Name

John Macfarlane

Culture

Australian

Gender

Male

Birth place

Bonhill, Scotland View on map Close map

Death date

1936

Death Place

London, England View on map Close map

Occupations

Illustrator

Summary

Australia 1857? - 1898

Context

Australia

Biography

he did his first book illustration for a London-based publisher the same year. Even more interesting, the blog lists all books published in London known to have illustrations by Macfarlane, and of 79 books, 45 were by Australian authors, including Ethel Turner, Mary Grant Bruce (he did 12 of the Billabong books) and Lillian Pyke. There are two interesting points about his book illustration. Firstly, he had previously spent 20 years in Australia as a news illustrator, and in the process saw much of the south-eastern corner during his travels for work, meaning back in London, he was well placed to give credibility to imaginative book illustrations relating to the country, even if in terms of the lie of the land, vegetation and figure-related detail. Secondly, in Australia he was doing factual news illustration reproduced as linear-based wood engravings, whereas in England, he was doing imaginative fiction illustration reproduced as tonal-based B & W half-tones. [information from Peter Dowling, 30/01/2020]