Edmund Evans - Children's Books

Children's Books

Critics regard Evans' most important work to be his prints of children's books with from the latter part of the century with Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway, and Randolph Caldecott which revolutionized children's publishing. Early in the century children's book were often hand colored, and the chromoxylography processes Evans perfected "brought an immense improvement in coloured picture books for children in the last quarter of the century". In 1865, Evans agreed with publishing house Routledge and Warne to provide toy books—paperbound books of six pages, to be sold for sixpence each. They "revolutionized the field of children's books" and lent Evans his association with children's book illustrators. The market for toy books became so great that he began to self-publish and commission the artists for illustrations. When demand swelled beyond his capacity, he employed other engraving firms to fill the orders.

The concept of a picture book for children, with the art dominating the text rather than illustrations supplementing the text, was an invention of the mid-19th century. According to Judith Saltman of the University of British Columbia, Evans' work as a printer of children's picture-books is particularly notable; she believes he printed the "most memorable body of illustrated books for children" in the Victorian era, and the three illustrators, whose works he printed, can be regarded as the "founders of the picture-book tradition in English and American children's books". He considered full-colour printing a technique well-suited to the simple illustrations in children's books. Evans reacted against crudely coloured children's book illustrations, which he believed could be beautiful and inexpensive if the print run was large enough to maintain the costs. In doing so, Evans hired Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott as illustrators, all of whom became successful because of Evans' "recognition, encouragement, and brilliant colour reproduction".