The Ashley Wolff "Stella & Roy" Collection

Preliminary sketch & mock-up, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection came to the library last fall when Wolff, our library friend and neighbor, left San Francisco to live in her home state of Vermont. 

Wolff, the successful and popular author of picture books for young children, had been a long-time patron of the Bernal Heights Branch Library near where she lived. She presented a slide-show about her work at the branch, supported the branch renovation campaign, and was a regular library patron. 

She also exhibited her work at the Main Library and one year created the artwork for the library’s system-wide Summer Reading Club. She donated the original art to the Bernal Heights Branch where it hangs in the children’s room today. She was also invited to present the Effie Lee Morris Lecture at the Main Library in 2010. 

We are pleased to have this small Stella & Roy Collection. The picture book for younger children tells the story of an outing to Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. The collection itself provides a glimpse into the writer and artist’s creative process and provides visual evidence as to how a picture book is made. It contains linocuts, sketches, artwork, typescripts, book mock-ups, page and jacket proofs, and correspondence related to the book which was published in 1993. 

Preliminary sketch, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Above you can see the very first notes for the story and an early sketch of the storyboard. 

Preliminary sketch, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Here is a more detailed drawing. 

Linocut, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Here is the linocut which features the child on the tricycle, a motif you will see throughout the book and on the cover of the book. 

Preliminary print, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Here is a preliminary black and white print… 

Preliminary sketch & mock-up, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

…and an initial page mock-up for the tricycle scene with a full-color sketch and notes. 

Full color sketch, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Here you see a final, full-color sketch which will eventually become the artwork in the book...

Final book cover, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

And on the front cover. 

Preliminary sketch, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

More sketches… 

Linocut, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

…which become a linocut… 

 

Preliminary print, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

…which becomes a print. 

It is wonderful to be able to see the steps in the process and the beautiful end result. 

Preliminary sketch, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Another sketch and page layout. 
 

Linocut, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Another linocut. 

Preliminary print, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Preliminary print, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Preliminary print, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

And a series of prints. 

Linocut, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1992]

Here is the linocut for the double-page spread -- a view of Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park – which, even in reverse, is beautiful. 

Many thanks to Ashley Wolff for donating these materials to the Book Arts & Special Collections Center. Wolff paid tribute to San Francisco with her book Stella & Roy. Now the Stella & Roy Collection at the San Francisco Public Library serves as a bittersweet farewell to her.

Invitation to Potluck publication celebration, The Ashley Wolff Stella & Roy Collection, San Francisco Public Library [1993]