More Kyd!

We're not quite done with Kyd yet!

Here are a couple more illustrations by Joseph Clayton Clarke, signed with his familiar "Kyd" soubriquet:

I don't know the source of these, but they're totally different takes on the characters from the ones that we had just seen.

And these are billed as from "Christmas Tales," not "The Christmas Books" like the last set!

Maybe from about 1920 and maybe from Tuck & Sons?

And there's this one that I know even less about:

For those keeping track (OK, maybe just me!), the subtitle at the bottom of this one reads "A Christmas Carol" rather than just "Christmas Carol" like on the earlier set!

Good stuff, to be sure, and the characters from "(A) Christmas Carol" are only the tip of the Dickens iceberg for Kyd.

You can find out more from the awesome The Victorian Web!

And dig that wacky sketch at the top of Charles Dickens conjuring up the Spirit of Christmas!

"The Christmas Books" (1900?) - Kyd

The Christmas Books (1900?)

Illustrator: J. C. "Kyd" Clarke

A while back (in this post) I had shared a cigarette card from a  series of "Characters from Dickens" as illustrated by Joseph Clayton Clarke, known professionally as "Kyd."

The only card from that series that featured a character from "A Christmas Carol" was number 35, which was Scrooge.

But... it turns out that image was taken from a larger set of Dickens characters from "The Christmas Books" which I think are from about 1900 and may have been published by Raphael Tuck & Sons.

Whatever the case, we have these six to enjoy:

The selection of characters is interesting. They seem to be the major male characters from the book (Marley having been male while alive) with Peter Cratchit having made the cut over Fred.

Peter looks a little crazy, perhaps overwhelmed by the honor?

And I do need to say that I think Tiny Tim looks like a short adult more than sickly child!

And is Bob's last name Cratchett?

But they're a lot of fun!

"Characters from Dickens" #35 - "Scrooge" - Player's Cigarettes (1910)

"Characters from Dickens" #35 - "Scrooge" (1910)
Player's Cigarettes 
Artist: J. Clayton Clarke ("Kyd")

Let's get a little time travel whiplash by leaving 2017 and going back more than a century to 1910 for this fun little cigarette card.

This is back in the day when cigarettes were ubiquitous and some manufacturers included cards as a premium in certain packs.

A lot of baseball players were featured on American cigarette cards, including Honus Wagner on a really famous and valuable one.

This British set featured characters from Dickens novels and the representative from "A Christmas Carol" is, of course, Scrooge.

The artwork is fun and the back features the most concise plot summary ever. Good work there!

You can read more about this card at  The Victorian Web - a really informative website!