Randolph CaldecottEnglish, 1846–1886The Kid and the Wolf
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London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
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- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Randolph Caldecott (1846 – 86) was an illustrator and artist best known for his children’s picture books. Caldecott’s version of Aesop’s Fables was a collaboration with both wood engraver James Davis Cooper and one of his younger brothers, Alfred Caldecott. Alfred Caldecott provided the translation, noting in the preface that he aimed to create an accurate translation, with ‘a plainness and terseness more nearly like the character of the originals’. He admits that in some cases, he has had to change the wording due to Randolph drawing his own interpretation of the story, for example switching a lion for a pack of hounds in ‘The Stag Looking into Water’.
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Its full title is Some of Aesop’s Fables with Modern Instances Shewn in Designs by Randolph Caldecott, with the ‘modern instances’ being Cooper’s idea, to show contemporary scenes that demonstrated each fable in effect. However, by the time it was published by Macmillan & Co in 1883, the trio had been working on the book since 1874 and felt the instances were not so modern anymore. Caldecott wrote of the book: ‘Do not expect much from this book. When I see proofs of it I wonder and regret that I did not approach the subject more seriously’.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- D.937-1886
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
