Paul Bransom

Paul Bransom (1885–1979) was a U.S. illustrator of animals, a painter, and a cartoonist.

Born in Washington, D.C., as a child Bransom started sketching animals he saw in his backyard and at the National Zoo.^[1] He began his career as a technical draftsman for the U.S. Patent Office when he was 13 years old. In 1903 he moved to New York City where he worked for the New York Evening Journal as a comic strip artist. After moving to New York, his talent as a wildlife artist was recognized while creating studies of the animals at the Bronx Zoo.^[2] His earliest commissions were covers for the Saturday Evening Post^[2] and illustrations for editions of Kipling's Just So Stories and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.^[3] He was awarded the Benjamin West Clinedinst Memorial Medal,^[2] and his works are included in the collection of the National Museum of American Illustration at Newport, Rhode Island.^[4]

Illustration by Paul Bransom from An Argosy of Fables, plate facing page 52

Bransom's published works include:

• Just So Stories (Garden City, NY: Country Life Press, c1912), by Rudyard Kipling
• An Argosy of Fables (New York: F. A. Stokes, c1921), ed. by Frederic Taber Cooper
• The Wild Heart (New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corp., 1922), by Emma-Lindsay Squier
• The Wind in the Willows (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1913), by Kenneth Grahame
• The Country Gentleman (Curtis Publishing) cover illustration

References

1. Finding aid to the Paul Bransom papers, 1862-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
2. "Paul Bransom (1885-1979)". Artists Gallery. Indianapolis: Curtis Publishing. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
3. "(Bransom, Paul, 1885-1979)". The Online Books Page. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
4. "The Stars on our Flag". National Museum of American Illustration,. 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2011.

External links

• Works by Paul Bransom at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Paul Bransom at Internet Archive