Collection ID: LMC 2593
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Cott, Jonathan
Abstract:
The Cott mss., ca. 1977-1985, consists of correspondence and other materials relating to Jonathan Cott's book Pipers at the Gates of Dawn: the Wisdom of Children's Literature (Random House, 1983).
Extent:
1 Box (1 standard) and 1 folio
Language:
Materials are in English .
Preferred citation:

Cott mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Writer, editor and poet Jonathan Cott, was born in 1942, the day before Christmas, in New York City. He attended Columbia University for his undergraduate work, received an M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1966 and studied at the University of Essex, England as a Fulbright fellow, 1967-1969. Returning to the United States in 1970 he became an editor at Rolling Stone until 1975 when he returned to New York to be executive editor of Stonehill Publishing Company. In 1976 Cott wrote a long piece on Maurice Sendak based on extensive interviews with the author, that was published in Rolling Stone in December 1976. The success of that article led Cott to consider interviewing other "giants" of children's literature for a full-length book. Pipers at the Gates of Dawn was the result.

Scope and Content:

The Cott mss., ca. 1977-1985, consists of correspondence and other materials relating to Jonathan Cott's book Pipers at the Gates of Dawn: the Wisdom of Children's Literature (Random House, 1983). Present in the collection are files for five of the seven authors that Cott interviewed for this book: Theodore Geisel, Astrid Lindgren, Iona and Peter Opie, William Steig, and P.L. Travers. The two interviewees not represented are Chinua Achebe with whom Cott apparently dealt in person or by telephone, and Maurice Sendak as the chapter in the book is a reprint of the original Rolling Stone piece.

Also present in the collection are three periodical issues: Rolling Stone dated December 30, 1983 containing Cott's article on Maurice Sendak, "King of All the Wild Things," and the two issues of The New Yorker magazine containing pre-publication versions of the Lindgren (February 8, 1983) and Opie (April 4, 1983) profiles.

Acquisition information:
Acquired: 2007
Arrangement:

This collection is arranged following original order.

Physical location:
Lilly - Folio; Lilly - Stacks

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

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TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

Cott mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@indiana.edu