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The Claire Necker Papers contain notes, drafts, compilations of images, clippings and publications relating to Necker's research for her publications. The bulk of the collection is in the first series, and consists of folders of notes and drafts, and (especially) folders of illustrations Necker compiled during research for her publications. There are also numerous notebooks listing publications and artworks in some way relating to cats or other animals. The correspondence series is fairly short, and has mostly letters to Necker. The only substantial set of correspondence is with Guy Bogart, who traded lengthy typed letters with Necker and two other correspondents (Bogart apparently distributed copies of his letters to others). Much of the material is undated, but likely dates from the 1960s-1980s, with only some (mostly clipppings) dating from the late 19th or early 20th century, or earlier. Claire Kral Necker was born Claire Kral Nemec on 16 October 1917. In 1939 she married Walter L. Necker, who was then completing a BS in zoology at the University of Chicago. She and Walter shared interests in science and bibliography. Walter worked with a variety of organizations as, at various times, scientist, librarian, curator and rare books cataloger. Claire earned Master's degrees in Zoology and Chemistry (when and where is not documented, though it was sometime before 1968), and after World War II she and Walter started Aardvark Books, a mail-order antiquarian book business. Claire and Walter divorced in 1968, and she found work at a local library. Claire had for some time pursued, without much success, a career as a free-lance writer, but in 1969 she published her first book, Cats and Dogs (A. S. Barnes). Necker's other works include The Natural History of Cats (Delta, 1970), Supernatural Cats; An Anthology (Doubleday, 1972), Four Centuries of Cat Books (Scarecrow Press, 1972), and The Cat's Got Our Tongue (Scarecrow Press, 1973). She died 19 March 2010 in Pawling, New York. Less