Jessie Wilcox Smith

One of America's best-loved illustrators, Jessie Willcox Smith left a legacy of delightful illustrations that continue to capture the hearts of adults and children alike. A prolific book and magazine illustrator of the early twentieth century, Smith illustrated every cover of Good Housekeeping for more than fifteen years between the two world wars. Her work also appeared in Collier's, the Ladies' Home Journal, Women's Home Companion, and many others. Among the books she illustrated are such perennial favorites as Heidi, Mother Goose, Little Women, A Child's Garden of Verses, The Water-Babies, and Dickens's Children. Author Edward D. Nudelman, owner of the world's largest private collection of Jessie Willcox Smith's works, has compiled this pictorial volume primarily for the reader's visual enjoyment. However, his comprehensive text offers the reader invaluable insight into the character and career of this great American artist. Nudelman discusses Smith's early artistic training and the development of her unique talent under the tutelage of her mentor, the renowned illustrator Howard Pyle. The author divides Smith's artwork into four separate categories or themes: "Mother and Child," which addresses maternal themes in Smith's work; "Scenes from Childhood," which depicts children at play; "Fairy Tales," which demonstrates Smith's penchant for the fantastic; and "Children's Classics," which includes Smith's illustrations for such classics as Little Women and Heidi.