Reginald Bathurst Birch was an American artist and illustrator. Born in London on May 2, 1856, Birch immigrated to San Francisco with his parents in 1870. He returned to Europe to study art in Munich, Italy, and London, afterward settling in New York City. In 1881 he embarked on a successful career as an illustrator for popular magazines including St. Nicholas, Century, Life, and Harper's. Birch created hundreds of images for novels, poems, and serial stories over five decades, but was best known for his contribution to Frances Hodgson Burnett's children's book Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886). An anthology of his work, Reginald Birch--His Book (New York: Harcourt, Brace) was published in 1939, and he died in New York on June 17, 1943. A naturalized American citizen, Birch had two wives, Theresa and Gertrude, and two children, Margaret (born 1894) and Rodney Bathurst Birch (1897-1989).
From the description of Rodney Bathurst Birch collection of Reginald Bathurst Birch, circa 1877-1943. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702201166
