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N. M. Bodecker Papers

 Collection
Identifier: CLRC-99

Scope and Contents

The collection contains production material for several dozen books created by Bodecker. The collection includes both manuscript and illustrative material, with an emphasis on the latter. The manuscript material includes holographs and typescripts, and there are also holograph notebooks for a number of unpublished titles, talks and classes given by Bodecker, miscellaneous autobiographical material, and unpublished poetry and prose. The illustrative material included illustrations done in a variety of media, some with separations, sketches, dummies, proofs, and photocopies.

Dates

  • Creation: 1953 - 1992

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for use in the Elmer L. Andersen Library reading room.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be 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. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.

Biographical / Historical

N.M. [ Niels Mogens] Bodecker was born January 13, 1922 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He studied and served in the military in Denmark during the 1930s and 1940s and published his first poetry and book illustrations there during the 1940s. N.M. Bodecker came to the United States in 1952 and illustrated his first American children's book, Half Magic, by Edward Eager, in 1954. For the next three decades, N.M. Bodecker illustrated a number of books by other authors, particularly Edward Eager and Robert Kraus. In 1972 he published his own story, Miss Jaster's Garden. N.M. Bodecker also wrote verse for children, especially nonsense verse that drew on his own childhood "recollections" He also translated Danish verses into English in his self-illustrated book It's Raining Said John Twaining. Bodecker died on February 1, 1988 in Hanover, New Hampshire, and his last book, Water Pennies, was published posthumously in 1991.

Extent

9.6 Cubic Feet (13 boxes [7 record cartons, 1 half-hollinger, 5 flat boxes])

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

N.M. Bodecker's papers focus on his work as an illustrator and author of children's books. The collection contains production material several dozen titles by Bodecker, including both written and illustrative material.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged into three series. Publications are arranged alphabetically by book title.
  1. Publicationa
  2. Other writings
  3. Miscellaneous and personal materials

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of the estate of N. M. Bodecker.

Related Materials

Correspondence with Windmill Books located in the Robert Kraus/Windmill Papers.

Related Names

Source

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
N.M. Bodecker Papers, 1952-1992
Status
Completed
Author
Christina Cowan and Nancy Larsen
Date
1996 and 2004
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • September 2018: Reprocessed by Carter Lynn Thurmond
  • February 2023: Description updated by Caitlin Marineau.

Collecting Area Details

Collecting Area Details

Contact The Children's Literature Research Collections Collecting Area

https://www.lib.umn.edu/collections/special/kerlan
Contact:
Suite 113, Elmer L. Andersen Library


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