Victor Mays Papers
Scope and Contents
The collection contains production material, consisting of illustrative material only, for 23 titles published between 1960-81. Illustrative materials includes illustrations done in a variety of media, including some with separations, sketches, and studies done in a variety of media, illustrations, mostly in ink, done for maps, proofs, and book jackets. The collection also contains some miscellaneous artwork consisting of pencil sketches done for some Basic Readers published by Open Court Publishing Company in 1970-71.
Dates
- Creation: 1960-1981
Creator
- Mays, Victor, 1927-2015 (Person)
Language of Materials
English
Access and Use:
Collection is open for researchers with no restrictions. Registration with the collection is required.
Copyright:
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
Victor Mays (Lewis Victor Mays) was born July 2, 1927, in New York City. He began drawing as a child, and also developed a love of the sea. He served in the United States Naval Reserve on active duty in 1945, and remained in the Naval Reserve for many years. He attended Ohio State University and graduated from Yale University in 1949 with a Bachelor of Arts. In 1953 he wrote and illustrated his first book, Fast Iron, an adventure story set aboard a nineteenth century whaling ship, for young adults. He wrote two more books for young adults, Action Starboard(1956), and Dead Reckoning(1967), but it is as an illustrator of children's and young adult books that he has become best known. In 1954 he illustrated Eilis Dillon's San Sebastian, and throughout his long and prolific career he has illustrated books for such well known authors as Jean Lee Latham, Nancy Bond, Patricia Wrightson, and Stephen Meader. He has illustrated over eighty books, including many biographies of famous Americans. He won a Coretta Scott King award in 1970 for Martin Luther King, Jr., Man of Peace(1969). Both his writings and his illustrations are historically oriented with emphasis on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and have been praised for their attention to detail and accuracy.
Biographical Sources: Something About the Author, vol. 5; Fourth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators, pp. 261-262
Extent
1.1 Cubic Feet
Abstract
The Mays papers focus on his work as an illustrator of children's and young adult books. The collection contains production material, consisting of illustrative material for 23 titles and includes illustrations done in a variety of media, some with separations, sketches, and studies done in a variety of media, illustrations done for maps, proofs, and book sketches.
Physical Location
See Detailed Descriptions for Each Title Item for Box Locations
Accession Information:
Victor Mays gave this collection to the U. of Minn. in 1971, and placed additional material on permanent loan at the U. in 1973 and 1983.
Gift of: Mays, Victor
- Title
- Victor Mays Papers
- Author
- Jim Eyer
- Date
- 5-25-04
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English
Collecting Area Details
Contact The Children's Literature Research Collections Collecting Area