This exhibition features select items from the Library’s Dr. Seuss Collection, Theodor Seuss Geisel’s personal collection of drawings, scrapbooks, sketches and other works donated to UC San Diego after his death in 1991.
Located on the 2nd (main) Floor in the Exhibition Gallery and the adjacent hallway (towards Geisel Southwest), Dr. Seuss’s Boids & Beasties includes original drawings by Geisel—a long-time resident of La Jolla—and showcases his whimsical and fantastical creatures and creative talent. “Boids & Beasties” is Geisel’s own term for his fantastical creatures.
Dr. Seuss books have entertained and educated for more than half a century. In fabricating tales and bringing fantastic creatures to life in the imaginations of young and old alike, he has given us the likes of the Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, Yertle the Turtle, the Grinch, and the Lorax; we now have places to go like Solla Sollew, Who-ville and Sala-ma-Sond. His style of flamboyant, colorful illustrations, surreal surroundings, and clever yet simple rhymes have made his work recognizable throughout the world. These creations are fun, but with a serious purpose. They teach reading, self-confidence, and the wonderful possibilities of our imaginations.
About the Dr. Seuss Collection
UC San Diego’s Dr. Seuss Collection contains original drawings, sketches, proofs, notebooks, manuscript drafts, books, audio and videotapes, photographs, and memorabilia. With more than 20,000 items, the collection documents the full range of Dr. Seuss’s creative achievements, beginning in 1919 with his high school activities and ending with his death in 1991. Included are early student writings, drawings and class notes; commercial art for Standard Oil of New Jersey, Ford Motor and other companies; stories and illustrations published in Judge Magazine, Red Book Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, and other popular magazines of the 1920s and 1930s; anti-fascist political cartoons published chiefly in PM; U.S. Army brochures and other documents related to Geisel’s service during World War II; drawings and text, both rough drafts and finished renderings, for Dr. Seuss’s books; “bone pile” fragments of preliminary drawings, false starts, and experimental sketches; scripts, storyboards and production notes for screenplay adaptations; his notes as editor of Beginner Books, a division of Random House; and other documents and artifacts that reflect marketing, publishing, commercial production, and public reactions to Dr. Seuss’s work.
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