Howard Pyle, a chronicle by Charles D. Abbott, with an introduction by N. C. Wyeth and many illustrations from Howard Pyle's works.

CHAPTER V

"MAGIC CASEMENTS"
1T0 WARD PYLE'S productions are so varied, coverLIing so many fields that are only slightly related to one
another, that it has seemed best to treat separately in the
majority of the remaining chapters each important phase of
his work, rather than to attempt to give in chronological
detail the record of his achievements. There are certain advantages of clarity and order which must necessarily be lost,
since it is impossible to cover the different aspects of his work
in the proper sequence, but the greater distinctness given to
his chief contributions, both to art and to literature, seems to
warrant this departure from the time element.
He had been in New York only a -short time when he
discovered that the greatest charm of his literary work lay
in the deftness of its appeal to children. At first nearly all
that he did was in the form of animal fables, many of which
Mary Mapes Dodge accepted for St. Nicholas, and in which
she undoubtedly recognized evidences of ability that would
probably develop into a real power of writing for young
people, for she encouraged him in fostering this talent, encouraged him perhaps a little too much, for, as the diary
letters show, he was almost tempted to devote himself exclusively to letters and allow his art to deteriorate. From
this he was fortunately saved by the salutary influence of
Church and some of his other early comrades, but the fact
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