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Johann Baptist Zwecker facts for kids

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Speke-Grant-1864
'Speke introduces Grant to the Queen-Dowager of Uganda', Harper's Magazine, April 1864

Johann Baptist Zwecker (1814–1876) was a talented German illustrator. He was famous for drawing pictures for books and magazines. His artwork brought many stories and facts to life.

Meet Johann Baptist Zwecker: Artist and Illustrator

Johann Baptist Zwecker studied art in Germany. He went to schools in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. Around 1860, he moved to London, England. There, he opened a studio with another artist named Joseph Wolf.

Zwecker drew pictures for many different kinds of books. He illustrated children's books, like The Ice-Maiden by Hans Christian Andersen. He also worked on exciting adventure tales. One example is African Hunting and Adventure... by William Charles Baldwin.

He also drew for popular magazines of his time. However, he is best known for his amazing artwork in natural history books. These books teach about animals and nature. He illustrated The Geographical Distribution of Animals by Alfred Russel Wallace. His biggest project was drawing for John George Wood's Popular Natural History. This huge work came out in three volumes in 1871.

Some of his well-known drawings include The Hartebeest from 1862. He also created Arrival at the Depôt at Cooper's Creek in 1862. Other famous works are Ostrich Hunting and A Race for Life in a Jungle, both from 1862. He also made the first known drawing of the Icelandic Fjallkonan. This means 'lady of the mountains' and is a symbol of Iceland.

Zwecker's Amazing Illustrations

Three Little Mice by Johann Baptist Zwecker (1814–1876)
"Three Little Mice", from J. W. Elliott, Nursery Rhymes And Nursery Songs, 1870.

Here are some of the many books that Johann Baptist Zwecker illustrated:

  • Hans Christian Andersen, Anne S. Bushby, The Ice-Maidens, 1863.
  • Samuel White Baker, Godefroy Durand, Ismailïa. A narrative of the expedition to Central Africa for the suppression of the slave trade, 1874.
  • William Charles Baldwin, James Wolf, African Hunting from Natal to the Zambesi including Lake Ngami, the Kalahari Desert, etc from 1852 to 1860, 1863.
  • Robert Michael Ballantyne, The Wild Man of the West, 1863.
  • Lucy D. Sale Barker, Some of my Feathered and Four-footed Friends, 1883.
  • Alfred Walter Bayes, Our Favourite Nursery Rhymes, 1868.
  • Grantley F. Berkeley, The English Sportsman in the Western Prairies, 1861.
  • Anne Bowman, The Young Nile-Voyagers, 1868.
  • Alfred Wilks Drayson, Among the Zulus, the Adventures of Hans Sterk, 1879.
  • J. W. Elliott, Nursery Rhymes And Nursery Songs, 1870.
  • Thomas Frost, Saved From the Wreck, 1874.
  • George Alfred Henty, Out on the Pampas, or The Young Settlers, 1870.
  • Edward Howe, The Boys in the Bush, 1869.
  • Mary Howitt, A Treasury of Tales for Young People, 1860.
  • Alfred Russel Wallace, The Geographical Distribution of Animals, 1876.
  • John George Wood, Joseph Wolf, Natural History Picture Book for Children, 1861.
  • John George Wood, George French Angas, Joseph Wolf, The Natural History of Man, 1868.
  • John George Wood, Edward Alfred Smith, Insects Abroad, 1874.
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"The lady of the mountain" (Fjallkonan), a symbol of Iceland, frontispiece to Jón Árnason's Icelandic Legends, 1866
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