This pen & ink on artist’s paper is broken into two segments (as were all of the illustrations created for this publication) and were printed across two pages with the empty space in between being used to identify a new date/part in the story, as seen in the example below. The purple ink, splattered intentionally with black ink, shows a group packed into a small room as a man at the front addresses the crowd.
This illustration appears on pages 320-321 of The Sound and the Fury. It marks the beginning of Part IV “April Eighth, 1928”.
This illustration on artist’s paper has been loosely adhered to a foam core backing. A mat and piece of black paper are loosely attached over the top. This is unsigned by the artist.
From its founding in 1973 until its closing in 2000 The Franklin Library produced public domain classic books. They released books to subscribers in themed series such as Greatest Books of the Twentieth Century. Often released in parallel series including leather bound and a non-leather bound (leatherette), the books were handsomely bound and included illustrations from contemporary illustrators.
American artist and illustrator Steven H. Stroud (b. 1947) was specially commissioned to create a series of interior illustrations for The Franklin Library’s 1980 publication of the 1929 novel The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.
Born and raised in the Chicago area, Steven Stroud served four years in the U.S. Navy as a photographer and graphic artist before embarking on a 25-year career as an illustrator. His paintings have appeared on the covers of books by Isaac Asimov, Clive Cussler, and Stephen King. He has done special editions of works by Pearl Buck, John Cheever, William Faulkner, Joseph Heller, Joyce Carol Oates, and William Styron.
His work is in the collections of The Department of Defense, Hyatt Hotels, Omega Engineering, UPS and the Florence Griswold Museum. Stroud has been a guest lecturer and critic at all levels of education. He is a past president of the Society of Illustrators and his work is featured in The Illustrator in America by Walter Reed.
Several years ago, Stroud turned his attention full time to his first love, landscape painting. He is currently represented by galleries in Massachusetts and Vermont and has had a number of highly successful group and one-man shows.
