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] On September 24, 1913, Lester married Pauline Rohl. Together they had three daughters: Pauline Ralph, born March 30, 1915, Jean Ralph, born April 19, 1917, and Eileen Ralph, born March 1, 1919.

Ralph survived typhoid but died of appendicitis at St. Luke's Hospital in New York on April 5, 1927.[5][6][7]

Work

Ralph painted war scenes of the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and First and Second Anglo-Boer wars.[8] His classic Girl Scout poster is part of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library collection.[9] The face from the poster was also used for Girl Scout pins.[10]

He and W. B. Wollen designed special menu cards for a dinner of dignitaries.[11] He illustrated his father's account "In the Wake of the War" from the Turkish side of the war with Greece.[12]

Ralph also covered the Anglo-Boer War.[13][14]

He provided illustrations for Mark Twain's "Eve's Diary" in Harper's.[15][16] 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.[17]

Ralph illustrated stories in Scribner's Magazine and Collier's, as well as Owen Wister's 1906 novel Lady Baltimore.[18][19][20]

His illustrations of people dancing, including The One Step, featured on postcards and he also illustrated a Walk-Over shoe company catalog in 1916.[21][22]

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".[23]

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. ↑ "Elsie (Reasoner) Ralph – 1996 Inductee". Osborne County Hall of Fame. September 12, 2012.
  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. ↑ "Lester Ralph, Artist, Dies; Illustrated Twain's Work". Hartford Courant. New York (published April 7, 1927). AP. April 6, 1927. p. 9. Retrieved October 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ "Military Poster / Print: For a better womanhood -Girl Scouts Campaign: Oct. 25th to Nov. 1st 1919". Pritzker Military Museum & Library. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Exhibitions". www.worldofscoutingmuseum.org.
  11. ↑ Ralph, Julian (May 17, 1901). "An American with Lord Roberts". F.A. Stokes Company – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ Gilder, Jeannette Leonard; Gilder, Joseph Benson (May 17, 1898). "The Critic". Good Literature Publishing Company – via Google Books.
  13. ↑ Greenwall, Ryno (May 17, 1992). Artists & illustrators of the Anglo-Boer War. Fernwood Press. ISBN 9780958315425 – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ "Black & White". H.S. Wood. May 17, 1900 – 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. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Kather, Jan (December 16, 2016). "Mark Twain & Controversial Art".
  18. ↑ Burlingame, Edward Livermore; Bridges, Robert; Dashiell, Alfred Sheppard; Logan, Harlan (May 17, 1922). "Scribner's Magazine". Charles Scribner's Sons – via Google Books.
  19. ↑ "Collier's". 1922 – via books.google.com.
  20. ↑ Graulich, Melody; Tatum, Stephen (2003). Reading The Virginian in the New West. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803271042 – via books.google.com.
  21. ↑ Knowles, Mark (June 8, 2009). The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances. McFarland. ISBN 9780786453603 – via books.google.com.
  22. ↑ "Ladies' Home Journal". 1915 – via books.google.com.
  23. ↑ "The Book News Monthly". J. Wanamaker. May 19, 1908 – via Google Books.
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