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 446 Collections and/or Records:
Notebook of Edith Simon, containing manuscript draft excerpts of the novel 'The Twelve Pictures', with accompanying notes throughout, 14 March 1953- ?20 November 1954
Notebook was begun on 14 March 1953 and completed on [?20 November 1954]. The first page of manuscript text is entitled as 'Part One. From Siegfied's Point of View.' The notebook also contains six pages of loose manuscript pages (September 1954)
Notebook of Edith Simon containing manuscript drafts and notes concerning the play, 'The Inimitable', 1 February 1957 - circa 9 December 1963
Notebook of Edith Simon, containing manuscript notes concerning the novel 'The Twelve Pictures', ?1953-?1954
The first page of substantive manuscript text features the title 'Notes for a completely revised version twelve.' Subject matter concerns character studies, plot development, chapter structure, points to research, and other editorial matters. Notebook contains one loosely inserted sheet of manuscript notes.
Notebook of Edith Simon containing manuscript notes on 'the Dickens Play', ['The Inimitable], 5 November 1956 - 21 January 1957
Notebook was begun on 15 November 1956 and completed on 21 January 1957. Subject matter appears to concern play structure, dialogue exerpts, and other editorial matters. Loose manuscript and typescript pages (December 1956-January 1957) inserted into this notebook also relate to similar topics. It may be possible that two distinct plays are being discussed in this notebook.
Notebook of Edith Simon, containing manuscript notes on the novel 'The Twelve Pictures', 5 April 1954-17 June 1954
Notebook was begun on 5 April 1954 and completed on 17 June 1954. The first page of manuscript notes features the title 'Notes, amendments, insertions for 'The Twelve Pictures'.' Notebook contains notes and draft excerpts.
Notebook of Edith Simon containing notes and manuscript drafts concerning the novel 'The Sable Coat', volume 7, August 1956 - October 1956
Notebook was begun on 29 August 1956 and runs until 26 October 1956. Hardcover is loose with back cover missing and pages now seperated. First page features the annotation 'Vol.VII, The Sable Coat: Revision, starting at beginning, so far containing Part One', while the first page of manuscript text features the title '2. (Tom).'
Notebook of Edith Simon containing notes concerning the novel 'The Sable Coat', volume 2, February 1955
Notebook was begun on 18 February 1955. The first page bears the annotation 'The Sable Coat. N.II (Details).' Manuscript notes contain character descriptions and other descriptive features for the novel.
Notebook of Edith Simon containing notes concerning the novel 'The Sable Coat', volume I; accompanied by two illustrated greeting cards from her children Antonia and Simon Reeve, December 1952-January 1955
Notebook was begun on 11 December 1952 and also contains an entry dated 12 January 1955. Inner front cover bears the annotation 'The Sable Coat. N.I. General.' Contains notes and illustrations regarding novel structure and characters. The two accompanying greeting cards celebrate the Easter holiday.
Notebook of Edith Simon containing notes concerning 'The Sable Coat, Incidents Collection', August 1955
Notebook was begun on 9 August 1955. Inside front cover bears the annotation 'The Sable Coat. I.C. Incidents Collection.'
Notebook of Edith Simon containing the manuscript 'First Draft of Templars Book', alongside accompanying notes, October 1957-March 1958
Notebook of Edith Simon containing writing drafts and other notes, October 1969-November 1972.
Spiral-bound notebook begins on 22 October 1969. Concluding date appears as 7 November 1972. Manuscript notes appear to concern possible plays, films, and book-writing projects. Notebook also includes two pages of brief life-drawing sketches.
Notebook of Edith Simon entitled 'Notes: Templars and [?Harem/Harlem] Book, Vol. I', 16 November 1956
Spiral-bound notebook.
Notebook of Edith Simon, possibly concerning the novel 'The Twelve Pictures', and other writing projects, 12 March - July 1954
Notebook was begun on 12 March 1954 and seems to run until July 1954. The first page of substantive manuscript notes bears the title 'For attempted film script, a [Dr.] Schmidt short story; also 'Hand Over It' story.' From page 7 onwards, subject matter concerns 'The Twelve Pictures', a novel by Edith Simon. File also includes loose pages of manuscript notes concerning 'The Twelve Pictures' (30 April-7 May ?1954).
Notebook of Edith Simon, possibly concerning 'The Piebald Standard: A Biography of the Knights Templars', May 1957
Inside front cover bears the inscription Templar Notes, Vol. II. This notebook commences on 5 May 1957. Also contains loose inserted pages at the rear, making reference to the play 'The Inimitable.'
Notebook of Edith Simon, with manuscript notes and draft excerpts concerning a novel, 1 October 1949 - 23 September 1952
Notebook of Edith Simon, with manuscript notes and draft excerpts concerning a novel, 1946 - 9 May 1949
Notebook of Edith Simon, with manuscript notes and draft excerpts concerning a novel, 29 May 1952 - circa July 1952.
Notebook of Edith Simon, with manuscript notes and draft excerpts concerning a novel, 29 July - 1 November 1952
Notebook of Edith Simon, with manuscript notes and draft excerpts concerning a novel, ?1952
Notebook of Edith Simon, with manuscript notes and draft excerpts concerning a novel, 25 February 1948 - January 1951
Notebook of Edith Simon, with manuscript notes and draft excerpts concerning a novel, 21 July 1949
Notebook was begun on 21 July 1949. Title page begins 'House of Dreamers. Part 1. 1st Draft.' [This notebook was housed with several others, all of which appear to relate to the same writing project, a proposed book entitled at any one time as 'House of Dreamers', 'The Human Quality', 'House of Strangers' or 'The Life Behind the Stone.' Simon published a book entitled 'The Past Masters' in 1953, which was subsequently published as 'The House of Strangers' in the United States.]
Notebook of Edith Simon, with manuscript notes and draft excerpts concerning a novel, 1946- 23 July 1949
Notebooks of Edith Simon, containing manuscript notes concerning the novel 'The Twelve Pictures', and entitled 'New Synopses I & II', May 1953
The first notebook volume was begun on 26 May 1953, while the second volume appears to show no relevant dates. Subject matter concerns book structure and content material. The first volume also contains a series of loose manuscript pages featuring manuscript draft excerpts, illustrations, and editorial notes.
Notebooks of Edith Simon, containing manuscript notes concerning the novel 'The Twelve Pictures', and entitled ['Nibelung Notes, Volumes I-III]', 11 December 1952-[?March 1953]
The first notebook volume was begun on 11 December 1952, the second appears to run on directly from the first and ends in [?March 1953], while the third volume begins on 26 February 1953. Subject matter concerns editorial notes, research points, character studies, and plot development. Volume I features an annotation on its front cover which reads as 'Book finished - bar correcting final typescript - 20 November 1954.