Why bring this chap up, you ask?
Van Loon, Hendrik Willem, author, illustrator, educator
Because I liked him. Though he was at his peak in the early 1930’s and some of his views are now considered antiquated (ex: zeppelins were in his illustrations representing “where we are now”), I’ve found his massive overview of this planet – what’s that word of today or yesterday? Awesome.
Not only could this born Netherlander write exceptionally well, especially for younger or less complex yet searching minds, he could illustrate with simple lines the most involved subjects. Sometimes his sense of vast space was EMPHASIZED by what was NOT shown on his allotted surface, yet his task of minimizing his pictures, many of which were drawn on classroom chalked blackboards, reducing them to basic lineal abbreviations, was ingenious. At least it has seemed so to my untrained eye.
I have attached some of these illustrations from two of my favorite books, Van Loon’s GEOGRAPHY and STORY OF MANKIND. Van Loon's books are now collectors' volumes, often for the pen and ink drawings, mainly.
Because I liked him. Though he was at his peak in the early 1930’s and some of his views are now considered antiquated (ex: zeppelins were in his illustrations representing “where we are now”), I’ve found his massive overview of this planet – what’s that word of today or yesterday? Awesome.
Not only could this born Netherlander write exceptionally well, especially for younger or less complex yet searching minds, he could illustrate with simple lines the most involved subjects. Sometimes his sense of vast space was EMPHASIZED by what was NOT shown on his allotted surface, yet his task of minimizing his pictures, many of which were drawn on classroom chalked blackboards, reducing them to basic lineal abbreviations, was ingenious. At least it has seemed so to my untrained eye.
I have attached some of these illustrations from two of my favorite books, Van Loon’s GEOGRAPHY and STORY OF MANKIND. Van Loon's books are now collectors' volumes, often for the pen and ink drawings, mainly.
I got my first van Loon book from my father but have gathered some others.
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From the internet:
[edit] Life and works
Born in Rotterdam, he went to the United States in 1903 to study at Cornell University. He was a correspondent during the Russian Revolution of 1905 and in Belgium in 1914 at the start of World War I. He later became a professor of history at Cornell University (1915-17) and in 1919 became an American citizen.
From the 1910s until his death, Van Loon wrote many books, most notably The Story of Mankind, by far his most well-known book, a history of the world especially for children which won the first Newbery Medal in 1922. The book was later updated by Van Loon and has continued to be updated, first by his son and later by other historians.
However, he also wrote many other very popular books aimed at young adults. As a writer he was known for emphasizing crucial historical events and giving a complete picture of individual characters, as well as the role of the arts in history. He also had an informal style which, particularly in The Story of Mankind, included personal anecdotes.
Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest "I still stick to the Dutch pronunciation of the double o—Loon like loan in 'Loan and Trust Co.' My sons will probably accept the American pronunciation. It really does not matter very much." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)
[edit] Bibliography
A partial list of books by Hendrik Willem van Loon, with first publication dates.
The Fall of the Dutch Republic (1913)
The Romance of Discovery (1917)
The Golden Book of the Dutch Navigators (1917)
Ancient man; the beginning of civilizations (1920)
The Story of Mankind (1921)
The Story of the Bible (1923)
Tolerance (1925)
The Liberation of Mankind (1926)
The Story of America (1927)
Multiplex man (1928)
Life and Times of Peter Stuyvesant (1928)
R.v.R. (1930; a fictional biography of Rembrandt)
"If the Dutch Had Kept Nieuw Amsterdam", in If, Or History Rewritten, edited by J. C. Squire (1931)
Van Loon's Geography (1932)
An Elephant Up a Tree (1933)
The story of inventions: Man, the miracle maker (1934)
Ships and How They Sailed the Seven Seas (1935)
Love me not (1935)
World divided is a world lost (1935)
Home of mankind; the story of the world we live in (1936)
The Arts (1937)
Observations on the mystery of print and the work of Johann Gutenberg (1937)
Our Battle: Being One Man's Answer to "My Battle" by Adolf Hitler (1938)
How to Look at Pictures (1938)
The Story of the Pacific (1940)
Life and times of Johann Sebastian Bach (1940)
Van Loon's Lives (1942)
Thomas Jefferson (1943)
Life and times of Simon Bolivar (1943)
Report to St. Peter (1947; posthumously published autobiography)
[edit] Books about Van Loon
Cornelis van Minnen (2005). Van Loon: Popular Historian, Journalist, and FDR Confidant. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-7049-1.
Gerard Willem Van Loon (1972). The story of Hendrik Willem van Loon. Lippincott. ISBN 0-397-00844-9.
[edit] Life and works
Born in Rotterdam, he went to the United States in 1903 to study at Cornell University. He was a correspondent during the Russian Revolution of 1905 and in Belgium in 1914 at the start of World War I. He later became a professor of history at Cornell University (1915-17) and in 1919 became an American citizen.
From the 1910s until his death, Van Loon wrote many books, most notably The Story of Mankind, by far his most well-known book, a history of the world especially for children which won the first Newbery Medal in 1922. The book was later updated by Van Loon and has continued to be updated, first by his son and later by other historians.
However, he also wrote many other very popular books aimed at young adults. As a writer he was known for emphasizing crucial historical events and giving a complete picture of individual characters, as well as the role of the arts in history. He also had an informal style which, particularly in The Story of Mankind, included personal anecdotes.
Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest "I still stick to the Dutch pronunciation of the double o—Loon like loan in 'Loan and Trust Co.' My sons will probably accept the American pronunciation. It really does not matter very much." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)
[edit] Bibliography
A partial list of books by Hendrik Willem van Loon, with first publication dates.
The Fall of the Dutch Republic (1913)
The Romance of Discovery (1917)
The Golden Book of the Dutch Navigators (1917)
Ancient man; the beginning of civilizations (1920)
The Story of Mankind (1921)
The Story of the Bible (1923)
Tolerance (1925)
The Liberation of Mankind (1926)
The Story of America (1927)
Multiplex man (1928)
Life and Times of Peter Stuyvesant (1928)
R.v.R. (1930; a fictional biography of Rembrandt)
"If the Dutch Had Kept Nieuw Amsterdam", in If, Or History Rewritten, edited by J. C. Squire (1931)
Van Loon's Geography (1932)
An Elephant Up a Tree (1933)
The story of inventions: Man, the miracle maker (1934)
Ships and How They Sailed the Seven Seas (1935)
Love me not (1935)
World divided is a world lost (1935)
Home of mankind; the story of the world we live in (1936)
The Arts (1937)
Observations on the mystery of print and the work of Johann Gutenberg (1937)
Our Battle: Being One Man's Answer to "My Battle" by Adolf Hitler (1938)
How to Look at Pictures (1938)
The Story of the Pacific (1940)
Life and times of Johann Sebastian Bach (1940)
Van Loon's Lives (1942)
Thomas Jefferson (1943)
Life and times of Simon Bolivar (1943)
Report to St. Peter (1947; posthumously published autobiography)
[edit] Books about Van Loon
Cornelis van Minnen (2005). Van Loon: Popular Historian, Journalist, and FDR Confidant. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-7049-1.
Gerard Willem Van Loon (1972). The story of Hendrik Willem van Loon. Lippincott. ISBN 0-397-00844-9.
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