ABSTRACT
This chapter contains a behind-the-scenes look at the beginnings of this book project. For the students of Edith Kramer, it was always fairly easy to call her to mind, but the editors tell how, after working on this book, Edith’s life story feels so much more real. Reading Edith’s own narration of the importance of Mädi and Friedl in her life, handwritten in pencil, the editors describe the importance of Edith in all our lives. They take us on a virtual tour of the archives and preservation section of the NYU Bobst Library, where we meet Laura McCann, the conservation librarian, as well as archivist, Janet Bunde, two very enthusiastic and extremely helpful members of the staff at Bobst. We learn of the challenges and joys of working with Edith’s collection of children’s art, actually seeing the analog pictures that appeared in Edith’s books. In talking with the archive staff, and reading all the contributions from the collaborators, the sense of all of us being a part of Edith’s caring net of amazing, bohemian artists and thinkers was very real. The editors hope that the readers also feel they are a part of the Edith Kramer legacy.
