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

HOWARD. PYLE: A CHRONICLE
of his abilities after this failure he wrote on September 18,
18 96, to Richard Watson Gilder of the Century:
1 think the trouble with my pictures arises in part
because the first part of this story is descriptive rather than
actional, and in part becaiise I feel myself working with
very much restraint. I am so especially anxious to do this
work to your satisfaction and to that of Dr. Mitchell that
I am constantly haunted by the fear that what I am doing
I am doing amiss. And then, to confess the truth, I do not
feel myself entirely fitted to illustrate stories.
"I think the chief value-such as it is-of my work lies
in the imaginative side, but where the text places the scene
exactly as it occurred the artist is obliged to limit himself
exactly to that text, and you can easily see that it is almost
impossible to exercise the imagination freely.
"In the illustration of the first part, for example, I suggested a point that I felt rather filled out the story than
directly illustrated it. The sketch I sent you represented the
little boy leaning over the parapet of the bridge with the
surroundings, as I could imagine them, of quaint old Philadelphia. I think the subject was far more interesting and
fulfilled the text much more than the picture of the mother
welcoming the return of the little boy from school. But,
as you may remember, it was deemed best by you that I
should adhere strictly to the text.. 0 *.
Then on September 23rd, he wrote to Dr. Mitchell, who
was beginning to complain that he was not kept in touch
with the progress of the pictures:
I wish most heartily now that I had not undertaken to illustrate it. I quite agree with you that a story,
especially one that is so dramatically told, is very much
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