Scope and Contents
The collection contains work by Elizabeth MacKinstry: autograph and typescript versions of poems, a set of illustrations for the children's book Eliza and the Elves, by Rachel Field (New York: Macmillan Company, 1926), and a scrapbook of her original and printed artwork dating from 1924-1934. One volume of poems was bound by John F. Grabau of Buffalo, New York, for MacKinstry's presentation to Emily Howland Leeming Lyman. Also present is a published volume of MacKinstry's poems, Helen's Mirror and Other Verses (London: Elkin Mathews, 1913), issued under her pseudonym Elizabeth Westermain.
Dates
- 1904-1957
- Majority of material found within 1924-1934
Creator
Language of Materials
In English.
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Elizabeth MacKinstry Collection is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Florence E. Brooks, 1956. Gift of Elizabeth Leeming Rose, 1970.
Arrangement
Organized into two series: I. Writings, 1904-1957. II. Artwork, 1924-1934.
Extent
1.0 Linear Feet (4 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The collection contains work by Elizabeth MacKinstry: autograph and typescript versions of poems, a set of illustrations for the children's book Eliza and the Elves, by Rachel Field (New York: Macmillan Company, 1926), and a scrapbook of her original and printed artwork dating from 1924-1934. One volume of poems was bound by John F. Grabau of Buffalo, New York, for MacKinstry's presentation to Emily Howland Leeming Lyman. Also present is a published volume of MacKinstry's poems, Helen's Mirror and Other Verses (London: Elkin Mathews, 1913), issued under her pseudonym Elizabeth Westermain.
Elizabeth Conkling MacKinstry (1878-1956)
Elizabeth MacKinstry, American poet, illustrator, and sculptor, was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on March 31, 1878, the only child of Caroline Conkling McKinstry and Abraham B. McKinstry (1826-1882), a farmer and postmaster. After her father's death, MacKinstry lived in France and Belgium, specifically in Paris from 1892 to 1901 where she studied with the sculptor Auguste Rodin. From 1909 until 1920 she lived with her mother in Buffalo, New York, working there as an artist and teaching art classes; after 1910 the spelling of their last name changed from McKinstry to MacKinstry. She lived and worked in New York City from the mid-twenties until 1938, turning out illustrations for several New York publishing houses, as well as costume designs, decorations, and illustrations for local theater groups. In her later years MacKinstry lived in and around Lenox, Massachusetts, near the poet Emily Howland Leeming Lyman (1871-1951), a friend from Buffalo. Elizabeth MacKinstry donated her collection of more than 300 illustrated books to the Lenox Library in 1949; she died on May 14, 1956, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and was buried in Lenox.
MacKinstry's work was exhibited in one-woman shows at the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo (1922), and in memorial exhibitions at the Lenox Library (1956), in the Central Children's Room of the New York Public Library (1957), and at the Boston Public Library (1958). The April 1957 issue of The Horn Book Magazine was largely devoted to essays on MacKinstry by her colleagues and admirers.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
A letter from Walter de la Mare to Elizabeth MacKinstry dated December 15, 1925, and received by the library from Florence E. Brooks in 1956, is filed in the Yale Collection of American Literature Letter Collection (YCAL MSS 446).
This collection includes materials previously identified by the following call numbers: Za MacKinstry and Za Mss MacKinstry.
- American literature -- 20th century
- American poetry -- 20th Century
- Book jackets -- United States -- 20th Century
- Children's literature, American -- 20th Century -- Illustrations
- Color woodcuts -- United States -- 20th Century
- Drawings (visual works) -- United States -- 20th Century
- Field, Rachel, 1894-1942 (Eliza and the elves, Illustrations)
- Grabau, John F., 1878-1948
- Illustration of books -- United States
- Illustrations (layout features) -- United States -- 20th Century
- Illustrators -- United States
- Illustrators -- United States -- 20th Century
- Lyman, Emily Howland Leeming, 1871-1951 -- Presentation inscription from Elizabeth MacKinstry
- MacKinstry, E. (Elizabeth)
- MacKinstry, E. (Elizabeth) -- Presentation inscription to Elizabeth Howland Leeming Lyman
- MacKinstry, E. (Elizabeth.) (Helen's mirror and other verses)
- Poets -- United States -- 20th century
- Poets, American -- 20th century
- Scrapbooks -- United States -- 20th Century
- Title
- Guide to the Elizabeth MacKinstry Collection
- Author
- by Sandra Markham
- Date
- 2014
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.