The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-15

probation of negro folk lore as Joel
Chandler Harris is the correctest way TO
define the talents of quaint little Ameri-
can woman who claims the authorship of
one of the cleverest books of the day. Miss
Pamela Coleman Smith talks of the AN
nancy Stories-Folk Tales of Jamaica"
with keen interest.
Il am an American" she insisted,
though 1 was born in London, and have
lived most of my life in Jamaica, and all
the art training have got at the Pratt
Institute in Brooklyn
She mad three years course there. and
then with the most amazing industry
prompted by a strong, deep love of her
art, she began to work at art as a pro-
fession. Perhaps one of her first most
successful endeaVorS was done only for
fun, and it consisted of the building and
peopling of one of the completest minia-
ture theaters ever seen. The stage meas
ureS scarcely more than eighteen inches
square, but its accompaniment of scenes,
actors and costumes is so perfect and lux
urious that any manager might look on
obviously Three hundred gorgeousy
costumed characters VIII appear in a sin
gle pay for the dramas Miss Smith writes
herself, and as she prefers tragedies and
comedies the scenes of which are all laid
in past centuries, the humblest paste
board supe is in attitude, expression and
dress finished little picture. By the sim
plest mechanism the figures are made to
move about daintily painted curtain
rolls up and down, and the scenes are set
or shifted with professional cleverness.
While working al the theater merely
to amuse youthful relatives she turned
her hand to larger work and having col
lected a number of the legends current
among the negroes of Jamaica, she set out
to illustrate her book. The volume of An
nancy Stories was the outcome, which is
Illustrated by twenty-five full-page pic
lures from Miss Smiths hand, beside the
cover design, which is her own work.
Annancy is a perfectly new character
In fairy lore; he is a spider who possesses
a mother, and he is as beloved an elf
among the Jamaica negroes as is Brer
Rabbit among the negroes of our Southern
states. In the quaint dialect of the simple
island blacks. Miss Smith has told the
stories while she has looked straight into
faryland to find the models for her pic
lures.
With the most astonishing invention,
imagination and humor she has pic
tured a series of strange, alluring little
people who cannot fail TO win the child
ish heart and at the same time delight
appreciative grown folks. Indeed ii Is
very safe to say that Annancy and his ca
pers will become as familiar with nursery
folk as Uncle Remus, or Mougi and his
friends. And all this is the work of a
mere girl!
From Illustrating her book of Jamaica
stories, Miss Smith next fell upon a col
lection of old-English and Scotch ballads,
and it is here that the likeness of her
genius to that of Walter Crane is appar-
ent. Whatever is quaint and old worldish
seems to find in her a natural affinity.
Il never look up costume, and yet
seem to know exactly what every charac-
ter should wear" she explained when
some one inquired where she had found
her quaint suits and dresses. From the
ballads her quick fancy next found a lin
itless field in Shakespeare, and her second
book is Shakespearean alphabet made up
of full-page illustrations of characters
whose names run from A 10 H. accompa-
MED by their most brilliant sayings Here.
in the first book, is the same lively i'm
agination. love of striking but always es-
sentially decorative color effects and the
unfalterlng innate knowledge of costume.
Miss Smith is an American girl to be
proud of, and one whose future can he
reckoned on as surely as love of in
dustry. and her art and very great deal
of talent and ambition can guarantee IL.
s-o-o
Lieut. Peary says his Christmas menu