Betsy Beinecke Shirley collection of American children's literature

The collection holds the non-print component of the Betsy Beinecke Shirley Collection of American Children's Literature, and contains original illustrations and manuscript material acquired by Betsy Shirley to complement and enhance her extensive collection of printed books and serials. It consists of drawings, paintings, literary manuscripts, printing blocks, correspondence, and documents related to children's literature, and the education and amusement of children. In accordance with her views as a collector, the material was divided between that created for literary purposes by both professionals and amateurs (in Series I) and that of a more historical nature and related to education (in Series II). Series III holds three small collections of papers that were acquired as discrete archival groups: the papers of J. Austin Sperry, Leon M. Tyrrell, and Edward Stratemeyer.

In this finding aid, the term "drawing" indicates an original work of illustration art, and does not distinguish the stages between a preliminary sketch and a finished drawing; for some artists, such as F. O. C. Darley, there are both present. Every attempt was made to assign a specific title, project, or publication to the illustrations in the collection. Original works of art are filed under the artist’s name, regardless if the resulting publication is more prominently associated with the author of the text; for example, drawings by Frederick Richardson for Andrew Lang’s popular fairy book volumes appear here under Richardson’s name.

The Collector’s Files series consist mostly of the files that Shirley kept as she collected American children’s literature. This includes her research, bibliographic information on books, authors, and publishers, and exhibition files. Shirley’s collections were used in exhibitions at museums and libraries including the Brandywine River Museum, the High Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.