Children's Literature Research Collection
113 Elmer L. Andersen Library
University of Minnesota
222 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Boris Artzybasheff Papers, 1924-1963. Finding Aid.

Summary Information

Collection Number: CLRC-104

Collection Size: 1.1 cubic ft. (Illustrative material)

Abstract/Notes: Boris Artzybasheff's papers focus on his work as an illustrator of children's books. The collection contains illustrations for eight titles published between 1924 and 1939 and some miscellaneous art work. Boris Artzybasheff signed one piece of artwork for The Fairy Shoemaker and Other Fairy Poems in 1963 for Dr. Irvin Kerlan.

This collection was originally given to Dr. Irvin Kerlan, who in turn donated his collection to the University of Minnesota.

Collection is non-circulating, in-house use only.

This collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all the necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials.

Prepared by Christina Cowan, November 1998

This collection was processed with financial assistance from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical/Historical Notes

Boris Artzybasheff was born on May 25, 1899 in Kharkov, Ukraine, Russia. He attended school in St. Petersburg, Russia, and came to the United States in 1919. Boris Artzybasheff worked in a variety of jobs after his arrival in America and in 1922 he illustrated his first book Verotchka's Tales by Dmitrii Narkisovich Mamin. Throughout his long career, he illustrated books for a number of children's and young adult authors including Margery Bianco and Dhan Gopal Mukerji, whose 1927 story Gay-Neck won the Newbery Award. He also illustrated many fairy and folk tales from around the world. In 1931, Boris Artzybasheff wrote his first book Poor Shaydullah and in 1937 published Seven Simeons: A Russian Tale. The book was awarded a New York Herald Tribune Spring Book Festival award and was a Newbery Honor Book the following year. During his career, Boris Artzybasheff worked in a variety of media, and illustrated magazine covers as well as books, and during the Second World War worked on charts, maps, graphs, and insignia for the US Department of State. Boris Artzybasheff died on July 16, 1965.

Scope and Content Notes

The collection contains production materials for eight titles published between 1924 and 1939. Production material includes wood engraving illustrations as well as wood engraving preliminary prints and a plate, ink illustrations, scratchboard illustrations, and pencil sketches. The collection also contains some undated miscellaneous original artwork consisting of a tempera painting, woodcuts, illustration proofs, and a watercolor and pencil sketch. Boris Artzybasheff signed one piece of artwork for The Fairy Shoemaker and Other Fairy Poems in 1963 for Dr. Irvin Kerlan. The materials are arranged by title with box level control.

See attached inventory for box contents.

Collection Inventory

Aesop's Fables, 1933
-16 wood engraving illustrations (M.C. 94)
-1 wood engraving illustration plate (M.C. 94A)
-2 wood engraving preliminary prints (M.C. 94)
-1 wood engraving preliminary print plate (M.C. 94A)

The Apple Tree, 1926
-1 ink illustration (M.C. 94)

The Fairy Shoemaker and Other Fairy Poems, 1928
-1 scratchboard illustration (M.C. 94) [signed by Boris Artzybasheff in 1963 for Dr. Irvin Kerlan]

Feats on the Fiord, 1924
-3 ink illustrations (M.C. 94)

The Forge in the Forest, 1925
-1 ink illustration

Magic Strings: Marionette Plays with Production Notes, 1939
-9 ink illustrations (M.C. 94)
-11 pencil sketches (M.C. 94)

Miscellaneous Original Art, [not dated]
-1 tempera painting (M.C. 94)
-1 woodcut (M.C. 94)
-3 illustration proofs (M.C. 94)
-1 woodcut (M.C. 94)
-4 illustration proofs (M.C. 94)
-1 watercolor and pencil sketch (M.C. 94)

Seven Simeons: A Russian Tale, 1937
-1 ink illustration (M.C. 94)

Three and the Moon: Legendary Stories of old Brittany, Normandy, and Provence, 1929
-1 scratchboard illustration (M.C. 94)

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