Charles George Harper

Charles George Harper
Charles George Harper Sketch magazine, 30th Sep 1896
Born	1863 Marylebone, London
Died	1943 Petersham, London
Nationality	British
Known for	Self-illustrated travel books
Style	Pen drawing

Charles George Harper (1863 – 1943) was an English author and illustrator. Born in London, England, Harper wrote many self-illustrated travel books, exploring the regions, roads, coastlines, literary connections, old inns etc. of Britain. In later life, he lived in Petersham.

Aside from the some 170 topographical works, he also wrote a few books on drawing and its techniques, including English Pen Artists of To-day (1892) and A Practical Handbook of Drawing for Modern Methods of Reproduction (1894), as well as an anti-feminist polemic, Revolted Woman; past, present, and to come (1894), and a satirical novel, Hearts Do Not Break: a Tale of the Lower Slopes (1896), attacking logrolling among the London literary set.

R. E. D. Sketchley’s English book-illustration of to-day (1903) characterised Harper’s travel books as “… written and drawn with spirited observation. His drawing is not so picturesque as his writing. It has reticence and justness of expression that would not serve in relating tales of the road, but which, together with a sense of colour and of what is pictorial, combine to form an effective and frequently distinctive style of illustration”.

N. W. Webster’s article The English traveller (1974) describes him as “more a capable draughtsman than a creative artist, although his books would lose much without his delightful sketches”.