Katharine Pyle (November 23, 1863 – February 19, 1938) was an American
illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
and author, primarily of books for young people, an influential member of the Pyle artistic family, active in Philadelphia during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A native of
Wilmington,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, and a social activist, she published several accounts of Delaware's colonial history.
Early life
Born in
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, Katharine was the youngest child of William Pyle, a leather manufacturer, and Margaret Churchman Painter, an "amateur" writer. Her older brother (by ten years) was author and illustrator
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.
In 1894, he began ...
.
Both Howard and her parents encouraged Katharine's artistic inclinations, though the modest style of the Quaker household dictated that Katharine not be given too much praise. Howard wrote Margaret of then 13 year old Katharine: "Katie is doing wonderfully well. But do not tell her that I said so. For I think it would be even better to speak slightingly of her verses than to praise them unduly. It would be the greatest misfortune to her should she ever become satisfied with her work."
Katharine was educated at Philadelphia's Women's Industrial School (1883) and at the
Drexel Institute
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...
, where she attended her brother's illustration classes,
followed by a course of study at the
Philadelphia School of Design for Women
Philadelphia School of Design for Women (1848–1932) was an art school for women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Housed in the former Edwin Forrest House at 1346 North Broad Street, under the directorship of Emily Sartain (1886–1920), ...
.
Her first published works were poems in
St. Nicholas magazine (1880) and
Harper’s Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
(1884). From 1886, she collaborated with Howard on ''The Wonder Clock'', published in
Harper’s Young People in 1886-87 and as a book in 1887. During this period, Katharine was taxed with the responsibility of the Pyle household (Margaret Pyle had died in 1885), escaping this role only with her 1892 move to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to enroll at the
Art Students League
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...
.
Work
New York Years
While at the Art Students League, Pyle continued to receive commissions from ''Harper’s Bazaar'' and ''St. Nicholas''. In 1893, her art was exhibited at the
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordi ...
, and by 1895, she had begun work as a professional author illustrator, with the publication of ''The Rabbit Witch and Other Stories'' (1895, republished in multiple editions as ''Careless Jane and Other Tales'', from 1902). That same year, she contributed the illustrations to
Edith M. Thomas’s highly praised book of poetry, ''In Sunshine Land'' (1895).
Pyle published ''The Counterpane Fairy'' in 1898, the book generally regarded as cementing her reputation.
The Golden Age of Illustration in America
The period between 1880 and 1914 is regarded as the
Golden Age of Illustration
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...
in America, when the proliferation of expense-saving improvements in printing practices and a "newly literate public," aligned.
For women, particularly, this opened opportunities in a new market for their labor, and Katherine Pyle, as Howard Pyle's younger sister, was in a unique position to benefit from this trend. Howard Pyle was teacher and "sometime mentor" to a "whole school of American women illustrators," including
Ethel Franklin Betts,
Elizabeth Shippen Green
Elizabeth Shippen Green (September 1, 1871 – May 29, 1954) was an American illustrator. She illustrated children's books and worked for publications such as ''The Ladies' Home Journal'', ''The Saturday Evening Post'' and ''Harper's Magazine''. ...
,
Charlotte Harding
Charlotte Harding (1873–1951) was an American illustrator. She signed her work with her maiden name, but her name in her personal life was Charlotte Harding Brown after she married James A. Brown in 1905. She illustrated magazines, such as ''The ...
,
Violet Oakley
Violet Oakley (June 10, 1874 – February 25, 1961) was an American artist. She was the first American woman to receive a public mural commission. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, she was renowned as a pathbreaker in mural deco ...
,
Sarah S. Stilwell,
Ellen Bernard Thompson (Pyle), and
Jessie Wilcox Smith
Jessie Willcox Smith (September 6, 1863 – May 3, 1935) was an American illustrator during the Illustration#Golden age of illustration, Golden Age of American illustration. She was considered "one of the greatest pure illustrators". A contribut ...
.
These women studied in Howard's classes alongside Katharine, and many of them were her friends. When Pyle returned to from New York, she engaged with former classmates on numerous book projects, sometimes writing, sometimes illustrating.
Her own first book, ''The Counterpane Fairy'', was published in 1898, and by 1902 she was collaborating on projects with friends from her Drexel classes, including Bertha Corson Day with their book of fairy tales, ''Where the Wind Blows'', written by Pyle and illustrated by Day.
Pyle moved to Boston in 1904, where she taught art at
Lincoln House, a
settlement house
The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...
. Summers Pyle painted portraits while visiting nearby Cape Cod. She contracted tuberculosis in sometime in 1909, for which she was successfully treated in Asheville NC. Once healthy, she returned to Wilmington where she continued to illustrate and publish, along with her charitable activities.
Following dissension with her editor at ''Harper's Bazaar'' regarding several of her fairy tale submissions, the works of her final decade centered on "legendary fairy tales with moral messages."
The Last Decade
Pyle continued to publish through to her last years. Her last titles continued to include materials and stories "seeming to lend themselves less adaptable for young people," and contemporary reviews did not always consider her to be up to this challenge. Her 1933 anthology, ''Charlemagne and his Knights'', was praised for its illustrations, but the story adaptations received mixed reviews.
Some viewed these challenging later adaptations as evidence that Pyle possessed an "even more versatile genius" than her brother, extolling the author's work in discreetly softening "the darkness and brutality" in favor of "the heroism, the gorgeousness, the religious fervor and the magic" of the tales, others did not find her touch so adept.
Legacy
Over the course of her career she wrote over 30 books and illustrated the works of others. The
Delaware Art Museum
The Delaware Art Museum is an art museum located on the Kentmere Parkway in Wilmington, Delaware, which holds a collection of more than 12,000 objects. The museum was founded in 1912 as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in honor of the artis ...
has a substantial collection of her manuscripts.
Selected works
File:The rabbit witch and other tales (IA rabbitwitchother00pyle).pdf, ''The Rabbit Witch and Other Tales'' (1895) front cover illustration
File:Pyle, Katharine, The Black Eyed Puppy (1923) I hardly knew what to do, I was so glad.jpg, ''The Black Eyed Puppy'' (1923) "I hardly knew what to do, I was so glad"
File:Granny's wonderful chair and its tales of fairy times (1916) (14780470214).jpg, ''Granny's Wonderful Chair'' (1916) "Merrymind and his burden"
File:Pyle, Katharine, Tales of Folk and Fairies (1919) The Rajah brought the girl down, while the crows circled.jpg, ''Tales of Folk and Fairies'' (1919) "The Rajah brought the girl down, while the crows circled"
File:Tales of wonder and magic (IA talesofwondermag00pyle).pdf, ''Tales of Wonder and Magi''c (1920) front cover illustration
File:Dragon rearing up to reach medieval knight on ledge.jpg, ''Charlemagne & His Knights'' (1932)
Bibliography
Books
* ''The Wonder Clock'' (1888), with her brother
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.
In 1894, he began ...
* ''The Counterpane Fairy'' (1898)
* ''The Rabbit Witch, and Other Tales'', Dutton, 1895 (also published as ''Careless Jane and Other Tales'')
* ''Prose and Verse for Children'' (1899)
* ''The Christmas Angel'' (1900)
* ''Nancy Rutledge'' (1906)
* ''Once Upon a Time in Delaware'' (1911)
* ''Tales of Folk and Fairies'' (1919)
* ''Tales of Wonder and Magic'' (1920)
* ''Fairy Tales from Far and Near'' (1922)
* ''Wonder Tales from Many Lands'' (1923)
* Tales from Greek Mythology (1928)
* ''Charlemagne and his Knights'' (1932)
Illustrations
*''In Sunshine Land'' (1895)
Edith M. Thomas
*Amy in Acadia: A Story for Girls (1905) Helen Leah Reed
* ''Faery Tales of Weir'' (1918) Anna McClure Sholl
References
External links
Katharine Pyle papersat the University of Delaware.
*
*
*
Online Books by Katharine Pyleat the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
Online Books Page
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyle, Katharine
1863 births
1938 deaths
Artists from Wilmington, Delaware
Drexel University alumni
Writers from Wilmington, Delaware
Poets from Delaware
American women poets
Philadelphia School of Design for Women alumni