A portrait of Palmer Cox, from St. Nicholas for January, 1894

Considered a pioneering artist of the Platinum Age of Comics, Palmer Cox first debuted his pixiesque brainchildren, The Brownies, in 1883 when they appeared in St. Nicholas, a prominent children's magazine of the time. In one of the magazine's biographical sketches on Cox, writer Malcolm Douglas describes The Brownies as "a very strange little band of night-sprites; tiny, neckless creatures with big ears, pop-eyes, wide, smiling mouths, fat, round paunches, spindling legs, and long, tapering feet... queer little supernatural beings, with traits that irresistibly appealed to one's sense of the ridiculous."

This description, better than any other, captures Cox's quirky vision. With his painstakingly detailed illustrations and classically rhymed story-poems, Cox reveals his commitment to bringing elements of the wildly imagination and the slightly absurd into the lives of 19th century children.

In his first story, "The Brownies' Ride," Cox elaborately chronicles The Brownies' mischievous kidnapping of a local farmer's mare and a fanciful midnight ride through town. Though they were small, their number, determination and cooperation allowed them to hitch the mare to her harness and cart. The entire gang rode her for at least ten miles, turning back to the farm, only as the sky reddened with the first light of dawn. They managed to beat morning home and disappear before the farmer woke. Unfortunately, they hadn't had time to unhitch the filly from the harness and cart.

"When Farmer Gill that morning fair/Came out and viewed his jaded mare,/I may not here in verse repeat/His exclamations all complete."

The ending provided youthful readers with a sense of glee, as Farmer Gill never discovers who stole his mare. Their introduction to The Brownies suggests a group of characters who'll always manage to outwit the adults they encounter, perpetually sidestepping capture.

Though the first story doesn't suggest such, The Brownies also came to embody several very distinct and seperate personality types. First was the Irish Brownie (a tribute to America's burgeoning immigrant population), then the Policeman, then the Dude, the Cadet, the Chinaman and, later, the Cowboy (who emerged at the specific request of then-President Theodore Roosevelt.

The Brownies were widely popular in the years following their St. Nicholas debut. Several books were published by The Century Co., each drawing their content from the stories originally published in St. Nicholas.

Cox's last book published by The Century Co. was "The Brownies and Prince Florimel," released in 1918. It was the only of the Brownie books ever to be published in prose and to feature the Brownies with creatures other than themselves.

As a special treat, we present to you the original Palmer Cox illustrations that accompanied "The Brownies' Ride" as it was published in St. Nicholas, as well as two portraits of Palmer Cox that ran with the Malcom Douglas article "Palmer Cox, The Brownie Man."

Be sure to join us next week, as we continue our coverage of Palmer Cox and reveal more information we were able to dig up about the last years of Cox's life and his ensuing legacy.

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A portrait of Palmer Cox, from St. Nicholas for January, 1894		Cox in his 656 Broadway studio		Shown on the first page of 'The Brownies' Ride,' depicts the sprites attempting to hitch the harness to the mare.
Shown on the second page of the story. After the harness is hitched, the Brownies have to kept the mare from galloping off.		Shown on the third and final page of the story. The Brownies ride gleefully through the town, piled high in the farmer's cart and controlling the reins of the mare.		An illustration from "The Brownies Build a Bridge," published in St. Nicholas for November, 1913. Note the difference in costume and detail between this sketch and the one's in Cox's first Brownie tale. How many different Brownie personalities can you spot and identify?