Do you know if Ballantyne or Henty drew pictures for any of their books? I love to draw, and I really appreciate it when an author draws pictures for his own books. You get to see what the author imagines his characters and places to look like, rather than someone else's imagination. I have enjoyed the gallery of drawings on your website heaps! Thank-you and God bless, -Julia
One of my favorite Henty books is Under Drakes Flag. This book has a great mixture of history and fast paced adventure. The main character, Ned Hearne, also known as "the otter," experiences a number of fascinating adventures as he escapes the dons and the Inquisition, travels across South America, and fights in furious sea battles!
Furthermore, I find that the illustrations by Gordon Browne are superb! I appreciate the way he catches the attitudes of the characters and the tone of the scene.
"Silver Enough to Make Us All Rich" The sack of the town Nombre de Dios by Drake and his men.
"A Race for Life."
"A Moment of Peril!"
I love this image. I think that this woodcut captures the spirit of the Henty boy: someone who takes command and becomes "master of the situation."
"Terrible encounter with a Shark" from The Coral IslandsBallantyne was not an extraordinary artist, but what makes his illustrations so very impressive is this: Ballantyne disciplined himself to master the skill of drawing, even though it was not his greatest natural strength. His skill was greater than his talent. This should be a lesson to all of us, particularly those who have been given natural artistic talent.
There have been plenty of artists who had little natural ability, but were able to master the tools and skills well enough to communicate the ideas they needed to, and give glory to the Master Artist. This is something to remember whenever we set our hand to the plow, whether an easy plow or a plow which leaves bruises on our hands.
Ballantyne is just one example of this sort of godly character. The nineteenth century was filled with average men who tended to be more disciplined, and took more pride in things like their drawing and even their penmanship. And so, when there are more men fulfilling their roles without whimpering or pushing it off, so there are more things accomplished for the glory of God.
The other day a friend sent me a quote by R.J. Rushdoony on this subject. In this quote Rushdoony is speaking of modern artists, clamoring for more subsidies so they'll have more free time to "create":
The simple fact is that this dream of subsidies and leisure to be "creative" is an illusion. It is not leisure which is productive, but work and rest. The best inventions are produced in the context of work and need, and the good writers and artists are those who are productive no matter what the circumstances...
Where subsidies and leisure operate, [Instead of steady work] the results are commonly mediocre and meager. One of the reasons why the world of literature and art today is so unrelated to reality is the fact of foundation subsidies for leisure to "create." The result is a divorce from faith and life. Inventiveness still flourishes simply because it is related to industrial research and development. In the arts and media, subsidies and leisure have replaced work and the Sabbath rest. The result is elitist art. There are no hierarchs in much of the world of art, i.e., men dedicated to sacred rule." (Systematic Theology, Vol. II, p. 1065)
I think it is very important for us as young men to remember that God said we are to "work by the sweat of our brow" (Gen. 3:19). And for us to be trying to do only the simple things and the easy things is to shirk the role of real men. We cannot be men "clamoring for more subsidies" or more leisure. We must be men who are willing to overcome any obstacle in the path of obeying the Lord's commands. We must do things for the glory of God and, even if we are not perfect or gifted in an area we have been assigned to work, we must not try to get out of it, but should be thankful for the opportunity to put our backs into it and accomplish the goal before us.
-Joshua Titus
Here are a few images from Over The Rocky Mountains. It is a very interesting fact that Ballantyne illustrated all of these. Whenever I see his drawings, it inspires me to work on my own drawing skills. I think that drawing as a general skill is a very important thing to know. Learning how to draw can be useful in many ways. Some of the greatest mappers and explorers of all time had to know how to draw to accomplish their roles as they mapped out large territories of uncharted land. Most importantly, drawing is a reflection of the greatest Artist, the Creator of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Over the Rocky Mountains.
The trapper shoots his dinner.
Feasting in the Prairies.
Today I thought I would put up a couple of images from R.M. Ballantyne's The Buffalo Runners.
The Chase.
Archie outwits the Redskins.
Eavesdroppers.
Here is one of Ballantyne's own illustrations from The Coral Island. Published by Thomas Nelson and Sons, first edition 1857.
Terrible Encounter with a Shark
I love the illustrations that are in the Ballantyne books. In the nineteen ten's and twenties Blackie and sons publishing house ran a printing of many of Ballantynes best stories. This particular edition would have a really great color image on first page of each book. Here is one of them:
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