John Robert Fowles was born March 31, 1926, at Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, the son of Robert and Gladys Richards Fowles. He was educated at Alleyn Court School (1934-1939) and Bedford School (1939-1944), excelling in both scholarship and sports. When his family was evacuated from the London suburbs during World War II, Fowles lived in and became acquainted with the Devon countryside. He served two years military service in the Royal Marines (1945-1947) after receiving training at the University of Edinburgh (1944-1945), but did not see any combat duty. In 1947, he entered New College, Oxford, to read French and German languages and literature, graduating in 1950.
Upon completion of his education, Fowles taught at the University of Poitiers in France (1950-1951) and at the Anargyrios College (1951-1953) on the Greek island of Spetsai. It was here that he met his future wife, Elizabeth Whitton, to whom he was married April 2, 1954. Upon his return to London, teaching remained his profession at Ashridge College (1953-1954) and at St. Godric's College (1954-1963), until one of several writing projects bore fruit. The publication and immense success of his novel
Fowles's major works include
In 1966, Fowles and his wife Elizabeth left London for Dorset, living first at Underhill Farm, then moving to Lyme Regis in 1968, where he resided until his death on November 5, 2005. In 1978, he was appointed joint honorary curator of the Lyme Regis (Philpot) Museum, and served from 1979-1988 as the sole honorary curator.
The bulk of this collection was acquired from Mr. Fowles in 1991, though separate smaller acquisitions were made 1968-1989 for materials relating to
The John Fowles Papers, ca. 1926-1992 (bulk 1953-1991), consist largely of manuscripts, galleys, and page proofs of his works (both published and unpublished), plus accompanying clippings, contracts, correspondence, and research materials.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.
The collection is arranged in five series: I. Works, ca. 1953-1991 (35 boxes), II. Adaptations of Fowles's Works, ca. 1968-1987 (5 boxes), III. Works about Fowles, ca. 1963-1991 (10 boxes), IV. Personal Papers, ca. 1926-1990, (5 boxes), and V. Miscellaneous, ca. 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.
John Fowles and his works are the foremost subjects represented in this collection. Manuscript materials are included for several of his major works:
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
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.
Various adaptations for stage, screen, and television versions of such works as
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.
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,
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.
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, ca. 1953-1991.
Major published works present include
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.
Fowles's role as translator of French drama, as commissioned by the National Theatre, here includes his versions of Moliere's
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,
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.
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
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.
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.
This series consists of adaptations by various authors of works by Fowles, primarily for screen, television, and stage. Included are
The long process of successfully adapting and producing
Scripts for the film versions of
While the Screenplay Agreement files mostly concern
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, ca. 1963-1991.
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.
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
The Reviews segment consists primarily of clippings of book reviews, with the majority of coverage given to the film version of
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, ca. 1926-1990.
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, ca. 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, ca. 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, ca. 1964.
Other files result from Fowles's occupation as an author, but on a more personal level. These include papers, ca. 1964-1966, concerning a libel action for a statement contained in
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.
Other manuscript collections at the HRC which contain materials concerning John Fowles include:
David Higham & Associates Archive. Includes correspondence, ca. 1954-1955, concerning an attempt to publish
London Magazine. Includes a manuscript of an interview of Fowles by Daniel Halpern
Screenplay Collection. Includes a script of
Additionally, the HRC Library holds a large selection of books by and about Fowles (accessible through the online catalog, UTCAT), and the Theatre Arts Collection has posters for the films of
The University of Tulsa also has a collection of John Fowles materials, which includes manuscripts for
Purchase and gift, 1968-1993, 1999
Open for research
Joan Sibley, 1993; diaries added by Liz Murray, 1999
Note: An asterisk (*) in the file listing indicates that a work is unpublished.