Lonni Sue Johnson: Anatomy of an Illustrator’s Illness

via the daily heller
“Lonni Sue Johnson, whose illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times, among scores of books and magazines, was stricken with viral encephalitis in 2007. The disease left her with severe, memory-impairing brain damage — amnesia.  Johns Hopkins University has been engaged in a research study into the ‘artistic aspect’ of her illness. An announcement and video of her cognitive struggle was just released by Johns Hopkins and an exhibit of Johnson’s post-illness work, ‘Puzzles of the Brain: An Artist’s Journey through Amnesia,’ will open on September 17 at The Walters Museum in Baltimore…”
Read the rest here; with lots of great links to follow.

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

via bibliodyssey

“Peter Pan first appeared in a section of The Little White Bird, a 1902 novel written by JM Barrie for adults. The character's best-known adventure debuted on 27 December 1904, in the stage play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up' The play was adapted and expanded somewhat as a novel, published in 1911 as Peter and Wendy (later as Peter Pan and Wendy, and still later as simply Peter Pan). Following the highly successful debut of the 1904 play, Barrie's publishers, Hodder and Stoughton, extracted chapters 13–18 of The Little White Bird and republished them in 1906 under the title Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, with the addition of illustrations by Arthur Rackham...”
Read the rest here, and see the fifty Rackham illustrations for ‘Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens’ from Harvard University Library here.

First Editions of Peter Rabbit

via The Cataloguer's Desk

“One of the most popular children’s books of all time, The Tale of Peter Rabbit has sold more than 45 million copies over the past century.  As well as being a beloved children’s story, the book’s publication history is very interesting, with two private printings appearing before the first commercial edition. ”

Read the rest, and see more images from the private printings, here. Perhaps it is just the angled view of the pictured spread, but the expressions on the rabbits faces reminds me very much of Rosemary Wells’ series of books featuring Max the rabbit.