I just picked up a neat book > HIRAM AND OTHER CATS < which features wonderful drawings by Gladys Emerson Cook, who was a well-known illustrator of dogs & cats in the early 1940s. She apparently passed away in 1976.
This is a 1941 book, and on the front inside cover it is signed by: Gladys C. Faulkner.
I am wondering if this is the signature of Gladys Emerson Cook somewhat later when she was married, would be Gladys Cook Faulkner.
Anyone have any information about this, I have not been able to locate a biography of her on the net, or find any books of hers signed under the possible later name?
posted on June 26, 2001 06:51:52 PM
Why are you assuming that the signature on the front inside cover is an autograph? Perhaps Gladys C. Faulkner was the owner of that particular copy of Gladys Emerson Cook's book and what you think is an autograph is instead the owner's signature.
I would be curious as to whether Ms. Faulkner might not be Ms. Cook's daughter, rather than the same person. It doesn't make sense that the author would autograph the book with a name other than the one under which she published the book.
Have you checked out any family history sites? Pet sites? Book search sites?
posted on June 26, 2001 11:01:49 PM
I'm not assuming anything, just asking a question. If I had my druthers I wouldn't post on AW at all the way people immediately jump on you & don't read what you actually write. I just thought someone might be helpful if they had some knowledge on this.
posted on June 27, 2001 04:27:40 AM
I have had some luck with Ancestry com. when I need to find biographic information. If you know the year of birth and death, and even better where the person lived, there is the SSDI. (Social Security Death Index)
You could try under Cook and Faulkner. If you find her under Cook, it is likely she wasn't married. Also Ancestry has many biography and obituary databases. Obituaries are good since they usually list the names of the spouse and children.
This could be a long shot, but sometimes it works.
She is a very well know artist and there has to be some biographical information about her somewhere.
posted on June 28, 2001 07:24:05 AM
Well, upriver, I don't exactly think I was "jumping" on you when I asked you about assumptions, and I do apologize if I offended you with my questions. I assure you that I did indeed read what you wrote.
I don't automatically assign a negative value to the words "assume" or "assumption." Perhaps the words "hypothesize" and "hypothesis" might be better choices.
It seems to me that you hypothesized that a signature inside a book was the artist's autograph, rather than the owner's signature, even though the names didn't match. Why?
It also seems to me that you hypothesized that the artist might have married, changed her name subsequent to that, and autographed a book published under her well-known professional name with her supposed new married name. (This despite the fact that many professional women who have become known under a birth name, or a previous married name, continue even after [re]marriage to use [for business] the name under which they became known, and did so, even prior to the twentieth century.) Again, why?
The possibility that an artist who was as well known in her field as Gladys Emerson Cook was would do all of the above? Slim to none, IMO.
Based on the info in your original post, there's no definite connection at all between Gladys Emerson Cook and Gladys C. Faulkner beyond the fact that Ms. Faulkner's signature is inside a copy of a book illustrated by Ms. Emerson. Gladys was a very popular woman's name in the past, so the matching first names could be mere coincidence, and Ms. Faulkner's middle initial might not be for "Cook."
OTOH, if I were going to assume the possibility of a connection between Gladys Emerson Cook and Gladys C. Faulkner, I might hypothesize that Gladys C. Faulkner could have been Gladys Cook Faulkner, and possibly a daughter (granddaughter, niece, cousin) of the artist. That is why I asked if you had checked out the family history aspect. (I'd want to mention such a relationship in a listing if I could document it.)
Frankly, I'd never heard of Gladys Emerson Cook before reading your original post, but I'm the curious type, and your post made her sound like someone I'd like to know a little more about.
I didn't have a lot of time at that moment, but I did do a five-minute web search on her and turned up some information about a Gladys Emerson Cook art award, apparently still being given as of the late twentieth century, plus a website offering a copy of that book, in pretty good condition, at a selling price of $78.
I didn't have a chance to go through the many family history sites my search turned up, as it would have required more time than I had to invest at that point. I will probably go back and look at them later, just to satisfy my own curiosity.
Meanwhile, your find sounds like a real winner. Good luck, and high profits, when you list it!
