Maria L. Kirk's 150th anniversary (Illustrator of "The Princess & the Goblin")

[Lenona]

Aka M. L. Kirk and Maria Louise Kirk, she was born in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, studied art in Philadelphia, and died in the 1930s(?).
Why she isn't listed in either the "Something About the Author"
encyclopedias OR the "Children's Literature Review" encyclopedias, I
can't imagine. After all, she illustrated more than 50 books,
including "The Secret Garden," "The Story of Hiawatha," "Pinocchio,"
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," "The Adventures of a Brownie,"
"The Little Lame Prince," "The Water Babies," "Gulliver's Travels,"
"Mother Goose," and books by L.M. Montgomery.

My mother prefers her illustrations to those of Jessie Willcox Smith.

I once asked Tasha Tudor how she liked Kirk's work. She'd never heard
of her, so I sent some photcopies.

http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=%22maria+l+kirk%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&start=0
(quick search)

Here's where you can see more of her work - in most cases, the
illustrations are indexed at the top, so you don't have to scroll
down:

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/ingelow/mopsa/mopsa.html
(Jean Ingelow's "Mopsa the Fairy")

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/9/9/20997/20997-h/20997-h.htm
"The Nürnberg Stove," by Ouida, 1909 - only four illustrations

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/6/1/28619/28619-h/28619-h.htm
"The Cuckoo Clock" by Mrs. Molesworth - you can enlarge the pictures
- and you should!

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/7/8/20781/20781-h/20781-h.htm
"Heidi" - Kirk illustrated several more books by Spyri as well

http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=ruskin&book=king&story=_contents
"King of the Golden River" - the pictures are in chapters 1, 3, and 5

http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=macdonald&book=goblin&story=_front
"The Princess and the Goblin" - in this case, the page numbers for
the colored illustrations are at the bottom - it's the best guide to
use - and worth it!

http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=macdonald&book=curdie&story=_front
"The Princess and Curdie" - same type index

http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=macdonald&book=northwind&story=_contents
"At the Back of the North Wind" - no illustration index here, sorry)

http://www.exit109.com/~dnn/alice/kirk/index.html
(pictures from "Alice")

http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/gib/46900.shtml
(one picture from "Gulliver")

http://www.flickr.com/photos/logista/3560698591/
(from "The Tempest")

http://www.oldpuzzles.com/Examples/detail.php?id=2722&tag=25
("Taming of the Shrew" puzzle)


Lenona.

[c***@drawpj.com]

Post by Lenona
Aka M. L. Kirk and Maria Louise Kirk, she was born in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, studied art in Philadelphia, and died in the 1930s(?).
Why she isn't listed in either the "Something About the Author"
encyclopedias OR the "Children's Literature Review" encyclopedias, I
can't imagine. After all, she illustrated more than 50 books,
including "The Secret Garden," "The Story of Hiawatha," "Pinocchio,"
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," "The Adventures of a Brownie,"
"The Little Lame Prince," "The Water Babies," "Gulliver's Travels,"
"Mother Goose," and books by L.M. Montgomery.
My mother prefers her illustrations to those of Jessie Willcox Smith.
I once asked Tasha Tudor how she liked Kirk's work. She'd never heard
of her, so I sent some photcopies.
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=%22maria+l+kirk%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&start=0
(quick search)
Here's where you can see more of her work - in most cases, the
illustrations are indexed at the top, so you don't have to scroll
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/ingelow/mopsa/mopsa.html
(Jean Ingelow's "Mopsa the Fairy")
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/9/9/20997/20997-h/20997-h.htm
"The Nürnberg Stove," by Ouida, 1909 - only four illustrations
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/6/1/28619/28619-h/28619-h.htm
"The Cuckoo Clock" by Mrs. Molesworth - you can enlarge the pictures
- and you should!
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/7/8/20781/20781-h/20781-h.htm
"Heidi" - Kirk illustrated several more books by Spyri as well
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=ruskin&book=king&story=_contents
"King of the Golden River" - the pictures are in chapters 1, 3, and 5
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=macdonald&book=goblin&story=_front
"The Princess and the Goblin" - in this case, the page numbers for
the colored illustrations are at the bottom - it's the best guide to
use - and worth it!
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=macdonald&book=curdie&story=_front
"The Princess and Curdie" - same type index
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=macdonald&book=northwind&story=_contents
"At the Back of the North Wind" - no illustration index here, sorry)
http://www.exit109.com/~dnn/alice/kirk/index.html
(pictures from "Alice")
http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/gib/46900.shtml
(one picture from "Gulliver")
http://www.flickr.com/photos/logista/3560698591/
(from "The Tempest")
http://www.oldpuzzles.com/Examples/detail.php?id=2722&tag=25
("Taming of the Shrew" puzzle)
Lenona.

Thanks so much Lenona, this was a great help in finding out more about Maria L Kirk. I just adore her illustrations, for some reason I just crumble at the knees and it takes me breath away. I love her work so much. Thanks again. Cindy

[l***@yahoo.com]

Post by c***@drawpj.com
Thanks so much Lenona, this was a great help in finding out more about Maria L Kirk. I just adore her illustrations, for some reason I just crumble at the knees and it takes me breath away. I love her work so much. Thanks again. Cindy

Very glad to be of service!

[l***@yahoo.com]

You've probably seen these videos already, but if not...

(These were posted in Oct. 2012.)

(includes pictures from: At the Back of North Wind 1909, The Princess
and the Goblin 1907, The Princess and Curdie 1914, The Secret Garden 1911)

(The Idylls of The King 1912, The Story of the Canterbury Pilgrims
1914, All Shakespeare's Tales 1911, The Story of Evangeline 1913 - and to
judge from the pull-down description, someone read the anniversary post!)

(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 1904, Through the Looking Glass 1905,
Pinocchio the story of a puppet 1920, Heidi 1915)

Plus, if you like:

(At the Back of North Wind - it starts with Kirk's work, but at the
2:15 mark, you get to see Jessie Willcox Smith's illustrations and then
some)

(The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie. It starts with
Smith and switches to Kirk at the 1:00 mark.)


And here's some information I was looking for:

http://topillustrations.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/maria-louise-kirk/

"...Don't expect to learn a lot about Maria Louise Kirk who died on her
birthday 1938. She was schooled at School of Design for Women and
Academy of Fine Arts (both Philadelphia), she exhibited in Philadelphia,
where she got an award in 1894 and in Chicago, and she will be
remembered by her illustrations for children's books..."

There's a GREAT layout!

Elsewhere, you can see her work for "Gulliver's Travels," too.

Lenona.

[l***@yahoo.com]

If anyone wants to know...and happens to be visiting southwest of Philadelphia...

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=kirk&GSfn=maria&GSmn=louise&GSby=1860&GSbyrel=in&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=123517524&df=all&

One problem, though - when I checked again in Google, there seems to be a conflict as to when in 1860 she was born! Most say June 21st, I admit, so that MAY be the correct date (she supposedly died on her birthday as well), but somehow I was originally convinced that this was correct:

http://records.ancestry.com/maria_l_kirk_records.ashx?pid=27887906

(When you click on her father's name, it shows that yes, she did have a sister, born in 1864, named Harriette - but the spelling is slightly different at the site.)

BTW, Arlington Cemetery (not to be confused with Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia) is also where you'll find Lloyd Alexander! (To find out who else is there, click on "Arlington Cemetery" and then "13 Famous Interments.")


Lenona.

[Lenona]

I found an ad for a painting by Kirk. It includes a booklist. However, the list does not go up to 50 - so I managed to find just enough titles to supplement the list. They are:

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (ed. 1907)
Moufflou and Other Stories by Ouida (ed. 1910)
Bimbi Stories by Ouida (ed. 1910)
Frank & Bessie's Forester by Alice Lounsberry (ed. 1912)
Little Pierre and Big Peter by Ruth Ogden (ed. 1915)
The Little Lame Prince by Dinah Mulock Craik (ed. 1918)
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (simplified, 1918)
Gritli's Children by Johanna Spyri (ed. 1924)

Here's the ad:

"Portrait of a Gentleman"

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275009202343?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=2d09027820a54bd89da3ed196b8b48e3&bu=43017261725&ut=RU&exe=99322&ext=234173&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20211101072516&segname=11021&sojTags=ch%3Dch%2Cbu%3Dbu%2Cut%3Dut%2Cnqt%3Dnqt%2Cnqc%3Dnqc%2Cmdbreftime%3Dmdbreftime%2Ces%3Des%2Cec%3Dec%2Cexe%3Dexe%2Cext%3Dext%2Cexe%3Dexe%2Cext%3Dext%2Cosub%3Dosub%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Cchnl%3Dmkcid

The rest, below, is from the ad.

About the Artist:

Maria Louise Kirk (21 June 1860 – 21 June 1938), usually credited as M. L. Kirk or Maria L. Kirk, was an American painter and illustrator of more than fifty books, most of them for children.

Her notable work includes illustrations for a US edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1904, for the first edition of The Secret Garden, and for several books by L. M. Montgomery and Johanna Spyri.

Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Kirk studied art in Philadelphia at the School of Design for Women and then at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, She had exhibitions around Pennsylvania and won awards in Philadelphia and Chicago. In the 1890s, she went on to study at the Art Institute of Chicago and in 1894 won the Mary Smith Prize of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, for a portrait.

During her career, Kirk illustrated more than fifty books, including an American edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1904. Her style is individual, little influenced by the Jugendstil or Art Deco movements.

Although she was a talented artist, with so much published work, little is known about Kirk's life.

In 2009, the Folio Society of London used Kirk’s illustrations for its new edition of At the Back of the North Wind.

List of books illustrated:

Kate Upson Clark, That Mary Ann: the Story of a Country Summer (Boston: D. Lothrop Co., 1893)[7]
Theodora R. Jenness, Piokee and Her People (Boston: D. Lothrop Co., 1894)
"Pansy", Pansy's Sunday Book: For afternoon readers :gems of literature and art, with numerous illustrations (Boston: Lothrop Publishing Co., 1896)
Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1904)[2]
George MacDonald, At the Back of the North Wind (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1904)[2]
Ouida, A Dog of Flanders, the Nürnberg Stove, and Other Stories (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1909)
George Daulton, The Helter Skelters (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1909)
Adelheid Wette, translated Norreys J. O’Conor, Hänsel and Gretel: a fairy opera adapted from the libretto (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1909)
Jean Ingelow, Mopsa the Fairy (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1910)[2]
Favorite Rhymes of Mother Goose (New York: Cupples & Leon, 1910)[2]
Winston Stokes, The Story of Hiawatha, Adapted from Longfellow by Winston Stokes (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1910)
Hans Christian Andersen, Tales from Hans Andersen (Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1911)
Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1911)[2]
Fergus Hume, Chronicles of Fairyland (Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1911)
Sara Tawney Lefferts, ed., Land of Play: Verses, Rhymes and Stories (Cupples & Leon Co., 1911)
All Shakespeare's Tales: Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb, and Tales from Shakespeare by Winston Stokes (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1911)[8]
Inez N. McFee, The Story of Idylls of the King, adapted from Tennyson, by Inez N. McFee, with the original poem (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1912)[9]
Clayton Edwards, The Story of Evangeline, Adapted from Longfellow. With the Original Poem (New York: The Hampton Publishing Co., 1913)
Mrs Molesworth, The Cuckoo Clock (J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1914)
F. J. Harvey Darton, The Story of the Canterbury Pilgrims Retold from Chaucer and Others (J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1914)[2]
George MacDonald, The Princess and Curdie (1914)[2]
Johanna Spyri, Heidi (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1915)[2]
Emma C. Dowd, DOODLES the Sunshine Boy (Grosset & Dunlap, 1915)
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams (Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild, & Stewart, 1917)[10]
Stella George Stern Perry, The Angel of Christmas: a vision of to-day (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1917)
Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies (J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1918)[2]
Miss Mulock, The Adventures of a Brownie (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1918)
Emma C. Dowd, Polly and the Princess (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1917)
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Rainbow Valley (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1919; New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1919)[10]
Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses (Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1919)
Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio: The Story of a Puppet (Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1919)[2]
Johanna Spyri, Cornelli (Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1920)
John Ruskin, The King of the Golden River, and Dame Wiggins of Lee and her seven wonderful cats (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1921)
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Rilla of Ingleside (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1921)[10]
Johanna Spyri, Mäzli : a story of the Swiss valleys (New York, 1921)[11]
Johanna Spyri, Vinzi: a Story of the Swiss Alps (J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1923)
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Emily of New Moon (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1923; New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1923)[10]
Johanna Spyri, Dora (Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1924)
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Emily Climbs (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1925)
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Emily's Quest (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1927)
Johanna Spyri, Moni, the Goat Boy (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1927)
A. C. Darby, Skip-come-a-Lou (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1928)
George MacDonald, At the Back of the North Wind, illustrated by Maria L. Kirk (London: Folio Society, 2009)