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Jane Flory papers

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Held at: Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection [Contact Us]1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
CLRC.FLORY
Repository:
Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection
Extent:
4.0 linear feet
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
[Description and date of item], [Box and folder number], Jane Flory papers, circa 1950-1977, Free Library of Philadelphia, Children’s Literature Research Collection.
Date:
circa 1950-1977 (inclusive)
Creator:
Flory, Jane, 1917-
Form:
Book jackets, Correspondence, Drawings (visual works), Dummies (printed matter), Galley proofs, Manuscripts, Typescripts, and Watercolors (paintings)
Abstract:
This is a collection of manuscripts, illustrations, and notes by Jane Flory. Documentation is present for a number of Flory's books, including Faraway Dream, Farmer John, The Golden Venture, It Was a Pretty Good Year, The Liberation of Clementine Tipton, Mist on the Mountain, One Hundred and Eight Bells, Peddler's Summer, Ramshackle Roost, A Tune for the Towpath, The Unexpected Grandchildren, and We'll Have a Friend for Lunch. Materials include manuscript drafts, notes and sketches, galley proofs, and correspondence with editors.

Jane Flory (nee Trescott) was born in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on June 29, 1917, and spent much of her life in and around Philadelphia. From a young age Flory loved writing and drawing, and attended Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art (now University of the Arts) for illustration. She met Arthur Flory at the Museum School, from which they both graduated in 1939. They married in 1941. Both were active in art education in Philadelphia: Arthur Flory spent much of his life as a faculty member at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Jane Flory directed the evening division of the Philadelphia Museum School from 1958 to 1974.

Shortly after graduating from art school, Flory began publishing stories in magazines. Trained as an illustrator, Flory taught herself to write for children, publishing her first children’s book, Snooty, the Pig Who Was Proud, in 1944. Many of Flory’s books were inspired by the history of Philadelphia, including It Was a Pretty Good Year (1977), about a family of recent immigrants living on Reed Street in South Philadelphia, and The Liberation of Clementine Tipton (1974), about the American Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876.

In 1960, having already written many children’s books for various publishers, Flory signed with Houghton Mifflin. They remained her exclusive publisher until her retirement in 1982. Flory illustrated her own books until the 1970s, when she began occasionally collaborating with illustrator Carolyn Croll. Flory wrote more than thirty-five books, all but three self-illustrated. Flory died December 2, 2005, in Philadelphia.

Bibliography:

Pennsylvania Center for the Book. “Flory, Jane Trescott.” Literary and Cultural Heritage Map of Pennsylvania, accessed February 7, 2012, Pennsylvania State University. Last modified summer 2009. http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Flory__Jane_Trescott.html

Something About the Author, vol. 22.

This is a collection of manuscripts, illustrations, and notes by Jane Flory. Documentation is present for a number of Flory's books, including Faraway Dream, The Golden Venture, It Was a Pretty Good Year, The Liberation of Clementine Tipton, Mist on the Mountain, One Hundred and Eight Bells, Peddler's Summer, Ramshackle Roost, A Tune for the Towpath, The Unexpected Grandchildren, and We'll Have a Friend for Lunch. Materials include manuscript drafts, notes and sketches, galley proofs, and correspondence with editors. The collection also includes a handwritten and illustrated manuscript of "This is Farmer John", which was published as Farmer John, and several notebooks containing story outlines, manuscript drafts of stories, and notes on character development and changes to story lines.

This collection is arranged in twelve series, alphabetically by title: 1. Faraway Dream; 2. Farmer John; 3. The Golden Venture; 4. It Was a Pretty Good Year; 5. The Liberation of Clementine Tipton; 6. Mist on the Mountain; 7. One Hundred and Eight Bells; 8. Peddler's Summer; 9. Ramshackle Roost; 10. A Tune for the Towpath; 11. The Unexpected Grandchildren; and 12. We'll Have a Friend for Lunch. Within each series the materials are arranged in probable order of creation.

Gift of Jane Flory, 1980.

People
Organization
Subject
Place

Publisher
Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Garrett Boos
Sponsor
The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources’ “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.
Access Restrictions

This collection is open to researchers by appointment. Please contact the Curator for information on access.

Use Restrictions

The right of access to material does not imply the right of publication. Permission for reprinting, reproduction, or extensive quotation from the rare books, manuscripts, prints, or drawings must be obtained through written application, stating the use to be made of the material. The reader bears the responsibility for any possible infringement of copyright laws in the publication of such material. A reproduction fee will be charged if the material is to be reproduced in a commercial publication.

Collection Inventory

Preliminary notes on story and illustrations, manuscript, circa 1968.
Box 1 Folder 1
Preliminary notes, sketches, and draft, manuscript in bound steno book, circa 1968.
Box 5
First draft, manuscript in bound steno book, circa 1968.
Box 5
Second draft, revised typescript with manuscript additions, circa 1968.
Box 1 Folder 2-3
Third draft, corrected typescript with editor's notes, circa 1968.
Box 1 Folder 4-5
Correspondence regarding publication, 1968 April 4.
Box 1 Folder 6
Sketches, pen and ink and graphite on paper, and stat of page 39, 8 sheets, circa 1968.
Box 1 Folder 7
Incomplete galley proof, circa 1968.
Box 6 Folder 3

Dummy with pen and ink and gouache illustrations in bound volume, 16 pages.
Box 5

Notes and rough draft of chapters 1 and 2, manuscript in bound steno book, circa 1976.
Box 5
Rough draft, manuscript in bound steno book, circa 1976.
Box 5
Rough draft, chapter 18 to conclusion, manuscript in bound steno book, circa 1976.
Box 5
Preliminary notes and drafts, manuscript, circa 1976.
Box 3 Folder 1
First draft, revised typescript, circa 1976.
Box 3 Folder 2-3
Second draft, typescript, circa 1976.
Box 3 Folder 4-5
Third draft, revised typescript with editor's notes, circa 1976.
Box 3 Folder 6-7
Galley proof, circa 1977.
Box 3 Folder 8-9

Preliminary notes and rough draft, manuscript, circa 1977.
Box 3 Folder 10
First draft, typescript with manuscript additions, circa 1977.
Box 3 Folder 11
Second draft, typescript with manuscript additions, circa 1977.
Box 3 Folder 12
Third draft, revised typescript with editor's notes, circa 1977.
Box 4 Folder 1
Preliminary sketches and partial final art, graphite and pen and ink on paper and tracing paper mounted to board, 7 sheets, circa 1977.
Box 4 Folder 2
Scope and Contents note

Includes final art for pages 23, 32, 39, 50, 62, and 97.

Page proof, circa 1977.
Box 6 Folder 5

Preliminary notes, sketches, and draft, manuscript in bound steno book, circa 1974.
Box 5
Draft beginning with chapter 9, manuscript in bound steno book, circa 1974.
Box 5
Notes on chapters 13, 14, and 15, manuscript, circa 1974.
Box 1 Folder 8
Second draft, revised typescript, circa 1974.
Box 1 Folder 9-10
Corrected draft, typescript with editor's notes, circa 1974.
Box 1 Folder 11-12
Preliminary sketches, graphite, pen and ink, and watercolor on paper, 24 sheets, circa 1974.
Box 1 Folder 13
Illustration proofs, 26 sheets, circa 1974.
Box 1 Folder 14
General Physical Description note

Illustrations were originally pinned to the galley proof and were removed for conservation purposes.

Galley proof, circa 1974.
Box 6 Folder 2

First draft, corrected typescript, circa 1966.
Box 2 Folder 1-2
Second draft, corrected typescript, circa 1966.
Box 2 Folder 3-4

First draft, revised typescript, circa 1968.
Box 2 Folder 5
Second draft, corrected typescript, circa 1968.
Box 2 Folder 6-7
Designs for cover, pen and ink and watercolor on paper, 4 sheets, circa 1968.
Box 2 Folder 8

Correspondence regarding artwork, 1959 October 27.
Box 2 Folder 9
Galley proof, circa 1960.
Box 6

Preliminary notes, character research notes, and chapter drafts, manuscript, circa 1972.
Box 4 Folder 3-4
Draft of chapters 11 and 12, revised typescript, circa 1972.
Box 4 Folder 5
First draft, revised typescript with manuscript additions, circa 1972.
Box 4 Folder 6-7
Second draft, corrected typescript, circa 1972.
Box 4 Folder 8-9
Illustration proofs, 9 sheets, circa 1972.
Box 4 Folder 10
General Physical Description note

Illustrations were originally pinned to the galley proof with notes by the editor and were removed for conservation purposes.

Incomplete galley proof, circa 1972.
Box 6
Incomplete corrected galley proof with editor's notes, circa 1972.
Box 6 Folder 1

Draft, corrected typescript with editor's notes, circa 1962.
Box 2 Folder 10-11
Final art for book jacket, colored pencil, gouache, and pen and ink on board, circa 1962.
Object 1
General note

Housed with Children's Literature Research Collection original framed artwork.

Preliminary drafts and notes, manuscript and typescript, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 11
Rough draft, manuscript, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 12
First draft, revised typescript, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 13
Second draft, typescript and carbon copy, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 14
Third draft, typescript, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 15
Fourth draft, revised typescript with manuscript additions, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 16
Fifth draft, revised typescript, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 17
Sixth draft, typescript, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 18
Seventh draft, revised typescript, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 19
Setting copy, circa 1976-1977.
Box 4 Folder 20
Correspondence with Houghton Mifflin, 1976.
Box 4 Folder 21

General note

Working titles for We'll Have a Friend for Lunch included The Birdwatching Cat and The Birdwatchers.

Draft, manuscript, circa 1974.
Box 2 Folder 12
Draft, revised typescript, circa 1974.
Box 2 Folder 13
Sketches of cats by Carolyn Croll, pen and ink on paper, 7 sheets, circa 1974.
Box 2 Folder 14
Galley proof, circa 1974.
Box 6 Folder 4

Print, Suggest