Margaret Wise Brown papers (MWB01)

The published works portion of the collection contains many of Margaret Wise Brown's handwritten or typed stories and ideas, which ultimately evolved into published books. There are often several different versions of a story, with ideas or changes scribbled in the margins. There are also book dummies with her notes for revisions. The collection includes two first editions of The Little Fur Family, covered in actual rabbit fur, and two records for children. The published works component of the collection is by far the largest, consisting of 12 boxes, most containing 10-30 folders. Series 2, the unpublished works part of the collection, contains several hundred poems or songs, stories and essays, both for children and adults, and many ideas for records, television and radio programs, and books.

In addition to her writings, the collection includes correspondence between Margaret Wise Brown and friends or collaborators, papers she wrote while in college for creative writing classes, articles and book reviews about her work, black and white photographs of Margaret Wise Brown and illustrations for some of her books. The illustrations were done by Clement Hurd (for The Little Brass Band) and Barbara Cooney (for The Little Fir Tree), and include complete storyboards for these two books. Lastly, the collection contains articles and theses written about Margaret Wise Brown.