Blanche McManus

Infobox Celebrity
name = Blanche McManus


caption =
birth_date = 1870
birth_place = East Feliciania Parish, Louisiana, US
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Author, Illustrator
salary =
networth =
spouse = Francis Miltoun
website =
footnotes =

Biographical Sketch

Little is known regarding the writer/artist Blanche McManus, except that she was born on Talladega Plantation, in East Feliciania Parish, Louisiana, in 1870, studied in London and Paris, and returned to the U.S. in 1893 when she established a studio in Chicago. By 1895, she was authoring and illustrating a series of children's books, including The True Mother Goose (1895), The Voyage of the Mayflower (1897) and How the Dutch came to Manhattan (1897). In those same years, she was producing illustrations for other authors books, often working on three or four books at one time.

Around 1900, she travelled with writer/husband, Francis Miltoun (Milburg Francisco Mansfield), throughout Europe and North Africa. Their collaboration led to a series of travel books, fully illustrated by McManus. M. F. Mansfield was a writer and had an apparently short-lived (ca. 1897 to ca 1900) publishing house [M. F. Mansfield and Co., later to be known as M. F. Mansfield and A. Wessels.] The couple is probably best known for a series of illustrated travel books which incorporated the newly invented automobile within a typical travelog of the period. Blanche McManus' sketches and watercolors of the people they met and views of architectural/natural scenes adds an interesting element to the books.

She and her husband lived in Paris when not travelling, and Blanche McManus continued illustrating for publishers back in the United States. Little is known about the rest of the Mansfield's time together. Research1 has shown that Blanche McManus was in Toulin, France, in 1911 by the signing of a book contract (for The American Woman Abroad) which was witnessed by her husband. A power of attorney was sent by Blanche McManus from Nice, France, in the 1910s, to her sister in Louisiana. It is believed M. F. Mansfield may have died in Europe, [possibly during WWI?] It is thought Blanche McManus returned to Louisiana in the 1920s.

From the list of works outlined below, Blanche McManus appears to have worked with 3 primary publishers, E.R. Herrick & Co., M.F. Mansfield & Co (later M.F. Mansfield & A. Wessels), and L. C. Page & Co., with the odd book put out by other publishing houses. The gaps in her publishing are as interesting as the works themselves. McManus published her first work at the age of 25. and by 30 had illustrated 15 books, 6 of which she authored also. Clearly, some relationship sprang up between the publisher Mansfield and herself in the late 1890's and then there is a gap of 4 yrs before she published or illustrated again. Could this have been a honeymoon period and early family life, with the couple settling in Europe? Both Mansfields must have kept their American publishing contacts, as L.C. Page & Co. hired them for a total of 25 books between 1903 and 1927 (23 of these books would be published between 1903 and 1912). The last 2 books appear to be a reissuing of Rambles in Normandy and Rambles in Brittany, but that is unconfirmed as of this writing.

Publishing History

Chronological Publishing History of Books Authored/Illustrated by Blanche McManus and Francis Miltoun: Note: * - Additional titles provided by the Rare Book Dept., Boston Public Library. Many of these books may have only been cover design illustrations by Blanche McManus.

Date:	Author:	Title:	Publisher:	Illustrated by?
1896*	Maria Louise Pool	Boss and Other Dogs	Chicago: Stone and Kimball	Blanche McManus
1896*	Ian Maclaren	Kate Carnegie	Dodd, Mead	Blanche Mcmanus
1896*	Charles Gibbon	Margaret Carmichael	New Amsterdam Book Co.	Blanche McManus
1896	Blanche McManus	The True Mother Goose.	Boston: Lamson Wolffe & Co.	Blanche McManus
1897*	Rudyard Kipling	Recessional	NY: M. F. Mansfield & A. Wessels	Blanche McManus
1897*	Richard Mansfield	Blown Away	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1897	Isaac Watts	Childhood's Songs of Long Ago	NY: E. R. Herrick	Blanche McManus
1897	Emily D. Elton	A Mince Pie Dream: A Book of Children's Verse	NY: E. R. Herrick & Co.	Blanche McManus
1897	Blanche McManus	The Voyage of the Mayflower	NY: E. R. Herrick & Co.	Blanche McManus
1897	Blanche McManus	How the Dutch Came to Manhattan	NY: E. R. Herrick & Co.	Blanche McManus
1898	Tom Hall	When Cupid Calls	NY: E. R. Herrick & Co.	Blanche McManus
c1898*	G. A. Henty	Henty Series	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1898	Alfred Lord Tennyson	Crossing the Bar	NY: E. R. Herrick & Co.	Blanche McManus
1898	Blanche McManus	Told in the Twilight: Stories to Tell Children	NY: E. R. Herrick & Co.	Blanche McManus
1898	Rudyard Kipling	Mandalay	NY: M. F. Mansfield & Co.	Blanche McManus
1898	Blanche McManus	Bachelor Ballads	NY: New Amsterdam Book Co.	Blanche McManus
1898	Walter Mapes	A Canticle of Wine, or the Drinking Song of Walter D. Mapes...	NY: M. F. Mansfield & Co.	Blanche McManus
1899*	Ruth McEnery Stuart	Holly and Pizen	The Century Co.	Blanche McManus
1899	Lewis Carroll	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland	NY: M. F. Mansfield & A. Wessels	Blanche McManus
1899	Rudyard Kipling	The Betrothed	NY: M. F. Mansfield & A. Wessels	Blanche McManus
1899	Frank R. Stockton	The Adventures of Captain Horn	NY: J. E. Rhodes	?? - McManus executed the poster for the book
1899	Blanche McManus	The Quaker Colony	NY: E. R. Herrick & Co.	Blanche McManus
1903	Francis Miltoun	The Cathedrals of Northern France	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1904*	G. Sidney Paternoster	The Motor Pirate	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1904	Blanche McManus	The 'Sov'rane Herb' and the Smokers Year, a Calendar for MDCCCCIIII	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1904	M.F. and Blanche McManus Mansfield	Romantic Ireland	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1904	Francis Miltoun	Cathedrals of Southern France	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1905*	Henry C. Shelley	The Spell of Old Paris	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1905*	Charles Rudy	The Cathedrals of Northern Spain	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1905	Francis Miltoun	Rambles in Brittany	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1905	Francis Miltoun	Rambles in Normandy	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1905	Blanche McManus	Our Little English Cousin	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1905	Blanche McManus	Our Little French Cousin	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1905	Francis Miltoun	Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1906*	Nathaniel Hawthorne	In Colonial Days	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1906	Francis Miltoun	Castles and Chateaux of Touraine and the Loire Country	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1906	Francis Miltoun	Rambles on the Riviera	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1906	Blanche McManus	Our Little Scotch Cousin	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1906	Blanche McManus	Our Little Dutch Cousin	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1907*	Charles Dickens	The Seven Poor Travelers	The Century Co.	Blanche McManus
1907	Francis Miltoun	The Automobilist Abroad	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1907	Francis Miltoun	Castles and Chateaux of Old Navarre and the Basque Provinces	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1907	Blanche McManus	Our Little Hindu Cousin	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1907	Blanche McManus	Our Little Arabian Cousin	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1908*	Mary Caroline Crawford	Old Boston in Colonial Days	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1908	Francis Miltoun	In the Land of Mosques and Minerets	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1908	Francis Miltoun	The Spell of Algeria and Tunisia	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1908	Blanche McManus	Our Little Egyptian Cousin	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1909*	Henry C. Shelley	Inns and Taverns of Old London	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1909	Francis Miltoun	Italian Highways and Byways from a Motor Car	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1909	Francis Miltoun	Castles and Chateaux of Old Burgundy & the Border Provinces	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1910	Francis Miltoun	Royal Palaces and Parks of France	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1911	Blanche McManus	Our Little Belgian Cousin	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1911	Blanche McManus	The American Woman Abroad	NY: Dodd, Mead	Blanche McManus
1912	Blanche McManus	Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes: Children's Favorite Rhymes & Jingles	NY: The Platt & Peck Co.	Blanche McManus
1925	Francis Miltoun	The Spell of Normandy	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus
1927	Francis Miltoun	The Spell of Brittany	Boston: L. C. Page & Co.	Blanche McManus

External links

[http://www.kellscraft.com/mothergoose/mothergoosecontent.html The True Mother Goose] [http://www.kellscraft.com/VoyageMayflower/voyagemayflowercontentpage.html The Voyage of the Mayflower] [http://www.kellscraft.com/mcmtwilight/toldintwilightcontents.html Told in the Twilight: Stories to Tell Children] [http://www.kellscraft.com/bachelorballadscontent.html Bachelor Ballads] [http://www.kellscraft.com/throughthelookingglasscontent.html Alice's Adventures in Wonderland] [http://www.kellscraft.com/McManus3.html Cathedrals of Southern France] [http://www.kellscraft.com/englishcousin/englishcousincontent.html Our Little English Cousin] [http://www.kellscraft.com/frenchcousin/frenchcousincontent.html Our Little French Cousin] [http://www.kellscraft.com/scotchcousincontent.html Our Little Scotch Cousin] [http://www.kellscraft.com/DutchCousins/dutchcousinscontents.html Our Little Dutch Cousin] [http://www.kellscraft.com/McManus.html Castles and Chateaux of Old Navarre and the Basque Provinces] [http://www.kellscraft.com/McManus2.html The Spell of Algeria and Tunisia] [http://www.kellscraft.com/EgyptianCousin/egyptiancousincontent.html Our Little Egyptian Cousin] [http://www.kellscraft.com/BelgianCousin/belgiancousincontent.html Our Little Belgian Cousin] [http://www.kellscraft.com/americanwoman/americanwomancontents.html The American Woman Abroad]