de Grummond Collection

McCain Library and Archives
University Libraries
University of Southern Mississippi



ELIZABETH T. BILLINGTON PAPERS

Collection Number
Collection Dates
Collection Volume
DG0090
1971-1984
3.15 cu.ft. (10 boxes)

Biographical Sketch | Scope & Content | Related Collections | Series & Subseries | Box Inventory

Provenance
Material was donated by Elizabeth T. Billington from 1976-1984.

Restrictions
Noncirculating; available for research.

Copyright
The collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. Code). Reproductions can be made only if they are to be used for "private study, scholarship, or research." It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials, other than that noted above.

Biographical Sketch

Elizabeth T. Billington was born in New York, N.Y., and published her first book, Adventure with Flowers, in 1966. Her second book, Understanding Ecology was published in 1968, and also concerned the subject of science. She didn't write another book until 1978, when she produced The Randolph Caldecott Treasury. Her next three books were Part-Time Boy (1980), Getting to Know Me (1982), and The Move (1984). These were all novels written for young readers about boys who struggle to understand themselves while coping with the move from an urban environment to a rural one.

Ms. Billington is an avid naturalist who led ecology walks in her hometown of Larchmont, New York. She also gardened and wrote a column on nature for her local newspaper. In addition, she told stories to children at her local library.

Sources:

Scope and Content
The materials in the "Books" series are arranged alphabetically by title. Within each title the materials are arranged in the probable order in which they were created. The collection contains material for three books: The Move, Part-Time Boy, and The Randolph Caldecott Treasury.

In The Move, a novel for young readers, Tim and his family move from New York City to the suburbs. The collection holds correspondence and a typescript for this story. In Part-Time Boy, ten-year-old Jamie doesn't fit in at home or at school. The woman in charge of the school science center befriends him and invites him to spend the summer at her cabin in the woods, where he gains confidence in himself. For this title, the collection holds correspondence, several typescripts, a galley, two proofs, a dummy, and blues.

The Randolph Caldecott Treasury reproduces and annotates the paintings and drawings of this famous children's illustrator. Ms. Billington edited the book and wrote one of its prefatory essays. For this book, the collection contains numerous research materials, including correspondence with museums and knowledgeable individuals. Also, there are relevant articles, subject files, and a box of index cards with Ms. Billington's research notes. Following the research material, the collection holds photographs of Caldecott's illustrations and places associated with his life. Many of these photos were reproduced in the published book. Pre-publication material for this book includes several typescripts, a set of layout pages, and a set of folded and gathered sheets.

Related Collections


Series and Subseries

A. Subject Files (1973-1977)

B. Books (1971-1984)

C. Oversized Items


Box Inventory

  Box/Folder 

A.  Subject Files (1973-1977)

     1/1       Correspondence with the de Grummond Collection, 1973-1977, 3
               items.

               Photographs of Elizabeth Billington, 2 prints and 2 negatives.


B. Books (1971-1984)
     
     The Move by Elizabeth Billington (New York: F. Warne, 1984).

     1/2       Correspondence, 1982-1983, 29 items.

     1/3       Revised pages, "final revision," chapters 1-13, 49 pp.

     1/4       "Sheets replaced by June '83 revision," 44 pp.

     1/5-1/6   Typescript, "final,"

     1/5            Chapters 1-8, pp. 1-69.

     1/6            Chapters 9-17, pp. 70-157.

     Part-Time Boy by Elizabeth Billington, illustrated by Diane de Groat (New York: F. Warne, 1980).

     2/1       Correspondence, 1974-1979, 16 items.

     2/2       Notes, 9 pp.

               Research material, 1 item.

               Photographs of Ms. Billington with a porcupine, 2 items.

     2/3       Readers' comments, 5 pp.

     2/4       Typescript, edited, chapters 1-7, pp. 1-59.

     2/5       Typescript, edited, chapters 1-9, pp. 1-74.

     2/6       Revised pages, 4 pp.

     2/7       Typescript, edited, chapters 1-11, pp. 1-88.

     2/8       Revised pages, 23 pp.

     2/9       Typescript, with typesetter's marks, chapters 1-11, pp. 1-89.

     2/10      Galley, "proofreading master"; front matter, 5 pp., and pp. 1-56.

     3/1       Proof, edited, "proofreading master"; front matter, 4 pp., and pp. 1-89.

     3/2       Proof, front matter, 4 pp., and pp. 1-89.

     3/3-3/4   Dummy, with pasted-up text and illustrations,

     3/3            Front matter, 6 pp., and chapters 1-5, pp. 1-39.

     3/4            Chapters 6-11, pp. 40-89.

     3/5       Blues, chapters 1-11, pp. 1-89.

     3/6       Blues, pp. 26-58.

     	       Blues, assorted chapters headings, 11 pp.

     3/7       Book jacket, 1 item.

     The Randolph Caldecott Treasury selected and edited by Elizabeth T. Billington; with an appreciation by Maurice Sendak 
(New York: F. Warne, 1978). 4/1 Correspondence, with publisher, 1972-1978, n.d., 38 items. 4/2-7/4 Research materials, 4/3-5/4 Correspondence, 4/3 Caldecott, Dorothy and John Booth, 1975-1979, 34 items, and articles, 3 items. 4/4 Chester Museum, 1973-1977, 12 items. 4/5 Children's Book Council, 1975-1977, 25 items. 4/6-4/7 Hutchins, Michael, 4/6 1971-1972, 17 items. 4/7 1973-1980, 28 items. 4/8 Knight-Smith, Lynn, 1974-1978, 19 items, and photograph, 1 item. 4/9 Manchester City Art Gallery, 4/9 Correspondence, 1976-1978, 10 items, Notes, 2 pp. Typescript of article proposal, 9 pp. 4/10 Miscellaneous, "A-K," 1972-1979, n.d., 68 items. 4/11 Miscellaneous, "L-Z," 1971-1979, n.d., 41 items. 5/1 Osborne Collection, 1973-1976, n.d., 10 items. 5/2-5/3 Reichert, Gwen, 5/2 Correspondence, 1975-1978, 31 items. 5/3 Notes, 4 items. Research material, 4 items. Button, 1 item. Photographs, 2 items. 5/4 Victoria and Albert Museum, correspondence and notes, 1973-1976, n.d., 30 items. 5/5-5/12 Articles and pamphlets, 5/5 "The Caldecott Medal" from The History of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, pp. 63-67. 5/6 "The Church of St. Martin of Tours, Chelsfield," 12 pp. 5/7 Copy of The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 22, March-April 1946, pp. 97-129 (issue devoted to Caldecott and Kate Greenaway). 5/8 "An Illustrated History of St. Oswald's Malpas," 3 copies, 60 pp. 5/9 "Illustrators of Children's Books in Nineteenth Century England," 14 pp. 5/10 "Randolph Caldecott," by William Clough in Manchester Quarterly, July 1886, pp. 197-210. 5/11 "Randolph Caldecott," by Frederick Laws, pp. 61-83. 5/12 "Randolph Caldecott," by Bertha Mahony Miller, in The Horn Book, July-August 1938, pp. 218-223. 6/1-7/4 Subject Files, 6/1 Bloomsbury, booklet, c. 36 pp. 6/2-6/5 Caldecott, Randolph, 6/2-6/3 Biographical information, 6/2 Correspondence, 1976-1978, 18 items. Notes, 7 pp. 6/3 Primary sources, copies, 16 items. Articles, 14 pp. Photocopy of Caldecott's self-portrait, 1 item. 6/4 Prints of Caldecott's illustrations, Greeting cards, 7 items. Fliers, 6 items. Calendar, 1 item. 6/5 Letters written by Caldecott, photocopies, 1864-1889, 20 items. 6/6 Gravesite, St. Augustine, Florida, Correspondence, 1971-1976, 29 items. Research material, 5 items. 6/7 Chester, England, Notes, 40 pp. Brochures, maps and book, 6 items. -- Prints, 2 items [Oversized removed to series C. Oversized Items]. 6/9 Eskimo art, prints on postcards and article, 4 items. 7/1 Miscellaneous, 4 items. 7/2-7/3 Notes, 7/2 22 pp. 7/3 1 notebook. 7/4 Woodblocks, Notes, 10 pp. Booklet, 13 pp. -- Blank woodblock, 1 item [see Oversized Items]. -- Research notes on index cards, c. 250 items [see Oversized Items]. 7/5-8/2 Photographs (many used in production of The Randolph Caldecott Treasury), 7/5-7/12 Photographs of Caldecott's illustrations and paintings, 7/5 "Baron Bruno," 4 photographs. 7/6 "The Character of Dog," 6 photographs. 7/7 "Fine Lady on a White Horse," 2 photographs. 7/8 "Fox Hunting: By a Man in a Round Hat," 10 photographs. 7/9 "The Milkmaid," 2 photographs. 7/10 Miscellaneous, 12 photographs. 7/11 "Negroes Loading Cotton Bales," 2 photographs. 7/12 Unused drawings for Queen of Hearts, 3 photographs. 7/13-7/18 Subject-related photographs, 7/13 Caldecott medal, 1 photograph. 7/14 Caldecott, Randolph, 2 photographs. 7/15 Evergreen Cemetery, 8 photographs. 7/16 Kensington, 3 photographs. 7/17 Miscellaneous, 8 photographs. 7/18 St. Paul's Memorial Tablet, 1 photograph. 7/19-8/1 Whitchurch, Galop, England, 7/19 19 photographs. 7/20 16 photographs. 7/21 4 postcards. 8/1 Caldecott Library, 2 photographs. 8/2 Negatives, 10 items. -- Slides, 53 items [removed to series C. Oversized Items]. 8/3-8/4 Exhibit materials, 8/3 Photographs, 12 items. 8/4 Mounted prints of Caldecott illustrations, 7 items. 8/5-9/10 Pre-publication materials, 8/5 Typescript, "Randolph Caldecott: An Appreciation" by Maurice Sendak, 8 pp. 8/6-8/9 Forward, "A Quest for Caldecott," 8/6 Typescript, edited, pp. 1-45. 8/7 Typescript, pp. 1-45. 8/8 Typescript pages, illustration captions, 12 pp. 8/9 Illustrations, photocopied, 13 pp. 8/10-8/13 Main text, 8/10 Typescript, edited, 27 pp. 8/11 Typescript pages, 17 pp. 8/12 Galley and proof pages, photocopies, 9 pp. 8/13 Illustrations, photocopies, 7 pp. 8/14-8/15 Illustration captions, 8/14 Notes, memos and edited typescript pages, 35 pp. 8/15 Typescript, 21 pp. 8/16 Storyboard layouts, 4 pp. 9/1-9/6 Layouts, with pasted-up text and illustrations, 9/1 pp. 1-35. 9/2 pp. 36-79. 9/3 pp. 80-125. 9/4 pp. 126-175. 9/5 pp. 176-223. 9/6 pp. 224-288. 9/7-9/9 Folded and gathered sheets, 9/7 pp. 1-96. 9/8 pp. 97-192. 9/9 pp. 193-288. 9/10 "Back jacket design" (?), 1 item. 9/11 Article, 1 item. C. Oversized Items 9/12 Prints, 2 items [Removed from series B. Books -- The Randolph Caldecott Treasury -- Research material
Subject Files: Chester, England]. 10 Woodblock [Removed from series B. Books -- The Randolph Caldecott Treasury -- Research Materials Subject Files]. Research notes, c. 250 items [Removed from series B. Books --The Randolph Caldecott Treasury -- Research Materials]. Slides, 53 items [Removed from series B. Books -- The Randolph Caldecott Treasury -- Photographs].


Processed: August 1998
Revised: June 2001

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The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection

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