University of Oregon Libraries
Special Collections & University Archives
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1299
URL: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/index.html



Guide to the Margo Benary-Isbert Papers, 1950-1971


Ax 394





Finding aid prepared by processing staff

Finding aid encoded by ArchProteus, June 2006
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.


Overview of the Collection

 
Repository Name:
 

University of Oregon Libraries
Special Collections & University Archives

1299 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1299
URL: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/index.html

 
Collection Number:
 

Ax 394

 
Creator:
 

Benary-Isbert, Margot

 
Title:
 

Margo Benary-Isbert Papers

 
Dates:
 

1950-1971 (inclusive)

 
Quantity:
 

4.5 linear feet
5 containers

 
Languages:
 

Collection materials in English. 

 
Summary:
 

Margot Benary-Isbert (1889-1979) was an author of books for young people. The collection includes manuscripts, original illustrations, published books, and correspondence relating to Benary-Isbert's interest in German history and people, and her experience of post-war Germany.

 

Biographical Note

Margot Benary-Isbert was born on December 2, 1889, in Saarbrucken, Germany, the daughter of Adolf and Toni (Ippel) Isbert. She married Wilhelm Benary, a psychologist and seed firm executive, in 1917 and they had one daughter, Eva Toni. She attended the College St. Carolus and the University of Frankfurt.

Benary-Isbert began her career as a secretary from 1910-1917 at the Museum of Ethnology and Anthropology in Frankfurt, Germany. She fled to West Germany when, at the end of World War II, the Russians took over the area in which her husband's estate was located. In 1952 she moved to the United States, where she worked as a writer until her death in 1979. She received American citizenship in 1957.

Most of Benary-Isbert's books were written and published originally in German; some were later translated into English and published again. Her children's novels include Die Arche Noah (1948), translated as The Ark (1953), which won first prize at the New York Herald Tribune's Spring Book Festival in 1953; Die Ebereschenhof (1949), the sequel to Die Arche Noah, published as Rowan Farm in 1954; Heiligenwald (1953), published as A Time to Love (1962); and Schloss an der Grenze (1956), translated and published in 1956 as Castle on the Border. She wrote at least seventeen other books, including Annegret und Cara (1951), which won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1957. The book was translated in 1967 and titled Blue Mystery.

Benary-Isbert is known for her "depictions of humane, realistic characters" A reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement wrote that, "Benary's people are people; they are solid, real characters and their lives and their hopes and their sorrows matter to the reader." Benary-Isbert drew much of her inspiration from her own experiences living in Germany during and after the World War II period. She was also interested in portraying nineteenth-century German history, a time before Germany was unified as a state. Her narratives are admired for being richly detailed and of a consistently high quality, perhaps higher than many other books in the same genre of the time.

Margot Benary-Isbert died on May 27, 1979, in Santa Barbara, California.

(Source: Gale Literary Databases. "Margot Benary-Isbert." Contemporary Authors. 28 October 2003. 11 July 2005.

Content Description

The Margot Benary-Isbert papers include manuscripts for Aufruhr in Vogelsang and Das Abenteuer des Alterns; correspondence, both incoming and outgoing, including letters from readers; forty-eight original illustrations in ink and watercolor, and seven in ink; and twenty-one published works. These books are Die Arche Noah (1948); Grootmoeder en Haar Eerste Kleinkind (1951); Mädchen für Alles (1953); Sternschnuppe im Schnee (1954, second printing); Anemoon en de Boze Uil (1955); Schloss an der Grenze (1956, second printing); Heiligenwald (1956, third printing; with 1956 translation); Annegrete op Heiligenwald (1956); Arken (1956); Förtrollningen (1957); Kevät Nooan arkissa (1958); Rönngården (1958); Rønnebærgården; Annagret und Cara (1962, fifth printing; with 1951 translation); A Arca (1963); Unter dem Sichelmond (1965); Das Abenteuer des Alterns (1966, first edition); Die Grofsmutter und Ihr Erstern Enkel (1966, with 1959 translation); Gefährlicher Frühling (1966, second edition); ...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag (1968); and Ich reise mit meinen Enkeln (1971).

The collection also includes drafts, page proofs, and printer's copies of ...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Several files contain lecture correspondence, published articles, publicity materials, and biographical information.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information 

Gift of Margot Benary in 1971

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access 

Collection is open to the public.

Collection must be used in Special Collections & University Archives Reading Room.

Restrictions on Use 

Property rights reside with Special Collections & University Archives. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the Manuscripts Librarian of the Division of Special Collections & University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation 

[Identification of item], Margot Benary-Isbert Papers, Ax 394, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.

Subjects

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

 
Benary-Isbert, Margot--Correspondence
Authors, German--20th century
Publishers and publishing--Correspondence
Young adult fiction, German--Authorship
Germany--History--Juvenile fiction
Book illustrations

Detailed Description of the Collection

 
Container(s)
Description
 
box
1
folder
1

Correspondence. D. Gundert Verlag, Stuttgart
 
 
2
Correspondence. D. Gundert Verlag, Stuttgart
 
 
3
Correspondence. Harcourt, Brace, and Co.
 
 
4
Correspondence. E. Heimeran Verlag, Munich
 
 
5
Correspondence. Publicity and letters from readers
 
 
6
Correspondence. Publicity and letters from readers
 
 
7
Correspondence. Publicity and letters from readers
 
 
8
Manuscript. Das Abenteuer des Alterns. Three copies
 
 
9
Manuscript. Aufruhr in Vogelsang.
 
 
10
Manuscript. Aufruhr in Vogelsang. Corrected American edition
 
 
11
Manuscript. Das Abenteuer des Alterns. Translation, published as These Vintage Years
 
 
12
Original illustrations
 
 
13
Published works
 
 

Sternschnuppe im Schnee
 
 

Unter dem Sichelmond
 
 

Annagret und Cara
 
 

Annagret und Cara
 
 

Das Abenteuer des Alterns
 
 

Grootmoeder en Haar Eerste Kleinkind
 
 
2 1
Published works
 
 

Grofsmutter und Ihr Erstern Enkel
 
 

Die Arche Noah
 
 

Schloss an der Grenze
 
 

Annegrete op Heiligenwald
 
 

Mädchen für Alles
 
 

Gefährlicher Frühling, 2 copies
 
 

Heiligenwald
 
 
3
Published works
 
 

Der tugendhafte Fuchs, by Julia Cunningham. Translated by Benary-Isbert
 
 

Mak und das unmögliche Mädchen, by Julia Cunningham. Trans. by Benary-Isbert
 
 

...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag
 
 
2
Das Abenteuer des Alterns. Page drafts, etc.
 
 
3
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Broadcast scripts, page proofs
 
 
4
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Manuscript
 
 
5
Das ewige Siegel. Manuscript
 
 
6
Lecture Correspondence
 
 
7
Published articles
 
 
8
Miscellaneous
 
 
4 1
Correspondence. Incoming. Franz Ehrenwirth Verlag
 
 
2
Correspondence. Incoming. Harcourt, Brace, and Company
 
 
3
Correspondence. Fan letters, English
 
 
4
Correspondence. Fan letter, German
 
 
5
Correspondence. Incoming. German
 
 
6
Correspondence. Incoming. German. Hilda Heinz
 
 
7
Correspondence. Incoming. German. Martha Schramm
 
 
8
Correspondence. Outgoing. Franz Ehrenwirth Verlag
 
 
9
Correspondence. Outgoing. Harcourt, Brace, and Company
 
 
10
Anemone und der Böse Kauz. Galleys, complete
 
 
11
Anemone und der Böse Kauz. Page proofs, complete
 
 
12
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. First draft. Two chapters
 
 
13
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Intermediate drafts. Five chapters
 
 
14
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Final draft. Two chapters
 
 
15
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Final draft, carbon. Seven chapters
 
 
16
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Manuscript fragments
 
 
17
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Printer's copy, complete
 
 
18
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Printer's signatures. Third edition
 
 
19
These Vintage Years. Translation from Abenteuer des Alterns. Final draft, carbon
 
 
20
These Vintage Years. Printer's copy
 
 
21
Manuscript fragments, German
 
 
22
Speech and editorial texts, English
 
 
23
Translations, German-English. One chapter each of:
 
 

Dangerous Spring
 
 

These Vintage Years
 
 

Under a Changing Moon
 
 
24
Dangerous Spring. Preliminary notes, partial
 
 
25
Das Abenteuer des Alterns. Book reviews; radio scripts
 
 
26
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Book reviews
 
 
27
Miscellaneous book reviews
 
 
28
Biographical material
 
 
29
Das Abenteuer des Alterns. Fan mail, publicity
 
 
30
Mädchen für Alles. Page proofs; finished work
 
 
31
Finances and receipts
 
 
32
The Adventure of Growing Old. Manuscript, English
 
 
33
Das Abenteuer des Alterns. Manuscript with corrections
 
 
34
Drafts with corrections
 
 

Leute, die ich kannte
 
 

Woher und Wohin
 
 

Nie zu spaet zum Schreiben
 
 

Lydia
 
 

Ziehe ich in ein Altersheim...oder ziehe ich nicht in ein Altersheim?
 
 

Gruenes Tal
 
 
35
...ein heitrer Abend krönt den reichen Tag. Page proofs
 
 
36
"A Birthday Greeting". By Trudy Schmidt. To Margot Benary-Isbert. Published by Die Tat
 
 
5 1
Published works
 
 

Anemoon en de Boze Uil
 
 

Förtrollningen (1957)
 
 

Annegrete op Heiligenwald
 
 

Kevät Nooan arkissa
 
 

Noah's Ark
 
 

Ich reise mit meinen Enkeln
 
 

Rönngården
 
 

Rønnebærgården
 
 

Arken
 
 

A Arca
 
 
2
Correspondence. Incoming
 
 
3
Manuscripts
 
 
4
Book reviews
 
 
5
Biographical material