James William Carling

Who was James William Carling?

James William Carling was a pavement artist from Liverpool, England.

Carling was born at 38 Addison Street, Liverpool in the Holy Cross parish in 1857. He was the son of extremely poor Irish parents. From an early age James was known as the "little drawer" or "THE LITTLE CHALKER" and used Liverpool's street pavements for his art and to beg for money. Carling attended Holy Cross School.

In 1871, James William Carling travelled to America to join his elder brother Henry and to attempt to become as successful an artist as Henry. When in America, James supported himself as a sidewalk artist and Vaudeville caricaturist before devoting his talents to illustrating the poem "The Raven". The poem's author, Edgar Allan Poe, Carling felt, was the "greatest poet this world has ever seen". Carling's drawings, created in the 1880s, are a graphic visual representation of the images Poe constructed in his poem. The Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia displays 43 of his illustrations of "The Raven" in what is known as "The Raven Room".

James Carling returned to Liverpool in 1887 with intentions to further his artwork and career.