Samuel Beckett letters to Warren Brown, 1969-1977

Collection context

Creator:
Beckett, Samuel, 1906-1989
Extent:
1 volume
Language:
English .
Scope and content:

Correspondence with Warren Brown. Ussy-sur-Marne, Paris, Berlin, Tangier, London, March 27, 1969 - April 27, 1977. 32 autograph notes, 5 typed letters with autograph response, signed, 17 envelopes, 11 page typescript, mounted on folio-size wove paper, bound in blue half-morocco with corners, back with nerves (Loutrel).

There is a Scooting Scipt, annotated by Beckett, for "Ghost Trio".

Biographical / historical:

The notes and letters to his agent Warren Brown (from the London agency Curtis Brown) reveal the crucial role played by television in his dramatic production, the international influence of which has been considerable since the Nobel Prize was awarded in 1969. The letters also reveal a politically committed author who categorically opposes any representation of his plays in South Africa before a segregated audience. Thus he responds with a laconic "No question" to the suggestion of a theater director to set up Not I at the Space Theater in Cape Town (Paris, 18.3.74).

A large number of documents relate to projects developed by the BBC in 1976 to celebrate the author's 70th birthday, primarily a recording of the play Not I. He was engaged in rehearsals for a new German production of Waiting for Godot at the Schillertheater. Beckett did not get involved in this project at first: "I leave to Billie & yourself the final decision regarding TV film of Not I. No need for me to see the film in Paris; Here I have by now purged all past sins plus those (I trust) still to come (Berlin, 19.2.75).

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is located on-site.

Location of this collection:
6th Floor East Butler Library
535 West 114th Street
New York, NY 10027, USA
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