Frank Hazenplug Biography

Frank S. Hazenplug (1873-1931) was an American artist, engraver, typographer, poster artist, and illustrator of books. He is one of the pioneers of Art Nouveau.

Frank S. Hazenplug was the last child of Jane and Henry Hazenplug, a furniture-maker in Dixon, Illinois. He began his career in Chicago, where a new artistic scene emerged in the early 1890s.

By 1894, Hazenplug (a.k.a. Hazen after 1911) designed books for the Chicago firm of Stone & Kimball, and remained with its successor, Herbert S. Stone, until 1906. Other publishers for whom Hazenplug created covers included hundreds for Fleming Revell (1900-1911), as well as many for George Doran, A.C. McClurg, Reilly and Britton, Rand McNally, and John Lane (1913-1920).

Hazenplug designed several series for Stone & Kimball, including Peacock Library, English Classics, Carnation Series, and the Blue Cloth Series. His covers range from the simple to the very elaborate; from an austere one-line border on front and back with minute lettering to a wildly embellished “fretted peacock feather pattern in gold on dark blue cloth,” as described by Gullans.