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Strange Scenes in the Ozarks

 Collection
Identifier: MC 1516

Scope and Content Note

Strange Scenes in the Ozarks is a handmade book comprising silk-screen prints. Up to eight handmade inks are used on each page, each applied with a separate stencil. The images and quaint lettering depict wild animals, log structures, scenes, primitive machinery, and other aspects of Ozark life. Oliver produced a limited run of 400 copies of Strange Scenes in the Ozarks. The book is not bound, strictly speaking, but rather the loose sheets are held together with brass fasteners inside a printed cover. The libraries’ collection consists of three copies of the book, each containing a different sequence of prints. In addition are fourteen loose plates, some of them duplicates of those in the books. A collation of the material shows the similarities and differences between the three copies.

Dates

  • 1955

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Marvin Elmer Oliver (1888-1974) was born in a log cabin on Drakes Creek, a few miles southeast of Huntsville, Arkansas. He signed up for a correspondence course in art, only to have World War I interrupt his plans. While serving in France as a company dispatcher and bugler with the 308th Battalion, 7th Infantry, he spent his spare time sketching. He was wounded and sent to recuperate in a Little Rock hospital, where he continued sketching. After his discharge he studied art in a vocational rehabilitation program for veterans, eventually enrolling in the School of Fine and Applied Arts in New York City. Illustrator Charles Dana Gibson was one of his tutors.

After graduation, Oliver worked as a free-lance commercial artist, illustrating book jackets and magazine covers for publisher Harper & Brothers and the Magazine of Wall Street. He also worked for a short time with a Dallas advertising agency before returning to the Ozarks.

In 1927 he married Bessie Simmons of Combs, Arkansas, and for many years the two ran a successful 140-acre fruit farm near Japton, southeast of Huntsville. They moved to Huntsville in 1940 where Oliver worked for the Selective Service. He later served as a state revenue inspector and as a municipal judge. Oliver retired in 1954 and once again turned his attentions to art. Wanting to preserve the old pioneering way of life that was fast disappearing, in 1955 he published Strange Scenes in the Ozarks.

Extent

.5 Linear Feet (1 box)

Arrangement of the Papers

The three different versions of the book come first, followed by loose bookplates, a photograph of M. E. Oliver, and finally a typewritten sheet with biographical information and a short description of the book.

Acquisition Information

Strange Scenes in the Ozarks was transferred to the Manuscript Collections from the Arkansas Collection.

Processing Information

Processed by Ethel C. Simpson; completed in August 2003.

Title
Strange Scenes in the Ozarks
Status
Completed
Author
Ethel C. Simpson
Date
2003
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Department Repository

Contact:
University of Arkansas Libraries
365 N. McIlroy Avenue
Fayetteville AR 72701 United States
(479) 575-8444