PURPOSE:
Books illustrated by Florence Harrison are rare, highly sought after, and bring premium prices. Yet, little information is available about her. Therefore, I decided to write this guide to share what I have gleaned about her life and and work, as well as to identify her major works for those who are interested in collecting her illustrations.

BIOGRAPHY
Emma Florence Harrison was born probably in or near Glasgow, Scotland. I say this, since she attended the Glasgow School of Art where she developed her art nouveau style of illustration. Glasgow, a port in west central Scotland, was one of the great shipbuilding centers of the world. A flood of ideas, energy, and wealth combined to make Glasgow a center of opportunities for the development of more leisurly endeavors such as the arts and possibilities for struggling young artists -- even women to succeed.

The Glasgow School of Art was founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design in Great Britain. The school offered a wide range of applied arts (embroidery, script, architecture, furniture design) as well as fine arts (sculpture, painting. In 1853, this School of Design in Scotland changed its name to the Glasgow School of Art. The students who attended were male. It was not until nearly the end of the 1800’s that female art students were admitted to the school. Miss Harrison must have been among those early female attendees.

During that formative era in Glasgow, a group of four students at the school (Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Herbert MacNair, and Margaret & Frances Macdonald) began experimenting with the use of a new style that came from the Continent and was then considered somewhat decadent. That style was ART NOUVEAU. The Glasgow Four, as they became known, adpoted principals of the Art Nouveau and added traditional Scottish elements. Their new style resulted in a retention of slightly more linear and two dimensional surface characteristic of early Nouveau (later Nouveau became more curved) and floral forms. Like other Nouveau stylists, they used botanical motifs, but with the added Scottish traditional practicality of using them to enhance and emphasize functional designs. This circle of artists and designers of the Glasgow Style began to coalesce in the 1870’s and flourished from the 1890’s to 1910.

A remarkable group of female artists and designers at the school played a major role in developing the Glasgow Style started by the MacIntosh group. They became known as the Glasgow Girls and included such artists as Elizabeth Shippen-Green, Jessie Marie King, Margaret Tarrant, and Florence Harrison. Much of their early work reflected the Victorian love of fairy art. Florence Harrison’s earliest works were writing and illustrating poems and stories about fairies and pixies. Her most sought after book is In The Fairy Ring.

Then as the Pre-Raphaelite Movent became more popular, their work moved more toward romantic themes associated with King Arthur. Miss Harrison illustrated books of Tennyson, Christina Rossetti, and William Morris. The Glasgow Girls have, as a result, been sometimes described as the Last Romantics.

Due to the innovative work of the Glasgow Girls, the Glasgow School of Art became the pre-eminent leader of design in Europe by 1900, influencing both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco Styles of that time. At the turn of the century Glasgow had become one of the richest cities in the world. By 1902, 47% of the students at the school were women.

Following her graduation from the Glasgow School of Art, Emma Florence Harrison began her career as an active artist sometime around 1877. At some point she moved to London where she worked professionally as Florence Harrison. Her art was exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1887 - 1891 and she wrote poetry and fairy stories for children, and illustrated books for Blackie and Sons Ltd., publishers in Glasgow. Most people know her principally for the book illustrations she did for Blackie and Sons.

I can find no other information about her family or personal life. It does not appear that she ever married. She continued to work until 1925 (possibly as late as 1933), though most sources list her as having died in 1925, which put her at about the age of 48.

Her work was included at The Last Romantics Exhibition at The Barbican Art Gallery in 1989. Illustrations from her books Elfin Song and Rhyme of a Run were exhibited at Chris Beetle’s Gallery in London during November 2005 to January 2006.

WORKS BY FLORENCE HARRISON: The books listed below represent the major works of Florence Harrison with the date of the first edition and number of color illustrations. Some of her illustrations may also be found in a few poetry collections with other children’s book artists or in publications such Blackies Annual. Here is one other interesting tidbit for the collector concerning books published by Blackie & Sons. Chronologically, first editions of Blackie’s books were normally dated until 1912. After that reprints were not dated. If I have made an error or omitted anything, I hope someone from the eBay community will let me know.

1. Rhymes and Reasons 1906
2. The Rhyme of a Run (21 plates) 1907
3. In the fairy Ring 1908 (24 plates)
4. Poems of Christina Rossetti 1910 (36 plates)
5. Dream of Fair Women and Other Poems by Tennyson (8 plates) 1910
6. Tennyson's Guinevere and other Poems 1912 (24 plates)
7. Elfin Song: A Book of Verse and Pictures 1912 (12 plates)
8. Early Poems of William Morris 1914 (16 plates)
9. Tales in Rhyme and Colour 1916 (23 plates)
10. Tinkler Johnny by Agnes Grozier Herbertson 1916
11. Poems by S. Ferguson 1916 (4 b & w plates)
12. The Man in the Moon and Other Verses 1917
13. The Pixy Book 1918 (12 plates) 14. House of Bricks by Agnes Grozier Herbertson 1918 (4 plates, 20 b & w)
15. Godmother’s Garden by Netta Syrett 1920 (4 plates)
16. Beautiful Poems 1923
17. Light of Love

         

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