Artist Paul Bransom

 

Paul Bransom had no artistic training, unlike the other illustrators featured in this section. When he was 13, he worked as an apprentice at the patent office, drawing sketches of inventions. In his spare time, he sketched animals at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

At age 17, Bransom went to work for the railroad, drawing boxcars and locomotives. Then he moved to New York and drew illustrations for the New International Encyclopedia. From there, he went to work for the New York Evening News drawing a comic strip called “The News From Bugville.”

After that, Bransom sold some drawings to the Saturday Evening Post. At about that same time, William T. Hornaday, the director of the New York Zoological Park, let him set up a studio in the lion house.

Bransom’s career blossomed after his illustrations appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.

In 1906, The Washington Post declared Paul Bransom America’s foremost animal artist. “He has neither time nor patience for piffle in natural history,” said the paper. “He simply tells you the story of the rattlesnake, as you would find it were you to accompany him afield to study these interesting and much-maligned creatures in their own natural haunts.”

During his 70-year career, Bransom’s illustrations appeared in all the major magazines. In addition, he illustrated nearly fifty books, including The Call of the Wild by Jack London, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, and Children of the Wild by Sir Charles G. D. Roberts.

Later, Bransom kept studios in Canada Lake, New York, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

historybytes offers unique historical collectibles. https://www.ebay.com/str/historybytes