Warwick Goble – Illustrations for The Water Babies 1909

Warwick Goble (1862 – 1943) was an illustrator of children’s books. He specialized in Japanese and Indian themes.

In 1909, he became resident gift book illustrator for MacMillan and produced illustrations for The Water Babies, Green Willow, and Other Japanese Fairy Tales, The Complete Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Stories from the Pentamerone, Folk Tales of Bengal, The Fairy Book, and The Book of Fairy Poetry.

During World War I, he was employed in the drawing office of Woolrich Arsenal, and volunteered for service with the Red Cross in France. He worked occasionally for New York MacMillan, and produced editions of Treasure Island and Kidnapped. Goble gradually gave up illustration to pursue sculling, cycling, and travelling. He died in his Surrey home in 1943.

The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby is a children’s novel by Charles Kingsley. Written in 1862–63 as a serial for Macmillan’s Magazine, it was first published in its entirety in 1863. It was written as part satire in support of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species. The book was extremely popular in England, and was a mainstay of British children’s literature for many decades, but eventually fell out of favour in part due to its prejudices (common at the time) against Irish, Jews, Catholics and Americans.

Presenting Warwick Goble’s illustrations from the First edition of The Water Babies book. Published by Macmillan & Co, London, 1909.

For a list of illustrations by Warwick Goble available on our site. Please visit our Warwick Goble Illustrated Books Art Gallery.

Art Gallery: Warwick Goble – The Water Babies 1909