Background
His father, Solomon Eytinge, was a Dutch merchant who settled in New York and married an American woman, Mary Ann Miller. Sol Eytinge was born in New York on the 23 October 1833.
His father, Solomon Eytinge, was a Dutch merchant who settled in New York and married an American woman, Mary Ann Miller. Sol Eytinge was born in New York on the 23 October 1833.
By the age of twenty three he was an established staff artist at Frank Leslie"s Illustrated Newspaper where he mentored a sixteen-year-old Thomas Nast. Shortly afterwards, he worked for the New York Illustrated News later contributing to the journals Every Saturday and Harper"s Weekly. Before Pfaff"s had opened in 1855, Eytinge was involved with a circle of writers and artists who referred to themselves as the Ornithorhynchus Club.
In his prime as a draughtsman he was distinguished for the felicity of his invention, the richness of his humor, and the tenderness of his pathos.
He had a keen wit and was the soul of kindness and mirth”. In 1867 Sol Eytinge was asked by publishers Field, Osgood & Company of Boston to prepare a series of drawings to illustrate the work of Charles Dickens, who was due to tour America.
These were published in a series of books referred to as the Diamond Edition. One of Eytinge"s illustrations for A Christmas Carol was of Bob Cratchit with Tiny Tim on his shoulder.
This iconic portrayal was the first time a drawing showing this scene had been published.
Eytinge visited Dickens in England who then invited him to see the darker side of London life. The illustrations for the Dickens books were later published in the Every Saturday journal. Eytinge was a prolific illustrator and his work was included in books for authors such as Louisa May Alcott, Robert Browning, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Annie Edwards and John Greenleaf Whittier plus many others
Eytinge"s wife was a published author and wrote under the names of Margaret Winship Eytinge, Madge Elliot, Bell Thorne and Allie Vernon.
Another brother, Harry, was a producer and actor. Eytinge died in Bayonne, New Jersey on 26 March 1905 and is buried in Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery.