Katharine Pyle Collections

Katharine Pyle Files
Katharine Pyle Letters, 1927-1936 and undated
Katharine Pyle Papers

Wilmington, Delaware native Katharine Pyle (1863-1938) was the younger sister of illustrator Howard Pyle, who encouraged her to pursue a career in writing and illustrating. By 1883, she had completed studies at the Women’s Industrial School (Philadelphia) and was attending the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, where she concentrated on engraving. In the late 1890s she studied with Howard in his illustration classes at Drexel Institute.

In 1904 Katharine moved to Boston, where she taught art at Lincoln House, a settlement house, and painted portraits during her summers on Cape Cod. She returned to Wilmington in 1909 and, shortly thereafter, was successfully treated for tuberculosis in Asheville, North Carolina. During her career she wrote and illustrated about thirty books and illustrated several books by other authors, including Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty in 1923.

The Katharine Pyle Files contain correspondence, tear sheets, photographs, manuscripts, and research materials collected internally by Delaware Art Museum staff and gifts by various donors. The Katharine Pyle Letters, 1927-1936 and undated contain correspondence from Katharine Pyle to Marion Code, Grant Hyde Code, and Eva Robin, which were donated to the Museum by Howard Pyle Brokaw in 1984. The Katharine Pyle Papers contain correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, illustrations, tear sheets, and original drawings purchased by the Museum in 1996.

Browse the collections by series:

Katharine Pyle Files
Series I: Biographical
Series II: Correspondence
Series III: Illustrations, Books
Series IV: Illustrations, Periodicals
Series V: Manuscripts and Writing
Series VI: Miscellaneous
Series VII: Photographs
Series VIII: Wilson Research Materials

Katharine Pyle Letters, 1927-1936 and undated
Series I: Correspondence

Katharine Pyle Papers
Series I: Correspondence
Series II: Illustrations and Tear Sheets
Series III: Manuscripts, Books
Series IV: Manuscripts, Poetry
Series V: Manuscripts, Stories
Series VI: Photographs
Series VII: Miscellaneous
Series VIII: Original and Oversize Illustrations