de Grummond Collection

McCain Library and Archives
University Libraries
University of Southern Mississippi


ALIDA MALKUS PAPERS

Collection Number
Collection Dates
Collection Volume
DG0663
1965-1974
1.20 cu.ft. (4 boxes)

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

Provenance

Material was donated by Alida Malkus from 1966-1974.

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

Alida Malkus, the eleventh child of thirteen, was born on September 19, 1895 in the Genessee Valley of New York. When she and her family moved to Michigan, she lived in Bay City and spent time swimming and riding horses for entertainment. She made her first voyage west to Colorado at the age of seven. She enjoyed drawing on her slate board at school and her family believed she would be an artist. However, at thirteen, she entered high school and began writing articles for the school newspaper. She also enjoyed writing plays and putting on productions for her neighborhood friends. At fifteen, her mother's health declined, so she traveled west again. Her family decided that she would attend an art school in San Francisco. On her return home, she fell in love with the desert and decided to live in New Mexico in a log cabin. She spent a great deal of time with the Native Americans living in the region.

During WWI, she worked for a year at the censor's office in Puerto Rico. She returned to New Mexico and wrote for an Albuquerque newspaper and was fired for incompetence because the editor felt that her "copy knew no laws of typesetting." She was later hired by a rival newspaper where she met her husband, Hubert Malkus. They moved to New York and she wrote articles for New York World, The Sun, The Herald Tribune, and The New York Times Sunday Magazine.

Her interest in Southwest Native Americans, Mayan ruins, and other pre-Columbian civilizations has inspired most of her books. She has traveled extensively throughout the American Southwest, the Yucatan, Mexico, and Cuba. Her work has been translated into nine languages and read over the radio both in the United States and internationally.

Sources:


Scope and Content

The collection contains correspondence, typescripts, galleys, and proofs for three titles. The titles are arranged alphabetically. Within each title, the materials are arranged according to the probable order in which they were created. The correspondence was not separated by title as it was written to the de Grummond collection.

There are typescripts and galleys for all three of the books in the collection. There are also proofs for The Beloved Island (1967) and The Strange Voyagers (1966). The Beloved Island is a novel about the struggles of a family living in Cuba. It is based on Ms. Malkus' own experiences while traveling in Cuba. There is also a mechanical for the jacket cover for this title. Animals of the High Andes and The Strange Voyages are both non-fiction books. These are also based on her travels, and her research into pre-Columbian civilizations. The correspondence in the collection includes letters from Ms. Malkus to Dr. Lena de Grummond, as well as letters from her publisher, Chilton Books.




Series and Subseries

A. Correspondence

B. Books


Box Inventory


Box/Folder 

A. Correspondence

1/1 Correspondence with the de Grummond Collection, 1966-1974, n.d., 26 items.

B. Books

Animals of the High Andes by Alida Malkus, illustrated by Edward Osmond, edited by Cecile Matachat (London: Abelard-Schuman, 1965). 1/2-1/4 Typescripts, edited with typesetter's marks, 1/2 Chapters 1-4, pp. 1-49. 1/3 Chapters 5-10, pp. 50-107. 1/4 Chapters 11-14 and bibliography, pp. 108-135. 1/5 Galleys, 18 August 1965, edited; chapters 1-14 and bibliography, 35 pp. The Beloved Island; A Cuban Family's Fight for Freedom by Alida Malkus (Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1967). 1/6-2/1 Typescripts, edited with typesetter's marks, 1/6 Chapters 1-5, pp. 1-41. 1/7 Chapters 6-10, pp. 42-97. 1/8 Chapters 11-12, pp. 98-127. 1/9 Chapters 13-16, pp. 128-176. 1/10 Jacket blurbs, 3 pp. 2/1 Galley, edited, 14 February 1967; chapters 1-16, pp. 1-160. 2/2 Proofs and mechanicals for front matter, March 1967, 20 items. 2/3 Mechanical for dust jacket illustration, 3 items. The Strange Voyagers by Alida Malkus (Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1967). 2/4 Typescript of book proposal, 2 pp. 2/5 Typescripts of forword, 2 versions. 2/6-2/10 Typescripts, carbon copy, 2/6 Chapters 1-3, pp. 1-39. 2/7 Chapters 4-7, pp. 40-87. 2/8 Chapters 8-11, pp. 88-133. 2/9 Chapters 12-14, pp. 134-168. 2/10 Chapters 15-18, pp. 169-212A. 2/11-2/15 Typescripts, edited with typesetter's marks, 2/11 Chapters 1-4, pp. 1-52. 2/12 Chapters 5-8, pp. 53-102. 3/1 Chapters 9-12, pp. 103-156. 3/2 Chapters 13-17, pp. 157-213. 3/3 Chapters 18-19 and bibliography, pp. 214-235. 3/4 Typescript of front matter, edited with typesetter's marks, pp. i-ix. Layout of title page and front matter, carbon copy, 9 pp. 3/5-3/10 Typescripts, edited with typesetter's marks, carbon copy, 3/5 Chapters 1-4, pp. 1-52. 3/6 Chapters 5-8, pp. 53-102. 3/7 Chapters 9-12, pp. 103-156. 3/8 Chapters 13-16, pp. 157-204. 3/9 Chapters 17-19 and bibliography, pp. 205-235. 3/10 Jacket blurbs, 3 pp. 3/11-4/1 Galleys, 3/11 19 April 1966; chapters 1-19, pp. 1-191. 4/1 May 1966; chapters 1-19, pp. 1-10. Jacket blurbs, 1 pp. 4/2-4/3 Proofs, 4/2 "Author's copy," edited; front matter and foreword, pp. i-xii. 4/3 May 1966, edited with typesetter's marks; front matter and foreword, pp. i-xi. 4/4 Dust jacket proof, 1 item. Dust jacket, 1 item.


Processed: February 5, 1998
Revised: June 2001

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The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection

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