Background
Elfriede Abbe was born in Washington, District of Columbia
engraver sculptor botanical illustrator
Elfriede Abbe was born in Washington, District of Columbia
She graduated from Cornell University in 1940, earning a degree in architecture and attended Syracuse University.
A self-publisher, Abbe printed numerous hand-printed books, which she created on a printing press in her studio. in 1919. From 1942 until her retirement in 1974 she was an illustrator at Cornell. After retiring from Cornell in 1974 she lived and worked in Vermont.
She lived in Manchester. until her death in 2012.
Her estate is represented by Elaine Beckwith Gallery. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Cornell University, Ithaca, New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York National Gallery of Art, Washington, District of Columbia New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.