JOHN LE CARRE, one of the world’s most celebrated authors, has offered his literary archive to Oxford University’s Bodleian Library with the intention that it should become its permanent home. Le Carre said: “I am delighted to be able to do this. Oxford was Smiley’s spiritual home, as it is mine. And while I have the greatest respect for American universities, the Bodleian is where I shall most happily rest.”
Richard Ovenden, keeper of special collections and associate director of the Bodleian Libraries, said: “We are enormously grateful that John le Carre has made his archive available to the Bodleian. It is compelling primary evidence of a major cultural contribution to a literary genre and will offer scholars important insights into his work.”
To mark the arrival of the archive, the Bodleian is displaying a small selection of Le Carre’s working papers for members of the public to see on World Book Day, March 3, a university release said. This will include sections from the various handwritten and typed drafts of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which show how the novel evolved in the process of composition from its early working title, The Reluctant Autumn of George Smiley, to the final published text. The display will also include private photographs of Le Carre with Alec Guinness, who memorably starred in the 1979 BBC series, as well as manuscripts of two of Le Carre’s own favourite novels, The Tailor of Panama and The Constant Gardener.
John le Carre is the nom de plume of David John Moore Cornwell. His writing career spans 50 years and 22 novels which have been translated into 36 languages and adapted for film, TV and radio. —PTI