Books and Manuscripts

Ca. 1945. Pen and ink, heightened with white gouache, on paper, by Garth Williams (unsigned); pencil annotations and measurements on recto and verso. 12 x 16 in. (305 x 406 mm). In mat and in frame, 18 x 22 in. (457 x 559 mm).

A fine original pen and ink drawing by American illustrator Garth Williams, created for E.B White's classic children's book Stuart Little. These two drawings feature as the endpapers in that beloved work, and capture the essence of the story's charming tale of adventure and friendship, with the drawing on the left depicting the titular character of Stuart Little on his quest in search of his lost friend, the canary Margalo, who appears in the facing illustration.

White's dapper two-inch tall hero came to him in a dream in 1926. As he recalled, "I took a train to Virginia, got out, walked up and down in the Shenandoah Valley in the beautiful springtime, then returned to New York by rail. While asleep in an upper berth, I dreamed of a small character who had the features of a mouse, was nicely dressed, courageous, and questing. When I woke up, being a journalist and thankful for small favors, I made a few notes about this mouse-child--the only fictional figure ever to have honored and disturbed my sleep." From there the road to the book’s publication progressed in fits and starts, initially beginning as stories White concocted to entertain his many nieces and nephews. It wasn’t until the early 1930s that White started to seriously set the story to paper. Through the encouragement of his wife Katharine, the manuscript was finished in the winter of 1944-45, after which his editor at Harper’s became intent on publishing it.

Ursula Nordstrom, head of the Department of Books for Boys and Girls at Harper’s, was familiar with Garth Williams’ illustrations for The New Yorker, and informed him of White’s incoming manuscript and the possibility of his working on it. “In a fortuitous coincidence, when the manuscript arrived the author had pinned a note to it saying, ‘Try Garth Williams’”. (Gussow, The New York Times, "Garth Williams", May 10, 1996). It was the first serious commission for the struggling artist Williams, and his first children’s book. The book's wild success (it sold more than 100,000 copies in the first year alone) marked the beginning of not only one of the most fruitful collaborations in children’s literature, but also the beginning of one of the finest careers in American illustration.

White and Williams would continue to collaborate over the years, most notably in 1952 on White’s Charlotte’s Web. Toward the end of his life, White described to Williams his appreciation for his work on Stuart Little, writing, “I have always felt immensely in your debt—particularly for your characterization of Stuart Little, which really blew life into him and was the start of the whole business. Without your contribution, I don’t think Stuart would have travelled very far.” (Letters of E.B. White, p. 592)