Sarah Noble Ives (March 1864 – November 1944) was an American writer, illustrator, and historian known for her children's books including ''Dog Heroes of Many Lands'' and ''Songs of the Shining Way''. Her work also appeared in publications like the '' New York Herald Tribune'', the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', and ''

McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wa ...

'', sometimes under the name Noble Ives. Later in her life she researched and published a history of

Altadena Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...

, California.

Early life

Ives was born in

Grosse Ile, Michigan Große or Grosse is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Demetrius Grosse *Maurice Grosse *Katharina Grosse *Ben Grosse *Hans-Werner Grosse *Heinz-Josef Große *Julius Grosse Julius Waldemar Grosse (25 April 1828 – 9 ...

, near Detroit, in March 1864, to S. William and Sarah Mana Hyde Ives. She attended Port Huron High School, where she first began studying art, and a Training School for Elocution and Literature run by Mrs. Edna Chafee Noble, who was a suffragette and a role model to Sarah. She continued her education first in New York City at the School for Artists and Artisans and then in Paris at the Académie Julian and

Académie Delécluse The Académie Delécluse was an atelier-style art school in Paris, France, founded in the late 19th century by the painter Auguste Joseph Delécluse. It was exceptionally supportive of women artists, with more space being given to women students ...

. When she returned to the United States she began work as a freelance author and illustrator in New York under the name "Noble Ives", in line with other female artists of the time who hid their identity in various ways.

Career

Ives specialized in descriptive illustrations with varied, distinct characters. Some of the pieces include decorative art nouveau elements and apparel. She was proficient in black and white

pen and ink A pen is a common writing tool, writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a Nib (pen), nib or in a sm ...

drawings as well as

watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

and

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

Works for children

''Songs of the Shining Way,'' written and illustrated by Ives, was published in 1899 and featured poems paired with black ink drawings. Ives dedicated the book to her mentor, Edna Chaffee Noble. Many of Ives' illustrations feature animals, and several of her self-penned publications include them prominently. ''The Key to Betsy's Heart,'' in 1916 tells the story of a girl and her dog. Ives created colorful illustrations for books like ''The Wonderful Story of Teddy the Bear,'' published by the

McLoughlin Brothers McLoughlin Bros., Inc. was a New York publishing firm active between 1858 and 1920. The company was a pioneer in color printing technologies in children's books. The company specialized in retellings or bowdlerizations of classic stories for c ...

, who often commissioned female artists. She also illustrated fairy tales and rhymes for them, including many popular illustrations for one of their editions of ''Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes.''

Landscapes

In addition to her freelance work illustrating, Ives also painted and exhibited landscapes for her own enjoyment. She said of these oil paintings, "To work in oils, that is what I love. The black and white ommercial illustrationis bread and butter work." She also experimented with early color photography.

Later life

Ives lived and worked in New York for some time, then returned to Port Huron, Michigan in 1921. In 1925, she left Michigan and retired to Altadena, California, with her three sisters, Florence, Cayde and Julia. All four remained unmarried. Ives was recruited by the local historical society to compile a history of the town, which was published in 1938 by the Star-News Publishing Company. A resident of the town remembered her as "a very lovely little old lady" who "trudged up and down the streets of Altadena ringing doorbells. ... Her house-to-house canvassing was not to sell books, but to gather information to write a book." Ives died in November 1944. Her home in Altadena is now included on local historical tours. Original artwork by Ives can sometimes be found at auction, in private collections and on display in museum exhibits.

Bibliography

Author and illustrator

* ''Songs of the Shining Way'', 1899 * ''The Story of Teddy the Bear'', 1907 * ''The Key to Betsy's Heart'', 1916 * ''Dog Heroes of Many Lands'', 1922

Illustrator

* ''Carey of St. Ursula's'' by Jane Brewster Reid, 1911 * ''Mother Stories'' by Maud Lindsay

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ives, Sarah Noble 1864 births 1944 deaths People from Grosse Ile, Michigan American women children's writers American children's writers American women illustrators American illustrators 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American poets 19th-century American women artists 19th-century American artists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American artists American women poets Poets from Michigan Artists from Michigan Académie Julian alumni People from Port Huron, Michigan Académie Delécluse alumni