Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Libraries

Summary Information

Repository:
Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Libraries
Creator - Illustrator:
McClintock, Barbara
Title:
A Guide to the Barbara McClintock Papers
ID:
2013.0047
Date [inclusive]:
1990-1996
Physical Description:
4.0 Linear feet
Language of the Material:
English
Abstract:
The Barbara McClintock Papers consist of manuscript sketches, correspondence, artwork, notes, and correspondence having to do with Animal Fables from Aesop, adapted and illustrated by McClintock, published 1991 by David Godine. The book was adapted for a stage play by the Children's Theatre Company.

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Biography/History

McClintock’s books have won 4 New York Times Best Books awards, a New York Times Notable Book citation, a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor award, and numerous other awards, recommended/best book lists, and starred reviews. Born in Clinton, New Jersey to a photographer and a seamstress/teacher and raised in North Dakota after the age of 9, McClintock drew constantly as a child. She says of herself, “I loved inventing stories - very scary stories - that I told to my best friend and her sisters in the darkest closet in their house. After numerous nights of my friends not being able to sleep due to the aforesaid scary stories, and the ensuing conversations between my friends' mother and my mother, I developed a more benign approach to storytelling.” She attended Jamestown College in North Dakota and studied for few months at the Art Students League after moving to New York. Essentially self-taught, McClintock continued to copy from art books checked out of libraries and sketched paintings and drawings in museums in New York, London, Paris, St. Her first job was designing characters for television commercials for an animation studio. She held various positions until meeting Jim Henson, when she began illustrating books for his television series Fraggle Rock. Her first book was based on a play written as a vehicle for the 19th Century French illustrator J.J. Grandville. She reports, “That play was the biggest epiphany of my life as an artist. I went home and immediately drew an 87 page sketchbook of the play from memory. Regrettably, the play closed within a week, robbing me of the opportunity to see it again. I made a wordless dummy book based on the story, THE HEARTACHES OF A FRENCH CAT, and took it around to publisher after publisher. Rejected by 16 publishers before it was accepted by David R. Godine, it won my first New York Times Best Books award.” McClintock resides in rural Connecticut with her partner, artist David Johnson.

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Scope and Content Note

The Animal Fables from Aesop materials are a complete representation of the work to create the book and the stage adaption by the Children's Theatre Company. One piece of finished artwork (pg. 18/19) is held by the Society of Illustrators in New York, and the artwork for pg. 25 is held by the donor's son. McClintock is a prolific illustrator who has won several prestigious awards.

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Arrangement

The Barbara McClintock Papers are arranged in a single series.

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Administrative Information

Publication Statement

Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Libraries July 2013

University of Connecticut Libraries405 Babbidge Road Unit 1205Storrs, Connecticut, 06269-1205860.486.2524archives@uconn.edu

Access

The collection is open and available for research.

Restrictions on Use and Copyright Information

Permission to publish from these Papers must be obtained in writing from both the University of Connecticut Libraries and the owner(s) of the copyright.

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Controlled Access Headings

  • Brochures
  • Clippings (information artifacts).
  • Correspondence
  • Dummies (printed matter)
  • Manuscripts (document genre)
  • Notes
  • Publications
  • Sketches
  • Works of Art

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Collection Inventory

Series I: Papers,, 1990-1996

Title/DescriptionInstances
Children’s Theatre Company (production of Aesop’s Fables): contracts, brochures, photos, correspondence
Box 1 Folder 1
Clippings, brochures, serials, correspondence
Box 1 Folder 2
Correspondence, manuscripts, planning calendar
Box 1 Folder 3
Dummies (4), published book
Box 1 Folder 4
Dummies (5), color page reproductions
Box 1 Folder 5
Sketches, correspondence, storyboard
Box 1 Folder 6
Research notes, photocopies of illustrations
Box 1 Folder 7
Pencil, watercolor sketches
Box 1 Folder 8
Tissue paper sketches
Box 2 Folder 9
Finished artwork (Lacking: pg. 18/19, pg. 25).

Scope and Content Note

Pg. 18/19 is held by the Society of Illustrators in New York, pg. 25 is held by the donor’s son.

Box 2 Folder 10
Clippings, page reproductions
Box 2 Folder 11
Sketches, color page galleys, poster, storyboard
Box 2 Folder 12

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Content Review Lists: