Charles George Harper
Charles George Harper (1863–1943) was an English author and illustrator. Charles George Harper was born in London, England, Harper wrote self-illustrated travel books, including those exploring the regions, roads, coastlines, literary connections, and old inns of Britain. In later life, he lived in Petersham.
Also recorded as Charles G. Harper · Charles Harper
Charles George Harper

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- Name
- Charles George Harper
- Born
- 1863
- Birthplace
- Marylebone, London, England
- Died
- 1943
- Place of death
- Petersham, London, England
- Known for
- Self-illustrated travel books
- Nationality
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland · United Kingdom
- Occupation
- illustrator
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Charles George Harper (1863–1943) was an English author and illustrator. Charles George Harper was born in London, England, Harper wrote self-illustrated travel books, including those exploring the regions, roads, coastlines, literary connections, and old inns of Britain. In later life, he lived in Petersham.
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Note VALÉORINE
Charles George Harper (1863–1943) was a British and British illustrator. Born in Marylebone, the illustrator died in Petersham. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5078002 · wikipedia · Charles George Harper
In this article
Biography
Biography
Aside from the some 170 topographical works, he wrote a 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), and, 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.

View this map on the BL Georeferencer service. Image taken from:
The British Library · Image taken from page 33 of 'From Paddington to Penzance: the record of a summer tramp from London to the Land's End... Illustrated by the author, etc'
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Charles George Harper • Born — 1863 • Birthplace — Marylebone, London, England • Died — 1943 • Place of death — Petersham, London, England • Known for — Self-illustrated travel books • Style — Pen drawing • Illustration — Dunster Castle and Yarn Market, from The Somerset Coast (1909) • Illustration — The old church in Kingston Seymour, from The Somerset Coast (1909)
Critical assessment
Critical assessment
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".
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1863
Charles George Harper was born on 1 January 1863.
1943
Charles George Harper died on 1 January 1943.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Marylebone.
Birth place
Petersham.
Death place
Published works (selected)
• Revolted Woman: past, present, and to come (London, Elkin Mathews, 1894). • The Marches of Wales: notes and impressions on the Welsh borders, from the Severn Sea to the Sands o' Dee (London, Chapman & Hall, 1894). • The Portsmouth Road (London, Chapman & Hall, 1896) • Hearts Do Not Break: a Tale of the Lower Slopes (London, Kegan Paul & Co., 1896). • The Exeter Road: The Story of the West of England Highway (London, Chapman & Hall, 1899). • The Norwich Road: An East Anglian Highway (London, Chapman & Hall, 1901). • The Holyhead Road (London, Chapman & Hall, 1902). • Cycle Rides Round London (London, Chapman & Hall, 1902). • The Hardy Country: literary landmarks of the Wessex novels (London, A. & C. Black, 1904). • The Ingoldsby Country: literary landmarks of the "Ingoldsby legends" (London, A. & C. Black, 1904). • The Newmarket, Bury, Thetford, and Cromer Road: Sport and History on an East Anglian Turnpike (London, Chapman & Hall, 1904). • The Old Inns of Old England – Vol. 1, Vol. 2 (Chapman & Hall, 1906). • The Hastings Road, and the "Happy Springs of Tunbridge" (Chapman & Hall, Ltd. 1906). • Haunted Houses: Tales of the Supernatural: With Some Account of Hereditary Curses and Family Legends (1907). • The South Devon Coast (Chapman & Hall, 1907). • The North Devon Coast (Chapman & Hall, 1908). • The Somerset Coast (Chapman & Hall, 1909). • Thames Valley Villages – Vol. 1, Vol. 2 (Chapman & Hall, 1910). • The Autocar Road Book Vol. 1: England South of the Thames (London, Methuen & Co., 1910). • The Autocar Road Book Vol. 2: North and South Wales and West Midlands (London, Methuen & Co., 1911). • The Autocar Road Book Vol. 3: East Anglia and East Midlands (London, Methuen & Co., 1912). • The Autocar Road Book Vol. 4: North of England and South of Scotland (London, Methuen & Co., 1913). • Summer Days in Shakespeare Land (J. Pott & Co., 1913). • The Kentish Coast (Chapman & Hall, 1914). • The Dover Road: annals of an ancient turnpike (Cecil Palmer, 1922). • The Great North Road, the old mail road to Scotland (Charles Palmer, 1922). • On the Road in Holland: notes and impressions in the quaint country of dykes and canals (Cecil Palmer, 1922).
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q5078002: Charles George Harper
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Charles George Harper”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Review of The Marches of Wales by Charles G. Harper. The Athenaeum. 3525. 634. 18 May 1895.
- 2.Review of The Old Inns of Old England by Charles G. Harper. The Athenaeum. 4130. 794–795. 22 December 1906.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 3
- Baker, Charles. British Book Illustrators 1860–1900: a bibliography. Birmingham Bookshop. 1978.
- Sketchley, R. E. D. English Book-Illustration of To-Day. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co. 47–48. 1903.
- Webster, N. W. The English traveller: Charles G. Harper, 1863–1943. Antiquarian Book Monthly Review. 16. 1974.
References
Citations
References
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authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Charles George Harper is recorded as a citizen of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Recorded with the occupation illustrator.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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