Marigold Garden, 1885

Kate Greenaway

1846–1901

One of the first women to earn a living as an illustrator, Kate Greenaway was born in London. Her father was a wood engraver, and she studied art at the National Art Training School, Heatherley’s School of Fine Art, and the Slade School. She did a great deal of magazine work in the 1870s, several books for the publishers, Griffith and Farran, as well as books, greeting cards, and calendars for Marcus Ward.

In 1877, her father showed her sketches and verses to Edmund Evans, who, in association with George Routledge, published them as Under the Window in time for Christmas, 1878. The book was an immediate success. Taking the past as her inspiration, Greenaway created a idealized vision of childhood that captured the imagination of the public. By the mid-1880s, she was at the height of her success and Greenaway dolls, wallpaper, fabrics, christening sets, fashions, and other items were manufactured at home in England and abroad.

Under the Window, 1879

Kate Greenaway’s Birthday Book, 1880

Pied Piper of Hamelin, 1888

Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes, 1881

Little Ann and Other Poems, 1883

Language of Flowers, 1884

Under the Window, 1879

Marigold Garden, 1885