Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Parnassus Press
- Abstract:
- The Parnassus Press records including administrative files, correspondence, manuscripts, notebooks, sketches, drawings and artifacts.
- Extent:
- 30 cartons, 32 oversize boxes, 1 cardfile box, 16 oversize folders (98.95 linear feet)
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English , English , French , Italian
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Parnassus Press records contain manuscripts, financial records, correspondence, author profiles, illustrations, administrative files, artwork, sample production materials, photographs and notebooks. Highlights of the collection include extensive information on the daily operations of the press, its communications and contracts with authors, illustrators and printers, as well as draft manuscripts and mock-ups of its many publications. Included as well are numerous examples of original artwork, book exhibits, and materials that document the publishing process during the mid-twentieth century.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Founded in 1957 in Berkeley, California by Herman Schein and Ruth Robbins Schein, the Parnassus Press specialized in high quality illustrated children’s books that featured such well known authors as Ursula K. Le Guin and Theodora Krober. Known for their imaginative drawings and culturally diverse themes, the Parnassus Press was also distinct in publishing bilingual texts in Spanish, French and Italian that explored folk tales from countries such as Martinique, Italy and Mexico. Among their titles are included Wizard of the Earthsea, Ishi: Last of His Tribe, Bravo Marco!, Ramón Makes a Trade, To Catch a Mongoose, A Penny and a Periwinkle and The Emperor and the Drummer Boy. Their collaboration with the illustrator Nicholas Sidjakov, Baboushka and the Three Kings, won the Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American children’s picture book from the American Library Association in 1961. Several of their titles were also written and/or illustrated by Ruth Robbins who herself was a skilled artist and author.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the press began publishing fiction geared towards adults. These titles include The Frisco Kid, American’s Far West and How I Became Howard Johnson. Notably, they collaborated on an anthology on Pan-Africanism with the journal The Black Scholar. A beacon of publishing and children’s literature on the West Coast, the complete catalog of the Parnassus Press were sold to Houghton Mifflin in 1979.
- Acquisition information:
- Donated by Herman Schein and Ruth Robbins Schein, 1971-1991.
- Physical location:
- Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481