Folder

Contents

Date

LETTERS TO MARY B. REED

1

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica

4 pages
Addressed to "Bobby" (Mary Reed). Smith describes social engagements with friends and books she is reading. Discusses the U.S. presidential race between Bryan and McKinley and mentions Henry Morgan, which she is beginning work on.

1896 July 25

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica

4 pages
Brief note to tell Bobby that she is going to start a longer letter. Mentions The Magic Carbuncle, a play she wrote in one day. Begins a description of Henry Morgan.

2

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica, to Brooklyn, N.Y.

8 pages
Continues the description of Henry Morgan that she began in a previous letter. Includes a sketch of characters from the play, and a watercolor scene from Act II, Scene 1. Requests that Bobby send her a plot for a new play, and discusses actors Sir Henry Irving, Harry Irving, and Dorothea Baird. Includes a sketch of Baird, after a portrait of the actress. Also includes a sketch of a millinery poster she drew, detailing a woman trying on a hat while another woman sits with a cat at her feet.

1896 Sept 17

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica

12 pages

Discusses an early staging of Henry Morgan, describes an idea for a new play, and reports the results of a comical ballad-writing game she played with a friend. Concludes her description of the action of Henry Morgan and includes sketches from Act IV.

4

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica

6 pages
Writes about a performance of Herne the Hunter. Also includes illustrations of characters from this play. Mentions a poster she created for Mr. Vaughn's restaurant, and includes a sketch from that poster, of a woman carrying a steaming bowl of turtle soup. See sketches for Herne...

 

1896 Oct 19

5

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica

3 pages
Mentions that she has begun a revision of The Magic Carbuncle. Discusses social engagements, and asks about Bobby's studies at the Pratt Institute. Says that she is anxious to know the results of the presidential election. On the back of the last page is a note: "We've just heard McKinley's elected! Ha Ha!"

1896 Nov 2

6

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica, to Brooklyn, N.Y.

8 pages
Mentions social engagements, current reading, describes a parade of soldiers she saw going past her gate. Includes a sketch of several of the soldiers and officers.

1896 Nov 15

7

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica, to Brooklyn, N.Y

5 pages
Describes preparations for a staging of Henry Morgan at the kindergarten school. Includes illustrations from Henry Morgan, and a very rough sketch of a curtain she painted for the staging of the play.

1896 Dec 8

8

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica

3 pages
Brief letter with Christmas greetings. Mentions that she has sent a parcel, including a copy of The Magic Carbuncle.

1896 Dec 15

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica

2 pages
Brief note with greetings, exhorts Bobby to send her a long letter with all of her news.

10

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica

2 pages
Talks about dresses she has made for the daughters of family friends, and her irritation that the dresses have been found to be "not nice enough." Describes attending the rehearsal of a local play, acted by schoolboys. Includes a sketch of the parson directing the play.

1897 Jan 26

11

ALS, New York City

7 pages
Letter sent during a trip to New York and Philadelphia. Describes plays she attended, and her Christmas presents, including illustrated books and several Japanese prints. Relates that she sold three works: "Bill Hart" for $50, the "Wind" for $50, and "Fruits and Flowers" for $100. Describes a visit to the Drexel Institute, where she met Howard Pyle. She observed his class, and Mr. Pyle looked at her portfolio. She reports that he found her illustrations "very ingenious and interesting." Her father inquired about the possibility of her enrolling in the school, and Mr. Pyle said she probably could.

1898 Jan 5

12

ALS, Ambergate, St. Andrew, Jamaica

4 pages
Mentions her current reading, and complains that in Jamaica they are behind a month on American newspapers, and only see the latest telegrams about the Spanish-American war. Describes illustrations she is currently working on, including the Shakespearian Alphabet for Children. The characters she will use for the Alphabet are listed: Ariel, Banquo, Caliban, Dogberry, etc.

1898 Mar 9

13

ALS, 142 E. 18th St., New York, N.Y.

3 pages
Says that Mr. Russell, a publisher, has taken the Alphabet to London. Also says Mr. Russell asked her to take examples of her illustrations and scenery to show Maude Adams. She did not succeed in seeing Adams, but left her card, and was expecting a visit from the actress. Mentions current work, including an illustration for the Shakespeare's Heroines calendar, and the cover illustration for a book of photographs by Mrs. Kasebier. Reports that she will not attend Mr. Pyle's summer school, because the class was full.

1898 June 13

14

ALS, 142 E. 18th St., New York, N.Y.

4 pages
Reports that she is currently working to finish Widdicombe Fair and awaiting news about whether the Shakespearian Alphabet will be published. Says that she has not seen Maude Adams, but that Mr. Macbeth wants to put on an exhibition of her work in his gallery.

1898 Aug 10

14

ALS, 142 E. 18th St., New York, N.Y

2 pages
Mentions that she is writing and illustrating Annancy Stories, and that the Alphabet is going to be published as an "Edition de Luxe" in London, Paris, Berlin, and New York.

1898 Sept 9

14

ALS, 142 E. 18th St., New York, N.Y

1 page
Plans to travel to Philadelphia to visit Ellen Terry, to whom she has become close. Mentions working to fill orders of "lampshades, little boxes, etc., etc." for Christmas. Letter is signed "Pixie Pamela," a nickname she says Ellen Terry has given her.

1899 Dec 7

15

142 E. 18th St., New York, N.Y. to Milford, P.A.

2 pages
Discusses her excitement over her upcoming return to England. Describes socializing with Sir Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, and other actors, as well as performing in crowd scenes in Robespierre and the Merchant of Venice.

1900 Feb 25

16

Sheffield, England (Lyceum Theatre) to Milford, Pyke County, Penn.

3 pages

Describes her part in a production of Robespierre, in which she played a prisoner, and mentions a brief trip to Edinburgh. Includes sketches of the costumes she wore in Robespierre.

1900 Dec 7

17

Earlscourt (London) to Milford, Pike County, Penn.

2 pages
Writes from London after nine weeks on tour with a drama company. The most recent work she mentions is a series of drawings based on costumes for the play Shockheaded Peter, designed by Edith Craig, Ellen Terry's daughter.

1900 Dec 28

Drawings and clippings

Advertisement for a prints and drawings store Smith opened in London, with a hand-colored illustration on cover.

Sketches. Female figures in ink, standing and reclining; architectural details in pencil.

Newspaper article describing a performance of Henry Morgan at a primary school in Jamaica.

Newspaper obituary of actor Alexander Salvini.