Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1764

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

15.2 linear feet (26 boxes)

Language Note:

This collection is mostly in English, but there is a significant amount of German in Series I. Personal, Subseries a. Family material.

Preferred Citation:

Amy Schwartz papers, 1889-2022, Ms. Coll. 1764, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1889-2022, bulk 1936-2022 (inclusive)

Creator:

Schwartz, Amy (1954-2023)

Abstract:

Amy Schwartz (1954-2023) was an American children's book author and illustrator. The Amy Schwartz papers date from 1889 through 2022, span 15.2 linear feet, and contain material related to Amy Schwartz's family history, personal art, book illustration and publishing, and other professional work.

Amy Schwartz was an American children's book author and illustrator.

She was born on April 2, 1954, in San Diego, California to Henry Schwartz, a writer and real estate investor, and Eva (Herzberg) Schwartz, a chemistry professor. She had three sisters, Joan, Deborah, and Rebecca.

As a child, Schwartz loved to read, draw, and paint. She was raised in a household where "books were treasured, [there were] family read-alouds, and [they took] frequent trips to the library." (Maughan) She graduated high school part way through her senior year and subsequently enrolled in Antioch College. After a year and a half there, the transferred to California College of Arts and Crafts, where she majored in drawing and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1976.

In 1979, she illustrated her first book, The Breakfast Book by Elizabeth Metzger for Chronicle Books. Because the publishing industry was largely based in New York City, she moved there in the late 1970s and ultimately settled in Brooklyn. While in New York, she took a course on children's book illustration and writing at the School for Visual Arts (SVA). In 1982, while working as a production assistant at Simon & Schuster, published her first title, Bea and Mr. Jones, which she completed during the SVA course, with Bradbury Press.

During the 1980s, Schwartz published extensively, both illustrating others' texts and writing and illustrating her own. She collaborated with authors such as Amy Hest, Eve Bunting, and her father, Henry Schwartz. A complete list of Shwartz' published works is below. In 1983, Harper & Row published Schwartz's Begin at the Beginning. Her editor for the book, Jane Feder, left Harper & Row around the same time to become an illustration agent and Schwartz became one of her first clients. In the 1980s, Shwartz had enough work that she was able to write and illustrate children's books full-time.

In 1990, Schwartz married Leonard Marcus and in 1992, they had a son, Jacob. Jacob's arrival, and their early parenthood experience, inspired Schwartz's book, A Teeny Tiny Baby. Schwartz continued to produce extensively through the 2000s, authoring and illustrating an additional twenty-eight books between the year 2000 and her death in 2023. Her work was also exhibited in several children's book-related art exhibitions. However, details of her life and career after the year 2000 are sparse.

Schwartz died suddenly on February 26, 2023.

Schwartz's family features prominently in the first series of this collection, particularly her mother, Eva Herzberg Schwartz and the extended Herzberg family. Eva Herzberg Schwartz was born in 1921 in Trier, Germany to Gustav and Charlotte (Lottie) Herzberg. In 1937, the family, who were Jewish, fled Nazi Germany and settled in San Francisco, California. Herzberg Schwartz graduated from Girls High School in San Francisco in 1938 and earned a B.S. and M.S. in chemistry at University of California Berkeley. She worked in several labs, including Langendorf Bakeries, where her father also worked as a chemist. In 1946, she married (Isador) Henry Schwartz in San Diego, California, where she subsequently moved and raised four daughters. Henry Schwartz owned Federal Printing Company and Eva Herzberg Schwartz helped with the business and taught chemistry at San Diego State, Mesa, and City Colleges and the University of San Diego. She died in 1991.

There is also material related to Schwartz's grandparents, Louis and Ottilie Herzberg, and extended family including Hilde Hubbuck, who was a photographer and Lotte Herzberg's cousin; Henry Schwartz's parents, Joan and Isidor Schwartz; and Lottie Herzberg's relatives from the Lowenstein and Mayer families.

Works authored and illustrated by Shwartz:

Bea and Mr. Jones (1982); Begin at the Beginning: A Little Artist Learns about Life (1983); Mrs. Moskowitz and the Sabbath Candlesticks (1983); Her Majesty, Aunt Essie (1984); Yossel Zissel and the Wisdom of Chelm (1986); Oma and Bobo (1987); Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner (1991); Camper of the Week (1991); Old MacDonald (1999); How to Catch An Elephant (2000); Some Babies (2000); A Teeny Tiny Baby (2000); The Boys Team (2001); A Glorious Day (2004); Things I Learned in Second Grade (2004); What James Likes Best (2004); A Beautiful Girl (2006); Oscar: The Big Adventure of a Little Sock Monkey (2006); Starring Miss Darlene (2007); Tiny and Hercules (2009); Lucy Can't Sleep (2012); Willie and Uncle Bill (2012); Dee Dee and Me (2013); 100 Things That Make Me Happy (2014); I Can't Wait! (2015); Polka Dots for Poppy (2016); 100 Things I Love to Do with You (2017); Things That Make Me Happy (2017); Busy Babies (2019); 13 Stories about Harris (2020); Things I Love to Do with You (2020); 100 Things I Know How to Do (2021); 13 Stories about Ayana (2022); and Things I Know How to Do (2023).

Works illustrated by Schwartz:

The Breakfast Book (1979); My Island Grandma by Kathryn Lasky (1979); The Crack-Of-Dawn Walkers by Amy Hest (1983); The Night Flight by Joanne Ryder (1985); The Witch Who Lives Down the Hall by Donna Guthrie (1985); The Purple Coat by Amy Hest (1986); Maggie Doesn't Want To Move by Elizabeth Lee O'Donnell (1987); The Scarecrows and Their Child by Mary Stolz (1987); Because of Lozo Brown by Larry L. King (1988); Jane Martin, Dog Detective by Eve Bunting (1988); How I Captured a Dinosaur by Henry Schwartz (1989); The Lady Who Put Salt in Her Coffee: From the Peterkin Papers by Lucretia P. Hale (1989); Blow Me a Kiss, Miss Lilly by Nancy White Carlstrom (1990); Fancy Aunt Jess by Amy Hest (1990); Albert Goes Hollywood by Henry Schwartz (1992); Nana's Birthday Party by Amy Hest (1993); Make a Face: A Book with a Mirror by Henry Schwartz (1994); Gabby Growing Up by Amy Hest (1998); A Little Kitty by Jane Feder (2009); Babyberry Pie by Heather Vogel Frederick (2010); and The Extra Ordinary Sheep by Aerin Nicole (2017).

Sources:

Maughan, Shannon. "Obituary: Amy Schwartz." Publishers Weekly, 2 Mar. 2023, www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/91668-obituary-amy-schwartz.html.

The Amy Schwartz papers date from 1889 through 2022, span 15. 2 linear feet, and contain material related to Amy Schwartz's family history, personal art, book illustration and publishing, and other professional projects.

This collection is of use to researchers interested in the publishing industry and the book creation and publishing process, specifically for children's books. It is also of interest to those specifically interested in Schwartz's art, both professional and personal, and career. The collection is also a valuable resource for those interested in Jewish families who escaped Nazi Germany and their post-emigration lives.

The collection contains an excellent sample of Shwartz's work throughout her career, but researchers should note that there is limited material related to her life and other work after about the year 2000.

Series I. Personal contains material related to Schwartz's family and genealogy and to Amy Schwartz's personal life. The family material mostly contains documents and photographs related to Schwartz's mother, Eva Herzberg Schwartz, and grandparents, Gustav and Lottie Herzberg, and their flight from Nazi Germany and subsequent emigration to and life in San Francisco, California. This family subseries also contains Eva Schwartz's artwork, correspondence between Eva Herzberg and Henry Schwartz before they were married, photographs of the larger Herzberg and Schwartz families, and genealogy research. Amy Schwartz's personal material is mostly comprised of her original non-book related artwork, which largely includes portraits and depictions of people in addition to genre painting. There is also correspondence, mostly with Eva Herzberg Schwartz, and other ephemera.

Series II. Books is the largest series and contains correspondence, original art, dummies, proofs, reviews, promotional material, final published copies, and more related to both books illustrated and authored by Schwartz and books illustrated by Schwartz and authored by others. Within those two categories, the material is arranged alphabetically by book title.

Series III. Other professional material contains awards, biographical material, correspondence, events, exhibits, fan mail, non-book related professional illustrations such as greeting cards, ephemera, publisher material, and reference photographs.