de Grummond Collection

McCain Library and Archives
University Libraries
University of Southern Mississippi



ROGER DUVOISIN PAPERS

Collection Number
Collection Dates
Collection Volume
DG0289
1949-1979
1.8 cu.ft. (3 boxes)

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

Provenance

Materials received from Mr. and Mrs. Roger Duvoisin between 1971 and 1979.

Restrictions

Non-circulating; available for research.

Copyright

This 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

Roger Duvoisin was born August 28, 1904, in Geneva, Switzerland. The young Duvoisin showed an early interest in art, music, and books. After attending music and art schools in Switzerland and France, he painted murals, posters, and stage scenery and worked in a textile studio. His talent in textile designs brought him the opportunity to move to New York in 1927 to work for the Maillinson's Silk Company. Four years later, the company went out of business, but the president's son showed a manuscript of Duvoisin's to Charles Scribner, who published the book, A Little Boy Was Drawing (1932).

Duvoisin went on to create more than forty books and illustrate more than 140 books for children. He was perhaps best known as the illustrator of the "Happy Lion" series, written by his wife, Louise Fatio. Duvoisin created other popular animal characters in Veronica, Petunia, Donkey-Donkey, and Hector-Penguin. He continued to work as a commercial artist, including assignments for The New Yorker.

Duvoisin was the recipient of many awards and honors, among them the 1948 Caldecott Medal for White Snow, Bright Snow. Duvoisin's work was selected four times for the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year and seventeen times for the American Institute of Graphic Arts Fifty Best Books of the Year. For distinguished contributions to children's literature, he received the Society of Illustrators Award in 1961; the Rutgers Award in 1966; the Hans Christian Andersen Medal runner-up for 1968; the Silver Medallion of the University of Southern Mississippi in 1971; and the Kerlan Award of the University of Minnesota in 1976. Duvoisin died June 30, 1980, in Morristown, New Jersey.

Sources:

  • Roger Duvoisin: The Art of Children's Books by Ellin Greene; exhibition catalogue, Rutgers University, 1989.
  • Something About the Author, vol. 23, p. 68; vol. 30, pp. 101-107.
  • Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, 3rd ed., pp. 307-309.


    Scope and Content

    The collection contains correspondence, awards, Christmas cards (some with original illustrations), and material for twelve books illustrated by Duvoisin and published between 1949 and 1960. The titles are arranged alphabetically; material within each title is arranged in the probable order in which it was created.

    The correspondence includes letters from Duvoisin to the de Grummond Collection, 1966 to 1979, in which he comments on the value of original materials, the color separation process, the fictional character Petunia, French children's literature, and writing for children.

    The awards material includes a brochure about the Silver Medallion from the University of Southern Mississippi and a citation of merit from the Society of Illustrators.

    The Beaver Pond (1970) written by Alvin Tresselt and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, is the life story of a pond - its birth, maturity, and transformation. For this title there is an illustration of one double-page spread. A Doll for Marie (1957), written by his wife, Louise Fatio, and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, is the story of a lonely doll and a lonely girl who find each other on the streets of Paris. For this title, there is a dummy, dust jacket material, and complete color separation overlays. Earth and Sky (1969) written by Mona Dayton and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, is a tug of war between the earth and the sky over which is the best, a conflict that ends in peaceful co-existence. Collage illustrations for most of the book are included. Frog in the Well (1975), written by Alvin Tresselt and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, is the story of a frog who wanders out of a well into the big world. The dummy, galleys, and complete color separations exist for this title. It's Time Now (1969), written by Alvin Tresselt and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, is a description of the seasons as experienced in the city. The collection has three illustrations for this title.

    The Lamb and The Child (1963, written by Dean Frye and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, is an adaptation of a medieval mystery play that tells the traditional Nativity story. Various pre-publication materials exist: paste-ups, galleys, and complete color separations as well as two illustrations, one an alternate. The Little Whistler (1949), written by Frances Frost and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, is a collection of poems on the seasons, for which we have color separations for the jacket and three pages of the text. For a later edition (1966), pen and ink illustrations and color separations are available.

    Petunia (1950), one of Duvoisin's most popular characters, is represented by a sketch of the famous goose and a color separation overlay. Petunia Takes a Trip (1953) is the story of Petunia's adventure in the air and triumphant return home by train. Color separations exist for this title. Spring Snow (1963), another work written and illustrated by Duvoisin, is the story of an unseasonable snow, finally melted by the anger of the sun. A rough dummy and a bound dummy, plus a complete set of color separations, are available. Sun Up (1949), written by Alvin Tresselt and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, recounts one hot summer day that finally ends in a cooling rain. The World in the Candy Egg (1967), written by Alvin Tresselt and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, is the story of the miniature world inside of a decorated Easter egg. The collection includes the dust jacket for the book.


    Related Collection

    The Helen Adam Masten Papers (DG0677) contain greeting cards designed by Roger Duvoisin.



    Series and Subseries


    A. Correspondence, 1966-1979

    B. Awards, 1970-1971

    C. Christmas Cards, 1974-1979 and undated

    D. Books


    Box Inventory


        Box/Folder
    

    A. Correspondence

    1/1 To the de Grummond Collection, l966-1979, 8 items.

    B. Awards

    1/2 Material pertaining to USM Silver Medallion (1971) and Society of Illustrators Citation for Merit (1970), 2 items.

    C. Christmas Cards

    1/3 Original and printed cards designed by Duvoisin, 1974, 1976, 1979, and undated, 16 items.

    D. Books

    THE BEAVER POND by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1970). 1/4 Illustration, gouache, pp. 19, 32-33, 37. A DOLL FOR MARIE by Louise Fatio, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Whittlesey/McGraw-Hill, 1957). 1/5 Dummy with graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor illustrations and text paste-ups. Front matter, 19 items. 1/6 Dust jacket material, 7 items. 1/7 Color separation overlays, pp. 1-24 and dust jacket. EARTH AND SKY by Mona Dayton, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Harper & Row, 1969). 1/8- 10 Illustrations, collage and opaque watercolor, with text paste-ups,

    1/8 pp. 5, 6-7, 8-9;

    1/9 pp. 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19;

    1/10 pp. 20-21, 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 28-29, endpapers, and dust jacket;

    FROG IN THE WELL by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1966).

    2/1 Dummy, with ink and graphite illustrations and text paste-ups. 2/2 Galleys, title pages, text, and dust jacket text. 2/3 - 4 Color separations, 2/3 pp. 5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21; 2/4 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 28-29, 30-31, 32-33, 34-35, end papers, and dust jacket. IT'S TIME NOW by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1969). 2/5 Illustrations, gouache, pp. 15, 19, 23. THE LAMB AND THE CHILD by Dean Frye, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963). 2/6 Paste-ups, title page and dust jacket flaps, 3 items. 2/7 Galleys, title page, p. 1, and text, 4 items. 2/8 Illustration, gouache, pp. 8-9. Illustration, gouache, and color separation for dust jacket, alternates.< 2/9 Color separations, 2-3, 5, 7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19, 21, 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 29, 30-31, 32, endpapers, and dust jacket. THE LITTLE WHISTLER by Frances Frost, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Whittlesey/McGraw-Hill, 1949). 2/10 Color separations, pp. 10-11, 31, and dust jacket, 16 items. THE LITTLE WHISTLER by Frances Frost, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966). 2/11 Illustrations, ink and watercolor, with text paste-ups, pp. 8, 9, 12, 13, 17, 20-21, 25, 28-29, and 32-33. 2/12 Color separations, pp. 2-3, 10-11, 14-15, 18-19, 22-23, 26-27, 30-31, 34-35, 38-39, 43, 47. 2/13 Color separations, pp. 30-31, 34-35, 38-39, 43, 47, and dust jacket. PETUNIA written and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Knopf, 1950). 3/1 Sketch and color separation, dust jacket, 2 items.

    PETUNIA TAKES A TRIP written and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (London: Bodley Head, 1953). 3/2 Overlays, pp. 8-9, 16-17, 30-31, and dust jacket. 3/3 Color separations, pp. 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 12-13, 14, 20-21, 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 28-29,32-title page, and dust jacket. SPRING SNOW written and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Knopf, 1963). 3/4 Dummy, opaque watercolor and pen and ink. Sketches, p. 7, title page and half-title page, 4 items. 3/5 Dummy, opaque watercolor and ink, with typescript and text paste-ups. 3/6 Color separation overlays, pp. 1, 2-3, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 28-29, 31, and endpapers. SUN UP by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1949). 3/7 Color separation key drawings, with text paste-ups, title page, pp. 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and endpapers. 3/8 Color separation overlays, title page, pp. 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, endpapers. 3/9 Illustration, gouache, alternate. THE WORLD IN THE CANDY EGG by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1967). 3/10 Dust jacket.



    Processed: August 1991
    Revised: March 20, 1996

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