Lester Ralph

Lester Ralph (1876 or 1877 – 1927) was an artist who illustrated for several publications.

Personal life

Ralph was the son of author and journalist Julian Ralph.[1]

In 1904, Ralph married war correspondent Elsie Reasoner, who became a famous model and sculptor.[2][3] In 1913, she died of phlebitis in Lloyd, Florida, and was buried at the Ralph family plot in New Jersey.[4]

Ralph survived typhoid but died of appendicitis at the age of 48.[5][6]

Work

Ralph painted war scenes of the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and First and Second Anglo-Boer wars.[7] His classic Girl Scout poster is part of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library collection.[8] The face from the poster was also used for Girl Scout pins.[9]

He and W. B. Wollen designed special menu cards for a dinner of dignitaries.[10] He illustrated his father's account "In the Wake of the War" from the Turkish side of the war with Greece.[11]

Ralph also covered the Anglo-Boer War.[12][13]

He provided illustrations for Mark Twain's "Eve's Diary" in Harper's.[14][15] When a Charlton, Massachusetts library expelled the book due to nude depictions by Ralph, Twain commented amusedly on the irony of making the Bible freely available.[16]

Ralph illustrated stories in Scribner's Magazine and Collier's, as well as Owen Wister's 1906 novel Lady Baltimore.[17][18][19]

His illustrations of people dancing, including The One Step, featured on postcards and he also illustrated a Walk-Over shoe company catalog in 1916.[20][21]

Ralph was one of the artists whose illustrations were included in the gift book A Book of Sweethearts marketed as having each picture a "climax of charm and color".[22]

Bibliography

References
  1. Pinney, Thomas (December 13, 1995). The Letters of Rudyard Kipling: Volume 3: 1900-10. Springer. ISBN 9781349137398 – via Google Books.
  2. "New International Yearbook: A Compendium of the World's Progress". May 19, 1914 – via Google Books.
  3. "Elsie Reasoner Ralph - Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951". sculpture.gla.ac.uk.
  4. ochf, Author (September 12, 2012). "Elsie (Reasoner) Ralph – 1996 Inductee".
  5. Orel, Harold (March 26, 1990). A Kipling Chronology. Springer. ISBN 9781349100330 – via Google Books.
  6. "Mark Twain Uniform Editions - Ch 26 - $30,000 Bequest". www.twainquotes.com.
  7. Tanner, James (September 11, 2017). The Instruments of Battle: The Fighting Drummers and Buglers of the British Army from the Late 17th Century to the Present Day. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 9781612003702 – via Google Books.
  8. "Military Poster / Print: For a better womanhood... | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago". www.pritzkermilitary.org.
  9. "Exhibitions". www.worldofscoutingmuseum.org.
  10. Ralph, Julian (May 17, 1901). "An American with Lord Roberts". F.A. Stokes Company – via Google Books.
  11. Gilder, Jeannette Leonard; Gilder, Joseph Benson (May 17, 1898). "The Critic". Good Literature Publishing Company – via Google Books.
  12. Greenwall, Ryno (May 17, 1992). Artists & illustrators of the Anglo-Boer War. Fernwood Press. ISBN 9780958315425 – via Google Books.
  13. "Black & White". H.S. Wood. May 17, 1900 – via Google Books.
  14. Rasmussen, R. Kent (May 14, 2014). Critical Companion to Mark Twain: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438108520 – via Google Books.
  15. Rasmussen, R. Kent (May 14, 2014). Critical Companion to Mark Twain: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438108520 – via Google Books.
  16. Kather, Jan (December 16, 2016). "Mark Twain & Controversial Art".
  17. Burlingame, Edward Livermore; Bridges, Robert; Dashiell, Alfred Sheppard; Logan, Harlan (May 17, 1922). "Scribner's Magazine". Charles Scribners Sons – via Google Books.
  18. "Collier's". 1922 – via books.google.com.
  19. Graulich, Melody; Tatum, Stephen (2003). Reading The Virginian in the New West. ISBN 0803271042 – via books.google.com.
  20. Knowles, Mark (8 June 2009). The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances. ISBN 9780786453603 – via books.google.com.
  21. "Ladies' Home Journal". 1915 – via books.google.com.
  22. "The Book News Monthly". J. Wanamaker. May 19, 1908 – via Google Books.
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