Lot 389: Frank Beard (1842-1905) Drawing

Frank Beard (1842-1905) grew to become a widely known American illustrator, "chalk talk" artist, and cartoonist in the late 19th century. In early 1850s, Beard was a boy of 7 or 8 years old when he first saw Yankee Notions, which he later termed "the first American comic journal," published by T.W. Strong in New York City USA. His favorite was Brother Jonathan published by Wilson & Company in New York City. He and his brothers would "spread the pages on the floor and lie on our stomachs, studying the pictures and spelling out the titles and jokes beneath them, for hours together." Beard's first published work as an illustrator may have appeared in Comic Monthly, published from 1859 to 1881. His cartoons also appeared in Judge. Beard drew both single panel cartoons and sequential art (comics). Around 1893 he began illustrating for The Ram's Horn, a non-denominational Christian periodical published during the 1890s and early 1900s by Frederick L. Chapman & Company in Chicago, Illinois USA. The magazine warned of the growing dangers of secularism in American society which were becoming more evident at that time. Eventually Beard became the magazine's principal illustrator, drawing both covers and interior illustrations. It is reported that, at some point in his career, Beard vowed to no longer do any cartoons which weren't aimed at spreading Christianity. Some of The Ram's Horn material was gathered together into a book called Fifty Great Cartoons(1899), published by the magazine for its subscribers. A full color edition of Beard's artwork, entitled One Hundred Sermon Pictures, was published in 1902. Frank's brother was Daniel Carter Beard [1850-1941] American illustrator, author, youth leader, and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Offered here is an original ink drawing, unsigned but guaranteed to be by him, approx. 14-1/2 x 11-1/4" thick paper stock.

Small corner piece missing affects nothing. VG