THE HISTORY OF CREATION AND DESIGN FEATURES OF THE BRITISH SERIES OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS “BOOKS FOR THE BAIRNS” (1896–1912)

Abstract

The 19th century is called the “golden age” of a children’s book. At this time, a variety of children’s literature appeared, first of all in Britain. The model of a decorated book are the books of Kelmscott Press. However, it was precisely at this time that a series of children’s books with a modest design at affordable prices, such as the so-called “one-penny” series “Books for the Bairns”, emerged. Ideologist and permanent editor of Books for the Bairns William T. Stead was a well-known journalist, founder and editor-in-chief of periodicals, public figure, child rights defender and a fighter against child prostitution. In 1912 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, but scandalous reports, imprisonment, and his interest in spiritualism made W. Stead’s im- age controversial. The concept of the series, created by Sted, is based on a combination of an adapted simplified literary translation and a detailed step-by-step visual story that accompanies the text. The chief illustrator and visual co-author of W. Sted was the Irish artist B. Le Fanu (Brinsley Le Fanu, 1854–1929). For B. Le Fanu, the illustration of the series was the biggest art project. At his time, B. Le Fanu was known for the illustrations to the works of his father — Sheridan Le Fanu, one of the founders of the Irish mystical novel. They have the characteristic features of the Victorian era. Making illustrations for children’s books, B. Le Fanu does not lose their fantastic nature, but combines them with a realistic drawing. Each cover of the series represents one of the main characters of the book. A simple but vivid picture, one or two characters on the cover, a landscape or interior outlined by several elements — that’s what the covers by B. Le Fanu were like. None of them are decorated with patterns or ornamental details. The artist consistently implemented the concept of simplicity and clarity suggested by W. Sted, but not primitiveness. The best volumes in the series are his illustrations of L. Carroll’s “Alice’s in Wonderland” and M. Servantes’s novel “The Adventures of Don Quixote”. The “Books for the Bairns” series, although not exquisitely designed and illustrated, has become a model for children’s literature publishers for half a century and inspired the appearance of similar series of cheap children’s books in Western Europe and also Russia and Ukraine.