Ernest E. Burtt, cartoonist

I found a fascinating little publication in UT’s Special Collections a few weeks ago. I was doing some research for the next phase of TNDP (NEH grant application pending), when I came across this 1903 booklet, The Journal and Tribune’s Book of Cartoons. The Knoxville-based cartoonist was Ernest E. Burtt. A quick search online led me to a website rich in information about cartoons and cartoonists: the International Team of Comic Historians, aka ITCH.* The website contained a page scanned from the May 1913 issue of Cartoons Magazine (see below), featuring many cartoonists, and amongst them – Ernest E. Burtt. The page gives a short bio and even a photo of the artist. The piece also solved the mystery of who the little creature was that kept popping up in the Journal and Tribune‘s editorial cartoons – Rad the dog!

Cartoons Magazine. May 1913.
Cartoons Magazine. May 1913.
Source: ITCH website, http://superitch.com/ [no longer available]
From the publication, the [Knoxville] Journal and Tribune Cartoons, 1909. Source: University of Tennessee Special Collections, Hodges Library
From the publication, the [Knoxville] Journal and Tribune Cartoons, 1903. Source: University of Tennessee Special Collections, Hodges Library
* Sadly, the ITCH website no longer exists, as of Feb 2014. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine has some pages archived.