An article I wrote for the recent issue of
Wormwood (no. 23, Autumn 2014) explores the idea that the novelist Phyllis Paul (1903-1973) worked as an illustrator of (mostly) girls' books from around 1925 to 1930, before her first novel was published in 1933. My article is illustrated with some thumb-sized examples, reproduced (of necessity) in black and white. Here on this blog I can showcase some of them better, and in color.
First, is the monogram used to sign some of the artwork, incorporating the artist's name:
Here is the color cover and one interior black and white illustration from
Don-Margery, Schoolgirl (1928) by Mary Gervaise:
Here is the cover and an interior plate from John and Topsy (1926),
by Sibyl B. Owsley:
And finally, here is one illustration from Collins’ Fairy Folks’
Annual (1925):
More details about the issue of
Wormwood containing the associated article can be found
here.
If I interpret his essay correctly, this is a prime example of what Tolkien considered to be a "trite" pseudo fairy story. He had a rather nuanced idea of the real fairy story.
ReplyDeleteI confess I'm bewildered at how your comment relates to Phyllis Paul.
ReplyDeleteI hardly read this post, to be honest. Shame on me.
ReplyDeleteI have some evidence that suggests the same. A copy of Schoolgirl's Sports Bumper Book (circa 1928) has the same monogram on lots of black and white illustrations. One of them is a monochrome plate and Phyllis E. Paul is listed as the illustrator in the contents. I absolutely love her illustrations, they are detailed and elegant.
ReplyDeleteHiya, is this thread still ongoing as I have something that indicates she did do illustrations
DeleteYup. I look forward to your comments!
Delete