Jessie M. King (1875–1949)

The classic Christmas carol concerning the saintly King Wenceslas of Bohemia, who set out across a wintry landscape to bring Christmas cheer to a lowly peasant, thereby setting a perfect example of Christian charity for his page, and for the listener, is given an Art Nouveau treatment in this gorgeous picture-book from 1919. The complete text of the carol is given at the opening of the book, followed by its musical notation. Then a selection of verses from the song - enough to tell the story, but not including every line - is paired with Jessie Marion King's beautiful artwork...

Originally written in 1853 by John Mason Neale, and set to the medieval tune, "Tempus adest floridum," this beautiful Christmas carol has been used as the text for many picture-books over the years, and accompanied by artwork done in many styles. Personal favorites, of the ten picture-book presentations I have thus far read, include those done by Christopher Manson, Pauline Baynes and Omar Rayyan. This slender little volume, published in pamphlet form in 1919, and reprinted in 1920, features the artwork of Jessie Marion King, one of the "Glasgow Girls" who helped to shape the Glasgow School of the Art Nouveau movement. The illustrations are my introduction to King, whose work was previously unknown to me, and they are gorgeous. Some of the border work reminds me a bit of Ivan Bilibin, but overall the style felt entirely new to me, not so much because I have never encountered artwork from this period and movement, but because I have never seen it paired with this carol. Here is the final scene:



Just lovely! This edition is available online, through the Internet Archive, and I believe there is also a youtube video that profiles the artwork from it (sadly, not accompanied by the music of the carol), so it is easily accessible, despite being quite obscure. Highly recommended, to anyone looking for unusual picture-book presentations of this carol, and to fans of King's artwork. For my part, I hope to track down more of her books!… (more)