Howard Pyle (1853 – 1911)

A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy, where he died.

In 1894 he began teaching illustration, and after 1900 founded a school, where his students included N. C. Wyeth. He taught others of the Brandywine school, including Maxfield Parrish, Frank E. Schoonover, and Jessie Wilcox Smith.

His 1883 classic The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood remains in print to this day, and his other books, frequently with mediaeval European settings, included a four-volume set on King Arthur that cemented his reputation.

He wrote an original work, Otto of the Silver Hand (1888). He also illustrated historical and adventure stories for periodicals such as Harper's Weekly and St. Nicholas.

The movie The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) was based on his Men of Iron.