Charles Dana Gibson Books

Charles Dana Gibson, I think, can be credited for single-handedly creating in our minds the ideal of Victorian womanhood in the Americas. His "Gibson Girl" was the pin-up of its day (if that's not too vulgar), stoic, immaculately dressed, and a formidible match for her man. I've enjoyed his work for a long time, and was happy to find thsi volume. In it, you will find a wealth of Gibson's "GIbson Girl"-related illustrations, as well as a selection of illustrations that are more satirical in nature, dealing with members of America's social classes around the turn of the century.

What is most amazing - beside Gibson's excellent command of line and his beautiful, sensitive renderings - is his eye for irony. GIbson's illustrations - almost all of them accompanied by a witty caption - seems to have been something of a wit, and never failed to make a poignant pun on his subject. Some of his commentaries on the poor situations of the working class are actually quite scathing - unexpected from an illustrator I always associated with the "upper strata" of society. This book is not simply a gallery of work by a master - it is also an education.

What keeps this book, for me, from receiving five stars, is that some of my favorite of his cartoons have not been included. I saw a similar volume published in the 1970s that had a selection of similar size, but different illustrations, and I wish tha that would be published as well. However, at any rate, this is excellent and well worth the money for any fan of illustration. Enjoy!

This is a great book for anyone who likes the fashons of the late 1800's, Gibson girl, or just well drawn pictures! Gibson was a great artist, and you can tell from his captions he had a sense of humor. Every page in the book is filled with beautiful, clear, large sized drawings of Gibson Girl and her friends. I was delighted with my copy!! It even includes Gibson's "comic" book, "The Education of Mr. Pipp", and a brief but interesting biography of Mr. Gibson.

Awesome. I thought this would just be a few sketches of his ladies, but it's LOTS of his renderings of all kinds of different subjects. He's one of the most amazing talents I've ever seen.

The two leading American illustrators of women at the dividing point of the 19th and 20th centuries were Charles Dana Gibson and Harrison Fisher. I find that I have always liked Gibson much better than Fisher, because Fisher seems to lack a sense of humor while Gibson's work is informed by a sharp, dry, sometimes sardonic wit as he eyes the fads and follies of the high society of the 1890's and early 1900's (of which he himself was a part by virtue of his marriage to one of the Langhorne sisters). As the previous reviewer has mentioned, the highlight of this particular collection is the inclusion of the bulk of the drawings from his famous "The Education of Mr. Pipp", which combines Gibson's trademark humor with not one, but two, beautiful Gibson girls. (Considering that Gibson, earlier in his career, had issued vituperative denunciations of mercenary marital alliances between Eurotrash nobles and American women - most notably in his famous "America's Tribute" - it is particularly humorous that one of Mr. Pipp's daughters is snagged by a Scottish laird who is as clean-cut and upstanding as any American Gibson man!) As I mentioned in my review of Steven Warshaw's "The Gibson Girl", "The Gibson Girl and Her America" is best appreciated as part of a comprehensive collection including both aforementioned books plus Woody Gelman's "The Best of Charles Dana Gibson" and Fairfax Downey's 1936 biography (containing over 100 Gibson drawings) "Portrait of an Era as Drawn by C.D. Gibson". (Actually, the Gibson completist really needs to get - if he or she can find it! - the 1906/1907 2-volume behemoth "The Gibson Book", a compilation of 11 of the artist's volumes with a total of over 800 drawings.) Failing that, this book is a splendid introduction to the work of one of the true icons of America's popular culture.

This book, and two others, _The Gibson Girl_ (edited by Steven Gelman) and _The Gibson Girl and Her America_ (from Dover Publications), along with the 1936 biography _Portrait of an Era_ (by Fairfax Downey), all together provide a fine overview of one of America's iconic artists, Charles Dana Gibson, and his most famous creation, the "Gibson Girl". The 200+ pen-and-ink drawings in this handsome hardbound volume cover the artist's most fertile and best-known period from the early 1890's through the middle 1900's, when he turned his talents to oil painting (though he returned to drawing later on, earning new fame for his patriotic illustrations during World War I). The highlight of this particular collection is the series "A Widow and her Friends", which does not appear in complete form in any other modern book, and is an example of Gibson's wry humor as splendid as his better-known "The Education of Mr. Pipp". A nice little bonus is a photograph of the gorgeous Josephine Gibson Knowlton, Gibson's sister, who was the model for many of his drawings (his wife, Irene Langhorne Gibson of the Langhornes of Virginia, was the model for many more). A definite must-have for any C.D. Gibson fan.

Most Amazon customers are probably never going to encounter this book because it's literally a rarity; originally printed in 1906, this huge (literally; each volume measures out at 24" x 12" approximately) two-volume compilation is many years out of circulation and is very difficult to find in any condition. Even copies with significant damage (damaged covers, loose pages) can go for a lot of money.

However, any serious Charles Dana Gibson fan must at least try to get this book, because it's the finest collection of his work I've ever seen. It brings together no fewer than 11 of his art books published during the 1890's and 1900's, including several of his most classic characters (Mr. Pipp and his family, the suitor-besieged young widow, the girl-haunted gentleman of "The Weaker Sex"), and the extra-large format makes for exquisite, perfectly detailed reproductions of the drawings which make even the excellent reproductions in "The Gibson Girl and Her America" (which I also own) pale by comparison. If you can afford to buy it, you will certainly not be disappointed and you'll have a pair of coffee-table books worth reading, not just displaying!

This 1968 book is a fine collection of over a hundred of Charles Dana Gibson's classic illustrations, mostly devoted to the famous "Gibson Girls" who personified the young American woman at the dividing line between the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of the cartoons evidence a sharp, often sardonic, wit as Gibson observes the fads and foibles of the high society of the Gay Nineties (of which he was himself a part, having married one of the famous Langhorne sisters of Virginia in 1895). That there is no text aside from the introduction is a minor drawback, but not really enough to make me downgrade the rating. I find that this book is best appreciated as part of a collection which includes the mid-1930's biography _Portrait of an Era as Drawn by C.D. Gibson_, Woody Gelman's book _The Best of Charles Dana Gibson_, and the Dover Publications book _The Gibson Girl and Her America_. The Holy Grail for Gibson fans is, or should be, _The Gibson Book_, a huge 2-volume collection of 11 of his art books published in the 1890's and 1900's; good luck finding that one, though! In the meantime, anyone looking for a nice basic collection of Gibson Girl pictures will find this volume fits the bill nicely.

Fairfax Downey wrote _Portrait of an Era_ in 1936, when the master artist was still alive (Gibson passed away in 1944), and therefore had ready access to him and his family. Downey presents Gibson's life story in crisp, often witty, and highly readable fashion, with numerous side excursions to point out aspects of the social scene that the artist captured in his famous drawings. Oh, and those drawings? A fine and very extensive selection of his best work, from his youth right up until his retirement (not many people know that Gibson was Life magazine's editor during the 1920's and early 1930's, when it was still essentially a humor magazine and before it transformed itself into the premier photo weekly of its era) is presented in the book. No Gibson fan should omit this book from his or her library.

Excellent Black & White drawings & printed etchings of C.1900-1910 "Gibson Girls" stylized drawings, that appear to have the "look" of Charles Dana Gibson or Harrison Fischer drawings. Both men were celebrated Illustraters of the turn of the century glamourized "coca cola" women. Recommended uses would be photocopying and for use in study & projects as there are facial closeups and women in various active poses. Very good...

Over Seas: U.S. Army Maritime Operations, 1898 Through the Fall of the Philippines is a useful corrective to the belief that maritime operations have historically been the exclusive purview of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The 17 chapters of this large `coffee-table' size book discuss the U.S. Army's maritime operations in detail during the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Boxer Rebellion, the Moro War, various expeditions in Mexico, the First World War, the Interwar Period, and the efforts to supply the Philippines during the Second World War from December 1941 to May 1942. The author, Charles D. Gibson, has established himself as the preeminent expert in U.S. Army maritime operations. He is the author of eight books on maritime topics and has received three awards from significant organizations such as the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

Over Seas is both well-written and meticulously researched. In addition to the 308 pages of chronologically organized narrative text, the author includes 31 photographs, 11 maps, 28 annotated ship lists, and 20 appendices. These 20 appendices are particularly worth noting in detail and include: "History of U.S. Law and Juridical Rulings That Differentiated `Public Vessel Seamen' of the Army Transport Service From Seamen of the Merchant Marine"; 1st Transport Workers Battalion, AEF; Civilians Who Volunteered to Serve in the Philippines with the Army Transport Service, December 31, 1941, to May 6, 1942; Military Decorations to Civilians, World War II; Offshore Patrol - Philippine Commonwealth Army; Army and Navy Officers Assigned to the Army Transport Service, Bataan/Corregidor - January 1941-May1942; and the Army's Mine Planter Service. The depth and breath of these appendices make them an extremely useful resource.

Over Seas should remain a definitive volume for many years to come and I earnestly hope that the author continues this theme by producing a volume on U.S. Army maritime operations after 1942. I highly recommend this book for individuals interested in maritime and U.S. Army history.

When composing a new painting or trying to get a certain look or image, this is a great reference. If you have no pending projects, it is good practice to redraw these clips.

Just got my copy yesterday. What a disappointment! I bought this, thinking that it was, well, all Gibson GIRL artwork, but it's not - there's children, and men also, which would have been fine, but it seems the majority of the women included can also be found in Women: A Pictorial Archive from Nineteenth-Century Sources (Dover Pictorial Archives), which I already own. However, that book (which is lovely) doesn't have a CD with it.

"Gibson Girl Illustrations: 200 Royalty-Free Designs" showcases the turn-of-the-century illustrations of Charles Dana Gibson who became renowned for his ability to capture the style and spirit of the American woman in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth society. Drawn from period advertising, catalogs, posters, newsletters and other Gibson projects, this is a 'must' for students of American art history as well as costume designers and students of American women's fashions.