Ray Roberts:

A Preliminary Inventory of His Collection of John Fowles in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

Scope and Contents

This collection of John Fowles material compiled by friend and editor Ray Roberts reflects the personal and literary relationship of the two men during Roberts's tenure at Little, Brown & Co. and continuing in 1994 when Roberts joined Henry Holt and Company as senior editor. The Roberts Collection of John Fowles contains typescript drafts, proofs, and galleys, publication and publicity materials, reviews, correspondence, and works about Fowles.

The collection is arranged in three series: I. Works, 1956-1995; II. Correspondence, 1965-2004 (bulk 1980-2004); and III. Works about Fowles.

Series I. Works is subdivided into two subseries: Subseries A. Fiction and Nonfiction, 1963-1995, and Subseries B. Other Writings, 1956-1986. Subseries A. contains novels, screenplays, nonfiction, and a book of poems. The works are arranged alphabetically by title and include the novels The Collector, Daniel Martin, The Ebony Tower, The French Lieutenant's Woman, A Maggot, The Magus, and Mantissa. Typescripts and/or galleys are present for Daniel Martin, The French Lieutenant's Woman (selected chapters of the novel and screenplay drafts and proofs), A Maggot, The Magus (screenplay typescript), and Mantissa. Nonfiction titles include The Aristos, The Enigma of Stonehenge, Islands, works about Fowles's town of residence, Lyme Regis, The Nature of Nature, Shipwreck, Thomas Hardy's England, The Tree, and Wormholes. Also included are cover art and publicity for Poems and an unpublished multi-genre work Tesserae.

Subseries B. Other Writings includes Fowles's adaptations and translations, articles and interviews, book reviews, contributions, introductions, forewords, and afterwords, as well as miscellaneous literary writings. The adaptations and translations are arranged alphabetically by title and include Cinderella, Don Juan, Lorenzaccio, and Martine. Contributions to edited volumes include Afterwords: Novelists on Their Novels, Save the Earth, and Whales: A Celebration. The works containing Fowles's introductions, forewords, and afterwords are also arranged alphabetically. Titles represented are Bedside Guardian 32, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, Le Grand Meaulnes, Land, Mehalah, Monumenta Britannica, The Royal Game, and Other Stories, and The Undercliff.

Arranged chronologically, the correspondence in Series II. dates from 1965-2004, but the majority is between 1980-2004. There is a lively exchange of letters throughout between Roberts and Fowles, touching on personal as well as literary matters. In addition, both men corresponded frequently with publishers, literary agents, book dealers, literary journals, and collaborators. A good deal of secondary material is also present, such as tearsheets, publicity, reviews, and material on Fowles's involvement in the town of Lyme Regis.

Series III. Works about Fowles contains articles, interviews, and several book-length works including a special issue of the Journal of Modern Literature dedicated to Fowles, Eileen Warburton's 1980 dissertation, and the typescript of Simon Loveday's The Romances of John Fowles (1985). Also present is a long run of publishers' catalogs that reference works by Fowles or cite his "blurbs" for others' works. The section on Little, Brown & Co. from 1963-1991 is well-represented.

Restrictions

Access:

Open for research

Related Material

Separated Material

Administrative Information

Acquisition:

Purchase, 2004 (Reg. no. 15271)

Processed by:

Liz Murray, 2005

Folder List