Frances Salomon Murphy was an elementary school teacher and children’s book author. She published two children’s books in the 1950s, A Nickel for Alice (1951) and Ready-Made Family (1953). Both A Nickel for Alice (later reprinted under the title Runaway Alice) and Ready-Made Family tell the stories of orphans growing up in the foster-care system. She also wrote a textbook for her third-grade social studies curricula, History of Portland, Connecticut (1969), which was published posthumously.

The Frances Salomon Murphy writings include the final draft and production material for her 1953 book Ready-Made Family. The collection includes a revised typescript, galleys, page proofs with illustrations, the designed and typeset front matter, plate proofs, and the finished book jacket. The production materials were compiled by Crowell, the book’s publisher, as a “Production File: Showing How the Book, Ready Made Family, Was Made."

This collection is arranged in order of creation. It is housed in the same box as the Jim Arnosky illustrations and the Margaret O. Hyde papers.

Publication Information:

Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection, March 2012

Finding Aid Author:

Finding aid prepared by Caitlin Goodman

Sponsor:

The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources’ “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.

Access Restrictions:

This collection is open to researchers by appointment. Please contact the Curator for information.

Use Restrictions:

The right of access to material does not imply the right of publication. Permission for reprinting, reproduction, or extensive quotation from the rare books, manuscripts, prints, or drawings must be obtained through written application, stating the use to be made of the material. The reader bears the responsibility for any possible infringement of copyright laws in the publication of such material. A reproduction fee will be charged if the material is to be reproduced in a commercial publication.

• Book jackets
• Galley proofs
• Manuscripts
• Proofs (printed matter)

• Woodbury, Mabel

• Children's authors--20th century
• Children's literature--20th century