In his Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists, David Saunders has this to say about Harve Stein:
In 1933 he illustrated Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and Little Men for Garden City Publications. In a public lecture at the time he is quoted as saying, "Illustration is as much a fine art as any other form of painting. In fact, illustrating requires much more knowledge of specific types and settings than other kinds of art. Moreover, it requires a literary sense for the illustrator can make the story more vivid and appealing to the reader. Illustrating is very difficult to do, because you have a limited time in which to select your models, brush up your expertise on the historical period and complete your painting. An illustrator's knowledge of historical periods must be very accurate. Furthermore he must have a grasp of settings, types, subjects, costumes, and architecture at his finger tips. One of the most difficult challenges facing an illustrator is when he is required to draw a picture of a girl whom the author only describes as 'the most beautiful girl he has ever seen.' What was the author's idea of the most beautiful girl, and what is the reader's idea of the most beautiful girl? That is for the illustrator to decide. The success of the whole story may depend upon the artist's conception of the most beautiful girl!"
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