"Fanny Y. Cory --By Herself"
was how The Critic magazine
captioned this self-portrait in
its July 1900 issue.
Fanny Young Cory was born in 1877 and in 1895 an 18 year-old Miss Cory attended the Metropolitan school of Fine Arts in New York City. By the turn of the century, she was one of the best known illustrators in the country. She did covers and illustration for St. Nicholas, Life, Scribner's, Century, Harper's Bazaar and The Saturday Evening Post. She also illustrated many books including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1902) by Lewis Carrol, and several books by Frank L. Baum, author of The Wizard of OZ. Who's Who of American Women listed F.Y. Cory in their First Edition, Volume One.
Fanny Y. Cory, after marrying Fred Cooney in 1904, resided on a ranch near Helena, Montana, while raising their three children. In the mid 1920s she moved into newspaper cartooning and by 1936, King Features Syndicate carried both her famous "Sonnysayings" and her "Little Miss Muffet" strip in newspapers throughout the country. She was listed in King Features' Famous Artists and Writers. As a diversion during this period of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Fanny Y. Cory painted in watercolor what she considered her finest work. We now call this collection the "Fairy Series" of which these reproductions are a part.
In addition to her other accomplishments, the popularity of her work led to the publishing of several books of her own and in 1951, Fanny Y. Cory was named "Mother of the Year" for the State of Montana. Soon afterwards she moved to Camano Island, Washington where she continued her cartooning career with King Features Syndicate until she retired in 1956 at the age of 79. This was after a 36-year run of "Sonnysayings" and a 20-year run of "Little Miss Muffet". The original watercolors in the "Fairy Series" were painted over 75 years ago and remained in the artist's private collection, unpublished for nearly 40 years.
This site was created by Fanny Young Cory’s grandson –Bob Dodgson
Email comments, questions to dodgsonr@yahoo.com
F.Y. Cory Publishers, Inc.
21230 Damson Road
Bothell, WA 98021