Harry Rountree was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1878, and was educated at Queen's College, Auckland. He moved to London in 1901 and studied with Percival Gaskell at Regent Street Polytechnic before establishing himself as an illustrator of children's books. He also worked for magazines including Punch, and story papers like the Boy's Own Paper. In comics, his work appeared in Little Folks, Playtime, for which he drew "Micky Mouse and his Jungle Friends" and covers from 1919, Wonderland Tales (1919-1921), and various nursery comic annuals. During the First World War he served as a captain in the Royal Engineers. He died in Penzance, Cornwall, in the third quarter of 1950, aged 72.
References[]
- Alan Clark, Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors, The British Library, 1998, p. 149
- Denis Gifford, Encyclopedia of Comic Characters, Longman, 1987, p. 143
- Simon Houfe, The Dictionary of 19th Century British Book Illustrators, Antique Collectors' Club, 1996, pp. 284-285
