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{{Infobox writer<br />
| name = Harry B. Neilson<br />
| image = Harry B. Neilson, The Fox’s Frolic (2).jpeg<br />
| caption = From ''The Fox's Frolic'' (1917)<br />
| birth_name = Henry Bingham Neilson<br />
| birth_date = 1861<br />
| birth_place = [[Birkenhead]], Cheshire, England<br />
| death_date = 13 October 1941 (aged 80)<br />
| death_place = [[West Kirby]], Cheshire, England<br />
| nationality = British<br />
| occupation = Children's author and illustrator<br />
| genre = Children's literature<br />
| notableworks = ''Mr Fox's Hunt Breakfast on Xmas Day'' (1897)<br />''The Fox's Frolic'' (1917)<br />
| spouse = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Henry Bingham Neilson''' (1861 – 13 October 1941), who signed his work and was usually credited as '''Harry B. Neilson''', less often as '''H. B. Neilson''', was a British illustrator, mostly of children’s books.<br />
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His first career was as an engineer and electrician, working for a Liverpool shipbuilder, at sea, and in India, where he was a part-time [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] cavalryman, but by the 1890s his career as an illustrator was established and he lived his last 37 years in an English village.<br />
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==Life and work==<br />
[[File:Harry B. Neilson, The Fox’s Frolic (3).jpg|thumb|Up at Dawn, from ''The Fox’s Frolic'']]<br />
Born at [[Birkenhead]], in an area called the [[Wirral Peninsula|Wirral]], which was then in [[Cheshire]], Neilson was the son of Andrew and Isabel Anne Neilson and had seven older brothers and sisters. His father was a Scottish merchant who for some years had lived and worked in [[Brazil]], while his mother was a [[British subject]] born in [[Cartagena, Colombia]]. The family moved to England in the 1850s and was settled in Birkenhead by the time of young Harry's birth in 1861, at 39, Westbourne Road, Birkenhead, a house then set among open fields which stretched into [[Claughton, Merseyside|Claughton]].<ref name=proudlove>Christopher Proudlove, ''[http://writeantiques.blogspot.com/2007/07/life-and-times-of-comic-genius.html?m=0 Life and times of a Comic Genius]'' at writeantiques.com, accessed 5 March 2019</ref><br />
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In 1863 the growing Neilson family moved to a new house called Airliewood which Andrew Neilson had had built on an acre of land in Forest Road, Claughton.<ref name=proudlove/> Neilson later recalled "My father still wore half-Wellington top boots and the old fashioned stocks. The ladies wore poke bonnets, crinolines, Paisley shawls, and many-flounced, voluminous skirts, while young men of fashion affected peg-top trousers, little pork-pie hats with fluttering ribbons, and [[Lord Dundreary|Dundreary whiskers]]. Policemen still wore top hats. [[Croquet]] was practically the only outdoor game played by ladies."<ref>Harry B. Neilson, ''Auld-lang-syne: recollections and rural records of old Claughton, Birkenhead and Bidston with other reminiscences'' (Willmer Brothers, 1935), p. 11</ref><br />
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In 1879 Neilson was [[apprentice]]d as an engineer with [[Laird Brothers]], a major [[shipbuilding]] firm in [[Liverpool]]. After completing this training in 1884, he worked as an electrician on the new [[Red Star Line]] transatlantic steamer [[Red Star Line#Ships|SS ''Noordland'']] until 1886.<ref name=proudlove/> In August of that year, his unmarried sister Isabel Anne died, aged 36, and in administering her estate their father was named as "Andrew Neilson, Gentleman".<ref>England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915: “Neilson, Isabel Anne, aged 36”, in Register of Deaths for Birkenhead Registration District, vol, 8a, p. 319; "Neilson Isabel Anne", Grant of probate at Chester dated 30 September 1886, in Probate Index at probatesearch.service.gov.uk, accessed 7 March 2019</ref><br />
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Neilson had a cousin in [[Bihar Province|Bihar]] in [[British India]] who was in charge of an indigo plantation there, and in 1887 he went out to join him. While there, he enlisted in the [[Bihar Light Horse]] as a part-time trooper.<ref name=proudlove/> In 1889, his first illustrated book, ''The Adventures of Sam Pippins, Esq., with the Kilkenny Hunt'', was published by Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.<ref name=PC>''The Publishers' Circular and General Record of British and Foreign Literature'', Vol. 52 (Sampson Low, 1889), p. 61</ref> Meanwhile, at home in Birkenhead, in 1890 his father died, aged 73,<ref>England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915: “Neilson, Andrew, aged 73”, in Register of Deaths for Birkenhead Registration District, vol. 8a, p. 385</ref> followed in 1893 by his mother, aged 66.<ref>England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915: “Neilson, Isabel Anne, aged 66”, in Register of Deaths for Birkenhead Registration District, vol, 8a, p. 390</ref> His father left property valued at £3,896, {{Inflation|UK|3896|1890|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}, with his mother and brother John Robertson Neilson, a cotton broker, appointed as Executors.<ref>"Neilson Andrew... late of 20 Forest-road Claughton", in England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), for 1890, at probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar, accessed 7 March 2019</ref><br />
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During the 1890s, Neilson became active as a book illustrator, and by 1903 had returned to England to live with a sister at a house called Meadowbank, at 36 School Lane, [[Bidston]], a village in his native Wirral. He stayed at Meadowbank for the rest of his life.<ref name=proudlove/><br />
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[[File:Mr Fox's Hunt Breakfast on Xmas Day.jpeg|thumb|300px|Neilson's ''Mr Fox's Hunt Breakfast on Xmas Day'' (1897)]]<br />
Neilson illustrated many children's books, several of them for the children's writer [[Sam Hield Hamer|S. H. Hamer]],<ref>They worked together on ''Micky Magee's Menagerie'' (1897), ''Whys and Other Whys'', (1898), ''Topsy-Turvy Tales'' (1901), ''The Jungle School'' (1900), ''Peter Piper's Feepshow'' (1900), ''The Ten Travellers, and other tales in prose and verse'' (1902), and ''Topsy Turvy Tales'' (1906)</ref> who conveniently was also an editor with [[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co.]] Neilson also worked as an illustrator of magazines and designed postcards and Christmas cards.<ref>[[Denis Gifford]], ''Encyclopedia of Comic Characters'' (Longman, 1987), p. 218</ref> In much of his work he depicted animals dressed as people, like his contemporaries [[Beatrix Potter]] and [[Harry Rountree]],<ref name=gettings/> but often showing them in more vigorous activities. In France he has been compared with [[Benjamin Rabier]].<ref name=proudlove/><ref name=clark>Alan Clark, ''Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors'' (The British Library, 1998), p. 120</ref> His best-known work, "Mr Fox's Hunt Breakfast on Xmas Day" ''(pictured)'' is said to represent five members of the [[Blankney Hunt]], in [[Lincolnshire]]<ref>[https://www.kingandmcgaw.com/prints/harry-neilson/mr-fox-s-hunt-breakfast-105361#105361::frame:880604_glass:770007_media:0_mount:108644_mount-width:50 Mr Fox's Hunt Breakfast Art print by Harry Neilson] at kingandmcgaw.com, accessed 5 March 2019</ref> and has been widely reproduced.<ref name=CL/> Dressed for hunting, the breakfast party is eating [[pheasant]] and drinking Renard (French for "fox") champagne. Pictures on the wall behind are of hunting scenes, but with foxes in pursuit of men, one of whom is [[Fox hunting#Procedure|going to ground]].<ref>[https://www.berkeleystudio.co.uk/acatalog/Mr.Fox-s-Hunt-Breakfast-on-Xmas-Day-by-Harry-Nielson-FOXBFAST.html Mr. Fox's Hunt Breakfast on Xmas Day by Harry Nielson] at berkeleystudio.co.uk, accessed 6 March 2019</ref> The original, a large [[chromolithograph]], was a free gift to readers with the Christmas issue of the ''[[Penny Illustrated Paper]]'' in December 1897. One hundred years later, in December 1997, it was used as the cover art for the Christmas-week issue of the British magazine ''[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]''.<ref name=CL>"This Week's Cover Adapted from Mr Fox's Hunt Breakfast by Harry B. Nielson" [sic] in ''Country Life'', Volume 191, Issue 51, dated 24 December 1997, p. 32</ref><br />
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''Games and Gambols'' (1902) includes Neilson's notable picture of "The great [[Test cricket|test match]] between the Lions and the Kangaroos".<ref>H. B. Neilson & John Brymer, ''Games and Gambols Illustrated by Harry B. Neilson with Verses by John Brymer'' (1902)</ref><br />
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In 1903 and 1904, Neilson worked with the Irish dramatist [[William Boyle (writer)|William Boyle]], illustrating two books of comic verse, ''Comic Capers'' and ''Christmas at the Zoo''.<ref name=bateson>[[F. W. Bateson|Frederick Wilse Bateson]], ''The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'', Volume 2, p. 1,065</ref><br />
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Neilson returned to the theme of "Mr Fox's Hunt Breakfast" in ''The Fox's Frolic; or, A Day with the Topsy Turvy Hunt'' (1917), illustrating a long narrative poem by [[F. C. Burnand|Sir Francis Burnand]] in which the usual [[fox hunting]] roles are reversed, with the foxes riding hounds and becoming the hunters, with "the brush" pursued being a farmer's broom.<ref>M. L. Biscotti, ''Six Centuries of Foxhunting: An Annotated Bibliography'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8UglDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA69#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 69]</ref> An American edition appeared in 1935.<ref name=PW>''The Publishers Weekly'', Volume 130 (1936), p. 753: "Burnand, Sir Francis Cowley, The fox's frolic, or, A day with the topsy turvy hunt; ill. by Harry B. Neilson ... [N. Y., Wm. Collins] A story, told in verse form, of a hunt in which the foxes are the hunters, and the hounds are their horses."</ref><br />
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Neilson was a keen rider, keeping his own horse, which he groomed himself.<ref name=clark/> In 1935 he published ''Auld-lang-syne'', a book of memoirs and reminiscences of Claughton, Birkenhead, and Bidston, arranging to have it printed by a local firm, Willmer Brothers. One of the brothers, Wrayford Willmer, later remembered the arrival of a "persistent, eccentric little man" with his manuscript.<ref name=proudlove/><br />
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Neilson died in a nursing home at [[West Kirby]], Cheshire, on 13 October 1941, with his home address given as Meadowbank, School Lane, Bidston, leaving an estate valued at £1070.<ref>"Neilson Henry Bingham otherwise Harry Bingham", in ''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995'' for 1942, at probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar, accessed 6 March 2019</ref><br />
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An archive of 325 items, including drawings, watercolours, and manuscripts by Neilson is held in the Manuscripts Division of the [[Charles E. Young Research Library]], at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]].<ref name=proudlove/><br />
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A new edition of ''The Fox's Frolic'' was published by Applewood Books in 2009.<ref>''The Fox's Frolic; or, A Day with the Topsy Turvy Hunt'' (New edition, Applewood Books, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1429090797}})</ref><br />
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==Assessment==<br />
In his book on [[Arthur Rackham]], Fred Gettings says<ref name=gettings>Fred Gettings, ''Arthur Rackham'' (London: Studio Vista, 1976), p. 81</ref><br />
{{Blockquote|The cartoon style is best represented by the work of Harry Neilson, ribald and almost crude in his use of line, working in a style to which certain modern comics are still indebted. Along with Neilson, we may list [[Stewart Orr]] and [[Harry Rountree|Harry Rowntree]]... Neilson, and indeed a whole host of Victorian draughtsmen who told animal moralities and fairy stories, portray their animals in clothing... However, the important point is that, for all their human clothing, for all that they speak where necessary with human tongues, and point their morals with something verging on human gesture, these creatures always look like animals.<ref name=gettings/>}}<br />
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==Publications==<br />
[[File:Amazing Adventures (1903).jpg|thumb|The pictorial cover of ''Amazing Adventures'' (1903)]]<br />
[[File:Harry B. Neilson, The Driver, New Style.jpg|thumb|"The Driver, New Style", postcard, c. 1913]]<br />
[[File:Harry B. Neilson, Such a Splendid Bath.JPG|thumb|''Such a Splendid Bath!'' (1900)]]<br />
*H. B. Neilson, ''The Adventures of Sam Pippins, Esq., with the Kilkenny Hunt, Illustrated and written by Harry B. Neilson'' (Simpkin, Marshall & Co., London, and John Heywood, Manchester, undated, 1889)<ref name=PC/><br />
*[[Sam Hield Hamer|S. H. Hamer]], ''Micky Magee's Menagerie, or, Strange animals and their doings'', illustrated by Harry B. Neilson (Cassell & Company, London, Paris, New York & Melbourne, 1897), {{OCLC|36821416}}<br />
*[[Evelyn Sharp (suffragist)|Evelyn Sharp]], [[George Manville Fenn]], et al., ''Little Folks 1899'', illustrated by Harry B. Neilson and [[Lewis Baumer]] (London: Cassell & Co., 1899)<br />
*S. H. Hamer, ''Whys and Other Whys, or, Curious Creatures and Their Tales'', illustrated by Harry B. Neilson (London: Cassell, 1898), {{OCLC|45597688}}<br />
*Harry B. Neilson & the Cockiolly Bird, ''Droll Doings, Illustrations by Harry B. Neilson, with Verses by the Cockiolly Bird'' (London: Blackie & Son, 1900), {{OCLC|316020563}}<br />
*Harry B. Neilson, ''An Animal A B C'' (London: Blackie & Son, 1900), {{OCLC|558108562}}<br />
*S. H. Hamer, Harry B. Neilson, ''Topsy-Turvy Tales, or The Exception Proves the Rule'' (London: Cassell, 1901), {{OCLC|560016804}}<br />
*[[Francis Trevelyan Buckland|Francis T. Buckland]], ''Curiosities of Natural History, Illustrated by H. B. Neilson'' (London: Methuen, new edition, 1904)<ref>[http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/5th-march-1904/18/popular-natural-history Popular Natural History] in ''[[The Spectator]]'' dated 5 March 1904, p. 18, at archive.spectator.co.uk, accessed 7 March 2019</ref><br />
*S. H. Hamer, ''The Jungle School; or Dr. Jibber-Jabber Burchall's Academy, With Illustrations by H. B. Neilson'' (London: Cassell, 1900), {{OCLC|1078500365}}<br />
*S. H. Hamer, ''Peter Piper's Peepshow'', with Illustrations by H. B. Neilson and [[Lewis Baumer]] (London: Cassell & Company, 1900), {{OCLC|81766675}}<br />
*S. H. Hamer, ''The Ten Travellers, and other tales in prose and verse'', illustrated by H. B. Neilson (Cassell & Company, London, Paris, New York & Melbourne, 1902), {{OCLC|752608454}}<br />
*H. B. Neilson & John Brymer, ''Games and Gambols Illustrated by Harry B. Neilson; with Verses by John Brymer'' (Blackie and Son, 1902), {{OCLC|65798607}}<br />
*[[Sabine Baring-Gould]], ''Amazing Adventures Drawn by H. B. Neilson and Written by S. Baring Gould'' (London: Skeffington & Son, 1903), {{OCLC|559700882}}<br />
*Anon, ''Bo-Peep: a Treasury for the Little Ones'' (London, Paris, New York, Melbourne: Cassell and Company, 1903), illustrated by Harry B. Neilson and others <br />
*[[William Boyle (writer)|William Boyle]], ''Comic Capers, Pictures by H. B. Neilson, Verses by William Boyle'' (1903),<ref name=bateson/> {{OCLC|792763462}}<br />
*William Boyle, ''Christmas at the Zoo: Described in Verse by William Boyle, with Coloured Illustrations by H. B. Neilson'' (1904)<ref name=bateson/><br />
*''Old Mother Hubbard drawn by Harry B. Neilson'' (Port Sunlight: printed and published by Lever Brothers, Soapmakers to H. M. the King; undated)<br />
*Clifton Bingham, ''The Animals' Academy'', illustrated by Harry B. Neilson (London: Blackie & Son, 1904), {{OCLC|299163852}}<br />
*S. H. Hamer, ''Topsy Turvy Tales'', with 4 Coloured Plates and numerous Illustrations by Harry B. Neilson (1906)<br />
*Harry B. Neilson, E. A. Cubitt, Jane M. Dealy et al., ''Arm Chair Stories'' (London: Blackie and Son, undated)<br />
*''Jack the Giant Killer and other stories'', illustrated by Harry B. Neilson and others (London: John F. Shaw, undated)<br />
*Louis Wain, Harry B. Neilson, et al., ''Merry Times in Animal Land'' (London: James Clarke and Co., undated, c. 1907)<br />
*Harry B. Neilson, ''The Story of the Gray Goose drawn by Harry B. Neilson'' (London: Nelson, 1907)<br />
*Harry B. Neilson, ''The Farmyard: Over Sixty Lifelike Animals'' (1912) <br />
*Anon., ''Little Leo's Birthday: Pictures and Verses For Little Folk'' (London, Glasgow and Bombay: Blackie and Son Limited, c. 1913), illustrated by Harry B. Neilson and others<br />
*''Cole’s Jingle Jungle Book: Pictures and Verses for Little Folk illustrated by Harry B. Neilson'' (Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Commonwealth of Australia: E. W. Cole, 1915) <br />
*[[F. C. Burnand]], ''The Fox's Frolic; or, A Day with the Topsy Turvy Hunt'', illustrated by Harry B. Neilson (London & Glasgow: Wm. Collins, Sons & Co., 1917)<br />
**''The Fox's Frolic'' (New York: William Collins, 1935)<ref name=PW/><br />
**''The Fox's Frolic'' (New edition, Applewood Books, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1429090797}})<br />
*Harry B. Neilson, ''Jolly Jaunts'' (Collins, London & Glasgow, undated), {{OCLC|37389410}}<br />
*''Birdie's Picture Book'', with stories and illustrations by Harry B Neilson, H. G. C. Lambert, and others (London: S. W. Partridge & Co., undated, c. 1919) {{OCLC|499243124}}<br />
*''Partridges Children's Annual - Fourth Year of Issue'' with Illustrations by [[Louis Wain]], [[Cecil Aldin]], H G C Marsh Lambert, Harry B. Nielson, Frank Hart, M. Bowley etc. (London: S. W. Partridge & Co Ltd, c. 1920)<br />
*Harry B. Neilson, ''A Little Pickle'' (undated, c. 1920)<br />
*Harry B. Neilson, ''Mr. Jumbo at Home'' (Blackie, October 1921)<ref>''The Publisher'', Volume 115 (1921), p. 407: "Mr. Jumbo at home. Illus. by Harry B. Neilson. Ryl. 8vo. 4s. net, bds. 3s Blackie, Oct. '21"</ref><br />
*Harry B. Neilson, ''More Jumbo Stories'' (Blackie & Son, undated) <br />
*Harry B. Neilson, ''Jumbo’s Jolly Tales'' (Blackie & Son, undated) <br />
*Baron Krakemsides, ''The Careless chicken, Illus. by Harry B. Neilson'' (London: Frederick Warne, 1924)<ref>''The Publisher'', Volume 121 (1924), p. 843</ref><br />
*Edith E. Millard, ''Mr Skiddleywinks'', Illustrated by Harry B. Neilson (London: W. & R. Chambers, undated, but advertised in ''The Publisher'' 1927)<ref>''The Publisher'', Volume 127 (1927), Issue dated 24 September 1927, pp. 369, 382, and see also p. 521</ref><br />
**Edith E. Millard, ''Mr Skiddleywinks'', Illustrated by Harry B. Neilson'' (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1930)<ref>''Childhood Education'', Volume 7 (1930), p. 158</ref><br />
*Harry B. Neilson, ''Auld-lang-syne: recollections and rural records of old Claughton, Birkenhead and Bidston with other reminiscences'' (Willmer Brothers, 1935, {{OCLC|23298610}})<br />
*S. H. Hamer, ''Escuela de Animales, illustrado por Harry B. Neilson'' (Barcelona: Ramon Sopena, 1942), {{OCLC|431714481}}<br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
{{Commons category|Harry B. Neilson}}<br />
*[http://www.artnet.com/artists/harry-b-neilson/ Harry B. Neilson] on [[Artnet]]<br />
*[https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf7n39p1ht/ Finding Aid for the Harry B. Neilson Papers] at the [[Charles E. Young Research Library]]<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Harry B.}}<br />
[[Category:1861 births]]<br />
[[Category:1941 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century English artists]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century English artists]]<br />
[[Category:British children's book illustrators]]<br />
[[Category:Postcard artists]]<br />
[[Category:Magazine illustrators]]<br />
[[Category:Fox hunting writers]]<br />
[[Category:Foxes in popular culture]]<br />
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]<br />
[[Category:People from Birkenhead]]</div>Bot