urn:taro:utexas.hrc.00166 Doris Lessing: A Preliminary Inventory of Her Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Liz Murray University of Texas at Austin 1999 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, April 2001. Finding aid written in English. Tue Jul 22 15:09:25 CDT 2003 urn:taro:utexas.hrc.00166 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (20030505). Descriptive Summary Lessing, Doris May Doris Lessing Papers 1940s-1999 45 boxes, 9 galleys (18.9 linear feet) 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. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin English. 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.

 Acquisition

Purchase, 1999 (Reg. no. 14457)

 Access

Open for research

 Processed by

Liz Murray, 1999

 Doris Lessing Papers--Folder List Series I. Works, 1940s-1999 1 1 African Laughter, nonfiction, 1992 1 2-3 As I Was Walking up the High Street,play, 1967 Between Men,play, adapted for television, 1967 1 4-5 Mimeograph stencils 1 6 Camera scripts 1 7 Rehearsal scripts 1 8 Michael Hasting's adaptation, first draft and preliminary sketch 2 1 The Black Madonna,short story, late 1940s 2 2 The Bones of the Dead,play for television, 1967 Briefing for a Descent into Hell, novel, 1972 2 3 Notes 2 4 Setting copy 2 Galley prints [removed to galley folder] Canopus in Argos: Archives, novel series Documents Relating to the Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire, 1983 2 5-9 Typescripts 3 1 Setting copy The Making of the Representative for Planet 8, 1982 3 2-4 Typescript and galley prints [galleys removed to galley folder] 3 5 Copy edited manuscript 3 6 Setting copy The Marriages between Zones Three, Four, and Five, 1980 4 1-3 Typescript and galley prints [galleys removed to galley files] 4 4 Setting copy Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta, 1979 4 5-6 Typescripts and galley prints [galleys removed to galley files] 5 1-5 Typescripts, cont'd 6 1-2 Setting copy 6 3 Correspondence with Knopf and editorial notes 6 4 Uncorrected proof, Jonathan Cape edition The Sirian Experiments, 1981 6 5-7 Typescript and galley prints [galleys removed to galley files] 7 1-4 Typescripts, cont'd 7 5 Rewrites? 7 6-7 Setting copy 8 1 Care and Protection,play for television, 1966 8 2 Rehearsal script Diary of a Good Neighbour, [Jane Somers] novel, 1983 8 3-6 Typescripts 9 1-3 Typescripts, cont'd 9 4-5 Mockup page layout The Doris Lessing Reader, anthology, 1988; 9 6 Setting copy 10 1-2 Setting copy, cont'd 10 3-4 Page proofs, roughs 11 1 Page proofs, roughs, cont'd 11 2-3 Each His Own Wilderness,play, ca. 1958 11 4 Events in the Skies,essay, ca. 1987 The Fifth Child, novel, 1988 11 5-6 Typescripts 11 7 Setting copy 11 8 First pass page proofs 12 1 Repros 12 2 The Fifth Child,screenplay by Ruth Graham, 1992; never produced 12 3-6 The Four-Gated City, novel, 1969 vol. 5 of Children of Violence, setting copy, The Good Terrorist, novel, 1985 13 1-6 Typescripts 14 1-3 Typescripts, cont'd 14 4 Advance proof copy 14 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 14 6-8 Typescripts 14 9 Camera script, file copy 15 1 Camera script, marked Catherine 15 2 Rehearsal script with rehearsal schedule 15 3 Discarded pages 15 4 Spanish version, 1964 15 5-8 If the Old Could..., [Jane Somers] novel, 1984 16 1-4 Impertinent Daughtersand My Mother's Life,articles; 1984-86, 1991 16 5 Inside Outside,synopsis for television script, 1966 16 6 The Italian Sweater,short story, nd 16 7 Johnny's Luck,very early play, never produced Lectures 16 8-10 Massey Lectures, CBC Canada, 1985 17 1 Opinions, Spring 1985 17 2 Tanner Lectures, Clare Hall, Cambridge, 1982-1983 17 3-5 London Observed (American title: The Real Thing), short stories, 1992 page proofs 17 6 Among the Roses 17 7 Casualties 17 8 D.H.S.S. 18 1-2 Debbie and Julie 18 3 Her 18 4 In Defense of the Underground 18 5 The Mother of the Child in Question 18 6 The New Café 18 7 The Pit 18 8 Pleasures of the Park 18 9 Principles 18 10-11 The Real Thing 19 1 Romance 1988 19 2 Sparrows 19 3 Storms 19 4 Two Old Women and a Young One 19 5 What Price the Truth? 19 6 Womb Ward 19 7 Manuscript fragments 19 8 Related publisher's correspondence Love, Again, novel, Harper Collins, 1996 20 1-7 Typescripts 21 1-2 Copy edited version for U.S. readers 21 3-4 Author's proof 21 5 Edited proof with editorial correspondence 22 1 Edited proof (cont'd) 22 2-3 Editor's proofs 22 4 Uncorrected proofs, 10 Aug. 1995 22 5 Foul matter for manuscripts and proofs Mara and Dann, novel, 1999 23 1-6 Typescripts 24 1-6 Typeset versions Proofs 25 1-3 Author's corrections 25 4-6 Editor's corrections 25 7 Corrected pages 25 8 Publisher's correspondence Maria,play, first draft, nd 25 9 Typescript 26 1-5 Typescripts, cont'd Maupassant Television series, 1962-63 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 27 3 Uncorrected, bound typescript; photocopy 27 4 Setting copy 27 5 Screenplay 2 versions 28 1-2 Mr. Dollinger,play scripts, 1958? 28 3 My Father,article, 1963 28 4 No Witchcraft for Sale,short story, ca. 1951 28 5 One Off the Short List,short story, nd 28 6 Particularly Cats...and Rufus, page proofs, 1991 Play with a Tiger, late 1950s? 28 7 Play scripts 28 8 Czech version 29 1-4 Adapted for television, 1967-68 29 5 Correspondence 29 6 Playing the Game, treatment for a graphic novel, nd 29 7 Reviews by DL 29 8 Rufus, the Survivor, short story, nd The Silent Man 29 9 Play for television 29 10 Story outline for a film 30 1-2 Film outline, cont'd 30 3 Treatment for a film, 1963 30 4 The Singing Door,play, 1971 30 5 A Small Personal Voice: Essays and Reviews, setting copy, 1974 30 6 The Stare,short story, nd The Storm,by Ostrovsky; a version by DL 30 7-8 Typescripts 30 9 Scripts for the National Theatre production 30 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 32 2-3 The Temptation of Jack Orkney and Other Stories, setting copy, 1972 32 4 Edited pages and notes 32 5 Lions, Leaves, Roses.... 32 6 Mrs. Fortescue 32 7 Not a Very Nice Story 32 8 An Old Woman and Her Cat 32 9 The Other Garden 32 10 Out of the Fountain 32 11 A Report on the Threatened City 32 12 Side Benefits of an Honourable Profession 32 13 Spies I Have Known 32 14 The Story of a Non-Marrying Man 32 15 An Unposted Love Letter 32 16 The Thoughts of a Near-Human 32 17 Through the Tunnel from The Habit of Loving, reprinted for Advanced English curriculum The Truth about Billy Newton, play, 1961 33 1-2 Typescripts 33 3 Scripts 33 4 Rehearsal scripts 33 5-7 £20,000 of Love, play, nd 33 8 Twenty Years, short story, nd 33 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 34 3-6 Typescripts 35 1-7 Typescripts, cont'd 36 1 Typescripts, cont'd 36 2-5 Penultimate version 36 6 Copy edited version 37 1-2 Copy edited version, cont'd 37 3-5 Setting copy, HarperCollins 38 1-2 Page proofs, 3/17/97 38 3-4 Author's set 38 5 Edited proofs, 5/12/97 39 1 Edited proofs, cont'd 39 2 Notes and related material 39 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 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 41 5-6 Reviews of DL's works 42 1-5 Reviews, cont'd 43 1-2 Reviews, cont'd Tours, 1981-1990 43 3 1981 France 43 4-5 1981-82 Germany, Shakespeare Prize 1982 44 1 Africa 44 2 Europe, mostly Scandinavia 44 3-4 Japan 44 5 1983 Spain 45 1-2 1984 United States and Canada 45 3-4 1985 Australia 45 5 1985 Norway 45 6 1989-90 United States, Argentina, Germany, and France