The Image on Hundreds of Childrens Books

The Diverting History of John Gilpin

Written in 1782

Republished in 1878

Illustrated by Randolph Caldecott

Personal Notes:

Why am I featuring this book?  I thought we should learn about the man behind the name.  So I got the book that the Medal is from.  That’s right!  The Caldecott Medal is based on a picture from this book.  I still don’t know why this image was selected but I have now learned a bit more about it.  Like the two jugs tied to the belt are full of liquor!  Ha ha ha.  Yup this made me laugh that a common symbol that all American Children see multiple times in their childhood includes liquor!  What a funny bit of trivia!  So read and learn!  I sure did!

The following is from Wikipedia.
The Diverting History of John Gilpin is a comic ballad by William Cowper, written in 1782. The ballad concerns a draper called John Gilpin who rides a runaway horse. Cowper heard the story from Lady Anna Austen at a time of severe depression, and it cheered him up so much that he put it into verse.^[1] The poem was published anonymously in the Public Advertiser in 1782, and then published with The Task in 1785.^[2] It was very popular, to the extent that "pirate copies were being sold all across the country, together with Gilpin books and toys."^[1]
The poem was republished in 1878, illustrated by Randolph Caldecott and printed by Edmund Evans.

Bio Info:

Randolph Caldecott (22 March 1846 – 12 February 1886) was a British artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honor. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognized by the Royal Academy. Caldecott greatly influenced illustration of children's books during the nineteenth century. Two books illustrated by him, priced at a shilling each, were published every Christmas for eight years.
Caldecott's output, however, ranged wider than this: he illustrated novels and accounts of foreign travel, made humorous drawings depicting hunting and fashionable life, drew cartoons and he made sketches of the Houses of Parliament inside and out, and exhibited sculptures and paintings in oil and watercolor in the Royal Academy and galleries.
Death
However, his health was generally very poor and he suffered much from gastritis and a heart condition going back to an illness in his childhood. It was his health among other things which prompted his many winter trips to the Mediterranean and other warm climates. It was on such a tour in the United States of America in 1886 that he was taken ill again and succumbed. He and Marian had sailed to New York and travelled down the East Coast; they reached Florida in an unusually cold February; Randolph was taken ill and died at St. Augustine. He was not quite 40 years old. A headstone still marks his grave in the cemetery there.

Soon after his early death, his many friends contributed to a memorial to him which was designed by Sir Alfred Gilbert. It was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London.  There is also a memorial to him in Chester Cathedral.
1. Would this be a book I would pick up again? Yup!
2. Would I recommend it to others to search out and take a look at? For historical purposes yes!
3. Would I spend my hard earned money on the book? YUP!
4. Where did I get the book? Pierce County Library