High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Palmer Cox (April 28, 1840 – July 24, 1924) was a Canadian illustrator and author, best known for The Brownies, his series of humorous verse books and comic strips about the mischievous but kindhearted fairy-like sprites. The cartoons were published in several books, such as The Brownies, Their Book (1887). Due to the popularity of Cox`s Brownies, one of the first popular handheld cameras was named after them, the Eastman Kodak Brownie camera.