John Clifford Mortimer papers, circa 1969-2005

Summary

Creators:

Mortimer, John Clifford, 1923-

Abstract:

The John Clifford Mortimer papers contain the literary manuscripts (holographs, revised typescripts, and revised typescripts with holograph additions) of his novels, stage and radio plays, scripts for television and screen, short stories, autobiographies, anthologies, articles, reviews, lectures and other writings. Please see the container list in the finding aid for a complete listing of manuscripts in collection. The collection contains only a small amount of correspondence, usually from Sir John Mortimer's commission agent, with the piece commissioned.

Extent:

Number of containers: 46 boxes Linear feet: 18.4

Language:

English

Background

Scope and content:

The John Clifford Mortimer papers contain the literary manuscripts (holographs, revised typescripts, and revised typescripts with holograph additions) of his novels, stage and radio plays, scripts for television and screen, short stories, autobiographies, anthologies, articles, reviews, lectures and other writings. Please see the container list in the finding aid for a complete listing of manuscripts in collection. The collection contains only a small amount of correspondence, usually from Sir John Mortimer's commission agent, with the piece commissioned.

The literary manuscripts of this key figure of the contemporary British literary scene, The Bancroft Library first began to acquire in the early 1970s. The collection contains manuscripts of Mortimer's television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, adaptations of his own novels, Paradise Postponed, its sequel Titmuss Regained and Summer's Lease, manuscripts of his Rumpole stories and their television or radio scripts, the screenplay for Tea with Mussolini, and the manuscripts of his autobiographies. Many of Mortimer's works have appeared in a variety of formats, usually as television, stage or radio plays, and also published as books or anthologies. The collection also includes the manuscript drafts for many of Mortimer's articles, essays, lectures, introductions, and reviews.

Mortimer's manuscripts are usually written in black ink (corrected in red and blue ink) or blue ink (corrected in red and black ink), and incorporating, as is John Mortimer's habit, passages from the printed text of the novel, apparently cut from proofs, revised in manuscript. Many of the manuscript pages show water damage, usually along the edges, probably from spilt beverages while being worked on.

While the collection contains most of Sir John Mortimer's works since 1971 it is by no means exhaustive.

Biographical / historical:

John Clifford Mortimer was born on April 21, 1923 in London, England, the only child of Clifford and Kathleen May (Smith) Mortimer. He attended Brasenose College, Oxford from 1940 to 1942, earning a BA in 1947. During World War II, Mortimer served as a script writer and assistant director for the Crown Film Units. The son of a barrister, Mortimer was called to the bar in London in 1948, coinciding with the publication of his first novel, Charade.

Perhaps best known in America for his stories featuring barrister Horace Rumpole, Mortimer is renowned in his native England as both a barrister and a playwright/author. One of his most celebrated cases came in 1971 when he successfully defended the publisher's of the underground magazine Oz, on a charge of obscenity. Mortimer has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including a knighthood in 1998.

Mortimer's works, fiction and non-fiction, reflect on current issues of the day including racial tension found in Rumpole and the Fascist Beast (1979), terrorism and civil rights in Rumpole and the Reign of Terror (2006) and numerous journalistic essays on the current state of politics in Britain, crime and the royal family. He does not limit his writings though to fictional barristers or current day concerns, but has written several autobiographical works including the play "A Voyage Round My Father" (1970) about his parents and his childhood, and books Murders and Other Friends (1994), Summer of a Door Mouse (2000), and most recently Where There's a Will (2003).

John Mortimer was married to writer Penelope Fletcher Dimont in 1949, divorcing in 1971 and marrying Penelope (Penny) Gollop in 1972.

More information about Sir John Mortimer can be found in his autobiographical works, his unauthorized biography John Mortimer: The Devil's Advocate, by Graham Lord and an authorized biography written by Valerie Grove to be published by Viking in 2007.

Acquisition information:

The John Clifford Mortimer Papers were purchased by The Bancroft Library from John Mortimer beginning in 1971, with regular additions on-going. The latest additions were made on December 21, 2005 and July 21, 2006.

Physical location:

Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

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