Smith, Gertrude, 1860-1917

Gertrude Smith, nee Jane Nelson, was an American writer of fiction and of children's books. Smith had stories published in all the leading magazines of her time including HARPER'S BAZAR, and some have been collected in the volume THE ROUSING OF MRS. POTTER. ARABELLA AND ARAMINTA STORIES was first published in Boston by Copeland and Day in 1895. Smith was born in California; having spent her childhood years in the Middle West, she often wrote of the life of the prairies in her stories.

Ethel Reed was an Illustrator and poster designer, and a painter in watercolors of landscapes and figures studies. She was virtually self-taught, although she studied briefly at the Cowles Art School in Boston around 1893. In the mid 1890s, Reed exhibited watercolors at the Boston Art Club, but she later turned to the graphic arts. The BOSTON HERALD accepted her first poster designs in early 1895, launching her brief but brilliant career.