Harry Rountree was born in Auckland, New Zealand and studied at Queens College in his home city. He started working in a studio as a lithographer, primarily tasked with the design of labels for a variety of products. Rountree moved to London in 1901 at the age of 21 and attended the Regent Street polytechnic, studying under Percival Gaskell. Wanting to break into the burgeoning magazine and book market, he developed a suitable style that consisted of blocks of colour encompassed by jagged edges which was perfect for small illustrations and sizeable posters.
By 1903 he was contributing to various periodicals including Punch. His big break came when the Editor of Little Folks offered him a commission for the illustration of an extremely popular series of books featuring animals. Subsequent to this, Rountree became exceptionally successful in London and he could pick and choose who he worked for.
With a penchant for animals, he began illustrating books that would become children’s classics, including Uncle Remus (1906) and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1908); the latter, including over ninety colour plates, is considered his pièce de résistance and the defining version of the famous book.
Between 1903 and 1942, his pencils, pens, and paintbrushes brought to life everything from rabbits to dinosaurs. He illustrated Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World in its serial form in 1912. Although most of his best known work is to be found within the pages of children’s books, Rountree produced some astonishing illustrations for a variety of other genres. The Dolomites (1920), for example, is a travelogue that contains a selection of masterful and breathtaking watercolours of a mountain range in Italy.
His enchanting illustrations brought the works of many famous writers to life over the years including Edith Nesbit, Joel Chandler Harris, Albery Bigelow Paine, and many, many more. He belonged to the Savage Club and served as president of the London Sketch Club between 1914-1915.
(source: https://www.pookpress.co.uk/project/harry-rountree/)