Creator Profile: Lynd Ward

Lynd Ward was an artist and novelist who had an important impact on the development of the graphic novel format through the wordless novels he created on wood engravings. The multitalented creator also produced art with lithography, watercolor, oils, and ink.

Ward was born June 26, 1905 in Chicago. While he was in high school, Ward was the art editor of the yearbook and school newspaper and he learned about linoleum block printing. He attended Columbia Teachers College in New York where he studied fine arts and worked on the Jester of Columbia magazine as editor and a writer.

After marrying May Yonge McNeer, the two moved to Germany for a year where he studied at the National Academy of Graphic Arts and Bookmaking. This is where he learned about etching and wood engraving.

Once Ward returned to the US, he illustrated Dorothy Rowe’s The Begging Deer: Stories of Japanese Children. In 1929, May wrote Prince Bantam, a book on Japanese folk tales, that Ward illustrated. His illustrations could also be found in children’s books, including Little Blacknose and for the Oscar Wilde poem “Ballad of Reading Gaol.”

Ward saw German artist Otto Nückel’s Destiny and was inspired to create the first American wordless novel, God’s Man in ’29. He followed this with five more books in the ‘30s, including Madman’s Drum, Wild Pilgrimage, Prelude to a Million Years, Song Without Words, and Vertigo.

Ward illustrated hundreds of children’s books, including some collaborations with his wife, May. He also illustrated the Heritage Limited Edition Club’s series of classic works. Ward founded the Equinox Cooperative Press in ’32 and was a member and President of the Society of American Graphic Artists.

Ward died in 1985, just shy of his 80th birthday. His career accolades included a Library of Congress Award for wood engraving, he illustrated two Newbery Medal books, and was a Judges’ Choice for The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.