SMITH, Pamela Colman.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Widdicombe Fair. First edition, number 401 of 500 copies. An uncommon set of illustrations for the Devon folk-song from the artist's early career. Smith (1878-1951), known as "Pixie", was an illustrator, publisher, and occultist. Associated with both W. B. Yeats and Jack B. Yeats, her lasting fame rests on her illustrations for a set of tarot cards.A pioneering artist, folklorist, poet, editor, publisher, suffragette and theatre designer, active from around the 1890s to the 1920s, "Pamela struggled with those who did not understand her and had a hard time positioning her within existing gender, class and racial categories... Pamela defied convention and easy categorisation and, most importantly, blazed an important path for female artists" (Kaplan, pp. 11-14).This attractive set has an interesting publication history. A cancelled copyright statement (from Lamson, Wolffe and Company) is dated 1898. Copies exist with this present, or cancelled (as here). Various library catalogues claim the publisher as Harper & Brothers, or Doubleday & McClure in 1899. This is likely merely to be a division between English or American publishers, respectively.There are two variants of the printed label on the inside of the portfolio (both cite a limitation of 500 copies). One calls for an original drawing on the inside of the portfolio. Another omits this and notes 100 copies "are reserved for England". Copies with an original drawing have been seen in portfolios with plain paper lining. The p

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