Browne & Pyle
Fairy tale women
No examination of a historical text is complete without the stories of the ones who created it. Writer Frances Browne and illustrator Katharine Pyle had to learn to make their way in the world of the 19th and early 20th centuries despite physical disability, poverty, and limited career opportunities for women. Their decisions to persevere in their respective crafts yielded a book of fairy tales rich in beauty and symbolism.
Frances Browne (1816-1879) was a writer and poet from Donegal, Ireland. At the age of 18 months, she contracted smallpox and became blind—which is striking given the amount of visual imagery she includes in her writing. Her brothers and sisters read her schoolwork to her, and she would even bribe them to read aloud to her by doing their chores. Throughout her career, she published poems in anthologies and complete volumes, eventually becoming known as “The Blind Poetess of Ulster”. After publishing short stories in several periodicals, she moved to Edinburgh and wrote her her autobiography, My Share of the World, and Granny’s Wonderful Chair five years later.
Illustrator Katharine Pyle (1863-1938) was the sister of lauded artist Howard Pyle. She studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women and the New York Art Students’ League. The Counterpane Fairy was the first success of her career, in which she wrote more than 30 books and created illustrations for books and magazines. Her illustrations are more line-heavy than her brother’s and often fantastical in nature. In addition to single-page color illustrations, Pyle’s ink drawings depict scenes throughout Granny’s Wonderful Chair. Altogether, her work exudes a beautiful, soft sensibility with emotional underpinnings.