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SPECIAL FEATURE

By Barbara Schmidt

CHRONOLOGY OF TRUE W. WILLIAMS' WORKS & HIS PUBLISHERS

 

Illustrator Truman W. Williams: 

Born - March 22, 1839, Allegany County, NY

Died - November 23, 1897, Chicago, IL

 

Williams' illustrations appear in the following:

 

1862-
Harper's Weekly,
"Rebel Prisoners at Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois," April 5, 1862

 


1869 -

Struggles and Triumphs: or Forty Years of Recollections, P. T. Barnum. J. B. Burr & Co., Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  11 out of 33; no other illustrator signified

reprinted in 1889 as

 

Beyond the Mississippi,  Albert Deane Richardson. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

(Williams' illustrations do not appear in the 1867 first edition of this volume.  The 1869 edition is an expanded edition.)

No. of illustrations attributed to Williams in index:  2 out of 216; numerous other illustrators

 

The Innocents Abroad,  Mark Twain. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  4 out of 234

 

 

1870 -

Overland Through Asia, Thomas W. Knox, American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  6 out 193; numerous other illustrators

 

Twenty Years Among the Bulls and Bears of Wall Street, Matthew Hale Smith.

J. B. Burr & Co., Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  1 out of 12; no other illustrators signified

reprinted and expanded in 1873 as: Bulls & Bears of New York, with the Crises of 1873 and the cause

 

Palace and Hovel, Daniel Joseph Kirwan. Belknap & Bliss, Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  6 out of 34; no other illustrator signified

 

Harper's Bazar, June 11, 1870, p. 376, True Williams, 2 illustrations titled "Froth" and "Dregs"

 

 

1871 -

Art Review, vol. 1, March 1871, "The Hawks Nest", illustrated poem by Bret Harte.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  one full page

 

Sights and Sensations in Europe, Junius Henri Browne. American Publishing Company,

Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  1 out of 70; (13 additional reprinted from Innocents Abroad)

frontispiece reprint of Empress Eugunie from Harper's Bazar, Oct. 29, 1870, p. 701

one reprint of Beggar Woman from Harper's Weekly, Sept. 19, 1868, p. 604

 

 1872 -

Roughing It, Mark Twain. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

 

Afoot and Alone; a Walk from Sea to Sea, Stephen Powers. Columbian Book Co., Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  6 out of 29; others in Williams' style

 

Disenthralled:  A Story of My Life, George M. Dutcher. Columbian Book Co., Hartford, CT.

No.of illustrations signed by Williams:  1 out of 6 (full page)

 

My Opinions and Betsey Bobbet's, Marietta Holley. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

(no original TWW illustrations; reprints from Roughing It, Disenthralled, and Palace and Hovel)

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  5 out 56 (reprinted from Roughing It ); other illustrators include Tudor Horton and James Carter Beard

 

 1873 -

The Gilded Age, Mark Twain & Charles Dudley Warner. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

(also includes one reprint from Palace and Hovel)

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  30 out of 212 (3 are full page)

 

Knots Untied, George S. McWatters.  J. B. Burr and Hyde, Hartford, CT.

Contains reprints of illustrations from Twenty Years Among the Bulls and Bears of Wall Street.

 

 1874 -

Unwritten History:  Life Amongst the Modocs, Joaquin Miller. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

also issued as Paquita, Indian Heroine

reprinted 1968, Gregg Press, Saddle River, N.J.

Williams sole illustrator:  25 full page illustrations

 

John Paul's Book, Charles Henry Webb. Columbian Book Co., Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  17 of 32 (all full page); 3 unsigned; other illustrations by W.H. Davenport

 

Squibs of California, Palmer Cox. Mutual Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  1 out of 183; numerous in Williiams' style; others signed by Palmer Cox; one reprint from Overland Through Asia titles "An Old Salt".

 

1875 -

People from the other World, Henry S. Olcott. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

(copyrighted 1874)

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  11 of 58; Alfred Kappes other illustrator

 

Mark Twain's Sketches, New and Old, Mark Twain, American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

 

Tobacco:  It's History, Varieties, Culture, E. R. Billings. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  14 out of 170 including full page frontispiece; other illustrators include Davenport and Shaw

 

History of the Big Bonanza, William Wright (Dan DeQuille). American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT. (copyrighted 1875)

Illustrations signed by Williams:  19 out of 91 (numerous others in his style and script); other illustrators include Davenport

 

 1876 -

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain, American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

 

Guarding the Mails; or, the Secret Service of the Post Office Department, Patrick Henry Woodward. Dustin, Gilman & Co., Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  52 out of 161; other illustrators A. R. Waud and Benjamin Day

 

The Great American Story: Gabriel Conroy, Bret Harte. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT. (copyrighted 1875)

Williams sole illustrator:  33 full page illustrations

 

 1877-

Josiah Allen's Wife as a P. A. [Promiscuous Advisor] and P.I. [Private Investigator]:  Samantha at the Centennial, Marietta Holley. American Publishing Company, Hartford,CT. 

Williams sole illustrator:  88 total illustrations; (26 are full page); two repeated from Squibs of California

 

Illustrated India:  It's Princes and Peoples, Julia A. Stone. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.  [Stone was the wife of the American consul to India.]

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  36 out of 127 (29 are full page); additional illustrations in Williams style are unsigned

 

 1878 –

Detectives of Europe and America or Life in the Secret Service, George S. McWatters.

J. B. Burr Publishing Co., Hartford, CT.

Contains reprints of illustrations from Twenty Years Among the Bulls and Bears of Wall Street.

Innocents from Abroad, George Douglas Tallman.
G. W. Carleton & Co.
Williams sole illustrator: 10 full page illustrations

 

1879 -

Heroes of Three Wars, Willard Glazier. Hubbard Bros., Philadelphia, PA

(copyrighted in 1878); released in 1879

* 15 illustrations; 2 signed WILLIAMS, PHILA and 1 signed WILLIAMS. 

However, they have not been definitely attributed to True W. Williams even though they are similiar to his style.

 

The Life of Hon. William F. Cody, known as Buffalo Bill: An Autobiography. F. E. Bliss, Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  14 out of 80 (10 are full page); others in Williams style are unsigned; additional reprints from Roughing It, Tom Sawyer, Big Bonanza, and Squibs of California

 

 1880 -

A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain, American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT. (copyrighted 1879)

No. of illustrations signed by Williams: at least 34 out of 328 (three are full page)

 

My Wayward Pardner, Marietta Holley. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

Sole illustrator:  132 illustrations (36 full page)

 

The Lament of the Mormon Wife, Marietta Holley. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  1 out of 11; others in Williams' style; no other illustrator signified

 

1882 –

Collier's Cyclopedia of Commercial and Social Information,  compiled by Nugent Robinson. Peter Fenelon Collier & Son, 1882. 9 full page illustrations.

 

1883 -

Miss Richard's Boy & Other Stories, by Marietta Holley. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT. (one reprint from The Lament of the Mormon Wife )

Copyrighted 1882; 1st edition Feb. 1883; reprinted 1887. 

Sole illustrator:  148 illustrations (17 full page)

 

Peculiarities of American Cities, Willard Glazier, Hubbard Bros., Philadelphia, PA. 25 illustrations; (information based on newspaper interview with William's niece; illustrations in Williams' style in this volume are unsigned)

 

 1884 -

A Modern Quixote:  or, My wife's fool of a husband, by August Berkeley,  (possible pen name for Samuel A. Gardner). 1884, and 1888. American Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

Sole illustrator:  127 (8 full page)

 

Platform Echoes:  Or Leaves From My Note-Book of Forty Years, John B. Gough. A. D. Worthington & Co., Hartford, CT. (entered into copyright 1884)

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  24 out of 263 (includes decorative chapter headings); 3 of the 24 are full page illustrations; majority of others in Williams style contain his "trademark" characters and flourishes are unsigned; other illustrators are F. O. C. Darley, Wm. Sheppard, and George White

 

The Sower - A Poem, by Augustus Currey; illustrations designed and drawn by True Williams. Riverside Publishing Co., Detroit, Michigan

Sole illustrator:  12 illustrations

 

The Lives of James G. Blaine and John A. Logan, Republican Presidential Candidates of 1884, Thomas W. Knox. Hartford Publishing Company, Hartford, CT.

Sole illustrator:  12 full page illustrations

 

Rules of Etiquette and Home Culture; or What to Do and How to Do it, Walter Raleigh Houghton, et. Al. Rand McNally, Chicago IL.

132 illustration; none signed by Williams; majority signed Rand McNally; 2 reprinted from The Lament of the Mormon Wife

 

Our Famous Women, by Twenty Eminent Authors.  A. D. Worthington & Co., Hartford, CT.  15 full page illustrations.

 

1885 -

Legends and Superstitions of the Sea and Sailors, Fletcher Bassett. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

reprinted 1971 by Singing Tree Press, Detroit

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  23 of 55 (13 are full page); no other illustrator signified

 

Shadowed to Europe:  A Chicago Detective on Two Continents, by "Le Jemlys", in advertisements, author is James Mooney (Mooney & Boland Detective Series). Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

Sole illustrator:  14 full page illustrations plus book cover

 

New Stories from an Old Book, H. L. Hammond. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL

Reprinted 1887 by L. P. Miller & Co., Chicago, IL.

Sole illustrator:  25 full page illustrations

 

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte. Belford, Clarke & Co., Chicago and New York. (Caxton edition).  Full page frontispiece.

 

 1886 -

Romola, George Eliot.  Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL. Frontispiece.

 

Silas Marner, the Lifted Veil, Brother Jacob and Scenes of Clerical Life.  George Eliot. Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL. Frontispiece

 

Two Women in Black, the marvelous career of a noted forger, John W. Postgate (from the Mooney & Boland detective series). Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

republished in 1890 as Two Women in Black by James Mooney, Belford-Clarke, Microfilm held by Library of Congress.

[Note:  several letters from John W. Postgate to Samuel Clemens are listed in UNION CATALOG OF LETTERS .]

Sole illustrator:  16 full page illustrations

 

Her Desperate Victory, Martha Louise Rayne. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

Sole illustrator:  5 full page illustrations

 

The Chicago Riot: A Record of the Terrible Scenes of May 4, 1886, Paul C. Hull. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.
Sole illustrator: 10 full page illustrations

 

Baughman, the Oklahoma Scout, Theodore Baughman. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  4 out of 9 (all full page)

 

Favorite Fairy Tales.  Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.  3 full page illustrations by Williams (1890 edition examined.)

 

Belford's Annual 1886-87. Edited by Thomas Handford.  Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.  104 full page illustrations; Williams sole illustrator.  Also released under the title Belford's Chatterbox 1886-87.

 

1887 -

Theophrastus Such; Jubal, and Other Poems; and The Spanish Gypsy, George Eliot.  Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL. Frontispiece.

 

Shams or Uncle  Ben's Experience with Hypocrites; John S. Draper. National Book and Picture Co., Chicago, IL.  107 illustrations; 11 full page; 3 initialed; no other illustrator indicated; strong Marietta Holley resemblances.

Wonders of a Great City: or the Sights, Secrets, and Sins of New York, Matthew Hale Smith. People's Publishing Co., Chicago, IL. (reprinted portions of Twenty Years Among the Bulls and Bears of Wall Street, (1870)  no new illustrations, one illustration reprinted from Peculiarities of American Cities (1883); 25 illustrations

 

Beecher:  Christian Philosopher, Pulpit Orator, Patriot and Philanthropist.,

edited by Thomas Handford. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

Sole illustrator:  6 full page illustrations

 

Down the Great River, Willard Glazier. Hubbard Bros., Philadelphia, PA. (information based on interview with Williams' niece; illustrations in Williams' style are unsigned.)

25 illustrations

 

East Lynne, Mrs. Henry Wood. Belford, Clarke & Co., Chicago and New York.(Caxton edition).  Full page frontispiece signed Wms.

 

How Private George Peck Put Down the Rebellion, George Wilbur Peck. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

reprinted by Morrill, Higgins, & Co., 1893, Chicago, IL.

reprinted by W. B. Conkey, 1900

Sole illustrator:  16 full page illustrations

 

Peck's Irish Friend, Phelan Geoheagan, George Wilbur Peck. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, copyrighted in 1887

reprinted in 1894 by W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.

Sole illustrator:  30 illustrations plus cover

 

Belford's Annual 1887-88; Edited by Thomas Handford.  Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.  125 full page illustrations.

 

 1888 -

Felix Holt, the Radical, George Eliot.  Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL. Frontispiece.

 

Poetry & Pictures for the Little Ones, edited by Thomas Handford.  Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

color cover

Sole illustrator:  41 illustrations

 

Animals and Birds, edited by Thomas Handford. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL, copyrighted in 1888

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  8 (full page) out of 33

 

Bill Nye's Chestnuts Old & New, Bill Nye. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  12 full page; other illustrators Frederick Burr Opper and Livingston Hopkins.

 

History of Illinois in Words of One Syllable, ed. Thomas W. Handford. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  2 out of 76; others in Williams' style unsigned

 

The Little Blind God on Rails: A Romaunt of the Gold Northwest, by James Daly. Rand McNally & Co., Chicago, IL. Also Chicago and North Western Railway Company. Color cover. (Note: James Daly may be pseudonym for Frank S. Gray who wrote For Love and Bears.)
No. of illustrations by Williams: more than 24.

 

Belford's Annual 1888-89, ed. Thomas W. Handford. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

color frontispiece

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  60 out of 119; others in Williams' style unsigned

 

Rand McNally & Co.'s New Overland Guide to the Pacific Coast.  California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas, by James W. Steele. Rand McNally & Co., Chicago, IL.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  2 out of 101; others in his style contain inscription of Rand McNally resembling Williams's handwriting.  Reprinted as Santa Fe Route in 1890.

 

Christmas Day:  stories, legends, and poems, ed. Thomas Handford. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  8 (full page) out of 25; others in Williams' style are unsigned

 

1889 -

Daniel Deronda, George Eliot.  Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL.Frontispiece.

 

Middlemarch, George Eliot.  Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL.. Frontispiece.

 

Struggles and Triumphs:  or Sixty Years of Recollections, P. T. Barnum. Buffalo:  The Courier Company (reprinted) retained 25 of the original illustrations from the 1869 volume out of a new total of 43

 

Grandma's Stories, ed. Thomas W. Handford. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

Reprinted by L. M. Ayer Publishing Co., Minneapolis, Minn., 1890.

 

Andersen's Fairy Tales, H. C. (Hans Christian) Andersen, Belford-Clarke,

Chicago, IL.

reprinted in 1899 by W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL. (15 out of 30 are Williams illustrations)

reprinted by Homewood Publishing, Chicago, IL (undated)

 

Old California Days, James Steele. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

also titled Old Californian Days  in some later editions

reprinted in 1893 by Homewood Publishing Co.

Sole illustrator:  41 illustrations (5 full page)

 

Echoes from the Rocky Mountains, John Wesley Clampitt. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL., copyrighted 1888

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  26 out of 109

 

The Boy Spy, J. O. Kerby. Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL.

No. of illustrations: 33 full page.  Williams sole illustrator.

 

Mill on the Floss, George Eliot. Belford, Clarke and Company, 1889.  Frontispiece.

 

Adam Bede and Scenes of Clerical Life.  George Eliot. Belford, Clarke and Company, 1889.  Frontispiece.

 

Happy Days, Thomas Handford. Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL.

 

History of Michigan in Words of One Syllable, Sarah Lieb.  Belford, Clarke and Co., Chicago, IL. No. of illustations signed by Williams:  19 out of 67.

 

Belford's Annual 1889-90, edited by Thomas Handford. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL. No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  55 out of 109

 

Anarachy and Anarchists. Michale Schaack.  F. J. Schulte and Company, Chicago, IL.  No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  5

 

Sunshine and Roses.  Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL.

 

 1890 -

Frank Fairweather's Fortunes, True Williams. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

reprinted by W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL. c1893.

reprinted by Juvenile Book House, c1895.

Sole illustrator:  98 illustrations plus cover (108 illustrations if tail-pieces included.)  63 full page; 34 partial page; 10 tailpieces.

 

Under the Open Sky, poems edited and illustrated by True Williams. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

Sole illustrator:  37 illustrations plus cover

 

Dreamland, Belford, Clarke and Company Chicago, IL.

 

Good Times, Belford, Clarke & Co., Chicago, IL.

 

 Lucile and Her Friends, Hattie Tyng Griswold. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

reprinted 1892  by W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.

Sole illustrator:  12 full page illustrations plus cover

 

Kings of the Platform and Pulpit, Melville D. Landon. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

reprinted Wabash (Belford-Clarke), 1892, Chicago

reprinted Werner Co., Chicago, 1893 (Alexander Belford, Vice-President of Werner Co.)

reprinted Saalfield Pub., Chicago, 1906

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  16 full page; numerous others in his style

 

Three of a Kind, best writings of George W. Peck, Bill Nye, and M. Quad. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

Portions reprinted in 1895 as American Wit and Humor, W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  2 full page reprints from Bill Nye's Chestnusts Old & New

 

My Own Story, Joaquin Miller. Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.

Sole illustrator:  9 full page illustrations

 

Cooper's Novels, James Fenimore Cooper.  (Thirty-two volumes).  Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL. 

Frontispiece for each volume.

Tentatively identified as 1890 - no publication date given.

Also published in sixteen volume set as J. Fenimore Cooper's Works by John W. Lovell Company, New York.

 

 1891 -

Lads and Lasses - Poems for Children. Belford, Clarke and Company, Chicago, IL.

 

Sparkles for Bright Eyes - Poems & Essays, edited by Thomas W. Handford, Belford-Clarke, Chicago, IL.  Color hard cover.

Sole illustrator:  54 illustrations

 

1892 -

Headwaters of the Mississippi, Willard Glazier. Rand McNally, Chicago, IL. (1st evidence of "brush wash" illustration technique); copyrighted 1892; 1st edition 1893

Sole illustrator:  58 full page illustrations including retouched photographs; additional decorative chapter headings.  1897 edition included additional illustrations.

 

Good Times - Tales of Family and Children.  Thomas Handford. Morrill, Higgins, & Co., Chicago, IL.

37 full page Williams illustrations -- many from Belford Annuals; others in his style

 

Three Girls in a Flat.  Enid Yandell.  Knight, Leonard and Company, 1892.

 

Rosebuds.  Thomas Handford. Morrill, Higgins and Company, Chicago, IL.

Frontispiece; copy of Lavinia (unsigned)

 

1893 -

Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa, George Wilbur Peck. W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.

(first Belford-Clarke edition of this appeared in 1883 without TWW illustrations;

year Williams first illustrated this work is yet to be determined)

reprinted in 1900 by Charles C. Thompson Co. Publishers, Chicago, IL.

reprinted in 1958 by Dover Publications, New York

Sole illustrator:

 

Rand McNally & Company's Handbook to the World's Columbian Exposition. Randy McNally & Company, Chicago, IL.

 

 1894 -

New Guide to the Pacific Coast, Santa Fe Route, Charles A. Higgins. Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, IL.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  3 out of 56; 26 are signed Rand McNally

Happy Hours, A Rare Collection of Stories and Sketches.  W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.  Illustrations from previous Belford, Clarke and Co. annuals.

 

1895 -

American Wit and Humor, W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.

No. of illustrations signed by Williams:  2 full page reprints from Bill Nye's Chestnusts Old & New

 

Idle Hours with Birds and Flowers.  W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.

 

Busy and Bright from Morning Till Night. W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.

 

1896 -

A May Day Outing.  W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL

 

1897 -

Christmas Morning.  W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.

 

Happy Hours, Wild Animal Primer.   W. B. Conkey, Chicago, IL.  Illustrations from previous Belford, Clarke and Co. annuals.

 

Nov. 1897 - True Williams works on illustrations for :

John  L. Stoddards' Lectures, vols. 1 - 10 , by John L. Stoddard, published by Balch Bros., Boston, MA. 

Vol. 1 - 4, copyrighted in 1897 by Belford & Middlebrook

Vol. 5 - 10, copyrighted in 1898

(10 original volumes of lectures; over 3,400 illustrations consisting of retouched photographs - some with color; brush washes, and a few line drawings.  Illustrations are not signed; thus the extent of Williams's work on these volumes prior to his death cannot be positively verified.  Many contain the flourish of birds in flight that was prominent in the work he did in Illustrated India.  This flourish decreases in the later volumes copyrighted in 1898.

 

Others with undetermined years of first appearances but were published after Williams's death:

At Home and Abroad,  Chicago: W. B. Conkey, 1899.

 

Jolly Chimes for Christmas Times, Chicago:  W. B. Conkey, 1899.

 

Old Santa Claus.  Chicago:  W. B. Conkey and Company, 1901.

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