Peter Newell
Peter Sheaf Hersey Newell was an American artist and author born on March 5, 1862, in McDonough County, Illinois. The youngest of four children, he developed a passion for drawing at a young age, which led him to pursue a career in illustration after graduating high school. Initially working in a cigar factory and then as a portrait copier, Newell moved to New York City in 1882 to become a cartoonist, gaining recognition in prominent national magazines that catered to children. He later settled in Springfield, Illinois, but found it challenging to support his family, prompting a return to New York for better opportunities.
Newell is best known for his whimsical illustrations and rhyming stories, particularly in his novel works such as "Peter Newell's Pictures and Rhymes" (1899) and novelty books including "The Hole Book" (1908) and "The Rocket Book" (1912). His illustrations often featured distinctive bug-eyed characters and playful verse, captivating young audiences. Newell's work in Sunday comic strips further showcased his creativity with the series "The Naps of Polly Sleepyhead." He remained involved in his community in New Jersey throughout his life and passed away on January 15, 1924, in Long Island, New York. His innovative contributions to children's literature have seen a revival, with his novelty books reissued in the twenty-first century.
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Subject Terms
Peter Newell
Writer
- Born: March 5, 1862
- Birthplace: Gungawam, McDonough County, Illinois
- Died: January 15, 1924
- Place of death: Little Neck, Long Island, New York
Biography
Peter Sheaf Hersey Newell was born on March 5, 1862, in rural McDonough County, Illinois, the youngest of four children. His parents were George Frederick Newell, a wagon maker, and Louisa N. Newell. From an early age, Newell loved to draw, filling every available surface with pictures. After graduating from high school, he worked for a few months as an apprentice in a cigar factory before finding a studio job in Jacksonville, Illinois, copying portrait photographs in crayon. The work was good technical training.
In 1882, having sold one cartoon to Harper’s Bazaar magazine, Newell moved to New York City to become a cartoonist and illustrator. Over several months, however, his work became familiar to readers of the most important national magazines, including St. Nicholas and Harper’s Round Table, which catered to children. Once he was known to national editors, Newell was able to return to Illinois and operate an illustration studio in Springfield.
In 1884, he married Leona Dow Ashcroft. The couple had two daughters and a son. Newell had misjudged how well he could support a family from Springfield, however, and for the next several years he and the family traveled from town to town, wherever he could find commissions or speaking engagements. Reluctantly, Newell moved back to New York to be nearer the publishing and advertising industries.
In 1893, Newell published an illustration with a rhyming couplet, “Wild Flowers,” in Harper’s Monthly. This developed into a series of cartoons with distinctive bug-eyed characters and whimsical rhymes, eventually published as Peter Newell’s Pictures and Rhymes (1899). His first books, however, were two collections called Topsys and Turvys (1893, 1894), illustrations that could be read upright or upside-down, with appropriate and rhyming captions for each view.
Newell and his family settled into a new community in New Jersey that came to be known as Leonia, after his wife. He was active in the community, serving on boards and clubs, singing in the church choir, and amusing the neighborhood children. He was by no means a man of leisure, however; illustration did not pay well, and it took many commissions, and many hours, to support a family.
In the twentieth century, Newell published three novelty books for children, The Hole Book (1908), The Slant Book (1910), and The Rocket Book (1912). These were books that combined Newell’s characteristic illustrations and silly verse with another twist of some kind. The Hole Book, for example, has a circular hole cut through every page, following the path of an accidentally shot bullet. When Sunday comic strips became popular in the early part of the twentieth century, Newell turned to this new form to create “The Naps of Polly Sleepyhead,” a series of exciting and silly dreams that ran in the New York Sunday Herald. Newell died on January 15, 1924, on Long Island, New York. His three novelty books were reissued in the twenty-first century.