Yeats, Elizabeth Corbet, 1868-1940

Elizabeth Corbet Yeats (known by her family as “Lolly”) was born on March 11, 1868, in London, the third surviving child of John Butler Yeats and Susan Mary Pollexfen. In the 1880s she began writing and contributed to The Pleiades, an amateur magazine she created with friends. She completed training as a kindergarten teacher in 1892 and taught art for several years afterwards. She also published four popular painting manuals during this time. In 1900, Yeats and her family moved from London to Dublin. In 1902, she and her sister Lily, alongside Evelyn Gleeson, founded the Dun Emer Press.

In 1908, Elizabeth and Lily Yeats began their own business, Cuala Industries. Elizabeth managed the press while Lily oversaw the embroidery section. The shop eventually published over 70 books, including 48 by her brother W.B. Yeats. In her capacity as the head of Cuala Press, Elizabeth Yeats managed production of books, business cards, calendars, and prints. Some of the most important works printed by Cuala were: W.B. Yeats' The green helmet and other poems (1910) and a series of broadsides (published 1908–1915, with illustrations from brother Jack Yeats). Elizabeth Yeats worked with Cuala Press until just short of her death on January 16, 1940.