Simon, Edith (writer and artist) (1917-2003)
Dates
- Existence: 1917-2003 - 2003
Biography
Edith Simon was born on 18 May 1917 in Berlin, Germany, to Walter and Grete Simon. Educated at the Fürstin-Bismarck Gymnasium, she showed a talent for art and history, and enjoyed early success with the publication of her drawings whilst still only 10 years old. Her father Walter, a decorated Great War veteran and successful businessman, moved with his young family to London when Edith was just 15, as the political climate in Germany became increasingly threatening. Edith, alongside her younger sister Inge, arrived in the British capital in 1932.
Edith studied for a short time at both the Slade School of Fine Art and the Central School of Art and Design. She also became an early member of the Artists International Association (AIA), which formed in London in 1933.
Writing Career
Embarking on her professional writing career, Edith’s first book was a children’s adventure story which she wrote and illustrated, titled Somersaults and Strange Company, published by Lawrence & Wishart in 1937. She had also begun working at this time as a book jacket illustrator, demonstrating her signature style and draughtsmanship. In 1938, she translated Arthur Koestler’s The Gladiators into English, which was published a year later. Her first novel, The Chosen, was published in 1940 by John Lane, The Bodley Head, when Edith was still only 23.
She would go on to author 17 books, including contemporary novels, historical novels, and histories, as well as contributing to edited collections. Her published work includes:
Somersaults and Strange Company (Lawrence & Wishart 1937)
The Gladiators by Arthur Koestler, (UK Johnathan Cape 1939; US Macmillan - New York 1939) (translated by Edith Simon)
The Chosen (The Bodley Head 1940)
Biting the Blue Finger (The Bodley Head 1942)
Wings Deceive (The Bodley Head 1944)
The Other Passion (The Bodley Head 1948)
The Golden Hand (UK edition Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1952; US edition G.P. Putnam's Sons 1951)
The Past Masters (UK edition Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1953; US edition 'The House of Strangers', G.P. Putnam's Sons 1953)
The Twelve Pictures (UK edition Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1956; US edition G.P. Putnam's Sons 1955)
The Sable Coat (Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1958)
The Piebald Standard: A Biography of the Knights Templar (UK edition Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1959; US edition G.P. Putnam's Sons 1959)
The Undying Past, ed. Orville Prescott (Doubleday 1961) (contributor)
The Great Forgery (UK edition Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1962; US edition Little, Brown & Co. 1962)
The Making of Frederick the Great (UK edition Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1963; US editions Little, Brown & Co., reprint Greenan Press)
Friedrich Der Grosse, Das Weiden eines Königs (Rainer Wunderlich Verlag, Hermann Leins, Tubingen, 1963)
The Book of Books – A Treasury of Great Bible Fiction, eds. Irwin R Blacker & Ethel H Blacker (Holt, Reinhart & Winston NY, 1965) (contributor)
The Reformation (Time-Life 1966)
Die Reformation von Edith Simon und der Redaktion der Time-Life (Time-Life 1967)
The Saints (UK edition Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1968; US edition Delacorte Press 1968)
Luther Alive (UK edition Hodder & Stoughton 1968; US edition Doubleday 1968)
The Anglo-Saxon Manner (Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1972)
The Makers of Modern Thought (Horizon Books American Heritage Books – subsidiary of McGraw Hill 1972) (contributor)
‘Frederick II the Great of Prussia’ (Encyclopaedia Britannica 1974) (contributor)
In addition, Edith also wrote two plays ‘The Inimitable’ and ‘Love Me, Scum’, neither of which were ever performed, and she completed a film script entitled 'A Perfect Marriage'.
It was in London in 1942 that Edith met the noted scientist Dr. Eric Reeve, whom she married that same year. The couple moved to Edinburgh in 1947 to facilitate Eric’s new role with Edinburgh University’s Genetics Department. They lived first at Mortonhall House, alongside a team of geneticists also working at the University. They would subsequently move to Roseberry Crescent, and Lansdowne Crescent, before settling permanently in Grosvenor Crescent. They had three children, Antonia (b.1950), Simon (b.1952), and Jessica (b. 1954).
Art Career
Edith returned to her artistic practice in the early 1970s, participating in an early exhibition at the Demarco Gallery in Edinburgh in 1970, followed by her first one-woman show at Gallerie Balans in Amsterdam in 1971 where she presented mobile sculptures and her signature papercut bas relief paintings. Edith would go on to stage and appear in over 50 exhibitions throughout her career. She experimented with and explored many mediums and forms including continuous line drawings, papercut bas relief scalpel paintings, rope sculptures, mobile and soft sculptures, sculptures in stained wood, ciment-fondue, vacuum formed perspex, cast polyester resin, cold-cast bronze, copper, aluminium, metal sheet, and carved plaster. She also utilised painted glass, as well as undertaking murals in paint and wood veneer. For over thirty years, she exhibited annually at the Edinburgh Festival, with her final show being held in 2001. [A full list of exhibitions (1970-2003) is available on the Edith Simon Gallery website cited below.]
In 1995, Edith contracted a respiratory infection which revealed an existing condition, widely known as emphysema. This necessitated the use of daily oxygen for the remainder of her life. Edith Simon died in Edinburgh on 7 January 2003.
Biographical information has been taken from ‘Moderation be Damned: Edith Simon’, published by Antonia Reeve in 2005, alongside the artist’s biographical note on the Edith Simon Gallery website, available at edith-simon.com.
Found in 450 Collections and/or Records:
File entitled 'Essays. Notes.', bulk: 1957-1966, 1975
File entitled 'Karl May Novel.', bulk: ?1940-?1970
File contains an annotated typescript draft of an unpublished novel, in five parts. Also included is the original envelope, annotated with the text 'Karl May Novel. Mrs. Edith Reeve.' [Karl May (1842-1912) was a German author.]
File entitled "Notes - Ideas and Unfinished Business", bulk: circa 1957-1965
File contains manuscript and typescript notes; synopses; drafts; and outlines for various writing projects including 'Freud'; 'An Affair of Love'; 'The Social Impact of Doctor Freud'; 'A Thriving Business: Play in Three Acts'; 'W., as in Kafka'; and 'No Time Like the Present'. Also contains original file folder with Edith Simon's Edinburgh address of residence at the time.
File entitled 'Vulture's Food.', 1942
Five homemade Christmas greeting cards by Edith Simon, circa 1947- 1963
Earliest date has been inferred from the year the Reeve family moved to Edinburgh and lived at Mortonhall, an address which has been inscribed on a number of the earlier cards.
Flyers, a press release, an exhibition catalogue, and typescript notes concerning Edith Simon's career and exhibition work, 1974-2000
Exhibitions referred to include Edith Simon's Wild Life (1974); Signals (1991); Astonish Us (1994); New Location-New Departures (1995); Fearless Vigour (1998); and Edith Simon Once Again (2000). File also includes typescript notes relating to Simon's career and current artworks, possibly for an exhibition; a typed text for inclusion in an exhibition catalogue (1998); a photocopied Christmas card design by Simon (2000); and a page of manuscript notes concerning her artworks and prices.
Folder containing a typescript book proposal for an art book by Edith Simon, entitled 'To Hell with You, I'm Doing Your Thing!: The Making of an Exhibition, ?1978
File contains a typescript book proposal alongside a second typescript text discussing the sculpture 'The Sheep Shearer' which forms part of the proposed book's content.
Folder containing chronological lists of works by Edith Simon, circa 1997
Typescript and manuscript notes concerning the following art forms/events: 'papercut or scalpel painting (PC)'; 'sculpture (SC)'; 'continuous line (CL)'; 'veneer cut (VC)'; 'paintings and drawings (DP)'; 'rope sculpture (RS)'; 'mobile or soft sculpture (MS)'; 'exhibitions (EX)'; and 'furniture (F)'.
Folder containing contact sheets and photographic negatives of Edith Simon artworks, 'Vol. 2, 1-83', 1977-1980
Volume contains manuscript notes at the beginning acting as a table of contents, listing the artworks and/or exhibitions included within. Relevant dates, titles and ID codes are also included. Negatives are housed while contact sheets remain loose. Mediums include sculpture (SC); papercut bas relief or scalpel painting (PC); veneer wood cut (VC); continuous line drawing (CL); paintings and drawings (DP).
Folder containing contact sheets and photographic negatives of Edith Simon artworks, 'Vol. 3, 1-84', 1980-1984
Volume contains manuscript notes at the beginning acting as a table of contents, listing the artworks and/or exhibitions included within. Relevant dates, titles and ID codes are also included. Negatives are housed while contact sheets remain loose. Mediums include papercut bas relief or scalpel painting (PC); paintings and drawings (DP); sculpture (SC); and continuous line drawing (CL).
Folder containing contact sheets and photographic negatives of Edith Simon artworks, 'Vol. 4, 1-72', 1984-1987
Volume contains manuscript notes at the beginning acting as a table of contents, listing the artworks and/or exhibitions included within. Relevant dates, titles and ID codes are also included. Negatives are housed while contact sheets remain loose. Mediums include papercut bas relief or scalpel painting (PC); paintings and drawings (DP); sculpture (SC); and continuous line drawing (CL).
Folder containing contact sheets and photographic negatives of Edith Simon artworks, 'Vol. 5, 1-87', 1987-1993
Volume contains manuscript notes at the beginning acting as a table of contents, listing the artworks and/or exhibitions included within. Relevant dates, titles and ID codes are also included. Negatives are housed while contact sheets remain loose. Mediums include papercut bas relief or scalpel painting (PC); sculpture (SC); paintings and drawings (DP); continuous line drawing (CL); and mobile or soft sculpture (MS).
Folder containing contact sheets and photographic negatives of Edith Simon artworks, 'Vol. 6, 1-79', 1994-2003
Volume contains manuscript notes at the beginning acting as a table of contents, listing the artworks and/or exhibitions included within. Relevant dates, titles and ID codes are also included. Negatives are housed while contact sheets remain loose. Mediums include papercut bas relief or scalpel painting (PC); paintings and drawings (DP); continuous line drawing (CL); and sculpture (SC).
Folder containing contact sheets and photographic negatives of Edith Simon artworks, 'Vol. I, 1-70', 1973-1977
Volume contains manuscript notes at the beginning acting as a table of contents, listing the artworks and/or exhibitions included within. Relevant dates, titles and ID codes are also included. Negatives are housed while contact sheets remain loose. Mediums include mobile or soft sculpture (MS); sculpture (SC); papercut bas relief or scalpel painting (PC); rope sculpture (RS); continuous line drawing (CL); furniture (F); and paintings and drawings (DP).
Folder of colour photographs of scalpel paintings, sculptures, possible set designs, and other paintings by Edith Simon, bulk: 1972-2003
The majority of photographs include identification details on the reverse, naming the painting or sculpture, giving measurements, or featuring an ID number. Most photographs have been taken by Antonia Reeve. The possible set design photographs are untitled. File also contains three photocopy prints of continuous line drawings by Simon, used to illustrate her promotional material for the New Locations-New Departures exhibition in August 1995.
Folder of exhibition-related ephemera retained by Edith Simon, bulk: 1968, 1987-1997
File includes exhibition posters, flyers, one catalogue, and two brief price lists and worklists. File also includes a ballet show programme for The Scottish Ballet School, in which Edith Simon appears as a set designer for one of the performances (27 April 1968); and an unidentified photograph of a possible artwork by Edith Simon, perhaps a papercut painting in progress.
Folder of mixed papers of Edith Simon, containing letters; cards; shooting scripts; offprints; and work lists, bulk: 1972-1976, 1982, 1992-1994, 2004
Folder of newspaper cuttings retained by Edith Simon, bulk: 1959, 1993
Cuttings include 'Silenced Garden Hits Back Over Shake-up' (Scotsman, 26 May 1993); 'Knives Flash in Mayfest Mayhem for Glasgow's Art Commissar' (Scotland on Sunday, 23 May 1993); 'Restless 'Undead' of Glasgow's Galleries'' (Scotland on Sunday, 30 May 1993); and a series of book reviews relating to non-Simon publications.
Folder of photographs depicting Edith Simon's artworks, and her memorial celebration, bulk: 1983, 2003
The two artworks depicted are 'The First AIA (Artists International Association) Committee', a 1983 reconstruction of a 1933/34 group portrait; and 'Possessions'. The remaining photographs depict a commemorative event held in Edinburgh on 8 February 2003, to celebrate Edith Simon's life.
Folder of photographs depicting Edith Simon's meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at an unveiling of her work at Lammermuir House, Dunbar, during the 'Runners' exhibition, 1986
Folder contains four prints of the same image, showing Edith Simon standing alongside Queen Eliabeth, who unveiled a sculpture and scalpel painting by Simon at the event.
Four notebooks concerning household and studio expenses for Edith Simon and Eric Reeve, 1979-1994
First notebook runs between April 1979-December 1982; second notebook runs April 1982-March 1986; third notebook runs March 1986-September 1989; fourth notebook runs October 1989-January 1994.
Further papers concerning writing drafts, ideas, and notes, 1940-1975
This series contains notebooks, manuscript drafts, typescript drafts, press cuttings, and research notes relating to Edith Simon's various writing projects, encompassing her books, plays, and screenplays, as well as some unrealised works.
The tete-a-beche style is used by Simon in most notebooks, writing from both ends of each volume.
Further professional and personal papers of Edith Simon and Dr Eric Reeve, including photographic and audiovisual materials.
General and work correspondence, 1939-1945
Identified correspondents include Francis Aldor; Frederic H. Littman, BBC; Ethel Littman; possibly Margaret Littman; C.J. Greenwood, John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd; 'Henry'; and Dennis Goodwin, amongst other unidentified correspondents. The majority of correspondence is addressed from Frederic H. Littman and members of his family.
Golden Wedding Anniversary correspondence sent to Walter and Grete Simon, 1964
File contains illustrated letters, cards, and telegrams. Identified correspondents include 'Susan'; possibly Annemarie Alfred; 'Willie'; Edith Simon and Eric Reeve; 'Alan'; possibly Lily Arthur; possibly Emil Marie; possibly Tina and Christopher Lucas; 'Len'; 'Hans and Ilse; 'Delno'; possibly 'Edel'; 'W.E. and I.V. Reeve'; 'Bella Kaufman'; 'Gwen and Cecil'; 'Gerda'; 'Gerd'; and 'Elizabeth'. File also contains a script for a video presentation by family members for the occasion.