timeLINE

1846 Born, March 22, in Chester, England

1861 Starts work as a clerk at the Whitchurch and Ellesmere Bank, Whitchurch,
England: sells his first drawing to the illustrated London News (December 7)

1867 Moves to Manchester after accepting a clerkship at the Manchester and Salford Bank

1871 Publishes the first of many drawings in London Society (February issue)

1872 Moves to London. renting rooms at 46 Great Russell Street, across from the British Museum; first publishes his drawings in Punch (June 22) and The Graphic (Autumn); exhibits in group show at the Dudley Gallery, Egyptian Hall, London; visits continental Europe for the first time to
make sketches for The Harz. Mountains: A Tour of the Toy Country, a travel book about northern Germany by Henry Blackburn

1873 Studies sculpture with Jules Dalou; The Harz Mountains, the first book illustrated by Randolph Caldecott is published; becomes “London artistic correspondent” for the New York-based evening newspaper The Daily Graphic, for which he attends the Vienna World Exposition.

1874 makes the first of many visits to France

1875 Illustrates the book that firmly establishes his reputation, Old Christmas: From the Sketch Book of Washington Irving

1877 Travels to both France and Italy and makes drawings for Northern Italian Folk: Sketches of Town and country life by Mrs. Comyns Carr, published the following year

1878 Publishes his first two picture books, The House That Jack Built and The Diverting History of John Gilpin; from then onward, two new picture books appear each fall, along with various compilations

1879 Moves to Wyborrnes. a country house in Kemsing, near Sevenoaks, Kent

1880 Marries Marian Harriet Brind (March 18) in Chelsfield, Kent

1882 Takes a twenty-one-year lease on a country house in Frensham, Surrey; purchases the brick row house at 24 Holland Street, London, near Holland Park

1885 With Marian Caldecott, departs Liverpool aboard the R.M.S. Aurania (October 31), bound for New York

1885 Arrives New York (November 9) and continues south by train with stopovers in Philadelphia, Washington. D.C,. Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, and St. Augustine
1886 Dies, February 13. St. Augustine, Florida

1900 Memorial sculpture by Alfred Gilbert unveiled in Artists’ Corner, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. The painted cast-aluminium sculpture depicts a Breton child clasping a portrait medallion

1938 First Caldecott Medal presented by the American Library Association to Dorothy P.
Lathrop for Animals of the Bible: A Picture Book, text selected by Helen Dean Fish (Frederick A. Stokes)

1983 The Randolph Caldecott Society UK holds its inaugural meeting; the Randolph Caldecott Sociecty of America founded