Laurence Housman (1865–1959): Fairy Tale Teller, Illustrator and Aesthete

Abstract

Laurence Housman’s work in the fields of fairy literature, illustration and book design was one of the most inventive and innovative contributions to the British Aesthetic movement which turned the artistic and literary scene upside down in the second half of the nineteenth century. His four collections of illustrated fairy tales in particular show how his very personal style was a synthesis of various sources and influences that were also those of Aestheticism (Pre-Raphaelitism, Japonism. . .). Published at the beginning of his career, between 1894 and 1904, these fairy tale collections are in keeping with Housman’s conception of book design as a search for aesthetic unity within a book but also with his conviction that art and life are closely linked. The ideals of social harmony that he advocates in his tales are reflected at the visual level, in the harmonious layout and illustrations of his books. Housman’s work is proof that beyond the purely artistic principles of Aestheticism, there could also be social reflection and implications. But, above all else, his fairy tale collections are among the illustrated books which contributed, at the turn of the century, to creating a golden age of book illustration (critics generally regard the 1890s as “the second golden age of illustration” in Great Britain, after the 1860s), an exceptional period during which illustration finally won acclaim as a newly-recognized art while Art Nouveau was gradually promoting new standards for artistic creation.