How fitting that would have been.įirst published on Septemby Roberts Brothers, Boston Perhaps, history would have seen her improved illustrations in Part Second. Unfortunately, she died before her 40th birthday, in Paris on December 29, 1879, a fact that I deeply mourn. I’ve placed one of them, which I first saw at Orchard House, in my slideshow. May Alcott was a very strong woman who did not allow the criticism of her Little Women illustrations to discourage her, and instead developed her talent to such an extent that two of her pieces were accepted to the prestigious Paris Salon. I find them to have an ethereal charm and would love to see them published in contemporary versions of Little Women on a more regular basis. Her illustrations were criticized for their anatomical imperfections, but to me, those imperfections could not be a more perfect complement to her older sister’s story about four young women learning to navigate through life in full view of their own shortcomings.

Louisa’s younger sister May illustrated the original version and throughout the course of this study her work has grown more and more precious to me. Little Women was originally written in two parts the first part ends just after Father returns, the second part, sometimes referred to as Good Wives, begins with Meg’s wedding.Ī very special Thank You to Orchard House for allowing me to photograph my collection on the very desk on which Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women! This was just the most amazing and wonderful gift and I am so very, very grateful! Her illustrations were criticized, but instead of giving up, she forged her path to proper training in Europe, resulting in her becoming an artist and influencer in her own right. Most relevantly to this post, I learned that May Alcott (Amy), later known as May Alcott Nieriker, was the original illustrator of Little Women, but that her illustrations reflected the lack of proper anatomical training available to women at that time. I learned that Marmee (Abba) was twice as strong and good a mother in real life as in the story, that we have Father (Bronson) to thank for school recess, that Louisa loved to run, look after her family, and had a thing for owls, that Beth had the makings of a botanist with her love of flowers, and that it is thanks to Anna (Meg) and her family journals, that we know as much about them as we do today. To prepare for this illustrator explore I immersed myself into the world of the Alcotts.

Little women illustrated