Illustration for Mopsa the Fairy 

Curator: This is Dorothy Lathrop's Illustration for Mopsa the Fairy. It's rendered in ink, creating a striking visual contrast with its stark black and white palette. Editor: Immediately, I'm drawn to the heavy reliance on linework. It’s almost aggressively detailed, especially the stippling that creates the night sky. Curator: Indeed. Lathrop was known for her illustrative work in children's literature. Her style often incorporates elements of fantasy and the romantic. Note how the composition almost theatrical, a small stage of wildflowers beneath a cosmos of wonders. The book in question would have served to instill similar fantastical qualities into child readers of the era. Editor: Right, and what is equally striking is the handmade quality of the print work, which of course speaks volumes to the processes and materials used in the book-making enterprise at the time. I am really interested in the means of production. Do we know much about Lathrop’s particular pen and ink she preferred? Curator: Details like that are scarce, I am afraid. But what we do know is the way fairy tales operate, transmitting social norms. Notice that boy—dressed as more “dapper”—shielding his eyes, acting, perhaps, as a masculine, if not protective, presence next to Mopsa, a young woman adorned with a floral crown? Editor: Maybe, but consider that his attire is a symbol itself. Perhaps those heavy boots reflect a particular type of working-class aesthetic imposed onto children. What is he working for? Or, better yet, *who* is he working for? Those stark lines speak to the industrial printing press used, enabling the broad circulation of Lathrop's art and reinforcing, dare I say, cultural ideas about labor from above. Curator: Perhaps! Though to focus only on industrial processes does belie the magic held in illustrations such as this. Remember the role of this work—to inspire wonder, and even play, in children. Lathrop, through art, had the power to inform that—that is her impact and labor. Editor: That’s fair, it is about accessibility as much as it is about circulation of industry. Even the very concept of this children’s labor should be investigated further, though, considering what kind of cultural norms Lathrop may inadvertently be feeding into... I can’t help it, but my final thoughts on Mopsa concern how this piece would enter children’s consumption habits at the time, and thus impact the circulation of fantasy tropes. Curator: That's certainly an important point, viewing images as part of a cycle. It's been fascinating to consider the many layers within what at first appears a straightforward fairy tale illustration.