Peter Matthiessen:
A Preliminary Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center
Descriptive Summary
Creator: Matthiessen, Peter1927-2014 Title: Peter Matthiessen Papers 1958-1995 Dates: 1958-1995 Extent: 58 boxes, 5 oversize boxes, 2 oversize folders, 15 galley folders (32.58 Linear Feet) Abstract: The collection covers Matthiessen's 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. Access: Open for research
Administrative Information
Acquisition: Purchase, 1995 (R13525) Processed by: Liz Murray, 1996 Repository: Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin Matthiessen, Peter 1927-2014
Scope and Contents
This collection of works by Peter Matthiessen is the first accession of his writings acquired by the Ransom Center. 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. 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.
Separated Material
Numerous magazine issues containing articles written by and about Matthiessen were
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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 Ransom Center's book collection. A small jigsaw puzzle made from a photograph of the author walking in a Buddhist cemetery has been transferred to the Center's personal effects collection.
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I. Works
A. Fiction and Non-fiction
African Silences (1991), holograph notebooks
Box African Silences, Dec. 31, 1985-Feb. 2, 1986, with correspondence 1
African Silences, Sand Rivers, Mbarangandu, Aug. 18-ca. Sept. 2 (no year given)
Africa, March-April 1978: Senegal, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Zaire
African Silences, manuscripts
Corrected typescripts-- "In Western Africa,""Ivory Coast,""Senegal"
Original typescript, heavily corrected, "Senegal, Gambia, Ivory Coast" section
Original typescript, heavily corrected, "Zaire" section
Box Corrected typescript, Congo Basin section, 2 copies, pp.107-145 2
Corrected typescript, Congo Basin section
Original corrected typescript, 5/5/86
Photocopy of original typescript, 5/5/86
Photocopy of original typescript, 5/5/86, 2nd copy
Final corrected typescript, setting copy
Notes and correspondence
Research materials, articles and wildlife publications, 1987-90 [Oversize newspaper Box articles removed to Box 63] 3
Reviews
At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965)
Early draft, corrected typescript
Carbon typescript Box 3-4
Photocopy of carbon typescript Box 4
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Setting copy Box 5
Advance proofs, uncorrected
Film announcement, 1989, photocopy [oversize original from Variety, June 23,
1989, removed to Box 63]
[Scrapbook of reviews removed to Box 59]
[Author, copyeditor, and printer's galleys removed to Galley Files]
Baikal: Sacred Sea of Siberia (1992)
Reviews and excerpts Box 6
Blue Meridian (1971)
Reviews [Paste-up sheets removed to Box 60 and author's galleys with editorial
comments removed to Galley Files]
Cloud Forest(1961), holograph notebooks
First part of trip, Nov.-March
Latter part of trip, April-May
Undated notebook
Photographs of ruins, South America, 1961
Far Tortuga(originally titled "Fool Day,) "(1975)
Original draft, typescript Box 7
Corrected typescript, photocopy
Carbon typescript [with bullet damage] Box 8
Tentative copy, 7/8/74
Setting copy Box 8-9
Box 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]
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Miscellaneous typescript pages Box 10
Scrapbook of reviews, letters, etc.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (1983)
Corrected typescripts, various drafts Box 11-13
Box Page proofs, Samizdat edition with author's holograph notes in appendix 13
Galleys Box 14
Box Materials regarding the Leonard Peltier case, articles, court documents, etc. 14-16
Interview with Agent D. Price Box 16
Circuit Court Judgment, Janklow vs. Viking Press, et. al., June 1984
Dershowitz review in the New York Times Book Review, March 6, 1983, and PM
response
Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews and articles on the film "Thunder Heart"
removed to Box 63]
Indian Country (1984)
Photocopied holograph notebooks Box 17
Original and photocopy typescripts
Corrected typescript Box 18
Setting copy Box 18-19
Author's galleys Box 19
Galleys with authorial and editorial corrections
Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews removed to Box 63]
Journey to the Edge of the World (originally titled "Lo and Behold"), work-in-progress
Box Holograph notebook, "Mustang--Book I,"May 16-June 2 (no year given) 20
Early typescript draft
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Corrected typescripts, undated early draft
Corrected typescript, 1/1/93, 2 copies
Research material
Killing Mister Watson (1990)
Corrected typescripts, numerous drafts, for published work (Book I) and Box unpublished typescripts of Books II and III. 21-37
Men's Lives (1986)
Bound, early uncorrected photocopy Box 38
Corrected typescript, photocopy
Corrected typescript Box 39
Galley sheets, photocopy
Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews removed to Box 63]
Nine-Headed Dragon River (1986)
Incomplete draft with author's corrections Box 40
Draft, 11/17/84
Draft, 11/17/84 and 1/17/85, incomplete draft
Corrected incomplete draft, 4/25/85
Uncorrected draft, 5/27/85 Box 41
Uncorrected draft, 6/21/85
Box Various drafts including sections dated 8/25/85 and 9/1/85 41-42
Box Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews removed to Box 63] 42
On the River Styx (1988)
"Remembering Lumumba" various versions
"Lumumba Lives" corrected typescript and published version
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Photocopy typescript
British galleys, with author's corrections
Reviews [oversize newspaper reviews removed to Box 63]
Oomingmak: The Expedition to the Musk Ox Island in the Bering Sea(1967),
photographs
Sal si Puedes (1970)
Setting copy Box 43
[Galleys removed to Galley Files]
Sand Rivers (1981)
Holograph notebook
First draft typescript
Second draft typescript Box 44
Others' corrections and correspondence
Reviews
Shadows of Africa (originally "Bestiary"), (1992)
Outline
Miscellaneous original typescript with corrections, photocopied excerpts of
published works
Photocopied excerpts for "A Reporter at Large" and The Tree Where Man Was
Born
Preliminary manuscript, 12/5/89
Box Preliminary manuscripts, 1/13/90, 1/27/90, 3/1/90, 4/4/90, 7/12/90 45
Correspondence
Box The Shorebirds of North America(1967) and The Wind Birds(1973) 46
Original corrected typescripts for both titles merged into one sequence with
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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)
Holograph notebook, 9/11/73-11/10/73 Box 47
Holograph notebook, from 11/11/73
Holograph notebook, n.d.
Original corrected typescript
Original corrected typescript Box 48
Corrected typescript, photocopy
Setting copy [oversize hand-drawn maps, endpapers for the book, removed to Box Box 63] 49
Bound proofs with holograph corrections
[Six sets of revised galleys removed to Galley Files]
Maps, notes, articles [oversize map removed to Flat File]
Correspondence
Reviews [Scrapbook removed to Box 62]
The Tree Where Man Was Born (1972)
Box Holograph notebook, Africa, ca. 1969. Last section The Tree Where Man Was Born 50
[Galleys for The Tree removed to Galley Files]
Under the Mountain Wall
Holograph notebook with loose pages, April 11-ca. May 24 (no year given)
Carbon typescript, uncorrected
Correspondence, Sept.-Oct. 1963
[Article reporting the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller removed to Box 63]
Wildlife in America, revised edition (1984)
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Correspondence
Notes and typescripts
B. Articles, Essays, and Other Writings
African Silences, "A Reporter at Large, "article for The New Yorker, July 2 and 22, Box 1986 51
Corrected typescript
Corrected galleys
"Annals of Crime: Peut-être un peu Excessif, "The New Yorker, 11/1/58
"Assateague," typescript fragments (2 p.), essay for The New Yorker
Children of Bladensfield
Holograph notebook, n.d.
Early draft of "Homegoing"
Corrected typescript, "Homegoing"
"Homecoming," typescript (two copies) with correspondence, 1976
Original typescript of text by Evelyn D. Ward
Original and photocopy of revisions of text
Bound proofs
Bladensfield genealogy
[Framed photograph of the children of Bladensfield removed to Box 59]
Box Scrapbook of letters, reviews, original photographs from the book 52
Sand Dune Press incorporation papers
Multiple spiral-bound copies of "Homegoing"--essay on a trip to the island of Föhr, Box documenting Matthiessen family history, printed for relatives. 53
Box Galapagos, holograph notebook, Oct. 27-Nov. 9 (no year given) 54
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George Catlin, North American Indians, PM introduction, correspondence, research
materials, 1988-89
Okovango, Tsodilo Hills, Winter Elephants typescripts, Jan. 1981
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]
Holograph notebook, disbound, Audubon series "Peter Matthiessen's Africa"
"Peter Matthiessen's Africa" Book One: Botswana and Book Two: Tanzania,
photocopy of printed version, summer 1976 and 1977
"Rasputin at Baikal" typescript Box 55
"The Snow Leopard" articles
Author's corrected photocopied typescript, 12/21/76 for The New Yorker articles
published in 1978 and 1979
Photocopy of The New Yorker galleys, "A Reporter At Large,"Oct. 26, 1977
Holograph notebook, "Africa - August (1978)," Tanzania
Tanzania, Audubon, May 1981
[ "The Wolves of Aguila,"Harper's Bazaar, August 1958 removed to Box 63]
Articles and chapter sections by various authors, PM notes, and Snow Leopard Box excerpts pertaining to the study, practice, and history of Zen [oversize newspaper 56-57 articles removed to Box 63]
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II. Personal
Articles about PM Box 58
Autobiographical essay, typescript
Awards, honors, achievements, 1989-95
Bibliography by Chalice Yehling, with correspondence, 1992
Miscellaneous correspondence, PM and Maria
Matthiessen, 1981-1995
Miscellaneous photographs of sea creatures and children
Articles and correspondence re: PM trip to Texas--Austin, Dallas, Irving, 1985
[Scrapbook of reviews of early books, letters, PM's newspaper column, and dust
jackets, removed to Box 62]
[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]
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III. Writings of Others
Box Gross, Larry. "Killing Mister Watson" screenplay, 1st draft, 9/9/94 58
Plimpton, George. "Stalking the wild prevarication, " photocopy of published article
Oversize material Box 59-63
Box Slides of various trips, dust jackets, magazine covers, and titles pages of short works 64-66
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