Beehive Books Champions Another Forgotten Artistic Genius: Harrison Cady

Independent press Beehive Books attracted a great deal of attention when they put together and crowdfunded a fine volume of the works of a forgotten genius of comics and illustration, Herbert Crowley in Temple of Silence. Now, publishers Joshua O’Neill and Maelle Doliveux are funding their second monograph and it focuses on the life and work of Harrison Cady.

Madness in Crowds: The Teeming Mind of Harrison Cady will also be a “monstrous volume”, a 11×14″ tome collecting over 300 Cady images and including a detailed biography by Will Eisner Hall of Fame inductee Denis Kitchen.
The campaign has only been running for two days and is already over half way toward its goal, so there is considerable momentum behind this volume collecting the works of the early 20th century cartoonist and illustrator.

Walter Harrison Cady (1877–1970) was one of the “definitive magazine illustrators and cartoon artists of the first half of the 20th century”. He had a 70 year career and is known for his highly detailed, crowded work evoking tremendous energy and liveliness. He specialized in “frenzied crowd scenes”, all quite different, and loved drawing insects and animals, too.

Beehive also describe Cady as “a committed political progressive”, who “frequently made cartoons about women’s suffrage, injustice and the exploitation of the working classes”. However, though he has some devotees, Cady has been largely forgotten by comic and illustration lovers. And of course, this new volume celebrating his work will help to correct that.

The campaign runs until June  and rewards for backing the campaign include art prints, a slipcase edition, postcards, sketch editions, and more. Dive into more details about this amazing project right here.