1922 was the same year he began doing book illustrations. Just as Scribner's had their classics with mostly Wyeth illustrations, Dodd-Mead began a similar series with Schaeffer doing the majority of the titles. Quite an honor for a 24 year old. His earliest books were Herman Melville titles: Moby Dick (1922 - see image right), Typee (1923) and Omoo (1924). He also did a pair of Rand McNally titles in their adventure/classic series in 1924: Adventures of Remi and King Arthur and His Knights. These early efforts represent the first of three very distinct stylistic approaches of his career.

I like to to think of these as his Pratt/Dunn-influenced work. They're competent, even strong occasionally, but they lack the power of composition and execution that was to come. A good example is the scene from King Arthur at left. It's okay, but the posed aspects overwhelm the painting talent. I don't for a minute believe that I'm looking at two men fighting with swords. Other books from that Dodd-Mead series of the 1920's include: Les Miserables (supposedly circa 1925, but it's possible that the plates are dated 1929 - the style certainly supports a later date or else exposure to Dunn or Cornwell. See image at right), The Wreck of the Grosvenor (no date) and The Cruise of the Cachalot (1926).

About this time (1926-27) must be when he began to study with Dean Cornwell. This is the second stylistic phase and the change in his work on the Dodd-Mead classic series is dramatic. (Unfortunately, many of the D-M books lack meaningful dates, so I'm going to treat them as a group that was created between 1926 and 1930.)

Tom Cringle's Log

The Three Musketeers (1929)

 The Count of Monte Cristo

Lorna Doone (1930)

Another great image The Count of Monte Cristo

 

This mature style was also put to good use throughout the 1930's and early 1940's in hundreds of magazine illustrations for Women's Home Companion, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Redbook and others. Perhaps the most memorable were those he did for Raphael Sabatini's Capt. Blood stories in The American. Right is a sample from the Sept, 1936 issue. The Brangwyn influence is diluted, but still evident.

Many of these later titles also contain his pen & ink and woodcut illustrations. This image at left is from The Black Buccaneer, which is copyright 1920, but is most assuredly from this later period (1927-1940). The color illustrations for this title bear the unmistakable stamp of Cornwell.

Schaeffer was a close friend of Norman Rockwell and posed for him on occasion. In 1942, Schaeffer abandoned the romantic adventure milieu in favor of more realistic subject matter. According to a quote in Susan E. Meyer's 1981 book, Norman Rockwell's People, "I suddenly realized I was sick of it all - sick of painting dudes and dandies. I longed to do honest work, based on real places, real people and real things." Which sounds all well and good, but he had always gone to great lengths to put realism into his paintings, often traveling to exotic locales so as to get the images right for a book or story. All of the people, places and things he'd been painting were very "real." Maybe it was Rockwell that influenced him, but World War II may have changed his perspective, also.

He inaugurated this third stylistic phase with a series of paintings depicting the 14 branches of the U.S. military. These were done at the same time as Rockwell's Four Freedoms. Both projects were Sponsored by The Saturday Evening Post and Schaeffer's appeared as covers for the magazine. He did other Post covers in this new style, too. At right is a sample from the Feb. 2, 1946 issue (image is from Fred Taraba's Step-by-Step article).

His last Post cover was December 26, 1953 (see image at left). He faded into retirement after that. He died in 1980.

Information supplied by: http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/schaeffe.htm