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:
Handmade Christmas and New Year greeting cards, by Edith Simon and family, bulk: 1942-1944, 1963-1970, 1976, undated
A number of cards demonstrate Simon's signature scalpel bas relief technique. File also contains a list of potential recipients to receive cards, and a photograph of a clay sculpture of a male figure with three pigs, bearing the stamp for Hanne Schorp-Pflumm.
Handmade Christmas and New Year greeting cards, by Edith Simon and family, bulk: circa 1970-circa 1990
File contains multiple example cards of one design. These were originally housed in Acc.13772 Box 38 (1) but have been seperated for preservation purposes given their fragility.
"Hearts You Lose", a play, [?1950-?1959]
Papers consist of notebooks, manuscript and typescript drafts, and research material concerning named plays and screen treatments, alongside more general notes and papers concerning broader ideas and concepts.
Illustrated menu for Christmas Day Dinner at Mortonhall, 25 December 1948
Illustrated notebook featuring Edith Simon's notes on art, sculpture, film, and exhibitions, bulk: circa 1980-1982
Cover is missing, and notebook has not been fully utilised. Contains character and animal studies. Also features a price list of paintings possibly; work lists for 1980 and 1982; and notes for video scripts and draft letters.
Incomplete typescript draft of a possible short story; and a possible shooting script for a film project, bulk: ?1950-?1990
Short story begins 'The young girl lived in a home the sacred security of which created a longing for wild insecurity and misery…’. Contains only 6 pages with the remainder missing. Possible shooting script begins on page 3, with 'Scene in Breakfast Room.' Contains only 3 pages with the first two pages missing.
Incomplete typescript of an untitled story, [possibly Sweet Flossie], with illustrations, ?1930-?1939
Illustrations have been stuck manually to the pages. Includes only pp. 104-117.
Inventories of Edith Simon artworks, [?2000-?2003]
Typescript and manuscript notes concerning the following art mediums: mobile or soft sculpture (MS); rope sculpture (RS); papercut bas relief or scalpel painting (PC); paintings and drawings (DP); continuous line drawing (CL); sculpture (SC); and veneer wood cut (VC). Listed items are accompanied by identication codes, alongside titles, subjects, and measurements.
Invitation lists for unspecified events; and a performance report, bulk: circa 1976
Correspondence touches on Edith's writing and artistic careers, with letters from publishers, literary agents, and gallerists included, amongst others. Files titled as 'correspondence from individuals' have been placed in this sub-series rather than the previous 'family and personal correspondence' sub-series as the nature of the discussions therein appear to relate more specifically to Edith's professional projects.
Items of ephemera retained by Edith Simon, bulk: 1914, 1952-1969
Letter and Christmas cards of Edith Simon to Dr Joan Basden, with two photographs.
Letters and synopses concerning 'Thrilleroyal', 1970, 1972
File includes a letter from Edith Simon to 'Christopher and Tina' [possibly Lucas] concerning a proposed novel 'Thrilleroyal' (1970); two letters to Edith from 'Christopher' on the same subject matter (1970); typescript drafts and revised synopses for 'Thrilleroyal' (1972); and a school exercise book featuring manuscript notes and a sketch of a fish, and a young woman. ['Thrilleroyal' was never published.]
Letters between Eric Reeve, Edith Simon and their children, 1955, 1973, 1976
Letters from Eric and Edith to the children have been illustrated by Edith.
Letters from Edith Simon and Eric Reeve to Dennis Goodwin, 1943-1945
Letters were sent to Lt. A.D. Goodwin while he was stationed at 14 (NY) Bn. K.A.R. East Africa Command. Includes Goodwin's letter to Edith Simon returning her letters and asking her to keep them if possible as he cannot carry too much, and would like to see them again. File also includes a writing excerpt entitled 'God the Mirror', with an unspecified author. [Dennis Goodwin was married to Edith Simon's sister, Inge]
Letters from Edith Simon to Eric Reeve, 1942-1978
A number of letters contain illustrations by Edith Simon. File also contains a code puzzle set by Edith for Eric to solve.
Letters from Edith Simon to Grete Simon, with some letters to Grete from other correspondents, 1969-1974
Grete Simon is also known as 'Mutti' in family letters. Correspondents include Edith Simon and Eric Reeve and their children Antonia, Jessica, and Simon. File also includes a scalpel cut card; illustrated letters, and sculpture photographs. Other correspondents include 'Lola and Robert'.
Letters from Edith Simon to Grete Simon, with some related family letters, 1965-1969
Grete Simon is also known as 'Mutti' in family letters. Correspondents include Edith Simon and Eric Reeve and their children Antonia, Jessica, and Simon. File contains illustrated letters and cards, with a small number of letters and cards also addressed to Walter Simon.
Letters from Edith Simon to Igna Beth Heiden, 1943-1995
The majority of letters appear in original form, having been returned to Edith in later years by Heiden, for research purposes. Only a small handful appear in copy form.
Letters from Edith Simon to Inge Goodwin, 8 January - 26 December 1953
Letters from Edith Simon to Inge Goodwin, 24 January - 26 November 1957
Letters accompanied by a manuscript note, possibly by Inge Goodwin, stating that contents include references to 'The Sable Coat; Eric's lectures; possibly D's kind action to Walter; planning The Great Forgery; and J's progress.'
Letters from Edith Simon to Inge Goodwin, 11 January - 8 December 1958
Letters accompanied by a manuscript note, possibly by Inge Goodwin, stating that contents include references to 'finishing The Piebald Standard; and writing The Great Forgery'.
Letters from Edith Simon to Inge Goodwin, 8 January - ?December 1959
Letters accompanied by a manuscript note, possibly by Inge Goodwin, stating that contents include references to 'writing The Great Forgery; researching Frederick the Great; J's progress; domestic life; and a joint holiday in Broadstairs.'
Letters from Edith Simon to Inge Goodwin, 7 February - 30 December 1960
Letters accompanied by a manuscript note, possibly by Inge Goodwin, stating that contents include references to 'writing The Making of Frederick the Great.'
Letters from Edith Simon to Inge Goodwin, 24 January - 31 October 1961
Letters accompanied by a manuscript note, possibly by Inge Goodwin, stating that Edith and family moved to Lansdowne Crescent in 1961, from Rosebery Crescent.
Letters from Edith Simon to Inge Goodwin, 6 January - 22 December 1963
Letters accompanied by a manuscript note, possibly by Inge Goodwin, stating that the contents include references to 'The Frederick Play' [possibly Love Me, Scum!]