – ''The Princess and The Goblin'' (Blackie, 1911),

* George MacDonald – ''The Princess and Curdie'' 12 colour plates, 29 B/W (Blackie, 1912),

* [[Marie of Romania|Crown Princess of Roumania]], ''The Lily of Life, A Fairy Tale'', preface by Sylvia Carmen, 18 colour plates (Hodder, 1913).

* [[Ethel Carnie]] – ''The Lamp Cat,Girl and Other Stories'' (Headley Bros, 1913),

* [[Jean Lang]] – ''A Book of Myths'' 20 colour plates (T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1915),

* [[Eleanor Cecilia Barnes]] – ''As The Water Flows: A Record of Adventures in a Canoe on The Rivers and Trout Streams of Southern England''Numerous landscape36 watercolourscolour plates, B/W drawings and initials throughout (Grant Richards, 1920),

* [[Brothers Grimm]] – ''Stories From Grimm'' (Blackie, 1921),

* [[Henry Lawrence Somers Cocks]] – ''The Mystery of Malvern Mire'' colour frontespiecefrontispiece, B/W text drawings (Wilson & Phillips, 1924),

* [[Enid Leale]] – ''Tony’s Desert Island'' (Nelson, 1929),

* [[Christine Chaundler]] – ''Ronald’s Burglar'' Colourcolour frontespiece &frontispiece, B/W throughout (Nelson, 1934)

* {{Gutenberg author | id=Stratton,+Helen 25495| name=Helen Stratton}}

[[Category:PeopleArtists from Bath, Somerset]]

[[Category:British women artistschildren's book illustrators]]