Oliver Butterworth Papers

Collection

Identifier: 2000-0052

Staff Only

Scope and Content

The collection contains correspondence, notes, drafts, manuscripts, galleys, proofs, artwork, scripts and published books pertaining to Butterworth's career and interests. His most well-known story, The Enormous Egg, was also performed on stage, television and film and the collection contains the scripts, teleplay and screenplay for these adaptations, as well as correspondence, reviews and contracts. The collection also includes the manuscripts for several unpublished stories, sonnets and poems. A collection of Butterworth's correspondence was published in the 1980s covering the years 1934 through 1939. The folder in the Correspondence series with these dates includes photocopies of these letters, although some appear to be incomplete and without a discernable order.

Dates

Creation: undated, 1934-1996

Access

The collection is open and available for research.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish from these Papers must be obtained in writing from both the University of Connecticut Libraries and the owner(s) of the copyright.

Biography

Oliver Butterworth, educator and author of children's books, was born 23 May 1915, in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Paul McMillan and Clarabel (Smith) Butterworth. He attended Dartmouth College (A.B., 1937) and did his graduate study at Harvard University (1941) and Middlebury College (M.A., 1947). Butterworth taught at Kent School (Kent, Connecticut, 1937-1947) and Junior School (West Hartford, Connecticut, 1947-1949). Beginning in 1947, he taught English at Hartford College for Women (Hartford, Connecticut) until the late 1980s. He was awarded the New York Herald Tribune Spring Festival of Books prize (1960) for The Trouble with Jenny's Ear and the Lewis Carroll Shelf award (1970) for The Enormous Egg. A trustee of the Hartford College for Women and the Mark Twain Memorial (1958-1962), Butterworth died of cancer 17 September 1990, in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Extent

5.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The papers of Oliver Butterworth, native of Connecticut and educator and author of children's books. The collection contains correspondence, notes, drafts, manuscripts, galleys, proofs, artwork, scripts and published books pertaining to Butterworth's career and interests.

Organization

Series I: Personal papers, (undated, 1934-1993) includes correspondence both to and from Oliver and Miriam Butterworth.

Series II: Unpublished Works, (undated, 1953-1954) contains shorts stories, poems and manuscripts.

Series III: Published Works, (undated, 1954-1996) includes manuscripts, proofs, correspondence and artwork pertaining to Butterworth's published stories.

Series IV: Photographs, (undated, 1957) contains five images associated with The Enormous Egg.

Series V: 2008 Addition, (1952-2005) contains books, news clippings, correspondence, fliers, photographs, publications, galley proof, and awards.

Arrangement

The correspondence has been arranged chronologically and the unpublished materials alphabetically by title. Published Works have been arranged in a way to parallel the creative process, from drafts and sketches through the contract, correspondence and proofs.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to Archives and Special Collections by Mrs. Miriam Butterworth in January 2001.

Related Material

Archives & Special Collections has a substantial collection of materials pertaining to children's literature and associated artwork. For detailed information on these collections please contact the curator or ask at the Reading Room desk.

Separated Material

Bud

The Enormous Egg

English

German

Japanese Dodd CLC A 3028

Swedish

The First Blueberry Pig

The Narrow Passage

The Trouble with Jenny's Ear

A Visit to the Big House (hardcover)

English and Spanish (paperback)

The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

Butterworth 2000-0052.vr1

Bibliography

Fourth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators, edited by Doris de Montreville and Elizabeth D.Crawford, Wilson, 1978. Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, fourth edition, St. James Press, 1995.