Museum Minute: The Illustrator for “The Call of the Wild” Showed Empathy for Animals

Working in the golden age of American illustrators, Philip R. Goodwin, who was also a painter, sold his first artwork before he was a teenager, said McCracken Research Library Associate Librarian and Senior Cataloger Eric Rossborough.

Rossborough said fresh out of art school, Goodwin was asked to illustrate a book for an unknown author at the time.

“ The book turned out to be “(The) Call of the Wild” by Jack London, and it totally transformed both Jack London’s life and Philip Goodwin’s life,” Rossborough said.

Rossborough said Goodwin’s art for “The Call of the Wild” showed a real empathy for animals. He said partly because of commercial pressures, Goodwin later turned to human subjects and did everything from calendar art to ads for outdoor equipment companies, as well as designing the horse and rider logo for the Winchester Repeating Arms company.

“At the time of his death, he was not well known. But in the ‘70s, his career had a resurrection, and now his work is worth a great deal of money,” he said.

The “The Call of the Wild” book and other materials are part of the Phillip R. Goodwin collection at the McCracken Research Library at the Center of the West.

“What happened was Philip Goodwin’s sister-in-law gave the Buffalo Bill Center of the West a bunch of correspondence and archives of Goodwin’s personal papers, along with a bunch of books that he illustrated,” he said.

The Center of the West also has some of his paintings and sketches both archived and on display.