# James Gordon Irving

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/James_Gordon_Irving
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/James_Gordon_Irving.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gordon_Irving
> Source revision: 1314230229
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

American illustrator and painter (1913–2012)

**James Gordon Irving** (June 2, 1913 – August 15, 2012) was a commercial illustrator and painter, best known for illustrating the early [Golden Guide](/source/Golden_Guide) series of nature books.

## Life and career

Irving, who went by the name Gordon, was born in [Ridgefield Park, New Jersey](/source/Ridgefield_Park%2C_New_Jersey).[1] Interested in natural-history illustration from an early age, he took art classes at the [Dean Academy](/source/Dean_College) in Franklin, Massachusetts, and from the age of 17 at the [Grand Central School of Art](/source/Grand_Central_School_of_Art) and the [National Academy of Design](/source/National_Academy_Museum_and_School) in New York City.[1] He served in the US Navy at a naval base in San Francisco during World War II,[2] where he met his wife-to-be, Grace Crowe, moving back to New Jersey in 1947 to raise a family.[1]

Irving worked as a commercial artist for many years, but is best known as the illustrator of the [Golden Guides](/source/Golden_Guide), pocket-size introductions to natural history for children; he illustrated the first, *Birds* (1949) by [Herbert Zim](/source/Herbert_Zim) & Ira Gabrielson, and eight more during the first years of the series: *Insects* (1951), *Stars* (1951), *Trees* (1952), *Reptiles and Amphibians* (1952), *Fishes* (1955), *Mammals* (1955), *Zoology* (1958), and *Gamebirds* (1961).[1][3] When the series was relaunched in 2001, several of the books continued to feature Irving's paintings.

A resident of [Haworth, New Jersey](/source/Haworth%2C_New_Jersey), Irving died aged 99 on August 15, 2012, survived by his two sons.[2]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:0_1-3) Fandrich, Leslie (Fall 2012). ["The Golden Nature of James Gordon Irving"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190821070352/https://www.uppercasemagazine.com/issue15). *Uppercase* (15): 46–50. Archived from [the original](http://uppercasemagazine.com/issue15) on 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2016-01-04.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_2-1) ["James Irving Obituary"](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/northjersey/obituary.aspx?pid=159348614). *The Record*. 22 August 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Golden Guide Checklist"](http://www.vintagepbks.com/gg-list.html). *www.vintagepbks.com*. Retrieved 4 January 2016.

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND National United States Italy Spain Poland Israel Other IdRef Yale LUX

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James Gordon Irving](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gordon_Irving) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gordon_Irving?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.