urn:taro:utexas.hrc.00362 Arnold Wesker: A Preliminary Inventory of an Addition to His Papers in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Liz Murray Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, 2004 Finding aid encoded by Matt Travis, 2008 Finding aid written in English The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Wesker, Arnold, 1932- Addition to the Arnold Wesker Papers 1958-2001 28 boxes, 1 oversize box (13.52 linear feet) This addition to the papers of British playwright Arnold Wesker complements and expands the accessions already received at the Ransom Center. Although they do not contain new works, the papers do provide some important drafts of existing plays, as well as additional material in virtually every subject category. English Scope and Contents

This addition to the papers of British playwright Arnold Wesker complements and expands the accessions already received at the Ransom Center. Although they do not contain new works, the papers do provide some important drafts of existing plays, as well as additional material in virtually every subject category. So too, the date span includes a fifty year period from the onset of Wesker's professional career to the near present.

Following the arrangement of the previous preliminary inventory, this material is organized in five series: Series I. Works and Related Material, 1960-1995; Series II. Career Related; Series III. Correspondence, 1966-2001; Series IV. Personal; and Series V. Works of Others.

Series I. Works and Related Material contains manuscript and associated material for produced and unproduced works, primarily stage plays. Of particular interest is the original handwritten manuscript and first corrected draft for Chips with Everything, as well as additional drafts of Shylock. Some material for film and television is also included; however, no titles beyond 1995 are present.

The Career Related series consists of Subseries A. Events, Subseries B. Organizations, and Subseries C. Early Writings and Journalism. The events in Subseries A include addresses, lectures, readings, speeches, radio presentations, tributes, conferences, and festivals from 1958-1997. Organizations are represented in Subseries B, especially correspondence and related material for Centre 42 and Roundhouse from 1960-1968. Subseries C provides additional writings and journalism in the form of articles, essays, contributions to other works, letters to the editor, poetry, reviews, and short stories from 1958-1998.

The correspondence in Series III dates from 1966-2001 and includes general correspondence, as well as letters from individuals such as Brenda Bruce, Francesca Pollard, Connie Ricono, and Walt-Christopher Stickney.

Series IV. Personal contains articles about Wesker, biographical information, daily calendars, family and financial papers, and interviews, as well as theses, dissertations, and research projects on Wesker's plays.

The works of others in Series V consist of plays sent to Wesker for his comment, as well as other works of well-known writers such as Doris Lessing. Also present are various writings of Wesker's brother-in-law, Ralph Saltiel.

The collection is in good physical condition with the exception of several items which have incurred mold damage.

 Acquisition:

Purchase, 2000 (Reg. no. 14620.3)

 Access:

Open for research

 Processed by:

Liz Murray, 2004

Books and sound recordings received with this accession have been transferred to appropriate departments with in the Ransom Center.

 Folder List Series I. Works and Related Material, 1960-1995 1 Annie Wobbler, play, published versions 1 1 Teatro festival Parma, 1986 1 2 Words International, Jan.-Feb. 1988 1 As Much As I Dare, autobiography (Century paperback, 1995) 1 3-6 Corrected page proofs 1 7 Notes on childhood 1 8 Beorhtel's Hill, autograph book of those associated with play, 1989 2 1 Bluey, play, published version in Words August 1985 2 2-3 Caritas, opera, orchestral and vocal scores, 1991 2 Chips with Everything, play 2 4 Original handwritten manuscript, Sept.-Dec. 1960 2 5 First corrected typescript draft, Dec. 1960 2 6 Associated material 2 7 Four Portraits--of Mothers, play, published version in Stand Magazine, Winter 1987-88 2 The Four Seasons, play 2 8 Corrected typescript for Cape edition, 1965 2 9 For Figaro, handwritten draft for Gaieté Montparnasse, Paris performance, 1968 2 The Friends, play 2 10 Published version in Plays and Players, Oct. 1970 2 11 Revised version of Manfred's speech 2 12 Reviews, 1970 2 13 Homage to Catalan, notes for a film, Nov. 1980 2 14 Love Letters on Blue Paper, play, first typescript draft, Sept. 1975 2 15 The Old Ones, play, published version in Plays and Players, Oct. 1972 3 1 Roots, play, production photographs for Czech premiere in Olomouc, Feb. 1961 3 Shylock (The Merchant), play 3 2 Fourth draft, Oct. 1975 3 3 Fifth draft, May 1976 3 4 Three scenes from The Merchant in The Jewish Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1976 3 5 Associated production material 3 6 Musical score for actor, speaker, and woodwind quintet, 1998 3 7 Six Sundays in January, play, stage adaptation by Eugene O'Sullivan, 1st draft, Aug. 1975 3 8 Stand Up! Stand Up!, scene 7 from proposed musical, 1960 3 9 Thieves in the Night, television play, notes and correspondence 3 10 The Wedding Feast, early version of play in Plays and Players, April 1977 3 11 The Wesker Trilogy, plays, production notes, 1978 3 12 Yardsale, play, printed version in Plays International, April 1987 Series II. Career Related Subseries A. Events 4 Addresses, lectures, readings, speeches, radio presentations, and tributes 4 1 1958-60 4 2 1961-67 4 3 1974-83 4 4 1986, Declaration 2, lecture 4 5 1988-92 4 6 1997, commencement speech, Denison University 5 Conferences and festivals 5 1 Writing '78, First Lancaster Festival of Literature, April-May 1978 5 2 Caracas 7th International Theatre Festival, 1987-88 5 3 The Atlantic Seminar/Arthur Miller Centre for American Studies, 1989 5 Subseries B. Organizations 5 4-5 British/Israel Arts Foundation, 1988 5 Centre 42 and Roundhouse, correspondence 5 6-7 1960-62 6 1-2 1967-68 6 3 Early supporters, 1961 6 4 Israel/UNESCO/ITT, 1974-75 6 Subseries C. Early Writings and Journalism 6 Articles and essays 6 5 1959-61 6 6 1962-72 6 7 1972-77 7 1 1980-83 7 2 1985-92 7 3* 1994-98 [*oversize material removed to box 29] 7 4 Catching up with Wesker, brochure 7 5 Contributions to other works, 1963-95 7 6 Letters to the editor, 1958-89 7 7 Lists of plays sent to others 8 1 Miscellaneous writings, 1958-96 8 Poetry 8 2 1960-78 8 3 1980-92 8 4 Reviews of others' works, 1960-93 8 Short stories 8 5 1958-73 8 6 1975-76 Series III. Correspondence, 1966-2001 9 1 Bruce, Brenda, 1994-95 9 Cards 9 2 Birthday, 1997 9 4-6 Christmas, 1988 10 1 Cards, Christmas, cont'd 10 2 Codrescu, Andrei, 1997 10 3 Fun Art Bus project, 1972 10 General correspondence 10 4 A, 1982-89 10 5-6 B, 1982-89 10 7 D, 1972-89 10 8 G, 1985-89 11 1-2 H, 1972-87 11 3 J, 1968, 1972-89 (bulk) 11 4 K, 1967, 1978-87 (bulk) 11 5 M, 1971-84 11 6 P, 1985-89 11 7 S, 1968 12 1 U-V, 1972-89 12 2 Media Enterprises, U.K. agent, 1988-89 12 3 New Outlook, Middle East monthly, 1988-89 12 4 Nicholson, Steve, re 1962 production of The Wesker Trilogy, 2001 12 5 Orwell Memorial Fund Award, 1983-88 12 6 Passwords project, 1986 12 7 Pollard, Francesca, 1990 12 8 Requests for help, 1975, 1988-89 (bulk) 13 1 Ricono, Connie, 1966-88 13 2-3* Stickney, Walt-Christopher, 1978-86 [*oversize material removed to box 29] Series IV. Personal 13 Articles about AW 13 4 1958-61 13 5 1962-63 13 6 1964-65 14 1 1965-66 14 2 1966-69 14 3 1970-73 14 4 1974-78 14 5 1978-83 15 1 1984-89 15 2 1992-97 15 3 Bicker, Hilda (Dusty Wesker's mother); guide to audio tapes, 1982 15 4 Biographical information 15 5 Clippings, general, art and artists, 1988-96 15 6 Daily calendar, 1988-89 15 Family papers 15 7-8 Aunt Annie Wesker, 1984-90 15 9 Family tree (partial) 15 Financial papers 15 10 Access Mastercard, 1983-84 15 * Account ledgers, June 1985-Dec. 1987 [*removed to box 29] 15 11 American Express, 1981-89 16 Bank statements 16 1 1983-92, various accounts 16 2 1985-88 16 3-4 1989-94 16 Cancelled checks 16 5-6 1983 16 7 1984 17 1-3 1985 17 4-7 1986 18 1 1987 18 Check stubs 18 2 1973-77, 1983 18 3-4 1984-85 19 1-2 1986-87 19 3 1992 19 4 Fees received record, 1979-85 19 5-6 Petty cash receipts, 1991-92 19 Receipts, household expenses 19 7-8 1983 20 1 1983, cont'd 20 2 1984 20 3-4 1985 20 5-8 1986 20 9 1987 20 Receipts, payment 21 1-2 1991-92 21 3-4 1992-93 22 1 1992-93, cont'd 22 Receipts, foreign travel 22 2 1982-83 22 3-6 1984-87 22 7 1991-92 22 8 Royalties account ledger, 1971-79 23 Royalty receipts 23 1 1983-84 23 2-4 1985-86 23 5-8 1991-93 24 Interviews 24 1 1960-71 24 2* 1971-73 [*oversize material removed to box 29] 24 3 1976-97 24 4-5 Meeting with the PLO, 1989 24 6 Memo sheets, 1992-98 24 7 Police report regarding ferocious dogs, Dec. 1972 25 Theses, dissertations, and research projects 25 1 DaRin, Patricia, The figure of the translator in the theatre <emph render="italic">The Journalists</emph>..., thesis, 1988 25 2 Diaz Smith, América, Arnold Wesker. Teatro de mensaje a través de una voz femenina, 1996 25 3 Portale, Rosario, The Old Ones, 1987 25 4 Ruggiero, Laura, <emph render="italic">The Merchant</emph> by Arnold Wesker and <emph render="italic">The Merchant of Venice</emph> by William Shakespeare, dissertation, 1986 25 5 Vesty, Robert, An examination of Arnold Wesker's <emph render="italic">Their Very Own and Golden City</emph> and <emph render="italic">The Friends</emph> set in the context of his involvement in the Centre 42 movement, research project Series V. Works of Others 26 1 Ain, Noa, The Outcast, opera 26 2 Appignanesi, Richard, Yukio Mishima's Report to the Emperor, novel 26 3 Arbuzov, Aleksei, Old World, play 26 4 Brown, Angela, "Poems" 26 5 Cintra, Manuel, The Little Devil Who Came Out of Hell, play 26 6-8 Cuneo, Anne, Victoria's Reach, novel 26 9 Davidson, Jillian, Personal Bereavement and Collective Mourning, dissertation 26 10 Goldman, Frederick, Incident in Iberia, play 26 11 Halévy, Sunny, Zeitgeist, film treatment 26 12 Hoban, Russell, Kleinzeit, film script 27 1 Johnson, Keith, Love Amongst the Animals, play 27 2 Lessing, Doris, To Play with a Tiger, play 27 3-4 Moorcroft, Paul, The Anchoress, novel 27 5 Mornin, Daniel, All Our Fault, novel 27 6 Pagano, Rik, Goose Amid the Revolt, play 27 7 Parker, Sylvia, The Magic Money Box, story for children 27 8-9 Rowland, Roland, material regarding the Lonrho affair 28 1 Saderman, Alex, Victoria, film synopsis 28 2-3 Saltiel, Ralph, various works 28 4 Stewart, Donald Ogden, The Kidders, play 28 5 Tabori, George, Mein Kampf, play 28 6 Triana, Jose, The Criminals, play 28 7 Unnamed author, The Family Tree, galley proofs 28 Wolf, Ostein Wingaard 28 8 The King is in His Heaven, novel 28 9 "Poems" 28 10 The Portuguese Man-of-War, novel extracts 29 Oversize