Wednesday’s all round Woman

Aurelia by Gerard de Nerval ; translated by Richard Aldington ; with lithographs by Pearl Binder 1904-1990) I came across the book quite by accident and was interested in Pearl not only because she a writer, illustrator, playwright, strained-glass artist, lithographer, sculptor and artist but champion of the Pearly Kings and Queens.  

Pearl “Polly” Binder was born in Salford in Greater Manchester. Her father was Jacob Binderevski, a Russian-Ukrainian Jewish tailor  who came to Britain in 1890 and soon after became a British citizen.

Binder moved to London 1918, and studied art at the Central School of Art and Design. Her  works drawn from scenes of everyday life in London were made into lithographs. She published a series that illustrated The real East End by Thomas Burke, a popular writer who ran the a pub in Poplar at the time.   

Binder’s illustrations are an intimate, first-hand portrayal of grimy London life in the early 20th century.