CLRC-363 W.W. Denslow Papers Jim Eyer University of Minnesota Libraries 9/9/03

University of Minnesota Libraries Minneapolis, MN 55455

EAD 2002 Validated Finding Aid generated with the aid of a custom FileMaker Pro database developed by the staff of the Children's Literature Research Collections, University of Minnesota Libraries. Many thanks to all the staff and volunteers. 9/9/03 Description is in English Summary Information University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc] Denslow, William Wallace W.W. Denslow papers 1902-1904 CLRC-363 Contains miscellaneous art (tempera, ink, watercolor, one dummy) for 4 titles 2 boxes See Detailed Descriptions for Each Title Item for Box Locations English Important Information for Users of the Collections Access and Use:

Collection is open for researchers with no restrictions. Registration with the collection is required.

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 necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials.

Biographical Sketch

W.W. Denslow was born May 5, 1856, In Philadelphia, PA, and died March 29, 1915. He married Annie McCartney in 1882, divorced her, and married Ann Waters Holden in 1896. After divorcing her he married Frances Golsen Doolittle in 1903. He studied at the Cooper Union Institute and the National Academy of Design, both in New York City. Denslow was an illustrator of books and magazines and a designer of costumes and scenery. He illustrated a series of 18 Picture Books which he himself had written, and he illustrated L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and several other of Baum's books, no others in the Oz series. His drawings often showed 'an exuberant sense of Humor.' After several years of wandering and miscellaneous jobs, he married his first wife, Annie McCartney, but separated after a year. He moved to New York in 1885. In 1888 he became a newspaper artist for the Chicago Herald. He also became an alcoholic, and took the cure. 1890 found him in Denver, and for a while actually became a cowboy. In 1893 he returned to Chicago, and drew illustrations of the Columbian Exposition. In 1899 he did his first work with L. Frank Baum, but suffered a mental breakdown in 1901 and was sent to a Michigan sanitarium. He developed a rift with Baum, which led to a final split in 1902. He married his third wife in 1903, honeymooned in Bermuda, and later bought an island there. The next few years brought a series of theatrical failures, bringing on financial hardship which brought on a return to alcoholism, and forced him to mortgage his island. In 1915 he contracted pneumonia and died at the age of 58. Biographical sources: Something About the Author, v. 16

Scope and Content

Contains tempera, ink, and watercolor illustrations, plus one illustrator's dummy, for 3 titles.

Indexing Terms

The collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Denslow, William Wallace Accession Information:

Gift of: Denslow, William Wallace

Arrangement

Denslow's Night Before Christmas, 1902

Denslow's Zoo, 1903

Miscellaneous art,

Pearl and the Pumpkin, The, 1904

Collection Contents Denslow's Night Before Christmas 1902

New York: Dillingham, 1902

MC1467 tempera illustration 1 p. Denslow's Zoo 1903

New York: Dillingham, 1903

MC1467 ink illustration 1 p. MC1467 ink illustrations 12 p. Miscellaneous art MC1302 watercolor illustrations 4 p. Pearl and the Pumpkin, The 1904

New York: Dillingham, 1904

MC1302 illustrator's dummy 1 p.