Oliver Herford

Oliver Herford (1863 - 1935) was a British born American writer, artist and illustrator who has been called "The American Oscar Wilde" for his wit. As a frequent contributor to The Mentor, Life, and Ladies' Home Journal, he sometimes signed his artwork as "O Herford". In 1906 he wrote and illustrated the Little Book of Bores. He also wrote short poems like "The Chimpanzee" and "The Hen", as well as writing and illustrating The Rubaiyat of a Persian Kitten (1904) and Excuse It Please (1930). His sister Beatrice Herford was also a humorist.

Ethel Mumford and Addison Mizner wrote a small book The Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1903 as a Christmas present and added Herford's name as an author as a joke. The printer made up more copies to sell and to everyone's surprise it was an astounding success. When Herford found out about it he wanted 90% of the royalties. He was awarded an equal third.

Quotes

 * "A woman's mind is cleaner than a man's: she changes it more often."
 * "If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one; go ahead, get married."
 * "Many are called but few get up."
 * "Only the young die good."
 * "Tact: to lie about others as you would have them lie about you."
 * "What is my loftiest ambition? I've always wanted to throw an egg into an electric fan."

Books by Oliver Herford
With pictures by the author, published by Charles Scribner's Sons:
 * The Bashful Earthquake
 * A Child’s Primer of Natural History 
 * Overheard in a Garden
 * More Animals
 * The Rubaiyat of a Persian Kitten
 * The Fairy Godmother-in-law
 * A Little Book of Bores
 * The Peter Pan Alphabet
 * The Astonishing Tale of a Pen-And-Ink Puppet
 * A Kitten’s Garden of Verses

With John Cecil Clay:
 * Cupid’s Cyclopedia
 * Cupid’s Fair-Weather Booke

With Addison Mizner and Ethel Mumford
 * The Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1903