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Scope and Contents |
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The John Fowles Papers, circa 1926-1992 (bulk 1953-1991), consist largely of manuscripts,
galleys, and page proofs of his works (both published and unpublished), plus accompanying
clippings, contracts, correspondence, and research materials. Playscript and screenplay
adaptations of his works are also present, as are some cast lists, film schedules,
and legal
documents concerning film rights. There are also numerous articles, book reviews,
dissertations and theses, and other works about Fowles and his work, which were sent
to him
by students, scholars, and others. The remainder of the collection includes personal
papers
and miscellaneous items, such as audio recordings, diaries, legal papers, nature observation
journals, photographs, receipts, a royalty statement, and school reports. |
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The collection is arranged in five series: I. Works, circa 1953-1991 (35 boxes), II.
Adaptations of Fowles's Works, circa 1968-1987 (5 boxes), III. Works about Fowles,
ca.
1963-1991 (10 boxes), IV. Personal Papers, circa 1926-1990, (5 boxes), and V. Miscellaneous,
circa 1965-1981 (2 boxes). While the materials have been arranged into these series,
the
order of material within folders has generally not been disturbed, except to occasionally
regularize the chronology of correspondence where present. Fowles's original folders
have
been retained as they frequently include title information, dates, identifications
of draft
progression, or other notes. There are also often descriptive notes within folders,
information Fowles apparently jotted down as he was preparing his papers for shipment
to the
Ransom Center. |
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John Fowles and his works are the foremost subjects represented in this collection.
Manuscript materials are included for several of his major works: The Magus, The Aristos, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Ebony Tower, Daniel Martin, Mantissa, and A Maggot. Additional manuscripts
represent poems, plays, several translations from the French ( Cinderella, Don Juan, Lorenzaccio, The Lottery of Love, Martine, and Ourika), various nonfiction
works (such as Shipwreck, Islands, Land, The Tree, and The Enigma of Stonehenge),
contributions to books by others, and book reviews, as well as curatorial and local
history
writings. A number of unpublished essays, novels, plays, poems, short stories, and
screenplays are also present in this collection, most notably the manuscript for Fowles's
first novel, to have been titled "A Journey to Athens," or
"An Island and Greece." |
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Fowles's interest in and role as a translator of French literature, especially of
French
drama for performance by the National Theatre, is well represented in this collection
by
manuscripts and correspondence from Michael Bogdanov, John Russell Brown, Peter Gill,
and
Sir Peter Hall. Correspondence from photographer Fay Godwin concerns her work with
Fowles on
Islands and Land. A wide variety of topics
are addressed in Fowles's non-fiction writings, including American culture, antiquarianism,
art, authors and books, conservation and ecology, criticism, England, local history,
music,
the natural world, philosophy, sports, and writers and writing. |
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Other correspondents represented in Fowles's manuscript files include his agents (Julian
Bach, Anthony Sheil), and editors (Tom Maschler, Ray A. Roberts), as well as other
literary
agency and publishing company personnel, co-authors, solicitors of work, and others. |
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Various adaptations for stage, screen, and television versions of such works as The Collector, Daniel Martin, The Ebony Tower, and The French Lieutenant's Woman are also present. The long process of
successfully adapting and producing The French Lieutenant's Woman
for film is detailed in extensive correspondence (chiefly legal in nature) and contracts,
as
well as through several drafts of screenplays by writers Harold Pinter, Dennis Potter,
and
David Rudkin. Correspondence from directors Karel Reisz, George Schaefer, and to Fred
Zinnemann is also included. |
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Correspondence and writings by others about Fowles and his works makes up another
segment
of this collection. Often Fowles responded to these students, scholars, and other
writers,
sometimes providing detailed commentary in his answers to questionnaires and correspondence.
There are also numerous press clippings of reviews of Fowles's works. |
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The personal papers provide documentation of Fowles's school days, his interest in
observing birds and identifying plants, as well as the analysis of dreams. Diaries
kept
intermittently over a 50-year period are also present,"...deliberately reflecting either my personal or the later twentieth century's
growth," but having no clear literary or historical purpose, according to Fowles.
Legal papers concern a libel action involving The Collector, and correspondence from fellow 1971 Booker Prize
panelists Saul Bellow, Antonia Fraser, and Malcolm Muggeridge concerns the controversy
in
selecting the recipient of that award. |
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This collection offers extensive material for critical, bibliographical, and textual
studies of the works of John Fowles, but contains less in terms of more personal
information, such as personal correspondence, financial or legal records. |
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Series Descriptions |
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Series I. Works, circa 1953-1991 (35 boxes) |
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Includes original autograph and typed manuscripts of works (both published and
unpublished), printer's copies, galleys, page proofs, and photocopies from publications,
as
well as associated clippings, contracts, correspondence, dust jacket designs, notes,
photographs, programs, publicity materials, research materials, reviews, and sketches
for
Fowles's works, circa 1953-1991. |
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Major published works present include The Magus, The Aristos, The French Lieutenant's Woman,
The Ebony Tower, Daniel Martin, Mantissa, and A Maggot, all of which are
represented by multiple drafts and pre-publication states, most of which are heavily
revised. Of special note are an early "urdraft of The
Magos,"clippings which indicate how Fowles visualized the character Alison in The Magus, and a notebook for Daniel Martin. Fowles's other major works, The Collector and The French Lieutenant's Woman
are documented to a lesser extent in this collection. The Collector is represented by a Foreword to an edition, but also
by an unpublished group of poems called "Sequence Four," which were
written as an exercise during the writing of The Collector. The final typescript for The French Lieutenant's Woman is also present in this
collection. |
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In addition to these well known works, manuscripts of poems, plays, translations,
nonfiction books and articles, text for photography books, contributions to books
by others
(numerous afterwords, forewords, and introductions), book reviews, curatorial writings,
and
local history are also a part of this collection. |
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Fowles's role as translator of French drama, as commissioned by the National Theatre,
here
includes his versions of Moliere's Dom Juan, Lorenzaccio by Alfred de Musset, The Lottery of Love translated from Marivaux's Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard, and Martine by Jean-Jacques Bernard. Files for these works frequently
include correspondence from National Theatre personnel, as well as programs and reviews
of
performances. Manuscripts for his translations from the French of Cinderella and Ourika are also included. |
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Manuscripts of several unpublished essays, novels, plays, poems, short stories, and
screenplays are also present in this collection. Of particular interest among the
unpublished works is the manuscript for Fowles's first novel, "A Journey to Athens," or "An Island and Greece". There are also extensive drafts for a work
called "The Device," which Fowles characterized as"an aborted and abortive novel in the 1970s."Numerous
screenplays, in various stages of completion, are present: "The Black Thumb,""Dr. Cook's Garden,""Genesis,""Phoenix," and "Zip." One folder (titled "The Screw") appears to be a collection of miscellaneous
fragments. |
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The works have been arranged in alphabetical order by the last known title, with cross
references from earlier titles. Certain categories of writings (Afterwords, Forewords,
Introductions, and Reviews) have been grouped together under those categories. In
the folder
list, publication dates are given in parentheses, and any identifying description
by Fowles
appears in single quotation marks. All unpublished works are flagged in the folder
list with
an asterisk. |
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When multiple drafts are present, an attempt has been made to organize them in order
of
creation, through progressive drafts, to galleys and page proofs, and occasionally
to the
published versions. Some drafts of manuscripts are not in strict
numerical page order and remain as Fowles left them. Drafts are frequently heavily
revised
and corrected, often with strips of revised text pasted or stapled onto manuscript
pages.
Given Fowles's ecological stance, it is hardly surprising that he sometimes recycled
paper
in creating in his manuscripts. Mostly these papers consist of old school forms or
manuscripts sent to him, as well as occasional incoming correspondence. It does not
seem
that he recycled pages from his own manuscripts in this manner. All original folders
have
been retained as they frequently include title information, dates, identifications
of draft
progression, or other notes. |
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As Fowles's own filing practice kept related correspondence, clippings, contracts,
and
other items in the folders along with manuscripts, arrangement within files has generally
been undisturbed, except to occasionally regularize the chronology of correspondence
where
present. Thus Fowles's correspondence from agents (Julian Bach, Anthony Sheil), editors
(Tom
Maschler at Jonathan Cape Limited, Ray A. Roberts at Little, Brown, and Company),
co-authors
(there is extensive correspondence from photographer Fay Godwin), commissioners of
works
(such as The National Theatre), and many others is located in the context of the works
as
they were created and published. Given the working nature of these folders, little
personal
correspondence will be found among them, and only occasionally are carbons or photocopies
of
Fowles's outgoing correspondence present. All correspondence within the files has
been
indexed by author in the Index of Correspondents. |
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The only folders which have been rearranged are those which included miscellaneous
short
pieces, photocopies of contributions to publications, and the book review folders.
The
titles within these have been separated so that they may all be located alphabetically
by
title. The book reviews are grouped together under Reviews, but then are filed
alphabetically by the title of the review, or of the work reviewed when the review
was
untitled. |
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Series II. Adaptations of Fowles's Works, circa 1968-1987 (5
boxes) |
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This series consists of adaptations by various authors of works by Fowles, primarily
for
screen, television, and stage. Included are The Collector, Daniel Martin, Don Juan, The Ebony Tower, The Enigma, The Enigma of Stonehenge, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Last Chapter, and Poor Koko. These titles are represented variously by cast lists,
clippings, contracts, correspondence, film schedules, photographs of locations, playscripts,
and screenplays. Files often include Fowles's comments and suggestions for these
adaptations. |
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The long process of successfully adapting and producing The French Lieutenant's Woman for film is detailed in extensive
correspondence (chiefly legal in nature) and contracts, as well as through several
drafts of
screenplays by writers Harold Pinter, Dennis Potter, and David Rudkin. A playscript
of a
version for the stage, by Pauline Sheppard, is also present. |
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Scripts for the film versions of The Collector and The Magus are not present in this collection. |
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While the Screenplay Agreement files mostly concern The French Lieutenant's Woman, information regarding the film
adaptation of The Ebony Tower, and film options for Daniel Martin is also included. These papers also sometimes address
the copyright and publication of the original printed works, edition history, foreign
rights, etc. |
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Series III. Works about Fowles, circa 1963-1991 (10 boxes) |
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Included in this series are published and unpublished articles, bibliographies,
biographical essays, book reviews, book-length critical studies, numerous dissertations
and
theses, essays, interviews, papers, and questionnaires concerning Fowles and his writings,
mostly written or compiled by critics, journalists, students, and scholars, circa
1963-1991. |
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Among the formats are clippings, correspondence, manuscript and/or published versions
of
works, photographs, publicity schedules and itineraries, and transcripts of broadcast
reviews. Often Fowles's comments to the correspondents are also preserved in this
series. |
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The files are arranged alphabetically under the name of the author, except in the
case of
interviews and reviews, which are filed under those categories. Among the major published
works concerning Fowles in this series are John Fowles, the Twain Series
study by Robert Huffaker, and The Timescapes of John Fowles,
by H. William Fawkner. |
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The Reviews segment consists primarily of clippings of book reviews, with the majority
of
coverage given to the film version of The French Lieutenant's Woman,
and more recent publications such as Mantissa and A Maggot. Some correspondence, photographs, and publicity materials
occasionally form a part of these Review files. |
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Series IV. Personal Papers, circa 1926-1990 (5 boxes) |
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Consists of audio recordings, clippings, correspondence, diaries, legal documents,
nature
books, a notebook, photographs, receipts, a royalty statement, and school reports,
which
reflect various aspects of Fowles's life, circa 1926-1990. |
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The earliest items in this collection are found in this series, including a photograph
of
Fowles as a baby, and various papers documenting his school days, circa 1939-1945.
Diaries,
kept from the mid 1940s through 1990, are both handwritten and in typescript form,
some
bound and others kept in loose-leaf notebooks. Nature books, circa 1941-1952, record
his
early and continuing observations of the natural world, of plants, birds, and other
animals,
both in England and in Greece. One file in this series denotes his interest in and
approach
to dream analysis, circa 1964. |
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Other files result from Fowles's occupation as an author, but on a more personal level.
These include papers, circa 1964-1966, concerning a libel action for a statement contained
in The Collector, records of Fowles's participation in the panel
awarding the Booker Prize in 1971, as well as a royalty statement from 1976. A small
selection of photographs, probably made for publicity use, completes this small series. |
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Series V. Miscellaneous, circa 1965-1981 (2 boxes) |
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The diaries, containing photographs and some correspondence, 1965-1981, belonged to
Keith
Thompson, and were bequeathed to Fowles after Thompson's death in 1981. Fowles never
knew
Thompson. |
