The only work he knew of the Flemish artist Frans Masereel, the form's first and most prolific practitioner, was Passionate Journey (1919), which he had read in a 1949 American edition.[6] Like his forebears in the genre, Hyde had a left-wing agenda that he expressed in his art.[7] When Southern Cross appeared, the genre had been out of the public eye for so long that Hyde included a historical essay to orient the reader.[8] Hyde had asked Ward to proofread this history, but the book was published without Ward's corrections—errors remained, such as Masereel's forename given as "Hans", and a listing of only four of Ward's six wordless novels.[3]