Frank Leslie

Frank Leslie (1821-1880) was an English-born American engraver, illustrator, and publisher of family periodicals.

Biography

Leslie was born on March 29, 1821, [Nelson, Randy F. "The Almanac of American Letters". Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981: 40. ISBN 086576008X] in Ipswich, England as Henry Carter, he was the son of a glove manufacturer. He was educated in Ipswich and he then trained for commerce in London.

Carter showed a natural bent for art and contributed sketches to the "Illustrated London News", signing them as Frank Leslie. These were so cordially welcomed that he gave up commerce and was made superintendent of engraving on that journal. He made himself an expert and inventor in his new work and in 1848 he came to the United States. In 1854 he began publishing the first of his many illustrated journalistic ventures, "The Gazette of Fashion." "The New York Journal" soon followed, with "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" (1855) (called "Leslie's Weekly"), "The Boy's and Girl's Weekly", "The Budget of Fun", and many others. "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper", which included news as well as fiction, survived until 1922. [Nelson, Randy F. "The Almanac of American Letters". Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981: 66. ISBN 086576008X]

Illustrations made by Leslie and his artists on the battlefield during the American Civil War are well-regarded for their historical value.

He was commissioner to the Paris Exhibition of 1867 and received a prize there for his artistic services. His second wife, Miriam Florence Leslie, ably managed his business after his death and was a notable feminist and author in her own right.

References

External links

* http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_052700_lesliefrank.htm Houghton Mifflin College
* http://www.philsp.com/data/data120.html has info on many Frank Leslie publications

ee also

* Frank Leslie's Weekly