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

THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA
along the old national pike as they were long ago.' From
the time of the production of these simple pen-and-inks,
the advance in the drawing of historical subj ects was uninterrupted. Article after article, some written by Howard
Pyle himself, some by other hands, but each treating some
phase of American history, appeared in the Harper publications, with careful and striking illustrations which seemed
almost to be the raison d'F~tre of the articles. The result of
these successes was that Howard Pyle began to gain a nationwide reputation for his ability to interpret periods of
American history.
In one way this phase of his genius differs very radically
from those other phases which have been treated in the preceding chapters. It was through a combination of his abilities both as an artist and as an author that he was able to
make so admirable a success with his fairy stories. Likewise, it was this creative duality that gave life and color to
the Middle Ages, and particularly to his contributions to
pirate lore. But in the field of history it was almost solely
through pictures that he appealed to his audience. The
articles which he wrote to go with his pictures, with the
exception of the very first ones, are obviously work of the
pot-boil variety. He made many attempts to adapt his historical knowledge to the written page, but nearly all are
unsuccessful. Yet each was illustrated by excellent drawings. Finally, he almost entirely gave up writing on historical subjects and devoted himself wholly to their pictorial
side. His inability to write compellingly on history is an
inexplicable fact, and is all the more puzzling because of
"1 "The Old National Pike," by W. H. Rideing, Harper's New Monthly
Magazine, November, 1879, VOL. lix, P. 8o1.
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