He illustrated books like James Whitcomb Riley's The Flying Islands of the Night (1913), which included

multiple plates of his watercolor images. "It includes Booth's open compositions and attention to
classical forms, with skies filled with soft quiet washes of hues in place of fields of tone."[6] The book, A
Hoosier Holiday (1916), chronicled the two-week automobile trip that Booth took with Theodore Dreiser
from New York to Terre Haute, Indiana, Riley's hometown. It included 30 or 32 charcoal sketches of
cities, small towns, and rural settings that Booth made along their voyage in Booth's Pathfinder touring
car. It was the first book about travel via automobile.[1][7] He illustrated Mark Twain's The Prince and
the Pauper (1917);[11] Meredith Nicholson's The Poet,[12] and Five-Foot Book Shelf, one of the Harvard
Classics editions.[13]

In 1925, he co-founded the Phoenix Art Institute and was an educator there for 21 years.[7] An edition
of his work, "Sixty Reproductions from Original Drawings", was published in 1925 by Robert Frank.[14] In
1934 and 1935, he wrote a series of articles about the art of illustration for the Professional Art
Quarterly.[7]

Franklin Booth, A Continent Is Bridged, an illustration for the 25th anniversary of transcontinental
telephone service.

Other contributions include illustrating the annual Telephone Almanac by 1940.[15] "A Continent Is
Bridged", an illustration by Franklin Booth, was drawn for the Atlantic Telephone & Telegraph Company
for the observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of transcontinental telephone service in 1940.[16]

He created illustrations—like of a black-eyed susan and box turtle—for several stamps for a 1941
wildlife conservation series by the National Wildlife Federation.[17] During his career, he helped develop
a process of permanent reproduction of line design on titles and aluminum with the Reynolds Metals
Company.[13]

William H. Block Company sold a number of his drawings in 1946.[2] In 1947, the book 20 Franklin Booth
Masterpieces was published.[7] He was a member of the Guild Freelance Artists and the Society of
Illustrators.[2]

Personal life

Booth lived for a short time in the suburban city of New Rochelle,[3] a well known artist colony. Its
residents including well-known artists like Norman Rockwell.[18] He then settled in a studio on 57th
Street in New York City. He spent his summers in Indiana, where he was friends with James Whitcomb
Riley, a poet.[3]
As an adult, he identified himself as a Socialist and a Christian Scientist.[2] He married Beatrice
Wittmack, one of his models, in 1923 when he was 49 years of age.[7] In 1946, Booth suffered an
incapacitating stroke[7] and died on August 25, 1948[13] in his studio in New York City.[7] His wife
survived him.[13] There was no mention of children in his obituaries.[2][13] His ashes were scattered
over his parent's gravestone in Carmel, Indiana.[3]

Legacy

In February 2001, the United States Postal Service released commemorative stamps of 20 "American
Illustrators" with the header by Franklin Booth.[19]

Books about him and his illustrations include Franklin Booth: American Illustrator (2006) by editor
Manuel Auad[20] and Franklin Booth: Painter with a Pen (2002) by John Fleskes.[21]

Quotations

"I have always admired the beauty of Franklin Booth's work and regard him as an exponent of the very
best in American Illustration". ~ Norman Rockwell.[6]

"Booth's pen-and-inks have the lush richness of a fine old tapestry plus an exciting imagination". ~ James
Montgomery Flagg.[22]

"I have always stood spellbound before one of Booth's noble pen paintings. They recall today the Golden
Age of American Illustration when such giants as Pyle, Abbey, Remington, and Gibson set a standard
hard to reach. Booth earned his place beside such men as These". ~ Dean Cornwell.[22]

"I still wish I could do a pen drawing the way Franklin Booth handled them. The present-day student
who wants quick success should be forced to copy a few of his illustrations just for the discipline. I used
to do them just for the love of it". ~ Milton Caniff.[22]