Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator, painter, and author, primarily of books for young people.

[2] He had a lasting influence on a number of artists who became notable in their own right; N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Thornton Oakley, Allen Tupper True, Stanley Arthurs, and numerous others studied under him.

Van der Wielen in Philadelphia,[6] and this constituted the whole of his artistic training, aside from a few lessons at the Art Students League of New York.

[1] Pyle initially struggled in New York; his lack of professional experience made it difficult for him to translate his ideas into forms for publication.

Pyle synthesized many traditional Robin Hood legends and ballads in this work, while toning them down to make them suitable for children.

Pyle has Robin kill only two men, one who shoots at him first when he was a youth, the other a hated assassin named Guy of Gisborne whom the Sheriff sent to slay him.

In the original "A Gest of Robyn Hode", the life is saved of an anonymous wrestler who had won a bout but was likely to be murdered because he was a stranger.

In his novelistic treatment of the tales, he thus developed several characters who had been mentioned in only one ballad, such as David of Doncaster or Arthur a Bland.

The adventure tale follows Myles through his intensive training for knighthood and ends with him becoming a knight and challenging the wicked Lord Brookhurst Alban to trial by combat.

The remaining etchings are titled: “Friar” Bacon in His Study, and "Izaak" Walton Pyle was widely respected during his life and continues to be well regarded by illustrators and fine artists.

His contemporary Vincent van Gogh wrote in a letter to his brother Theo that Pyle's work "struck me dumb with admiration.

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism notes: As time passed, Pyle's historical position as the founder of a distinctly American school of illustration and art, as the innovator who introduced the total-design approach, and as the great reinventor of children's books, would outshine any single work he did, so that he is remembered less for any one project than for his total stance.

Some of his more notable students were N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Elenore Abbott, Ethel Franklin Betts, Anna Whelan Betts, Harvey Dunn, Clyde O. DeLand, Philip R. Goodwin, Thornton Oakley, Violet Oakley, Ellen Bernard Thompson Pyle, Olive Rush, Blanche Grant, Ethel Leach, Allen Tupper True, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Arthur E. Becher, William James Aylward, Jessie Willcox Smith, and Charlotte Harding.

Pyle taught his students at his home and studio in Wilmington, which is still standing and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

According to Robert Vitz, the Howard Pyle School of Art developed a common set of themes in its work: attention to realism and expression of optimism and a faith in the goodness of America.

[13] Pyle is remembered primarily as an illustrator, but his books have also been analyzed for their literary qualities, particularly The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood.

[6] Malcolm Usrey wrote that Otto of the Silver Hand has all the marks of a good historical novel: it has an exciting plot, with ample conflict and believable characters; it uses language and dialect appropriate to its setting and the characters; it has a significant, universal theme, and it presents the details of daily life in Germany of the thirteenth century accurately and unobtrusively, making the period real and alive.