Margaret Ely Webb

Margaret Eli Webb (1877-1965) was an American illustrator, printer, and bookplate artist. She was part of the art and craft movement of the early 1900s. Webb was born in 1877 into a family in New Jersey with three sons. Her father died sometime before 1918, when Webb's mother married Charles Albert Stork, a famous citizen of Santa Barbara, California, and the mayor from 1898 to 1901. Webb studied in New York in the League of Art Students and Cooper Union. She lived in Boston and New Jersey before settling in Santa Barbara in 1922. Webb was an important figure in the arts and crafts movement in the early 1900s. She was known for her intricate feather ink. According to Independent Santa Barbara, “one critic who wrote in August 1908 admitted that the beauty of Webb's plates destroyed his prejudice against female artists.” Webb created bookplates for the famous Santa Barbarans, including her half-brother Thomas M. Storke. In the 1940s, Webb began using woodcuts as a medium for book plates. She also painted with watercolors and oil. Webb is primarily remembered for her work as an illustrator of children's literature; her illustrations also appeared in many magazines.