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!

"Gem Glosso" Christmas Series No. C-5068 (1914)

"Gem Glosso" Christmas Series No. C-5068 (1914)
Raphael Tuck & Sons

Here's another postcard from Raphael Tuck & Sons, this one from 1914.

What's interesting is that there ae a couple of variations of this card, despite  them having the same number of C-5068.

They both feature an illustration of a newly jovial Scrooge on the right-hand side, but they have different seasonal Dickens quotes on the left.

I'm partial to the top one, as "Happy Christmas" sounds so British!

Whatever the case, they're very evocative!

And "Gem Glosso" is such a cool name!

"Dickens" Post Card No. 1639 (1904)

"Dickens" Post Card No. 1639 (1904)
Scrooge (A Christmas Carol)
Raphael Tuck & Sons

We continue to kick it old school with this intriguing postcard published by Raphael Tuck and Sons in 1904.

This firm issued a ton of postcards, which were all the rage in England in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

As with any British purveyor of illsuartions, Dickens characters made their way into the proceedings, hence this character study of one Ebenezer Scrooge.

The side indicates that this was "Phototyped in Saxony."  I don't really know what that menas, but this appears to be an actual photo of a pretty Scroogey guy!

I like it!