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

Isabelle Holland Papers, 1970-1984. Finding Aid.

Summary Information

Collection Number: CLRC-141

Collection Size: Ca. 1.6 linear ft. (4 boxes of manuscript materials)

Abstract/Notes: Isabelle Holland's papers focus on her work as an author of young adult fiction. The collection contains production material, consisting of manuscript materials only, for ten titles published between 1970 and 1984. Manuscript materials include corrected typescripts, corrected galley proofs, page proofs, front matter, layouts, and one piece of correspondence.

Isabelle Holland placed this collection on permanent loan at the University of Minnesota in 1972 with material added during the 1970s and in 1982 and 1984-85.

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, March 1999.

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

Biographical/Historical Notes

Isabelle Holland was born June 16, 1920 in Basel, Switzerland. Her father was with the United States Foreign Service and Isabelle Holland lived in Guatemala and England before returning to the United States. She graduated from Tulane University in 1942 and later worked, mostly in publicity, for various magazines and publishers. In 1967, Isabelle Holland published her first work, Cecily, for young adults. The story told of an unhappy thirteen-year-old girl in English boarding school and was widely praised for Isabelle Holland's "lucid prose and convincing characterizations." Throughout her long and prolific career, critics have lauded Isabelle Holland's "ability to create realistic true to life characters" in her fiction for young adults. She has also been praised for her "storytelling technique" and her willingness to tackle controversial subjects, such as homosexuality, death, and rape, in young adult fiction. Her 1975 novel Of Love and Death and Other Journeys, the story of young Meg Grant's coming to terms with love and loss, received a National Book Award nomination in 1976. The book was lauded as "a moving study of a young girl's sudden confrontation with life's paradoxes" and as "artistically balanced." Isabelle Holland also writes novels, mostly "Gothic mysteries" for adults.

Scope and Content Notes

The collection contains production materials for ten titles published between 1970 and 1984, and consists of manuscript materials only. Manuscript materials include corrected typescripts, corrected partial photocopy typescripts, corrected partial carbon typescripts, corrected photocopy galley proofs, corrected photocopy page proofs, a page proof, front matter, layouts, and one piece of correspondence. The materials are arranged by title with folder and box level control.

See attached inventory for folder and box contents.

Collection Inventory

Abbie's God Book, 1982
-Typescript, corrected, 66 p. with front matter, 4 p. (M.F. 1184, folders 1-2)
-Galley proof, corrected photocopy, 41 p. (M.F. 443, folder 3)

After The First Love, 1983
-Typescript, corrected partial photocopy, 243 p. (M.F. 1103, folders 1-5)
-Page proof, corrected, 94 p. (M.F. 1103, folders 6-7)

Amanda's Choice, 1970
-Typescript, corrected partial carbon, 178 p. with front matter, 3 p. (M.F. 442, folders 1-4)

The Empty House, 1983
-Typescript, corrected photocopy, 179 p. with front matter, 8 p. (M.F. 1884, folders 1-4)
-Galley proof, corrected photocopy, 220 p. (M.F. 1184, folders 5-8)

God, Mrs. Muskrat and Aunt Dot, 1983
-Typescript, corrected, 58 p. (M.F. 443, folder 1)
-Front matter, 5 p. (M.F. 443, folder 1)
-Page proof, 77 p. (M.F. 443, folder 2)
-Layouts, 11 p. (M.F. 443, folder 2)
-Galley proof, corrected photocopy, 30 p. (M.F. 443, folder 3)
-Galley proof, corrected photocopy, 30 p. (M.F. 443, folder 3)

Heads You Win, Tails I Lose: A Novel, 1973
-Typescript, corrected carbon, 139 p. with front matter, 3 p. (M.F. 442, folders 1-3)

A Horse Named Peaceable, 1982
-Typescript, corrected, 161 p. with front matter, 5 p. (M.F. 442, folders 1-3)
-Galley proof, corrected photocopy, 163 p. (M.F. 442, folders 4-6)

The Island, 1984
-Typescript, corrected photocopy, 240 p. (M.F. 1103, folders 1-5)

The Man Without A Face, 1972
-Typescript, corrected, 180 p. (M.F. 443, folders 1-4)
-Galley proof, corrected photocopy, 153 p. (M.F. 443, folders 5-7)
-Page proof, corrected, 130 p. (M.F. 443, folder 8)
-Correspondence, 1 p. (M.F. 443, folder 8)

Of Love and Death and Other Journeys, 1975
-Typescript, corrected partial photocopy, 143 p. with front matter, 4 p. (M.F. 443, folders 1-3)
-Galley proof, corrected photocopy, 89 p. (M.F. 443, folders 4-5)
-Page proof, corrected photocopy, 81 p. (M.F. 443, folder 6)

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