Kate Greenaway

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KG was a writer and artist who worked primarily at illustrating books for children during the Victorian era. Her career took off with the publication of Under the Window, a children's book of verse which she wrote and illustrated, and her work appealed strongly to the public. While highly successful as an illustrator, she longed for recognition as a writer. Her drawing style was admired for her romantic and charming depictions of children, while her prose was playful and quirky. She published works such as Marigold Garden, and best-selling almanacks, as well as taking commissions for illustrating other writers' works.
Low resolution sepia photo of Kate Greenaway. She is wearing a striped, buttoned dress with a white collar, sitting in a chair with pen and paper in her hands, beside a desk with, apparently, more writing materials. Her hair is in short curls in front with a bun behind.
Black-and-white portrait photo of Kate Greenaway sitting at her writing desk and looking off into the distance, 1880.

Milestones

17 March 1846
KG was born at 1 Cavendish Street, Hoxton, London. She was the second of four children.
Spielmann, Marion Harry, and George Somes Layard. Kate Greenaway. Adam and Charles Black, 1905.
8
“Kate Greenaway (1846–1901)”. The Victorian Web: Literature, History, & Culture in the Age of Victoria.
1878 or 1879
KG 's first book of verse for children, Under the Window, was published by George Routledge and Sons in London to widespread acclaim.
There is some disagreement over the date this book was published. Brown University has a copy inscribed 1878.
OCLC WorldCat.
OCLC WorldCat.
By mid-November 1900
KG illustrated, by invitation, The April Baby's Book of Tunes, With the Story of How They Came to Be Written by Elizabeth von Arnim . This turned out to be her last production.
OCLC WorldCat.
6 November 1901
KG died of breast cancer at her home at 39 Frognal in London, at 9:00 in the evening, at the age of fifty-five.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray, Brian Harrison, and Lawrence Goldman, editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Engen, Rodney. Kate Greenaway: A Biography. Macdonald Futura Publishers Limited, 1981.

Biography

Birth and Family

17 March 1846
KG was born at 1 Cavendish Street, Hoxton, London. She was the second of four children.
Spielmann, Marion Harry, and George Somes Layard. Kate Greenaway. Adam and Charles Black, 1905.
8
“Kate Greenaway (1846–1901)”. The Victorian Web: Literature, History, & Culture in the Age of Victoria.

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