Howard Pyle (1853–1911) was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, with a passion for historical illustration, writing, and teaching. His talents quickly revealed themselves when he was twenty-three and Roswell Smith, the owner of Scribner’s Monthly, encouraged him to leave his small town for New York City. Pyle went on to re-create traditional legends through his illustrations in Harper’s Weekly and, most famously, in his novel The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, which he both wrote and illustrated.