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By The Wheaton College Archives & Special Collections Staff
Collection Overview
Title: Madeleine L'Engle Papers, 1918-2006
ID: SC/003
Primary Creator: L'Engle, Madeleine (1918-2007)
Extent: 335.0 boxes. More info below.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged by series with folder level control.
Date Acquired: 00/00/1975
Subjects: Adventure stories--Juvenile fiction, Authors, American -- 20th century -- Interviews, Camp, Madeleine Barnett, Children's literature -- Authorship, Children's literature -- Manuscripts, Christianity and the arts, Detective and mystery stories -- Juvenile fiction, Fantasy fiction, L'Engle, Madeleine -- Biography -- Juvenile literature, L'Engle, Madeleine -- Interviews, L'Engle, Madeleine -- Manuscripts, L'Engle, Madeleine. Wrinkle in time, Science fiction, Time travel -- Juvenile fiction.
Forms of Material: Articles, Audiotapes, Correspondence, Essays, Filmstrips, Interviews, Lectures, Memorabilia, Microfilms, Photographs, Poetry, Reviews, Sermons
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The Madeleine L'Engle Collection is composed of a variety of materials illustrating the life and works of this popular author and speaker. The items date from 1919 to the present and include correspondence, manuscripts, articles, photos, papers written by L'Engle, awards, interviews, book announcements and reviews, biographical and family information, some art work and a number of miscellaneous items. The collection is composed largely of material sent to the college by the author, although the special collections staff has assembled books and other support materials for the collection in addition to those sent by L'Engle.
The collection is organized under three main headings: Biographical, correspondence, and manuscripts. Correspondence is divided into three sub categories: Adult, Children's, and Business. Adult and Children's Correspondence are further categorized into "correspondence with replies" and "correspondence without replies." The individual letters are categorized by year and then alphabetically within each year. The Business Correspondence has six sub categories dealing with L'Engle's Addresses, Play/Screen Rights, Publishers/Magazines, Agents, Collections and General Business. These are also filed alphabetically within years by corporate name, when this is applicable. Articles are each assigned a random number as they are received and are filed numerically. They are categorized as articles, interviews, book reviews, or quotes. An article may be listed more than once if it can be classified under a combination of the above categories. The list of articles is maintained on line. A printed copy is included in this register. The collection contains little biographical material or family correspondence. Most of the family correspondence in the collection was inadvertently sent with other material. L'Engle's diaries and other personal items remain in her possession. A large portion of the collection is devoted to correspondence, with most of the variety being in the Adult Correspondence. Many of the letters are from personal friends, fans and other authors. There was a decrease in the amount of correspondence with replies in late 1986 and early 1987 because of the illness and death of her husband, Hugh Franklin. The Children's Correspondence contains a significant amount of class assigned "form letters." Business Addresses includes invitations to speak and/or details about her speaking engagements. The General Business category includes items not falling under the specific business titles. The collection of L'Engle's manuscripts contains full Typescripts, Galley proofs, and Page proofs for her published and some unpublished works as well as published poems and addresses. The manuscripts are arranged alphabetically by title and chronologically within title series until 1987. Since 1987, in order to facilitate storage, the manuscripts have simply been added to the end of the series chronologically. The number of manuscript versions is not consistent from one work to the next. Manuscripts for most of Ms. L'Engle's works are found in the collection. We were not sent manuscripts of: The Moon by Night, The Twenty Four Days Before Christmas, Prayers for Sunday, Spirit and Light, The Weather of the Heart and The Anti Muffins.
The primary guide to the collection's contents is the container list. Other finding aids include: an article listing, a first name list of selected correspondents, and a frequent correspondent list. These are included in this guide. Children's artwork, if sent with a letter is filed with the Children's correspondence. If the work is oversized, it is filed separately with other artwork and a note is placed with the letter indicating that artwork was included. Artwork by Madeleine L'Engle's placed in a box separate from other artwork. Oversized items are stored separately. Other mementos are kept with the covering correspondence. Photos received with letters are kept together unless L'Engle is in the photo. Photos of L'Engle are assigned a number and filed numerically in a separate series.
Biographical Note
Madeleine L’Engle was born on November 29, 1918, and spent her earliest formative years in New York City. Early on as a child, L’Engle discovered a love for writing, recording her thoughts in stories, poems and journals. At age 12, Madeleine and her parents moved to the French Alps, where she continued to nurture her passion for writing. She flourished during her high school years back in the United States at Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina.
L’Engle next attended Smith College where she studied the classics of literature and continued her own creative writing. She graduated with honors in English and afterwards moved to Greenwich Village in New York City. She published her first two novels by 1946, before meeting her future husband, Hugh Franklin.
After their marriage, Madeleine had a baby girl and kept on writing, eventually moving to a small Connecticut country village to raise their family away from the city. Eventually they moved back to New York City with their three children, and Hugh revitalized his professional acting career. The family has kept their Connecticut country home, Crosswicks, and continues to spend summers there.
As the years passed and the children grew, Madeleine continued to write and Hugh to act, and they both enjoyed each other and life. Since 1966 L’Engle has been writer-in-residence and librarian at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. After Hugh’s death in 1986, Madeleine’s writing and lecturing sustained her, along with her ever growing family. After her husband's passing L'Engle enjoyed spending time with her friends, children, grand-children, and great grandchildren. After an extended illness Madeleine L'Engle died September 6th, 2007.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Wheaton College Archives & Special Collections
Alternate Extent Statement:
140 linear feet
Access Restrictions:
Access to the secondary non published portions of the collection is restricted to those researchers possessing written permission from Madeleine L'Engle's agent. Rights of publication must be secured from Ms. L'Engle's agent, or from the appropriate author or agent in the case of secondary works.
Use Restrictions:
Duplication may be restricted if copying could cause damage to items.
Acquisition Source:
Gift
Acquisition Method:
In 1975 Professor Clyde S. Kilby of the English Department approached Madeleine L'Engle concerning the possibility of depositing her papers at Wheaton. She consented and in January 1976 the Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the collection. Since that time the Special Collections has received regular shipments of material from L'Engle.
Preferred Citation:
Madeleine L'Engle Papers (SC-3), Wheaton College Special Collections, Wheaton, Illinois.
Other Note:
The papers of Madeleine L'Engle (nee Madeleine L'Engle Camp), popular writer and lecturer, form a growing collection which presently occupies nearly 150 linear feet. The collection is comprised of personal papers, correspondence, manuscripts and galley proofs, articles, art-work, book reviews and announcements, photographs, and secondary source material. Copies of books by L'Engle are also stored in the Special Collections as part of the collection.
Other URL:
http://library.wheaton.edu
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Biographical],
[
Series 2: Photographs],
[
Series 3: Correspondence],
[
Series 4: Books],
[
Series 5: Journals],
[Series 6: Poems],
[
Series 7: Articles],
[
Series 8: Lectures, Addresses, Sermons],
[
Series 9: Secondary],
[
Series 10: Media],
[
Series 11: Memorabilia],
[
All]
- Series 6: Poems
- Sub-Series 1: Published
- Box 296
- Folder 1: "After Annunciation," Christianity Today
- Folder 2: "After Annunciation," Fisherfolk, Dec. 1978
- Folder 3: "After Annunciation," The World, Diocese of Portland Relig Educ Off, Dec. 1979
- Folder 4: "As I Grow Older I Get Surer," The Epistle Newsletter of St. Matt., Dec. 2, 1978
- Folder 5: "At Communion," St. David's Dove, Christmas 1978
- Folder 6: "At Communion," Union Life, Sept.-Oct. 1984
- Folder 7: "From St. Luke's Hospital (2)," Wheaton Alumni, Feb./Mar. 1983
- Folder 8: "Joyful in the Newness of Heart," The Anglican Digest, Pentecost, 1983
- Folder 9: "O Oriens," The Horn Book Magazine, 1963
- Folder 10: "O Sapientia," The Horn Book Magazine, 1963
- Folder 11: "O Sapientia," St. David's Dove, Christmas, 1978
- Folder 12: "O Simplicitas," The Horn Book Magazine, 1963
- Folder 13: "Prince Michael," Cerberus
- Folder 14: "The Risk of Birth," Christian Living, 1983
- Folder 15: "The Risk of Birth," Christianity Today
- Folder 16: "The Risk of Birth," Mennonite Brethren Herald, Dec. 5, 1980
- Folder 17: "The Risk of Birth," Hasegawa, Dec. 1981
- Folder 18: "The Risk of Birth," Freeway, Dec. 20, 1981
- Folder 19: "The Risk of Birth," Sunday Digest, Dec. 23, 1984
- Folder 20: "Song of Simeon," The Chimes, 1964
- Folder 21: "Suddenly they saw him the way he was," The Proclaimer, Ft. Smith, AR, Mar 1, 1981
- Folder 22: "Three Songs of Mary," The Horn Book Magazine, 1963
- Folder 23: "The Tree," Christianity Today
- Folder 24: "Unclench you fists," Let's Celebrate the Lord, Hallmark Cards, 1982
- Folder 25: "We need not wait till the world is sane," The Dialogues, St. Gregory Orthodox Church, Jan. 1985
- Folder 26: "Within this strange and quickened dust," Catonsville, Pres Bulletin, July 15, 1984
- Folder 27: "Word," Union Life, Sept.-Oct. 1984
- Folder 28: "Act III, Scene I," Christian Living, March-May 1989
- Folder 29: "Like Every Newborn," Straightening the Paths, December 1989
- Box 297
- Folder 1: "Burn, Charity"
- Folder 2: "Before the Passion"
- Folder 3: "To a Long Loved Love 6"
- Folder 4: "Fountain in the Desert"
- Folder 5: "Baalaam's Ass"
- Folder 6: "Set to the Music of the Spheres"
- Folder 7: "Love Letter"
- Folder 8: "Rachel, birthing Benjamin"
- Folder 9: "Genesis 21:17,19"
- Folder 10: "... and kill the passover"
- Folder 11: "Leah"
- Folder 12: "Leah, the unloved"
- Folder 13: "Pharoah's cross"
- Folder 14: "[Sarah] before Mt. Moriah"
- Folder 15: "Isaac [before Mt. Moriah]"
- Folder 16: "Annunciation"
- Folder 17: "Abraham, with laughter"
- Folder 18: "O wise and foolish virgins"
- Folder 19: "Moses"
- Folder 20: "Eve"
- Folder 21: "Jephthah's Daughter"
- Folder 22: "David, after Psalm 49"
- Folder 23: "David, after Psalm 32"
- Folder 24: "Naaman, the Leper"
- Folder 25: "The Samaritan woman at the well"
- Folder 26: "Mary"
- Folder 27: "Thomas, after seeing the wounds"
- Folder 28: "Peter"
- Folder 29: "A man from Phyrygia, on Pentecost"
- Folder 30: "Jacob, after Rachel's death"
- Folder 31: "Benjamin's Birth"
- Folder 32: "Pieta"
- Folder 33: "To a Long Loved Love: 5"
- Folder 34: "An Acceptable time"
- Folder 35: "When Mary asked"
- Folder 36: "Salome: at the foot of the cross"
- Folder 37: "The Woman"
- Folder 38: "Temper my Intemperence"
- Folder 39: "Mary speaks : from Ephesus"
- Folder 40: "Esau"
- Folder 41: "After Annunciation"
- Folder 42: Icon Tree"
- Folder 43: "Rachel, at Joseph's birth"
- Folder 44: "3 days [Mary Speaks]"
- Folder 45: "Barrabas"
- Folder 46: "The Wise Man"
- Folder 47: "Vilanelle Song of blind Bartimaeus after curing"
- Folder 48: "The high priest's servant"
- Folder 49: "Mary speaks"
- Folder 50: "Mary Magdalen"
- Folder 51: "To a long-loved love 7"
- Folder 52: "To a long-loved love 4"
- Folder 53: [We were dazzled by the light...]
- Folder 54: [The other Marys were radiant with joy]
- Folder 55: St. Patrick's Rune
- handwritten and printed versions
- Folder 56: Changing Places in the Dance
- Folder 57: To a Long-Loved Love 4
- Folder 58: To a Long-Loved Love 7
- Folder 59: Advent
- Folder 60: Shout Joy, After Annunciation, Wheaton College Christmas Fantasia-1993, 1993
- Folder 61: "Damn Everything But the Circus", The Unicorn
- Folder 62: "Hush! Wait!", Advent 1997
- Folder 63: Unicorn Vol 1. No. 1
- Folder 64: "Christmas 1990," with music by J. Michael Thompson for "The music of her words: the poetry of Madeleine L'Engle, set by five Chicago composers," June 19, 1991
- Folder 65: "The foolishness of God," with music by Lee Fierro, May 1978
- Folder 66: "He did not wait," with music by James Thompson and Barry Bobb
- Folder 67: "I know," with music by Lee Fierro, May 1978
- Folder 68: "Lines scribbled on an envelope," with music by Robin Seto, March 1976
- Folder 69: "A cry like a bell," with music by Jeff Kennedy
- Folder 70: "To a long-loved love"
- Folder 71: "He did not wait," with music by Ronald Melrose, 1982
- Folder 72: "Grandfather's rondel," with music by J. Michael Thompson, 1992
- Folder 73: "Three songs of Mary"
- Folder 74: "All shall be well again, I know," Summer 1991
- Folder 75: Poems, Cerberus, c. 1937
- Sub-Series 2: Manuscripts
- Box 298
- Folder 1: ("Adam, the elder son")
- Folder 2: "Advent 1980" ("He will come with clouds of glory")
- Folder 3: "Advice to One Starting School"
- Folder 4: ("All the stars are called by name")
- Folder 5: "Amsterdam Ave.," also titled "for 15 November, 1979"
- Folder 6: "Apples"
- Folder 7: "for Ascension Day"
- Folder 8: "Ballade after Psalm 19, for ENW," ("The heavens declare the glory of God")
- Folder 9: "Ballade for 5 November, 1978," ("For each new birth a star will pulse with light")
- Folder 10: ("But now is the hour"), Calendar, December 1979
- Folder 11: "Caught in the bush"
- Folder 12: "Charlotte," April 1978
- Folder 13: "Children of Moses,"
- Folder 14: (The corner's dark. We never know"), 1977
- Folder 15: "The Deputations of Year One"
- Folder 16: "Domine, Dens. from Psalm 88", 1972
- Folder 17: "Ephesus"
- Folder 18: "The Flying Carpet"
- Folder 19: "for Dana, 4 November, 1974"
- Folder 20: ("Given my choice"), 1983
- Folder 21: God is over all things
- Folder 22: "Gold Fancy"
- Folder 23: "A Grandmother's Prayer for a gravely injured and still unconscious child"
- Folder 24: ("Grant that I may humble be")
- Folder 25: ("He did not wait until the world was ready,") "for Christmas 1979"
- Folder 26: ("Hear My Voice, O Lord")
- Folder 27: "Holy Week, 1983," ("This week is holy")
- Folder 28: "Home," April 1978
- Folder 29: ("I know not all of that which I contain,") December 1979
- Folder 30: ("I never think of Jesus as being any age")
- Folder 31: "Icon 1: for Alan"
- Folder 32: "Icon 2: for Josephine"
- Folder 33: "In the Hospital," April 1978
- Folder 34: In this time and this season
- Folder 35: ("It has been long since we have seen the glory")
- Folder 36: ("It is Eve who speaks. Hear me")
- Folder 37: ("It is Even who speaks to you. I come to warn you")
- Folder 38: ("Ladybug, Ladybug where have you been?")
- Folder 39: "Leah, left"
- Folder 40: "Leah, the Sister"
- Folder 41: ("The leaves are stained with blood too soon this year")
- Folder 42: ("Let me never, ever tire")
- Folder 43: "Like Every Newborn"
- Folder 44: "Lines after Herbert: Rondel"
- Folder 45: ("Lord of fireflies, Lord of Trees")
- Folder 46: ("Madeleine Saunders Jones is here"), February 1976
- Folder 47: ("Neither virgin nor wise"), 1977
- Folder 48: ("Now I stand outside the old house"), "for 5 November, 1981"
- Folder 49: ("Oh, On this most amazing wondrous day"), "For Clyde and Martha Kilby"
- Folder 50: "Prayer = Naming"
- Folder 51: "Prince Peter"
- Folder 52: ("Quick to cry help")
- Folder 53: "Quiet"
- Folder 54: "Saint George and the Dragon"
- Folder 55: "Scribes! Pharisees! Neurosurgeons!"
- Folder 56: ("The shells lie in my hand like tears")
- Folder 57: "The Staircase"
- Folder 58: "Stranger and Sojourner"
- Folder 59: "Summer's over and not over - though"), Fall 1977
- Folder 60: ("There's prayer within these walls"), "For ENW and the Cathedral"
- Folder 61: ("Today let us reach out"), 1986
- Folder 62: "Triolet"
- Folder 63: Ultimate Questions, for Dana, 4th November 1967
- Folder 64: ("Unlike the other gods")
- Folder 65: "Villanelle of gratitude," April 1978
- Folder 66: "Villanelle for Lena"
- Folder 67: ("Where do we put this beautiful black?"), 1974
- Folder 68: (Why Don't People Touch")
- Folder 69: "Words"
- Folder 70: "Yom Hashoa: A Meditation"
- Box 299
- Folder 1: "Friedrich Kekule"
- Folder 2: "For Bill Johnson after the death of his sister"
- Folder 3: ... and let me not be ashamed of my hope
- Folder 4: Guy F. Day, 1974
- Folder 5: Epiphany, 1984
- Folder 6: On the dying of A.S.
- Folder 7: For Good Friday, 1966
- Folder 8: Broken Shell
- Folder 9: For St. Valentine
- Folder 10: [Luke, 2]
- Folder 11: [I know not all of that which I contain]
- Folder 12: Waka for Easter
- Folder 13: Let this awareness never fade
- Folder 14: Vanite, exultemus domine
- Folder 15: September
- Folder 16: Fight the darkness
- Folder 17: Whispers
- Folder 18: Anamnesis
- Folder 19: After Equus
- Folder 20: This daubed thing of clay
- Folder 21: for Dorothy- -, and for Peter
- Folder 22: For Dana, 4 November 1982
- Folder 23: [We need not wait for God]
- Folder 24: What the wise men saw
- Folder 25: A Christmas Eve sonnet to the Neutrino
- Folder 26: for Doug
- Folder 27: The Particularity of Christmas
- Folder 28: [Like every newborn]
- Folder 29: [He did not wait till the world was ready]
- Folder 30: Advent
- Folder 31: A death
- Folder 32: Sonnet, 3 Lent, 1973
- Folder 33: [Neither sadist nor masochist]
- Folder 34: Christmas Joy
- Folder 35: [Because you're not]
- Folder 36: For Good Friday, 1966
- Folder 37: [The leaves are stained...]
- Folder 38: [The home for old people]
- Folder 39: For 1977
- Folder 40: [People in hell]
- Folder 41: [The older I grow]
- Folder 42: [A year of good-byes]
- Folder 43: Song of Lady Julian of Norwich
- Folder 44: Christmas Eve in a crowded church
- Folder 45: In the hospital again
- Folder 46: A drive in early spring
- Folder 47: For Dana
- Folder 48: Before Baptism
- Folder 49: Summer's End Vilanelle
- Folder 50: [Joy is...]
- Folder 51: [I give you my word....]
- Folder 52: Lent
- Folder 53: Bearer of Love
- Folder 54: [This is the irrational season]
- Folder 55: [From the prison of the tree...]
- Folder 56: Advent, 1980
- Folder 57: For November 5, 1975
- Folder 58: For Good Friday
- Folder 59: [Dorothy's born...]
- Folder 60: [Advent, 1982]
- Folder 61: [...and in eternity, be born - fragment]
- Folder 62: [Without any rhyme...]
- Folder 63: For ENW, 5 November, 1982
- Folder 64: For ENW, 5 November, 1983
- Folder 65: Annunciation
- Folder 66: [Well, when are you coming?]
- Folder 67: And kill the passover
- Folder 68: Ballade
- Folder 69: [Well, Paul...]
- Folder 70: May God hear
- Folder 71: A birthday love letter
- Folder 72: [Let us view with joy and mirth]
- Folder 73: For John Killinger
- Folder 74: For Rory
- Folder 75: [Fifty thousand worth of M.S.]
- Folder 76: [Now...]
- Folder 77: 15 November, 1980
- Folder 78: Holy Week
- Folder 79: Ballade for Advent, 1878
- Folder 80: [This morning at dawn]
- Folder 81: For Edward Augustus Jones
- Folder 82: [Despite Distortions]
- Folder 83: For Shirley, 1919-1982
- Folder 84: [The corners dark]
- Folder 85: [Why don't people ever touch each other any more]
- Folder 86: Phoebe
- Folder 87: Acts 6:6,7
- Folder 88: [Psalm 88:18]
- Folder 89: February
- Folder 90: [Adam, the elder son...]
- Folder 91: June Requiem
- Folder 92: Enos
- Folder 93: Vilanelle for Robert
- Folder 94: [Blinding me with brilliance]
- Folder 95: [A foundation of shared memories]
- Folder 96: [Inner Math...] (fragment)
- Folder 97: Sonnets (Summer in the British Isles), 1995
- Folder 98: Rough sketch of Christmas poem ["Surely it was not silent," unpublished?]
- Sub-Series 3: Prayers
- Box 299
- Folder 99: Children's Prayers
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Biographical],
[
Series 2: Photographs],
[
Series 3: Correspondence],
[
Series 4: Books],
[
Series 5: Journals],
[Series 6: Poems],
[
Series 7: Articles],
[
Series 8: Lectures, Addresses, Sermons],
[
Series 9: Secondary],
[
Series 10: Media],
[
Series 11: Memorabilia],
[
All]
