Main content
Tennessee Williams Manuscripts
Notifications
Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Tennessee Williams (1914-1983) was an American playwright, novelist, and storywriter.
Consists of early versions of seven works by Williams, including the original typescript of Summer and Smoke and the orginal carbon typescripts of Cabeza de Lobo or Composition in the 12-Tone Scale (Suddenly Last Summer), Hide and Seek (Baby Doll), and The Glass Menagerie or the Gentleman Caller. Also included are a mimeographed copy of Period of Adjustment or High Point is Built on a Cavern, the original typescript carbon of the novella Moon of Pause (The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone), and a short story, "The Kingdom of Earth," later rewritten as a play.
Arranged in alphabetical order.
The collection is open to additions.
Purchased from Black Sun Books in 1998 (AM1998-01).
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed in 2002. Finding aid written in 2002.
No appraisal information is available.
Subject
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2002
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
See: Hide and Seek
Physical Description1 item
Play, original typescript (carbon), 32 pages, first typed draft of a very early version. Later produced as Suddenly Last Summer.
Physical Description1 box
Screenplay, typescript (carbon), 109 pages, in an agency folder, with revised pages of the opening scene, 38 pages, for the later version. Unpublished in this version.
Physical Description1 box
Play, original typescript (carbon), 103 pages, includes Title, Production Notes, the Screen Device, the Music, the Lighting, the Characters, with a quotation from e e cummings on the title page. An early version, before the Screen Device was dropped. Margo Jones' copy (Assistant Director on this play).
Physical Description1 box
Short story, original typescript (carbon), 14 pages, with corrections in pencil on 4 pages. This story was later produced as a play.
Physical Description1 box
Novella, original typescript (carbon), 86 pages, in agency folder, with a one-page typed (carbon) note about this novella by Williams. An early unpublished version of The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.
Physical Description1 box
Play, typescript (mimeograph), 92 pages, in leatherette folder. On the title page Audrey Wood (Williams' agent) has written "exact playing version, Jan. 1961, A.W." and there are corrections by her, in pencil on 42 pages. List of the the original cast laid in.
Physical Description1 box
See: Moon of Pause
Physical Description1 item
Play, in two acts, typescript with corrections (copy), 74 pages, title of "Confessional" crossed out, copyright 1970, revised version 1972, with a TLS (copy), 1972, by Mario De Maria of Ecco Productions to Gil Jones, and an invitation card for a preview of the play at the Truck & Warehouse Theatre, N.Y.
Physical Description1 box
See: Cabeza De Lobo or Composition in the 12-Tone Scale
Physical Description1 item
Play, original red and black typescript, with a few pencil notations in scene one for changes, 129 pages, revised version, March 1947, in agency folder, with autograph note on corrections for scene two, by someone, from Williams. Early version, unpublished in this format.
Physical Description1 box