Figure 1.--The book that the story is in is called The Beacon Reader and the illustration was drawn by Willam Fassett in 1922. This is credited in the front of the book. Note Hans' clothing. It is has typical boy's styles of the 1920s with the shorts, long kneesocks, jacket and high-top shoes. Note the H-bar suspenders, the illustrator clearly was attempting to depict a German boy. In some of the other drawings, he is shown wearing a flat cap. |
A Canadia reader mentions Willam Fassett to us. He rembers a a boy reading a book that Fassett illustrated. Hopefully some of our readers will know something about Fssett's career as a illustrator. Our Canadian reader writes, "As a child about Grade 3, I read a story called "Careful Hans" which was a German Folk Tale written in the 19th century. The 'Careful Hans' story was originally written by the Grimm brothers as 'Prudent Hans' in 1812. It was translated into English and the name was altered in the late 19th century. I found a copy of the book the other day and scanned the illustration. The book that the story is in is called The Beacon Reader. These were readers commonly used in British primary schools. A British reader remembers the series as a London schoolboy. The edition was Ginn & Co. Publishing in London, England, U.K. 1957 edition. The illustration was drawn by Willam Fassett. I'm not sure if these same illustrations also appeared in the original 1922 edition. I think color pictures then would not have been common. This is credited in the front of the book. Note Hans' clothing. It is has typical boy's styles of the 1920's with the shorts, long kneesocks, jacket and high-top shoes. In some pictures, he is shown wearing a flat cap. Note the H-bar suspenders, the illustrator clearly was attempting to depict a German boy."
Another reader tells was that the illustrator was not, Fassett but Charles Copeland. He writes, "I have a copy of “The Beacon Third Reader” copyright 1914. I noted that the book is by James A. Fassett, however this edition is
illustrated by Charles Copeland. The publisher is Ginn and Company.
It would seem that James and Charles are related in some way."
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