Katharine Pyle

Who was Katharine Pyle?

Katharine Pyle was an American artist, poet, and children's author.

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, the youngest offspring of William Pyle and Margaret, she was the sister of author and artist Howard Pyle. She was educated at the Women's Industrial School and the Drexel Institute, then studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women and the New York Art Students' League. She lived in Wilmington her whole life, except for a four-year period in New York in the 1890s.

Her art was exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. She found work as an illustrator no later than 1895, but her first major success occurred in 1898 with The Counterpane Fairy. Over the course of her career she wrote over 30 books and illustrated the works of others. Her works appeared in the Ladies' Home Journal and Harper's Bazaar.