Paul Bransom
Illustration — Illustration by Paul Bransom from An Argosy of Fables, plate facing p. 52 Paul Bransom (July 26, 1885 – July 19, 1979) was an American painter, cartoonist, and illustrator of animals.
Also recorded as John Paul Bransom
Paul Bransom

Bransom, Paul · scan of The Wind in the Willows (c1913) Graheme, K., New York: Scribner, obtained from IA.org (online viewer, jpg) Converted to PNG, crude attempt to restore. Tiff data is probably the go here. · Public domain
- Born
- 1885. · Washington and D.C.
- Died
- 1979.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- painter, comics artist, draftsperson and illustrator.
- Fields
- painting, art of drawing and illustration.
- Known for
- The Wind in the Willows.
- Languages
- English.
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q7149500 · wikipedia · Paul Bransom
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is painting, art of drawing and illustration. Employment is recorded with United States Patent and Trademark Office, Southern Railway and General Electric. Works named in the authority record are The Wind in the Willows. Work by Paul Bransom is recorded in the collections of Brandywine Museum of Art.
Born in Washington, D.C., as a child Bransom started sketching animals he saw in his backyard and at the National Zoo. He began his career as a technical draftsman for the U.S. Patent Office when he was 13 years old. He relocated to New York City in 1903 and began drawing comic strips for the New York Evening Journal there. He drew the comic strip The Latest News from Bugville (1903–1912). After moving to New York, his talent as a wildlife artist was recognized while creating studies of the animals at the Bronx Zoo. His earliest commissions were covers for the Saturday Evening Post and illustrations for editions of Kipling's Just So Stories and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Bransom was awarded the Benjamin West Clinedinst Memorial Medal, and his works are included in the collection of the National Museum of American Illustration at Newport, Rhode Island. Bransom was a resident of New York City from 1906 until his death. He died on July 19, 1979, during a visit to Quakertown, Pennsylvania, several days before his 94th birthday.
Selected works
Selected works
• Illustration — Saturday Evening Post cover (March 14, 1925) • The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame (C. Scribner's Sons, 1913) • An Argosy of Fables, ed. Frederic Taber Cooper (Frederick A. Stokes, c1921) • The Wild Heart, Emma-Lindsay Squier (Cosmopolitan Book Corp., 1922) • Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Kipling and Joseph M. Gleeson (Garden City, NY: Country Life Press, c1912) – Bransom provided front cover, endpapers, and title page illustrations for a 1932 edition containing the Kipling and Gleeson interior illustrations • The Country Gentleman (Curtis Publishing) cover illustration

Country Gentlemen magazine cover November 25, 1916, depicting a turkey (Thanksgiving reference) and a cat on a fence.
Paul Bransom Published by The Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia. Scanned by Don O'Brien · Cover of November 25, 1916, "Country Gentlemen" magazine, via Flickr: November 25, 1916

Identifier: secrettrails00robeuoft (find matches)
Internet Archive Book Images · https: Source book page
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1885
Paul Bransom was born in 1885 at Washington, D.C..
1979
Paul Bransom died on 1 January 1979.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7149500: Paul Bransom
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Paul Bransom”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Paul Bransom, revision 1364712549 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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."Paul Bransom papers, 1862–1985, bulk 1904–1979" (finding aid). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution (aaa.si.edu). With biographical sketch.
- 2.Paul Bransom. lambiek.net.
- 3.Curtis Publishing. Paul Bransom (1885–1979). Artists Gallery.
- 4.University of Pennsylvania. Online Books by Paul Bransom. The Online Books Page.
- 5.National Museum of American Illustration (americanillustration.org). Artists.
- 6."Paul Bransom, Illustrator, Dies; Called 'Dean of Animal Artists . Edith Evans Asbury. The New York Times. July 22, 1979. p. 34. Retrieved 2 September 2016. "died Thursday in Quakerstown, Pa., where he had been visiting. He would have been 94 years old next week."
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
He also worked under the name Bransom, John Paul. His recorded language was English. Bransom worked in painting, art of drawing and illustration. He was employed by United States Patent and Trademark Office, Southern Railway, General Electric, New York Journal-American and Success. Recorded with the occupation comics artist. Recorded as painter, comics artist, draftsperson and illustrator.
Identity and origins
Career and activity
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 16 August 2026.
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