Sketch for The One Hoss Shay, Its Hundredth Year and Profile of a Cavalier
Date1907
Artist
Howard Pyle
(American illustrator, 1853–1911)
Illustration CitationThe One Hoss Shay with its Companion Poems, How the Old Horse Won the Bet & The Broomstick Train, by Oliver Wendell Holmes (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1892)
MediumInk on illustration board
Dimensionssheet: 7 5/16 × 6 5/16 in. (18.6 × 16 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. C. Lalor Burdick, 1992
Object number1992-26
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextHoward Pyle inscribed these sketches to C(hristopher) L(ewis) W(ard), who lived not far from the Pyles on Willard Street in Wilmington. Both families socialized in an informal salon dedicated to discussions of literature and art. Ward, a lawyer, was an amateur actor and participated in the Green Room Club, which performed plays at various sites in Wilmington. The humorous inscription notes Ward's theatrical talents:Here's Mr. Ward, the local showman
Who soon will rival even Frohman.
Charles Frohman (1856-1915) was a theatrical producer, identified primarily with the New York stage. At the time of Pyle's drawing, he was at the height of his fame, known for his plays (which would eventually number 700) and his ability to develop the early talents of stars such as Ethel Barrymore. He did aboard the Lusitania in 1915.
Author Oliver Wendell Holmes was known as a professor of anatomy at Harvard and as a writer of light verse, including the three poems in this volume. The One Hoss Shay tells of a one hundred year old horse-drawn carriage that finally and suddenly breaks down. "Shay" is a colloquial spelling of "chaise," a two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse. In How the Old Horse Won the Bet, a "poor forlorn old beast" amazes everyone with his speed in winning a race. The Broomstick Train attributes the flashing sparks of Boston's new electric trains to witches riding alongside them.
