Newell Convers Wyeth was born on October 22, 1882, in Needham, Massachusetts. Wyeth attended Mechanic Arts High School in Boston through May 1899, concentrating on drafting. He transferred to Massachusetts Normal Art School and instructor Richard Andrew urged him toward illustration.

Wyeth joined the Howard Pyle School of Art in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1902. Howard Pyle, one of the country's leading illustrators, began his school after leaving a teaching position at Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry in Philadelphia. Wyeth was an attentive pupil and quickly assimilated Pyle’s philosophy, one which combined the dramatic with solid sense of the subject. In less than five months, Wyeth successfully submitted a cover illustration to the Saturday Evening Post. By 1907, Wyeth was heralded in Outing Magazine as "one of our greatest, if not our greatest, painter of American outdoor life." His pictures had appeared in many of the most popular magazines of the period, such as Century, Harper's Monthly, Ladies' Home Journal, McClure's, Outing, and Scribner's.

In 1906, Wyeth married Carolyn Brenneman Bockius of Wilmington and moved to Chadds Ford, Pennsyvlania in 1908. In 1911, the Wyeths purchased 18 acres of property in Chadds Ford, and they immediately began to build a home and a studio.

In 1911, the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons engaged Wyeth to illustrate Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, his first commission in Scribner's popular series of classic stories. The book was successful and was the beginning of Wyeth’s long career with Scribner's. The titles he illustrated for the publishing house include Kidnapped (1913), The Black Arrow (1916), The Boy's King Arthur (1917), The Mysterious Island (1918), The Last of the Mohicans (1919), The Deerslayer (1925), and The Yearling (1939). He also created illustrations for other publishers, for books such as Robin Hood (David McKay, 1917); Robinson Crusoe (Cosmopolitan, 1920); Rip Van Winkle (David McKay, 1921); Men of Concord (Houghton-Mifflin, 1936); and Trending Into Maine (Little, Brown, 1938).

Throughout his career Wyeth desired to be known as a painter and not an illustrator. At the time, the distinction between painting and illustration was an important one, with illustration carrying a negative connotation among artists. In his lifetime, Wyeth never attained the personal satisfaction or public recognition that he sought. In 1945, Wyeth died at a railroad crossing in Chadds For. An oncoming locomotive hit Wyeth’s car, killing the artist and one of his grandchildren. Bibliography

N.C. Wyeth Biography, Brandywine River Museum of Art, www.brandywine.org, accessed: 2017 December 27

This collection consists of twelve paintings by artist N. C. Wyeth. The collection comprises one piece from The Bounty Trilogy and eleven pieces from the Anthology of Children's Literature.

The collection is arranged in alphabetical order by title.

Publication Information:

Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection, 2017 December 12

Finding Aid Author:

Finding aid prepared by Christopher A. Brown

Sponsor:

The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources’ “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.

Access Restrictions:

This collection is open to researchers by appointment. Please contact the Curator for information on access.

Use Restrictions:

The right of access to material does not imply the right of publication. Permission for reprinting, reproduction, or extensive quotation from the rare books, manuscripts, prints, or drawings must be obtained through written application, stating the use to be made of the material. The reader bears the responsibility for any possible infringement of copyright laws in the publication of such material. A reproduction fee will be charged if the material is to be reproduced in a commercial publication.

Some of the materials in this collection may be too fragile for use without the Curator’s supervision.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

All pieces in this collection were gifted to the Free Library of Philadelpha by an anonymous donor.

Brandywine River Museum of Art, N. C. Wyeth Collection.

National Museum of American Illustration, N. C. Wyeth Collection.

Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department.

• Folklore
• Illustrations
• Storytelling

• Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian), 1805-1875
• Duncan, Norman, 1871-1916
• Edwardes, Marian
• Grimm, Jacob, 1785-1863
• Grimm, Wilhelm, 1786-1859
• Hall, James Norman, 1887-1951
• James I, King of England, 1566-1625
• Johnson, Edna, 1876-1967
• Lucas, Edgar (Alice), Mrs. , 1855-
• Nordhoff, Charles , 1887-1947
• Noyes, Alfred, 1880-1958
• Olcott, Frances Jenkins, 1872-1963
• Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William), 1857-1920
• Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967
• Scott, Carrie Emma, 1874-1943
• Spyri, Johanna, 1827-1901
• Wheeler, William A. (William Adolphus), 1833-1874
• Wyeth, N.C., (Newell Convers), 1882-1945

• Art
• Artists
• Children's literature--20th century
• Illustrated children's books--20th century