Do you recognize her name? First take a look at some of the illustrations and see if they remind you of anything:
Yes, this is Pamela Colman Smith who did the artwork for the famous Waite-Smith tarot deck. I've got a randomizing widget of that deck (find out more) which I'll paste in here; that way you'll see an image from the deck at random whenever you reload this page:
I can definitely see her style here in the Anansi illustrations. How did she come to write this book? Smith lived in Jamaica in the early 1890s when she was a young teenager (she was born in London in 1878), and her mother continued to live there when Smith moved to New York City; you can find out more about her life at Wikipedia, which is also the source for this portrait from 1912:
The book, published in 1899 when Smith was just 21 years old, is a mixture of trickster stories about Anansi and also fairy tales; here is a list of the titles: Annancy and Chim-Chim /
De Man an' De Six Poach Eggs /
Why Toad Walk 'Pon Four Leg /
Annancy an' Tiger Ridin' Horse /
Mr. Titman /
Why John Crow Hab Peel Head /
Candoo /
Mother Calbee /
How Annancy Win De Five Dubbloon /
Morass /
Annancy and Gingy Fly /
How Annancy Went To Fish Country /
Haylefayly an' Pretty Peallope /
Paarat, Tiger an' Annancy /
Bull-Garshananee /
Annancy an' de Nyam Hills /
Ticky-Picky Boom-Boom /
De Golden Water, de Singin' Tree an' de Talkin' Bird /
How Annancy Fooled Death /
The Three Sisters /
Annancy and Dry Kull; or, Why Hog Hab A Long Mouth /
Dog An' De Duckanoo.
So, especially if you are a fan of Smith's tarot deck, take a look at this book, both for the art and for the stories!
by Pamela Colman Smith
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