b. September 6, 1863, d. May 3, 1935. Premier Brandywine Illustrator of Children's Books.

America's premier artist of the child, Jessie Willcox Smith illustrated over 60 children's books, including such classics as A Child's Garden of Verses (R.L. Stevenson, 1905), Mother Goose (1916), Little Women (Louisa May Alcott, 1915), Water-Babies (Charles Kingsley, 1916), At the Back of the North Wind and The Princess and the Goblin (George MacDonald, 1919 and 1920). In her prolific professional career, spanning over 40 years, Smith illustrated literally hundreds of magazines (including consecutive monthly covers of Good Housekeeping from 1913 through 1932), and near the end of her career became an accomplished portrait artist.

Smith, who studied in Philadelphia at the Drexel University School of Design for Women and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, was the principal and foremost female student of Howard Pyle. Her paintings, though rarely coming to market, are earnestly sought by collectors and are universally considered the pinnacle of American children's illustrative art.