"Why, it's Gallegher!" — Frontispiece to *Gallagher and Other Stories*
Charles Dana Gibson · 1891
Gibson's frontispiece for Richard Harding Davis's debut story collection shows three figures in sharp pen-and-ink: a tall man in a top hat and long coat grips a cane and reaches toward a scrappy street boy, whose arms are outstretched between the two adults — the second a bearded gentleman in a business suit. The caption, spoken by the night editor, frames the boy Gallegher as a recognizable street urchin, simultaneously triumphant and bedraggled. Gibson renders the child with the loose clothes and open-mouthed energy of working-class newspaper boys Davis depicted — Philadelphia's Irish immigrant youth. The composition captures the interaction between characters across class lines in a newspaper setting.
About this artifact
- Creator
- Charles Dana Gibson
- Date
- 1891
- Rights
- Public domain — free to view, share, and reuse.
- Restoration
- Digitally restored and hosted by comicbooks.com · high-resolution version available.
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