Descriptive Summary
Bowles, Jane Auer,
1917-1973
Jane Auer Bowles Collection
1944-1966
TXRC99-A16
2 boxes, 1 galley folder
(.83 linear feet)
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
University of Texas at Austin
Manuscript drafts and correspondence comprise
the bulk of this American author's collection.
English.
Biographical Sketch
The author Jane Auer Bowles, 1917-1973, published one novel,
Two Serious Ladies
(1943); one play,
In the Summer House
(1954); and a short story collection,
Plain Pleasures (1966).
The Collected Works of Jane
Bowles (1966) combined these works in one volume.
My Sister's Hand in Mine
(1978) is an expanded edition of
The Collected Works,
containing an additional six short stories previously published only in
magazines. A posthumously published collection of the short stories and a
selection of letters,
Feminine Wiles, appeared
in 1976. Additional arrangements of her work, including some previously
unpublished notebook material, and letters, were published under the titles of
Out in the World: Selected
Letters of Jane Bowles (1985) and
Everything Is Nice: The
Collected Works of Jane Bowles (1989).
The only child of Sidney and Claire Stajer Auer, Jane Stajer Auer was
born February 22, 1917, in New York City. The Auer family moved to Woodmere,
Long Island, when Jane was ten years old. Upon her father's death in 1930, Jane
and her mother returned to New York City for two years before moving to Leysin,
Switzerland, where Jane received treatment for tuberculosis of the knee. After
returning to New York in 1934, Jane decided to be a writer; her first work,
Le Phaéton Hypocrite
(manuscript lost), was completed in 1936. Jane married the
writer-composer Paul Bowles on February 21, 1938. Following their marriage,
they traveled to Latin America and Europe and briefly resided in New York.
After 1948, they lived in Tangier, Morocco, but continued to make frequent
visits to Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Although both were
bisexual and they often lived apart, the Bowles' marriage endured until Jane's
death in 1973. Among their wide circle of friends and acquaintances were
literary, musical, and theatrical figures, such as Tennessee Williams, Libby
Holman, William S. Burroughs, Peggy Guggenheim, and Virgil Thomson. Another
important figure in Jane Bowles's life was her Arab housekeeper and lover,
Cherifa.
Jane Bowles's active period as a writer only lasted for about ten
years; she always experienced difficulty in writing, but by 1950 this
difficulty, worsened by alcohol, became complete writer's block. In 1957, at
the age of 39, Jane Bowles suffered a severe stroke which left her with acute
aphasia and vision impairment. She made several attempts to continue writing
but was unable to complete any work, due in part to the effects of her heavy
dependence on alcohol and prescription drugs. By 1967, her mental and physical
health deteriorated to the point that Paul Bowles placed her in a psychiatric
hospital in Málaga, Spain. The following year she was moved to the Clínica de
los Angeles in Málaga. In 1969, she returned to Tangier for four months but had
to be readmitted to the convent hospital where she died on May 4, 1973.
More information about Jane Bowles may be found in Millicent Dillon's
A Little Original Sin: The Life
and Works of Jane Bowles (Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1981).
Scope and Contents
Holograph drafts in notebooks and typescripts of
In the Summer House make
up the bulk of the Jane Bowles Collection, 1944-1966. The collection is
organized into three series: Series I. Works, 1952-1966 (1 box); Series II.
Correspondence, 1944-1966 (1 box); and Series III. Personal Papers, 1957-1958
(2 folders). This collection was previously accessible through a card catalog
as part of the Paul Bowles Collection, but has been re-cataloged as a separate
collection during a retrospective conversion project.
The Works Series contains three typescript versions of
In the Summer House, as
well as pieces of other works, mostly untitled. Additionally there are four
undated notebooks with parts of stories and plays as well as doodles and
sketches, and one notebook contains a completed short story, “Everything is
Nice.” Two untitled plays and an untitled story round out the series. A
complete list of works can be found at the end of this guide in the Index of
Works.
The Correspondence Series is divided into Outgoing and Incoming
correspondence. The outgoing section contains three personal letters from
Bowles, while the incoming section contains letters from Libby Holman, Ruth
Fainlight, Oliver Smith, and Tennessee Williams, as well as others. A complete
list of correspondents can be found at the end of this guide in the Index of
Correspondence.
The small Personal Papers series contains memoranda of agreement and
medical information from the fifties as well as a letter from the U.S.
Consulate in Madeira, to be used in lieu of a lost passport.
Elsewhere in the Ransom Center is one Vertical File containing
newspaper clippings of Bowles's works as well as reviews. The Literary Files of
the Photography Collection contain over 500 images in the Paul Bowles
Collection, many of which include Jane Bowles and their mutual friends.
Acquisition:
Purchase and gifts, 1967-1997
Access:
Open for research
Processed by:
Chelsea S. Jones, 1999
Other materials associated with Bowles may be found in the collection
of her biographer, Millicent Dillon, and the following collections at the
Ransom Center:
- Bowles, Paul
- Ford, Charles Henri
-
Harper's
- Owen, Peter
See also the Authorized Paul Bowles Website at:
http://www.PaulBowles.org.
Index Terms
Correspondents
Holman, Libby
Fainlight,
Ruth
Smith, Oliver
Wanklyn,
Christopher
Williams, Tennessee,
1911-1983
Subjects
Americans--Morocco
Authors, American--20th
century
Women authors--20th
century
Jane Bowles Collection--Folder List
Series I. Works,
1952-1966
1
1
A-Z; Untitled
1
2
Untitled Red O'Shaugnessy play, holograph notes and
typescript with author edits,
nd,
19pp
1
3-4
Untitled Rita play, holograph and typescript with author
edits,
nd,
238pp
1
5
Untitled story, holograph drafts in notebook with author
revisions,
nd,
29pp
1
The Collected Works of
Jane Bowles, galley proofs,
1966,
143pp (removed to galley folder 1)
1
6
Everything is Nice, holograph draft in notebook,
nd,
33pp
1
In the Summer House
1
7
“Ann Arbor version,” typescript,
nd,
80pp
1
8
Typescript with author notes,
nd,
77pp
1
9
Typescript with inscription to Andreas Brown,
1952,
75pp
1
10-11
Notebooks, holograph drafts and notes,
nd,
379pp
2
1-2
Notebooks (cont.)
2
3
Once by Fire, Once by Wind, typescript with author
deletions,
nd,
50pp
2
Out in the World
2
4-5
Holograph draft fragments with author revisions in
eight notebooks,
nd,
418pp
2
6
Typescript draft fragment with author revisions,
nd,
27pp
Series II. Correspondence,
1944-1966
Subseries A. Outgoing,
1954-1966
2
7
A-Z, Unidentified
2
Subseries B. Incoming,
1944-1965
2
8
A-Z; Unidentified
2
9
Alfred Knopf Inc.,
1944-1954
2
10
Fainlight, Ruth,
1963-1964
2
11
Smith, Oliver,
1956-1958
Series III. Personal Papers,
1954-1963
2
12
Legal documents,
1954-1963
2
13
Prescriptions and medical records,
1957-1958
2
14
Assorted envelopes
Jane Bowles 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 Jane Bowles, the number in parentheses is followed
by the phrase “from Bowles.” So in the example:
Saher, Lilla Van--2.7 (from Bowles), 2.8 (2)
there is 1 letter from Bowles in box 2, folder 7, and 2 letters from
Saher in box 2, folder 8.
-
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.--2.9 (3)
-
Ashbery, John--2.8
-
Ashley-Steiner-Famous Artists, Inc.--2.8
(4)
-
Aswell, Mary Louise White, 1902- --2.8
(2)
-
Bourjaily, Vance Nye--2.8 (2)
-
Bowles, Rena Wenewisser--2.7 (from
Bowles)
-
Codman, Florence--2.8 (2)
-
Fuhs, Claire--2.8 (2)
-
Fuhs, Julian--2.8 (2)
-
Glyndal-Bonnier-Hasselbalch--2.8
-
Goodwin, John, fl. 1957--2.8
-
Hamill, Katherine--2.8 (2)
-
Holman, Libby--2.8 (5)
-
Ingram Merrill Foundation--2.8
-
Kanin, Farson, 1912- --2.8
-
Kominars, Sheppard B.--2.8
-
Liebling-Wood--2.7 (from Bowles)
-
MCA Artists, Inc.--2.8 (3)
-
Mendle, Norma--2.8
-
Moorepark, Howard--2.8
-
Perkins, Helvetia--2.8
-
Saher, Lilla van--2.7 (from Bowles), 2.8
(2)
-
Sillitoe, Alan--2.8
-
Fainlight, Ruth--2.10 (4)
-
Smith, Oliver--2.11 (5)
-
Sorenson, Virginia M.--2.8
-
U.S. Consulate, Funchal, Madeira--2.12
-
Vogue--2.8
-
Wanklyn, Christopher--2.8 (3)
-
Williams, Tennessee,1911-1983--
2.8
-
Windham, Francis--2.8
-
Windward Films--2.8
Jane Bowles Collection--Index of Works
- Composition written during her illness--1.1
- Fragments--1.1
- A Day in the Open--1.1
- Everything is Nice--1.6
-
In the Summer
House--1.7-9
- Lists of addresses--1.1
- Once by Fire, Once by Wind--2.3
-
Out in the World: Selected
Letters of Jane Bowles--2.4
- A Quarreling Pair--1.1
- A Stick of Green Candy--1.1
- Untitled Red O'Shaugnessy play--1.2
- Untitled Rita play--1.3-4
- Untitled story--1.5