urn:taro:utexas.hrc.00219 Peter Matthiessen: A Preliminary Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Text converted by SPI Content Sciences Inc., July 2003. Finding aid written in English. Peter Matthiessen Papers 1958-1995 58 Boxes, 5 Oversize Boxes, 2 Oversize Flat Files, 15 Galley Files (32.58 Linear Feet) Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin Matthiessen, Peter, 1927- The collection covers Matthiessen's forty-year career as novelist, naturalist, explorer, nature writer, and environmentalist. The materials include typescript drafts, galleys, page proofs, holograph notebooks, scrapbooks, correspondence, articles, reviews, slides, and photographs. Acquisition:

Reg. No. 13525

 Access:

Open for research

 Processed by:

Liz Murray, 1996

 Scope and Contents

This collection of works by Peter Matthiessen is the first accession of his writings to be acquired by the HRHRC. The material described here reflects Matthiessen's forty-year career as novelist, naturalist, explorer, nature writer, and environmentalist. Many of his works are represented, ranging from fiction and non-fiction to magazine articles, and contributions to the works of others. The collection provides numerous typescript drafts, galleys, page proofs, holograph notebooks, scrapbooks, correspondence, articles, reviews, slides, and photographs. Thematically, Matthiessen describes native peoples and their causes, vanishing cultures and habitats, and the influence of Zen Buddhism in his life and writings. The collection is organized into three series: Works, Personal, and Writings of Others.

Matthiessen's fiction and nonfiction manuscripts are arranged by title under Subseries A of the first series, Works. Correspondence, research material, and reviews are present for many titles, in addition to material spanning the writing process from holograph notebooks to galleys. Subseries B comprises articles, essays, and other writings. Included are articles written for The New Yorker, Audubon, and New York Times Magazine, as well as Matthiessen's introduction to George Catlin's North American Indians. Matthiessen's interest in family history is found in his contribution to Evelyn D. Ward's Children of Bladensfield and his essay Homegoing, tracing his lineage to the island of Föhr. Travel slides for various trips are found at the end of the collection, along with slides of selected dust jackets, magazine covers, and title pages of shorter works.

The second series, Personal, includes autobiographical and bibliographical sketches, biographical newspaper articles and interviews, awards, honors, and miscellaneous material.

Two works of other individuals are present in the third series: Larry Gross's screenplay of Killing Mister Watson and a humorous article by George Plimpton, Matthiessen's friend and Paris Review colleague.

Numerous magazine issues containing articles written by and about Matthiessen were received with this collection, along with the book ¡Baja! for which Matthiessen wrote the introduction. His many articles appear over a thirty year period in an eclectic array of titles from Sports Illustrated and Architectural Digest to Audubon and National Geographic. These materials have been transferred to the HRC book collection. A small jigsaw puzzle made from a photograph of the author walking in a Buddhist cemetery has been transferred to the HRC personal effects collection.

With the exception of some deteriorating tape and glue, minor water and mold damage, aging newspaper clippings, and what appears to be bullet penetration in one manuscript, the collection is in good condition. Much of the original organization, imposed by the dealer, has been retained, along with the item descriptions which correspond to the dealer's collection list. Some of the larger holdings of draft typescripts such as those for Killing Mister Watson, while kept in the order as received, remain in rough order.

Additional material is expected.

 Peter Matthiessen Papers--Box List I. Works A. Fiction and Non-fiction African Silences (1991), holograph notebooks 1 African Silences, Dec. 31, 1985-Feb. 2, 1986, with correspondence 1 African Silences, Sand Rivers, Mbarangandu, Aug. 18-ca. Sept. 2 (no year given) 1 Africa, March-April 1978: Senegal, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Zaire 1 African Silences, manuscripts 1 Corrected typescripts-- In Western Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal 1 Original typescript, heavily corrected, Senegal, Gambia, Ivory Coast section 1 Original typescript, heavily corrected, Zaire section 2 Corrected typescript, Congo Basin section, 2 copies, pp.107-145 2 Corrected typescript, Congo Basin section 2 Original corrected typescript, 5/5/86 2 Photocopy of original typescript, 5/5/86 2 Photocopy of original typescript, 5/5/86, 2nd copy 2 Final corrected typescript, setting copy 2 Notes and correspondence 3 Research materials, articles and wildlife publications, 1987-90 [Oversize newspaper articles removed to Box 63] 3 Reviews 3 At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965) 3 Early draft, corrected typescript 3-4 Carbon typescript 4 Photocopy of carbon typescript 5 Setting copy 5 Advance proofs, uncorrected 5 Film announcement, 1989, photocopy [oversize original from Variety, June 23, 1989, removed to Box 63] 5 [Scrapbook of reviews removed to Box 59] 5 [Author, copyeditor, and printer's galleys removed to Galley Files] 5 Baikal: Sacred Sea of Siberia (1992) 6 Reviews and excerpts 6 Blue Meridian (1971) 6 Reviews [Paste-up sheets removed to Box 60 and author's galleys with editorial comments removed to Galley Files] 6 Cloud Forest(1961), holograph notebooks 6 First part of trip, Nov.-March 6 Latter part of trip, April-May 6 Undated notebook 6 Photographs of ruins, South America, 1961 6 Far Tortuga(originally titled Fool Day,) (1975) 7 Original draft, typescript 7 Corrected typescript, photocopy 8 Carbon typescript [with bullet damage] 8 Tentative copy, 7/8/74 8-9 Setting copy 9 Paste-up sheets [paste-up sheets for production removed to Box 61] 9 Page proofs [Two master sets of galleys removed to Galley Files and oversize map removed to Flat File] 10 Miscellaneous typescript pages 10 Scrapbook of reviews, letters, etc. 10 In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (1983) 11-13 Corrected typescripts, various drafts 13 Page proofs, Samizdat edition with author's holograph notes in appendix 14 Galleys 14-16 Materials regarding the Leonard Peltier case, articles, court documents, etc. 16 Interview with Agent D. Price 16 Circuit Court Judgment, Janklow vs. Viking Press, et. al., June 1984 16 Dershowitz review in the New York Times Book Review, March 6, 1983, and PM response 16 Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews and articles on the film Thunder Heart removed to Box 63] 16 Indian Country (1984) 17 Photocopied holograph notebooks 17 Original and photocopy typescripts 18 Corrected typescript 18-19 Setting copy 19 Author's galleys 19 Galleys with authorial and editorial corrections 19 Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews removed to Box 63] Journey to the Edge of the World (originally titled Lo and Behold), work-in-progress 20 Holograph notebook, Mustang--Book I, May 16-June 2 (no year given) 20 Early typescript draft 20 Corrected typescripts, undated early draft 20 Corrected typescript, 1/1/93, 2 copies 20 Research material Killing Mister Watson (1990) 21-37 Corrected typescripts, numerous drafts, for published work (Book I) and unpublished typescripts of Books II and III. Men's Lives (1986) 38 Bound, early uncorrected photocopy 38 Corrected typescript, photocopy 39 Corrected typescript 39 Galley sheets, photocopy 39 Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews removed to Box 63] Nine-Headed Dragon River (1986) 40 Incomplete draft with author's corrections 40 Draft, 11/17/84 40 Draft, 11/17/84 and 1/17/85, incomplete draft 40 Corrected incomplete draft, 4/25/85 41 Uncorrected draft, 5/27/85 41 Uncorrected draft, 6/21/85 41-42 Various drafts including sections dated 8/25/85 and 9/1/85 42 Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews removed to Box 63] 42 On the River Styx (1988) 42 Remembering Lumumba various versions 42 Lumumba Lives corrected typescript and published version 42 Photocopy typescript 42 British galleys, with author's corrections 42 Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews removed to Box 63] 42 Oomingmak: The Expedition to the Musk Ox Island in the Bering Sea(1967), photographs Sal si Puedes (1970) 43 Setting copy 43 [Galleys removed to Galley Files] 43 Sand Rivers (1981) 43 Holograph notebook 43 First draft typescript 44 Second draft typescript 44 Others' corrections and correspondence 44 Reviews 44 Shadows of Africa (originally Bestiary), (1992) 44 Outline 44 Miscellaneous original typescript with corrections, photocopied excerpts of published works 44 Photocopied excerpts for A Reporter at Large and The Tree Where Man Was Born 44 Preliminary manuscript, 12/5/89 45 Preliminary manuscripts, 1/13/90, 1/27/90, 3/1/90, 4/4/90, 7/12/90 45 Correspondence 46 The Shorebirds of North America (1967) and The Wind Birds (1973) 46 Original corrected typescripts for both titles merged into one sequence with mixed pagination, plus photocopies with annotations and changes by various authors including Ralph Palmer, one of the collaborators for Shorebirds The Snow Leopard (1978) 47 Holograph notebook, 9/11/73-11/10/73 47 Holograph notebook, from 11/11/73 47 Holograph notebook, n.d. 47 Original corrected typescript 48 Original corrected typescript 48 Corrected typescript, photocopy 49 Setting copy [oversize hand-drawn maps, endpapers for the book, removed to Box 63] 49 Bound proofs with holograph corrections 49 [Six sets of revised galleys removed to Galley Files] 49 Maps, notes, articles [oversize map removed to Flat File] 49 Correspondence 49 Reviews [Scrapbook removed to Box 62] The Tree Where Man Was Born (1972) 50 Holograph notebook, Africa, ca. 1969. Last section The Tree Where Man Was Born 50 [Galleys for The Tree removed to Galley Files] 50 Under the Mountain Wall 50 Holograph notebook with loose pages, April 11-ca. May 24 (no year given) 50 Carbon typescript, uncorrected 50 Correspondence, Sept.-Oct. 1963 50 [Article reporting the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller removed to Box 63] 50 Wildlife in America, revised edition (1984) 50 Correspondence 50 Notes and typescripts B. Articles, Essays, and Other Writings 51 African Silences, A Reporter at Large, article for The New Yorker, July 2 and 22, 1986 51 Corrected typescript 51 Corrected galleys 51 Annals of Crime: Peut-être un peu Excessif, The New Yorker, 11/1/58 51 Assateague, typescript fragments (2 p.), essay for The New Yorker 51 Children of Bladensfield 51 Holograph notebook, n.d. 51 Early draft of Homegoing 51 Corrected typescript, Homegoing 51 Homecoming, typescript (two copies) with correspondence, 1976 51 Original typescript of text by Evelyn D. Ward 51 Original and photocopy of revisions of text 51 Bound proofs 51 Bladensfield genealogy 51 [Framed photograph of the children of Bladensfield removed to Box 59] 52 Scrapbook of letters, reviews, original photographs from the book 52 Sand Dune Press incorporation papers 53 Multiple spiral-bound copies of Homegoing--essay on a trip to the island of Föhr, documenting Matthiessen family history, printed for relatives. 54 Galapagos, holograph notebook, Oct. 27-Nov. 9 (no year given) 54 George Catlin, North American Indians, PM introduction, correspondence, research materials, 1988-89 54 Okovango, Tsodilo Hills, Winter Elephants typescripts, Jan. 1981 54 Holograph notes for New York Times Magazine article Our National Parks: The Case for Burning, with correspondence, Dec. 11, 1988 [oversize published article removed to Box 63] 54 Holograph notebook, disbound, Audubon series Peter Matthiessen's Africa 54 Peter Matthiessen's Africa Book One: Botswana and Book Two: Tanzania, photocopy of printed version, summer 1976 and 1977 55 Rasputin at Baikal typescript 55 The Snow Leopard articles 55 Author's corrected photocopied typescript, 12/21/76 for The New Yorker articles published in 1978 and 1979 55 Photocopy of The New Yorker galleys, A Reporter At Large, Oct. 26, 1977 55 Holograph notebook, Africa - August (1978), Tanzania 55 Tanzania, Audubon, May 1981 55 [ The Wolves of Aguila, Harper's Bazaar, August 1958 removed to Box 63] 56-57 Articles and chapter sections by various authors, PM notes, and Snow Leopard excerpts pertaining to the study, practice, and history of Zen [oversize newspaper articles removed to Box 63] II. Personal 58 Articles about PM 58 Autobiographical essay, typescript 58 Awards, honors, achievements, 1989-95 58 Bibliography by Chalice Yehling, with correspondence, 1992 58 Miscellaneous correspondence, PM and Maria 58 Matthiessen, 1981-1995 58 Miscellaneous photographs of sea creatures and children 58 Articles and correspondence re: PM trip to Texas--Austin, Dallas, Irving, 1985 58 [Scrapbook of reviews of early books, letters, PM's newspaper column, and dust jackets, removed to Box 62] 58 [Oversize material removed to Box 63: Fiftieth anniversary of the Literary Guild, 1927-1977, commemorative booklet re: At Play in the Fields of the Lord, 1965] III. Writings of Others 58 Gross, Larry. Killing Mister Watson screenplay, 1st draft, 9/9/94 58 Plimpton, George. Stalking the wild prevarication, photocopy of published article 59-63 Oversize material 64-66 Slides of various trips, dust jackets, magazine covers, and titles pages of short works