This collection contains the literary papers of author and illustrator Munro Leaf (1905-1976), with materials dating from 1918 to 1986. Manuscript drafts and illustrations from fifty-eight titles are represented (including fourteen titles produced as part of his work for the US Army and the Foreign Service). In addition to graphite and pen and ink illustrations and manuscript drafts, the collection includes audiovisual materials, clippings, correspondence, dummies, ephemera, photographs, promotional materials, proofs, published volumes, and a scrapbook. Of particular note: the original manuscript for
The Story of Ferdinand (1936) as well as a sizeable collection of materials related to the book and its many adaptations; both published and unpublished art and drafts for the
Can Be Fun series; and a large quantity of materials related to Munro Leaf’s
Watchbirds, serialized in Ladies Home Journal and published in six compilations.
Held at: Free Library of Philadelphia: Rare Book Department [Contact Us]