May Gibbs: an Australian classic
A new project to digitise selections from the State Library of NSW's extensive collection of May Gibbs material has begun.
May Gibbs, author, illustrator and cartoonist, (1877-1969) was born in Sydenham, Kent, England. She migrated with her family to South Australia in 1881 and then moved to Western Australia in 1885. Between 1900 and 1913 she attended art schools in England. In 1913 she moved to Sydney and obtained commissions from publishers to write and illustrate books. In 1916 Gum-Nut Babies, the first of the ‘Gum-Nut’ series of booklets, was published by Angus & Robertson. Her two most famous characters appeared in her first full-length book, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie: their adventures wonderful (now usually known as Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie) in 1918. In 1919 she married Bertram James Ossoli Kelly who became her manager. As a cartoonist and columnist she was successful with Bib and Bub (1924-1967), Australia’s longest-running comic strip; Tiggy Touchwood (1925-1931), under the pseudonym Stan Cottman; and Gumnut Gossip – Extracts from the Daily Bark (1925-1935). Her last book, Prince Dande Lion, was published in 1953. In 1955 she was appointed Member of the British Empire (MBE) in acknowledgement of her contribution to children’s literature. May Gibbs died in Sydney in 1969.
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May Gibbs’ literary papers were deposited in the Mitchell Library in 1970 by the copyright holders, the NSW Society for Crippled Children (now Northcott Disability Services) and the Spastic Centre of NSW (now the Cerebral Palsy Alliance). These institutions have kindly given the Library permission to digitise the material and publish it on our website. We hope that this will introduce Gibbs and her iconic Australian work to a whole new audience.
