Jessie M. King (1875-1949) was the foremost Scottish book designer and illustrator of the 20th century. Her work reflected the mixture of Symbolism and Arts & Crafts practiced by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the others of "The Four" in Glasgow where she was trained. During the 50 years of her career she designed and illustrated some 250 books, over 100 greeting cards, bookplates and assorted items of ephemera.

A Guide to the Printed Work of Jessie M. King attempts to bring order to this enormous output. Every known item has been annotated, classified and catalogued, and a further section lists over 100 publications containing reproductions of other works by the artist. An appendix by Dr. A.D. Portno discusses her work for the German publishers, Globus. A second appendix investigates her designs for Routledge's series of children's classics.

In order to do justice to Jessie M. King's talent, besides the selection of items illustrated in the book, a substantial part of her work is illustrated in color on an accompanying CD-Rom. On the CD, every significant item is present, with each illustration numbered according to the corresponding entry in the text.

Colin White is an art historian specializing in the early 20th century. His published works include biographies of Edmund Dulac and Jessie M. King and a history of objects of artistic interest found in nurseries. He is at work on a biography of Kay Nielsen. He has written books on Sentimentality in Art, Decorative Headpieces and Tailpieces, and one on the influence of the Japanese No on the plays of W.B. Yeats. He has published articles on the bookplates of Jessie M. King and of Edward Ardizzone, as well as a survey for the Wolfson Foundation of the art of Thomas Mackenzie.