Descriptive Summary
Beckett,
Samuel, 1906-
Samuel Beckett Collection
1930-1990
TXRC00-A1
10 boxes (4.17 linear feet),
1 galley folder, and 1 oversize box
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
University of Texas at Austin
The collection is
composed primarily of Beckett works, including drafts of
Waiting for Godot (1952) in the original
French and the English translation,
All That Fall (1956),
Watt (1953), and
Whoroscope (1930). Also present is
correspondence between Beckett and Kay Boyle, Andreas Brown, and
others.
Material written in English and French.
Biographical Sketch
Samuel Barclay Beckett was born April 13, 1906, at his family's home in
Foxrock, south of Dublin. He was educated at Miss Ida Elsner's Academy in
Stillorgan, the Earlsfort House School in Dublin, and the Portora Royal School
in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland (1919-23). He began his law studies at Trinity
College in order to become an accountant in his family's architectural
surveyance firm, but in his third year he started studying modern languages,
particularly French. His studies improved so markedly that he won a scholarship
to pass the summer in France before his senior year, and he graduated first in
his class in modern languages in 1927.
Following his graduation, Beckett taught at Campbell College in Belfast
(1927-1928) and the École Normale Supérieure in Paris (1928-1930). During his
stay in Paris, he established relationships with many important literary
figures of his day, including Thomas MacGreevy, Richard Aldington, Brian
Coffey, Denis Devlin, George Reavey, Samuel Putnam, Nancy Cunard, Sylvia Beach,
and, most significantly for Beckett, James Joyce.
Beckett's early writings such as
Whoroscope (1930),
Proust (1931),
More Pricks than Kicks (1934),
Echo's Bones and Other Precipitates (1935),
and
Murphy (1938) won him neither fame nor
money. Despite his love for Paris and his periodic stays in Germany, France,
and London, Beckett's financial straits repeatedly constrained him to return to
live with his disapproving family in Dublin, where he became subject to mental
breakdowns and frequent, severe bouts of depression.
Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, Beckett worked as a reviewer and
translator for various magazines and projects, including Nancy Cunard's
Negro Anthology (1934). He became
increasingly interested in modern drama as he observed productions of the
Dramiks, a Dublin troupe, and contemplated writing his own plays. In October
1940, he became a member of the French Resistance, and he and Suzanne
Deschevaux-Dumesnil (who he married in 1961) were forced to flee to unoccupied
France in August 1942. The French rewarded his courage in 1945 with the
Croix de Guerre and the
Médaille de la Résistance.
During the late 1940s, Beckett began to write many of his works in
French, including
Molloy (1951),
Malone meurt (1951), and the play that
finally won him international fame,
En attendant Godot (1952). Other works that
helped to establish Beckett's reputation include
L'Innomable (1953),
Watt (1953),
Fin de partie (1957), and
Krapp's Last Tape (1960). After 1960,
Beckett's works became increasingly brief, but he remained prolific until his
death on December 22, 1989. Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1969.
Sources
For further information on the life and writings of Samuel Beckett,
see:
-
Andonian, Cathleen Culotta.
Samuel Beckett: A Reference Guide.
Boston: G.K. Hall, 1989.
-
Bair, Deidre.
-
Samuel Beckett.
Dictionary of Literary Biography.
Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1982. 13.1: 52-70 and 15.1:
13-32.
-
Samuel Beckett: A Biography. New
York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978.
-
Knowlson, James.
Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Scope and Contents
Holograph and typescript works make up the bulk of the Samuel Beckett
Collection, 1930-1990, supplemented by his correspondence. The collection is
organized into three series, arranged alphabetically and chronologically where
possible: Series I. Works, 1930-1987 (7 boxes); Series II. Correspondence,
1935-1989 (1.5 boxes); and Series III. Works and Correspondence by other
Authors, 1959-1990 (1.5 boxes). This collection was previously accessible
through a card catalog, but has been re-cataloged as part of a retrospective
conversion project.
The Works Series contains a wide range of Beckett's writing, including
poems, stories, and plays, spanning most of his writing career. Drafts of both
the French
En attendant Godot and English
Waiting for Godot are present, as are
versions of
All That Fall, Comment c'est, Krapp's Last
Tapes,and
Watt. A holograph version of
Whoroscope is also present.
The Correspondence Series is divided into Outgoing Correspondence and
Incoming Correspondence. Outgoing Correspondence includes letters from Beckett
to friends and associates, including Kay Boyle, Andreas Brown, Aidan Higgins,
Mary Manning Howe, John Kobler, and others. The few pieces of Incoming
Correspondence include letters from Boyle, Brown, John Calder, Ltd., and
Kobler. All correspondents are listed in the Index of Correspondents at the end
of this guide.
The Works and Correspondence by other Authors Series is divided between
works and letters. The works include holograph and typescript drafts of A Poem
for Samuel Beckett, by Kay Boyle, a thesis by Magessa O'Reilly, lists of
holding by other institutions with Beckett collections, publication
announcements, and essays and interviews by various Beckett scholars. The
correspondence and all of the literary works in this series are listed in the
Index of Correspondence and Index of Works by other Authors found at the end of
this finding aid. Elsewhere in the Ransom Center are 10 Vertical Files
containing newspaper clippings with biographical information and literary
criticism in addition to published works by Beckett.
Access
Open for research
Processed by
Chelsea S. Jones
Index Terms
Correspondents
Boyle, Kay
Brown, Andreas
Higgins Aidan, 1927-
.
Howe, Mary
Manning
John Calder, Ltd.
Kobler, John
Subjects
Authors, Irish--20th
century
Playwright, Irish
Document Types
Galley proofs
Related Papers
Other materials associated with Samuel Beckett may be found in the
following collections at the Ransom Center:
- Beckett, Samuel/Lake Collection
- Cunard, Nancy
- Duncan, Ronald Frederick Henry
- Fletcher, John/Beckett, Samuel/Lake Collection
- Hone, Joseph Maunsell
- Hutchinson, Mary
- Leventhal, A.J.
-
New Departures
- Reavey, George
Folder List
Series I. Works,
1930-1987
1
1
Act Without Words (Acte sans paroles), holograph with
author edits,
1957,
2pp
1
2
All Strange Away, two typescripts and layout notes,
1976,
30pp
All That Fall
1
3
Bound holograph with author revisions,
1956,
51pp
1
4
Bound typescript with author emendations,
1956,
26pp
1
5
Anthology of Mexican Poetry,
typescript with author emendations and notes,
1950,
784pp
1
6
Au loin un oiseau, typescript page proof with author note,
1973,
8pp
1
7
Beginning to End, typescript with
author revisions,
ca. 1970,
41pp
(paste-ups, advertising materials, and correspondence related to
publication of the book, including letters from Beckett and Andreas Brown,
1984-1987, removed to oversize box 1)
1
8
Breath, holograph,
1969,
1p
1
9
Le Calmant, holograph notebook with author revisions and
notes,
1946,
45pp
Comment c'est
1
10-11
Holograph in six notebooks with author revisions and
notes,
1958-1960,
477pp
2
1
Typescript with author revisions,
nd,
88pp
2
2
Typescript with author revisions,
nd,
85pp
2
3
Typescript with minor author revisions,
nd,
88pp
3
1
Echo's Bones and Other Precipitates,
printed with author annotations,
1935,
19pp
Eleutheria
3
2
Holograph with author revisions and notes in two bound
notebooks,
1947
3
3
Typescript with author notes,
1946,
135pp
3
4
Embers, three typescripts with
author revisions, one script is a French translation,
1959,
37pp
En Attendant Godot--See
Waiting for Godot
3
5
Endgame, holograph notebook with author edits,
1957
3
6
L'Expulse, holograph notebook with author revisions and
notes,
1946,
3
7
Footfalls, typescript,
nd,
7pp
3
8
From an abandoned work, holograph with author edits,
ca. 1954,
32pp
3
9
Happy Days, two typescripts,
nd,
64pp
3
10
L'Innommable, two holograph bound
notebooks with author revisions and notes,
1949-1950,
302pp
4
1
L'Innommable cont.
4
2
Krapp's Last Tapes, six typescripts
and page proofs, includes French translation, page proofs include
Embers
1958-1959,
76pp
4
3
Malone Dies, typescript with author
edits and notes,
1956,
159pp
see also
Malone Meurt in notebooks 5 and
7 of
Watt)
4
4
Mercier et Camier, typescript with
author note,
ca. 1947,
151pp
Molloy
4
5-7
Holograph in four notebooks with author emendations,
1947,
388pp
5
1
Molloy cont.
5
2
Murphy, typescript with author edits
and notes,
1936,
192pp
Not I
5
3
Typescript with author revisions,
1972,
9pp
5
4
Typescript, with
Krapp's Last Tape,
nd,
23pp
5
5
Play, typescript,
nd,
17pp
5
6
Premier Amour, holograph with extensive author edits and
note,
1946,
38pp
5
7
Textes pour rien, two holograph notebooks with author
revisions,
1950-1951,
82pp
5
8
That Time, typescript,
nd,
9pp
The Unnamable
5
9
Three holograph notebooks with author emendations and
deletions,
1957-1958
5
10
Typescript with author edits and note,
1958,
146pp
6
1
Voyage de mercier et camier autour du pot dans les
bosquets de Bondy, two holograph notebooks with author revisions and note,
1945
Waiting for Godot,
6
2-3
En Attendant Godot, holograph with
author emendations,
nd,
150pp
6
4
Two English holograph notebooks with author emendations,
nd,
163pp
Watt
6
5-7
Seven holograph notebooks with author edits and
additions, includes
Malone Muert in notebooks 5 and 7,
1940-1948,
1267pp
7
1-4
Seven holograph notebooks (cont.)
7
5-6
Typescript with author revisions and note,
nd,
231pp
7
7
Whoroscope, holograph with author
revisions and note,
1930,
5pp
Series II. Correspondence,
1935-1989
Outgoing Correspondence,
1935-1989
8
1
A-Z
8
2
Beary, John,
1963
Boyle, Kay
8
3
1957-1966
8
4
1967-1975
8
5
1976-1982
8
6
1983-1989
8
7
Brown, Andreas,
1973-1977
8
8
Hayman, David,
1955-1982
8
9
Higgins, Aidan,
1951-1965
Howe, Mary Manning
8
10
1939-1981
8
11
1982-1989
Kobler, John
9
1
1966-1972
9
2
1973-1989
9
3
MacGowran, Jack,
1960-1972
9
4
Manning, Susan,
1950-1981
9
5
Ussher, Arland,
1935-1950
9
6
Incoming Correspondence,
1959-1989
Series III. Works and Correspondence by other Authors,
1959-1990
Works
9
7
A-Z
9
8
Boyle, Kay, A Poem for Samuel Beckett, holograph and
typescript drafts and notes,
1979-1981,
58pp
10
1-2
O'Reilly, Magessa,
Formes et Rythmes Romanesques Dans
<emph render="doublequote">Molloy</emph>, <emph render="doublequote">Comment c'est
</emph> et Compagnie de Samuel Beckett, typescript in French of thesis,
1990,
351pp
10
3
Correspondence
Samuel Beckett Collection--Index of Correspondents
Box and folder numbers are followed by a number in parentheses which
indicates the number of items by that person. A single item is indicated where
there is no number in parentheses following the box and folder number. Where
there is correspondence from Samuel Beckett, the number in parentheses is
followed by the phrase from Beckett. So in the
example:
Brown, Andreas--8.7 (9 from Beckett), 9.7 (8), 10.3 (8), Oversize Box 1
(3 from Beckett, 4)
there are 9 letters from Beckett to Brown in box 8, folder 7, 8 letters
from Brown in box 9, folder 7, 8 letters from Brown in box 10, folder 3, and 3
letters from Beckett to Brown and 4 letters from Brown in Oversize Box 1.
- Beary, John--8.2 (2 from Beckett)
- Blake, Mitchell--8.1 (from Beckett)
- The Book Society--10.3
- Boyle, Kay--8.3-6 (139 from Beckett), 9.7, 10.3
- Brown, Andreas--8.7 (9 from Beckett), 9.7 (8), 10.3 (8), Oversize
Box 1 (3 from Beckett, 4)
- Calder and Boyars, Ltd (firm)--10.3 (2)
- Coe, Richard N.--10.3
- Frank, Nino--8.1 (from Beckett)
- Grove Press--8.1 (from Beckett), 10.3 (2)
- Hayman, David--8.8 (21 from Beckett)
- Higgins, Aidan, 1927- --8.9 (33 from Beckett)
- Howe, Mary Manning--8.10-11 (64 from Beckett)
- Hudspeth(?)--8.1 (from Beckett)
- John Calder, Ltd.--8.1 (9 from Beckett), 9.7 (7), 10.3
- Kobler, Evelyn--8.1 (from Beckett)
- Kobler, John--9.1-2 (90 from Beckett), 9.7
- MacGowran, Gloria--10.3
- MacGowran, Jack, 1918-1973--9.3 (59 from Beckett)
- Manning, Susan--9.4 (22 from Beckett)
- Olphant Press--10.3 (3)
- Richar-Rivier, Georges--10.3
- St. Peter's College, Oxford--10.3
- Schwartz, Jake--8.1 (23 from Beckett)
- Seaver, Dick--8.1 (from Beckett)
- Theatre Manager for Paris Beckett Festival--8.1 (2 from Beckett)
- Trinity University (Dublin, Ireland). Library--10.3
- Ussher, Areland--9.5 (18 from Beckett)
- Wenning, Henry--8.1 (from Beckett)
Samuel Beckett Collection--Index of Works by other Authors
- Boyle, Kay
- A Poem for Samuel Beckett--9.8
- Gotham Book Mart
-
All Strange Away colophon--9.7
- Announcement of
All Strange Away --9.7
- Hayman, Ronald
- Interview with Martin Held--9.7
- Kroniek van Kunst en Kultur
- Review of Three Novels by Samuel Beckett--9.7
- Ohio State University
- List of Beckett holdings--9.7
- O'Reilly, Magessa
-
Formes et Rythmes Romanesques Dans
<emph render="doublequote">Malloy</emph>, <emph render="doublequote">Comment C'Est
</emph> et Compagnie de Samuel Beckett--10.1-2
- Tindall, William York
- Beckett's Bums--9.7
- Unidentified author
- Corrections to Samuel Beckett text--9.7
- Washington University Libraries
- List of Beckett holdings--9.7