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Doris Lessing:

A Preliminary Inventory of Her Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center



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Descriptive Summary
Repository: Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
Creator Lessing, Doris May
Title Doris Lessing Papers
Dates: 1940s-1999
Extent 45 boxes, 9 galleys (18.9 linear feet)
Abstract: The papers include novels, short stories, and plays for stage, television, and film, non-fiction, works including adaptations, articles, essays, and lectures, as well as reviews of works of this British author.
RLIN Record #
Language English.

Administrative Information

Acquisition

Purchase, 1999 (Reg. no. 14457)

Processed by

Liz Murray, 1999

Restrictions

Access

Open for research

Scope and Contents

This collection of Doris Lessing material, which she personally arranged in 33 numbered bundles, underwent a modest transformation and listing by the dealer, Bertram Rota, before shipment to the Ransom Center. The material is grouped by works as received, with some rearrangement to achieve alphabetical order. Included are novels, short stories, and plays for stage, television, and film, non-fiction, works including adaptations, articles, essays, and lectures, as well as reviews. Because Ms. Lessing did not retain most of her early manuscripts, this collection lacks much of her work from the 1950s and 1960s, such as The Grass Is Singing, the Children of Violence series, Going Home, The Habit of Loving, The Golden Notebook, A Man and Two Women, and African Stories. However, a few early plays and short stories are present. Her later publications are particularly well-represented including the Canopus in Argos series, her two autobiographies, and most recent novel Mara and Dann. Very little correspondence is present, except for exchanges with publishers A. A. Knopf, Jonathan Cape, and HarperCollins, as well as editors, agents, and personal mail, mostly pertinent to her publications and tours.

The collection is organized in two series: Series I. Works, 1940s-1999, and Series II. Reviews and Tours. The works encompass a variety of literary formats and are listed in a single alphabet. Whether a short story or a novel, Ms. Lessing composed directly on a typewriter, but did make extensive holograph corrections. Some of the corrections take the form of added sections which she paper-clipped to the typescript, usually as an overlay to the original passage. These have been left as received and the reader is cautioned to handle these manuscripts with care. Additionally, many pages have small tears and folds which require cautious handling. There are many versions of corrected typescripts, often identified as successive drafts. Production materials typically stem from Knopf editions; other publishers are indicated in the folder list where appropriate. Ms. Lessing's original folders with holograph descriptions are retained throughout.

Series II contains numerous reviews of Ms. Lessing's works which appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide. The tours in this series document the trips she made in connection with books tours and to receive awards such as the 1982 Shakespeare Prize. She travelled extensively in the 1980s, visiting Europe, Africa, Japan, North America, Australia, and Argentina, often arranging to meet with students at various colleges and universities in addition to her other commitments.

Container List

Series I. Works, 1940s-1999

boxfolder
1 1 African Laughter, nonfiction, 1992
2-3 "As I Was Walking up the High Street,"play, 1967
"Between Men,"play, adapted for television, 1967
boxfolder
1 4-5 Mimeograph stencils
6 Camera scripts
7 Rehearsal scripts
8 Michael Hasting's adaptation, first draft and preliminary sketch
   
2 1 "The Black Madonna,"short story, late 1940s
2 "The Bones of the Dead,"play for television, 1967
Briefing for a Descent into Hell, novel, 1972
boxfolder
2 3 Notes
4 Setting copy
Galley prints [removed to galley folder]
Canopus in Argos: Archives, novel series
Documents Relating to the Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire, 1983
boxfolder
2 5-9 Typescripts
   
3 1 Setting copy
The Making of the Representative for Planet 8, 1982
boxfolder
3 2-4 Typescript and galley prints [galleys removed to galley folder]
5 Copy edited manuscript
6 Setting copy
The Marriages between Zones Three, Four, and Five, 1980
boxfolder
4 1-3 Typescript and galley prints [galleys removed to galley files]
4 Setting copy
Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta, 1979
boxfolder
4 5-6 Typescripts and galley prints [galleys removed to galley files]
   
5 1-5 Typescripts, cont'd
   
6 1-2 Setting copy
3 Correspondence with Knopf and editorial notes
4 Uncorrected proof, Jonathan Cape edition
The Sirian Experiments, 1981
boxfolder
6 5-7 Typescript and galley prints  
[galleys removed to galley files]
   
7 1-4 Typescripts, cont'd
5 Rewrites?
6-7 Setting copy
   
8 1 "Care and Protection,"play for television, 1966
2 Rehearsal script
Diary of a Good Neighbour, [Jane Somers] novel, 1983
boxfolder
8 3-6 Typescripts
   
9 1-3 Typescripts, cont'd
4-5 Mockup page layout
The Doris Lessing Reader, anthology, 1988;
boxfolder
9 6 Setting copy
   
10 1-2 Setting copy, cont'd
3-4 Page proofs, roughs
   
11 1 Page proofs, roughs, cont'd
2-3 "Each His Own Wilderness,"play, ca. 1958
4 "Events in the Skies,"essay, ca. 1987
The Fifth Child, novel, 1988
boxfolder
11 5-6 Typescripts
7 Setting copy
8 First pass page proofs
   
12 1 Repros
2 "The Fifth Child,"screenplay by Ruth Graham, 1992;  
never produced
3-6 The Four-Gated City, novel, vol. 5 of Children of Violence, setting copy, 1969
The Good Terrorist, novel, 1985
boxfolder
13 1-6 Typescripts
   
14 1-3 Typescripts, cont'd
4 Advance proof copy
5 "The Grass is Singing, "adapted for radio by Michael Kittermaster, first draft, produced 1976
"The Habit of Loving (Love Story)," adapted for television, 1963
boxfolder
14 6-8 Typescripts
9 Camera script, file copy
   
15 1 Camera script, marked "Catherine"
2 Rehearsal script with rehearsal schedule
3 Discarded pages
4 Spanish version, 1964
5-8 If the Old Could..., [Jane Somers] novel, 1984
   
16 1-4 "Impertinent Daughters"and "My Mother's Life,"articles; 1984-86, 1991
5 "Inside Outside,"synopsis for television script, 1966
6 "The Italian Sweater,"short story, nd
7 "Johnny's Luck,"very early play, never produced
Lectures
boxfolder
16 8-10 Massey Lectures, CBC Canada, 1985
   
17 1 "Opinions," Spring 1985
2 Tanner Lectures, Clare Hall, Cambridge, 1982-1983
3-5 London Observed (American title: The Real Thing), short stories, 1992 
page proofs
6 "Among the Roses"
7 "Casualties"
8 "D.H.S.S."
   
18 1-2 "Debbie and Julie"
3 "Her"
4 "In Defense of the Underground"
5 "The Mother of the Child in Question"
6 "The New Café"
7 "The Pit"
8 "Pleasures of the Park"
9 "Principles"
10-11 "The Real Thing"
   
19 1 "Romance 1988"
2 "Sparrows"
3 "Storms"
4 "Two Old Women and a Young One"
5 "What Price the Truth?"
6 "Womb Ward"
7 Manuscript fragments
8 Related publisher's correspondence
Love, Again, novel, Harper Collins, 1996
boxfolder
20 1-7 Typescripts
   
21 1-2 Copy edited version for U.S. readers
3-4 Author's proof
5 Edited proof with editorial correspondence
   
22 1 Edited proof (cont'd)
2-3 Editor's proofs
4 Uncorrected proofs, 10 Aug. 1995
5 Foul matter for manuscripts and proofs
Mara and Dann, novel, 1999
boxfolder
23 1-6 Typescripts
   
24 1-6 Typeset versions
Proofs
boxfolder
25 1-3 Author's corrections
4-6 Editor's corrections
7 Corrected pages
8 Publisher's correspondence
"Maria,"play, first draft, nd
boxfolder
25 9 Typescript
   
26 1-5 Typescripts, cont'd
Maupassant Television series, 1962-63
boxfolder
26 6-8 Scripts, adapted by DL, Hugh Leonard, and Stanley Miller
   
27 1-2 Scripts, cont'd
The Memoirs of a Survivor, novel, 1975
boxfolder
27 3 Uncorrected, bound typescript; photocopy
4 Setting copy
5 Screenplay  
2 versions
   
28 1-2 "Mr. Dollinger,"play scripts, 1958?
3 "My Father,"article, 1963
4 "No Witchcraft for Sale,"short story, ca. 1951
5 "One Off the Short List,"short story, nd
6 Particularly Cats...and Rufus, page proofs, 1991
"Play with a Tiger," late 1950s?
boxfolder
28 7 Play scripts
8 Czech version
   
29 1-4 Adapted for television, 1967-68
5 Correspondence
6 "Playing the Game," treatment for a graphic novel, nd
7 Reviews by DL
8 "Rufus, the Survivor," short story, nd
"The Silent Man"
boxfolder
29 9 Play for television
10 Story outline for a film
   
30 1-2 Film outline, cont'd
3 Treatment for a film, 1963
4 "The Singing Door,"play, 1971
5 A Small Personal Voice: Essays and Reviews, setting copy, 1974
6 "The Stare,"short story, nd
"The Storm,"by Ostrovsky; a version by DL
boxfolder
30 7-8 Typescripts
9 Scripts for the National Theatre production
10 The Story of a Non-Marrying Man and Other Stories, page proofs, Jonathan Cape, 1972
   
31 1-6 The Summer before the Dark, novel, 1972
   
32 1 "A Sunrise on the Veld," short story, nd,  
photocopy of printed version
2-3 The Temptation of Jack Orkney and Other Stories, setting copy, 1972
4 Edited pages and notes
5 "Lions, Leaves, Roses...."
6 "Mrs. Fortescue"
7 "Not a Very Nice Story"
8 "An Old Woman and Her Cat"
9 "The Other Garden"
10 "Out of the Fountain"
11 "A Report on the Threatened City"
12 "Side Benefits of an Honourable Profession"
13 "Spies I Have Known"
14 "The Story of a Non-Marrying Man"
15 "An Unposted Love Letter"
16 "The Thoughts of a Near-Human"
17 "Through the Tunnel" from The Habit of Loving, reprinted for Advanced English curriculum
"The Truth about Billy Newton," play, 1961
boxfolder
33 1-2 Typescripts
3 Scripts
4 Rehearsal scripts
5-7 "£20,000 of Love," play, nd
8 "Twenty Years," short story, nd
9 "Un Homme et Deux Femmes," script by René Féret, nd
   
34 1-2 Under My Skin, autobiography, 1994
Walking in the Shade, autobiography, 1997
boxfolder
34 3-6 Typescripts
   
35 1-7 Typescripts, cont'd
   
36 1 Typescripts, cont'd
2-5 Penultimate version
6 Copy edited version
   
37 1-2 Copy edited version, cont'd
3-5 Setting copy, HarperCollins
   
38 1-2 Page proofs, 3/17/97
3-4 Author's set
5 Edited proofs, 5/12/97
   
39 1 Edited proofs, cont'd
2 Notes and related material
3-4 "The White Princess," unproduced play, nd
Material on Afghanistan for The Wind Blows Away Our Words, nonfiction, 1987;  
includes "Her Long Hair Streaming Loose" and New Yorker article, "The Catastrophe"
boxfolder
39 5-7 Typescripts and related material
   
40 1-9 Typescripts and related material, cont'd
   
41 1-4 "Woman Alone," unproduced film, 1965


Series II. Reviews and Tours

boxfolder
41 5-6 Reviews of DL's works
   
42 1-5 Reviews, cont'd
   
43 1-2 Reviews, cont'd
Tours, 1981-1990
boxfolder
43 3 1981 
France
4-5 1981-82 
Germany, Shakespeare Prize
1982
boxfolder
44 1 Africa
2 Europe, mostly Scandinavia
3-4 Japan
5 1983 
Spain
   
45 1-2 1984 
United States and Canada
3-4 1985 
Australia
5 1985 
Norway
6 1989-90 
United States, Argentina, Germany, and France