Special Collection & University Archives
Brown, Margaret Wise, 1910-1952Acc# 93-7-1Papers, 1938-1960 |
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Abstract: |
Literary manuscripts, correspondence, legal papers, biographical information, periodical publications, sound recording, ephemera, and clippings. |
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Size: |
4.16 cubic feet (12 boxes): approximately 200 pieces correspondence ; over 500 manuscripts, in addition to legal and biographical material. |
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Donor: |
Roberta Brown Rauch, April 1993. (sister of author) |
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Related
Collections: |
University Archives:
Hollins Authors Collection, Alumni/ae Brown |
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Notes |
This finding aid includes
accretions to this accession number: #1-11/1996; #2-8/2003; and #1-11/2003. |
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Contents
Contents:
Introduction
o
Biographical Notes
o
Collection Overview
o
Arrangement
Series
1: Manuscripts
Series
2: Scores & Lyrics.
Series
3: Periodical publications
Series
4: Incoming correspondence.
- Publisher
- Other organizations
- Individuals
Series
5: Outgoing correspondence
- Publishers
- Other Organizations
- Individuals
Series
6: Miscellaneous papers
Series
7: Papers relating to Margaret Wise Brown’s death
Series
8: Roberta Brown Rauch’s papers
- Incoming correspondence
- Outgoing correspondence
Series
9: Legal papers
Series
10: Materials about Margaret Wise Brown
Born
May 23, 1910, in Brooklyn (NY), Margaret Wise Brown was the middle child of
three. Her father, Robert Brown, worked for the American Manufacturing Company (NY)
while her mother, Maude Johnson Brown, was a Hollins alumna, receiving an
"Eclectic" degree at the Hollins Institute in 1899. Margaret, along
with her sister, Roberta, attended numerous private schools both here and
abroad.
From 1928-1932, she attended
William R. Scott, a young publisher, also fell under the influence of Lucy Sprague Mitchell who encouraged him to "...devote his list to experimentally tested, here-and-now-style children's books." * Scott was given an office at the School and eventually met Margaret, who became his first editor in 1938.
"For
a time she was a highly innovative juveniles editor, and throughout her career
she played impresario to the entire field, taking pleasure in discovering or
furthering the careers of illustrators and writers such as Clement and Edith
Thacher Hurd, Garth Williams, Leonard Wisegard, Esphyr Slobodkina, Jean
Charlot, and Ruth Krauss."Margaret published a number of her own books
with Scott but eventually moved on to other publishers. She also occasionally
employed pen names such as "Golden MacDonald," Timothy Hay," and
"Juniper Sage."
*
Leonard S. Marcus, Margaret Wise Brown, Awakened By The Moon (Boston:
Beacon Press, 1992), 89.
Series 1: Manuscripts : includes both published and unpublished
manuscripts.
Series 2: Scores & Lyrics. 7 files, composers Dorothy Cadzow, Elizabeth
Randolph, Alec Wilder.
Series 3: Periodical Publications. offprints, articles, and stories
published in magazines
Series 4 & 5: Incoming & Outgoing Correspondence : publishers, lawyer,
collaborators, and various organizations. While most of the letters are
addressed to MWB, many contain her responses drafted on the letter. Subjects
included contracts, royalties, copyright, and ideas for books and songs. Major
correspondents include Simon & Schuster, Harper & Brothers, and E. P.
Dutton).
Series 6: Other Papers: royalty statements,
lists of manuscripts sent to various publishers, advertisements.
Series 7:
Papers relating to Margaret Wise Brown’s Death. Correspondence,
telegrams, etc.
Series 8:
Roberta Brown Rauch’s papers. Rauch was executor of her sister’s estate. Includes correspondence written after Brown’s death in regards to
the status of various unpublished manuscripts.
Series 9:
Legal Papers. Probate records, correspondence to and from her executors regarding
bills, copyrights, etc.
Series
10: Materials about Margaret Wise Brown. Articles, addresses, theses,
library correspondence.
Manuscripts. All manuscripts, except for Green Wind,
are placed together and arranged alphabetically by title. (Manuscripts for Green
Wind are kept separate since these poems belong together under this title.)
One title to a folder. Different versions of the same
title are kept in the same folder. Manuscripts are filed by the title they were
published under, or, if unpublished, the most prominent title listed at the top
of the page, if more than one title is listed. If untitled, the item is filed
by the first word of the first line, excluding articles.
Scores & Lyrics. Arranged alphabetically by
title.
Periodical Publications. Arranged chronologically,
with undated items at the end.
Correspondence : The papers were
divided into series according to provenance (creator of the document). Within
this arrangement, the papers were divided by type or activity (i.e.
correspondence from publishers, from individuals, from the law firm of
Greenbaum, Wolff & Ernst). Publishers are listed alphabetically (also with
divisions within a publisher) and then chronologically with the earliest letter
first.
Miscellaneous papers. These materials include items which did not
appear to be enclosures of any of the correspondence. These are arranged
alphabetically, by document type and chronologically within type.
Papers
relating to Margaret Wise Brown’s Death. Filed chronologically.
Roberta Brown Rauch Papers. While this collection
has a different provenance, they are included with the Margaret Wise Brown
collection because it is small and closely linked to the collection. Arranged
like MWB's correspondence.
Legal Papers. Papers remain in original arrangement, grouped
by subject (probate proceedings, taxes, etc.)
Materials
About Margaret Wise Brown. Grouped by format:
articles, theses, correspondence.
[Brackets indicate a second
title which was added in pencil or alternative title]
All
About the Little Boogey Man Boy
Ahead
of the
All
the Little Fathers
And
If It's Hate
Animals
Animals
in the Snow
The
Annie Moran, That Old Tug at My Heart
Another
Important Book (photocopy)
Around
the World We Go
Baby
Animals
A
Baby Hipo
Big
and Little
Big
Dark Night
The
Big Fur Secret
Black
and White
Black
Coal and White Snow
Boy
with the Gold Wings
A
Boy's ABC
The
Brave Little Weather Vane
Bright, a Moment
Bright Light in City
Gutters [The Burning of the Christmas Trees]
The Bunny's Birthday
Butterfly Poisoning
Buzzard & Crows
The Cardboard Egg
The Cat with No
Whiskers
Cat Songs
Child in the Seasons
Christmas
Christmas Song
Clouds
[A Cloud is a Cloud]
Colors
Come
for a Walk (with Me)
Count
to Ten with a Mouse [The Mouse Hole Book or Count to Ten with a Mouse]
Daisy
Clover Pussywillow Brown
The
Dark Wood of the Golden Birds
Dear
Little Food Problem
Discovery
Don't
Cry Little Rabbit
Dreams
Every
Little Clown [Chercher le Clown]
Exit
Pursued by a Pig
The
Fabulous Fish [The Unknown World of the Sea]
Families
The
Fathers are Coming Home
The
First Story
The
Fishing Cat
Five
Black Crows
Four
Little Fishermen
The
Friendly Song
Funny
Bunny
The
Glorious Flight of a Mouse (or Bunny)
The
Golden Dog and His Two Blue Kittens
The
Good Little Bad Little Raccoon
Goodbye
Little Bunny Goodbye
Green
Wind (detailed list)
Happy,
the Hot Dog Man
He
Heard Seashells by the Seashore
The
Hedgehog Who Rolled Away [Hedgehog Story / The Kitten
Who Rolled Away (or Hedgehog)]
Horses
How
to Live in a House
How
to Raise a Rabbit and Comfort a Bunny
Humpty
Together Again [The Rise and Fall of Humpty Dumpty] see also Series 2: Scores &
Lyrics.
Jigs
(includes Pig, Troll's, Sailor Boy)
Laughing
Man Story
The
Little Brown Tug
The
Little Cat Who Found a Place in the World
The
Little Cat Who Liked to Purr to People
Little
Fat Bunny
The
Little Golden Family Book
The
Little Golden Younger and Younger Book
Little
Giant Boy
Little
Gregory
The
Little Iceberg
The
Little Rabbit Who Stayed Up All Night
The
Little River
The
Little Scarecrow Boy
The
Little Town
The
Little Wind
The
Little White Rabbit Who Chased the Wind
The
Lonesome Pony
Love
The Lovesong of a Firefly
The
Magic Numbers Book
The
Magic Numbers Song
The
Manners Kittens
"Miscellaneous
Verse" (label on original folder) / Mother's Goodnight, Jingles
"Miscellaneous
Verse II"(detailed list)
The
Moon Shines Down
Mouse
and Cheese
The
Mouse and the Mouse Doctor
My
Cat
The
Mysterious Noisy Book (photocopies)
Near
a House in a Field see The Sun Came out on a Summer's
Day
North,
East, South, West : a Story in Four Directions
Nothing
But Bunnies
The
Number Bears
Oceans
of Air
Out
of the Air [Blue Dawn]
On
Taking My Dog to My Childhood Home
Pigwilliam's
Christmas
The
Rabbit Family
The
Rabbit Who Lived on a Ranch
Raindrops
on the
Ridiculous
Noisy Book
Releases
for the Heavenly Day
Remember
and Never Forget
Return
Robin's
Room
The
Sad Little Squirrel [The Little Squirrel Who Wouldn't Grow Up]
The
Secret
Shoot
Straight, the Boy with a Gun [A Straight Shooter]
Sing
Ho
A
Sleepy Book [Little Fur Beds]
The
Sleepy Men
Smokey
Nights [Out of Nowhere]
Snowballs
and Sunshine [The Weather Book]
Song
[Spring Sang the Bird] (From Animals in the Snow)
Song
to Estyn
Sound
of the New Day Breaking
The
Sounds of the World
A
Story of Practical Nonsense (from Green Wind)
Strangers
I Have Seen
Such
is Our Childhood
The
Summer Reader
The
Sun Came Out on a Summer's Day (Also on the same page:
Near a House in a Field)
That
Admiral
That's
the Way Things Are
That's
the Way You Are
Things
to Remember
Town
and Country
Unknown
World of the Air
Unquiet
Sleep
The
Very Rich Rabbit
War
in the Woods
What
a Little Man
Wheels
and Wings
When
the Wind Blew
Whoopsie
Daisie
The
Whistling Giraffe
You
Be Little and I'll Be Big
Youngest
Americans Be Proud
NOTES: * Brackets indicate and alternative title; Asterisks indicate the
first line of an untitled poem.
Folder: Green Wind : Index, etc. (title page, index,
dedication)
Folder: Green Wind : Sea I
I Out of
the Sea [sectional index]:
I was standing by the sea...*
The Fish with the
The Sea Gull
Said a Fish to a Fish
Fog
Fish Song
Little Brown Tug
The Bell Buoy
The Sea-Slung Gong
The Bluefish
Song of the Silver Fish
Eyes of Fish
The Little
The Black Sail
Song
One Seal, Two Seals
Sleepy Fish
Land Ahead
Folder: Woods II
Out of the Woods [sectional
index]:
The Red Bird
In the Woods
Wild Strawberries
High on a Hill
Green Stems
The Dead Bird
Those Crazy Crows
Tender Trees
Seven Little Hoptoads
Mouse of My Heart
Old Snake has Gone
to Sleep
The Hollow Tree
The Raccoon Song
When the Pussywillows Happen *
Crows Crows
Love Song of the Little Bear
Spring
Eyes in the Night
Folder: The Green Wind : Air III
Out of the Air [sectional index]
At Noon
The Green Wind
Clouds
A Bug's Poem
The Songs That
are Sung to an Aeroplane
Wild Black Crows
Wind in the Corn
To a Child
The Geese Far Over the Hill
From a Hornet's Nest [Fable of the
Hornet's Nest]*
The Wind
Said a Bug
Shepherd's Song
The Eagle
A Bug's Eye
Folder:Ý Green Wind : Night IV
IV Out
of the Night [sectional index]:
Night Comes On
One Night
The Farmer's Lullaby
Fireflies
Drowsy Little Bumblebee
Four Fishing Boats
Eyes in the Night
So Many Nights
Secrets
Sounds in the Night
Fourth of July
Two Little Raccoons
Wait Till the Moon is Full
Full of the Moon
Whip-Poor-Will
Little Donkey Close Your Eyes
Count the Sheep
Folder: Green Wind : Garden V
V Out of
the Garden [sectional index]:
Summer
The Child's Garden
The First Snowdrop
Crocuses
Pansies
What Next in the Garden
Little Brown Bird
Bees, Flies and Beetles
The Heavenly Day
Red Cherries
Life of a Leaf
The Barnyard Song
Apple Trees
Folder: Green Wind : Rabbits VI
VI Out of A
Rabbit Hole [sectional index]:
Over the Hill
Rabbit Poem
Run, Run, Run
A Bunny's Secret to the Moon
A Cottontail Rabbit
Bunny Jig
Rabbit Dance
Sad Song in the Wind
Holes
The Snow Shoe Rabbit
Whiskers Whisk
Dream of a World as White as Snow
Adventures
Song of the Bugs and Bunnies
Advice to Bunnies
Under the Sun and the Moon
The Hollow Tree
Folder: Green Wind : Seasons VII
VII
Out of the Year or Through the Seasons [Out of the Woods] [sectional
index]:
The Groundhog Casts his Shadow
Through the Seasons
(Spring)
How Do you
Know It's Spring
Spring Still Spring
Every Spring They Come Again
Green Grass and Dandelions
Sudden Spring
(Summer)
Once Upon a Summer Time
Summer, Summer,
Summer
Buzz Buzz Buzz
Song of Summer
(Autumn)
Fall of the Year *
Pumpkin Poem
The Leaves Fall Down
November
Golden Air
(Winter)
Snowfall
The Frozen Bumblebee
Winter Time
Pigwilliam's Christmas
Folder: Green Wind : Childhood VIII
VIII Out of Childhood
Wondering Poem
Other Children