Finding Aid to the Seán O'Faoláin Papers
Lara Michels
The Bancroft Library
The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
(510) 642-6481
bancref@library.berkeley.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Seán O'Faoláin (Sean O'Faolain) papers
creator:
O’Faoláin, Seán
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 74/111 z
Physical Description:
6 Linear Feet
3 cartons, 5 boxes, 1 oversize folder
Date (inclusive): 1927-1987
Abstract: A collection of Irish writer Seán O'Faoláin's correspondence and manuscript writings.
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of without permission of the copyright owner. The copyright for unpublished
manuscript material in this collection is held by the donor. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Seán O'Faoláin papers are of varied provenance. Parts of the collection were purchased from Seán O'Faoláin between 1973
and 1984. The letters to Neil Middleton were purchased from David J. Holmes in 1987. The letters to James D. Hart were gifted
to the Bancroft Library by Seán O'Faoláin in 1984. Provenance is often indicated on collection folders.
Processing Information
Electronic finding aid created in 2015 (based, in part, on an earlier analog container list). Five smaller accessions of Seán
O'Faoláin papers (BANC MSS 85/172 z; BANC MSS 85/58 z; 88/155 z; BANC MSS 88/163 z; and BANC MSS 99/16 z) were merged into
BANC MSS 74/111 z by Lara Michels in 2015.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Seán O'Faoláin papers, BANC MSS 74/111 z, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Biographical / Historical
Seán O'Faoláin (1900-1991) was born John Francis Whelan in Cork City, Ireland. He is well known for his short stories, but
also authored four novels, a memoir, and other non-fiction. His work (and his name change) was shaped by the renewed interest
in Irish culture sparked by the Irish literary renaissance of the early twentieth century. O'Faoláin's first collection of
stores was
Midsummer Night Madness and Other Stories (1932) and his first novel was
A Nest of Simple Folk (1933). O'Faoláin's
Collected Stories were published in 1983.
Content Note
The collection consists of some correspondence, mostly incoming, dating from approximately 1927 to 1987. Correspondence, dating
from 1972, concerns a petition about detention without trial in Northern Ireland. Much of the collection consists of manuscripts
of O'Faoláin's writings, including revised typescripts for many of his stories, as well as manuscripts for his novel
And Again? and his memoir,
Vive Moi!.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
O’Faoláin, Seán--Archives
O’Faoláin, Seán
Hart, James D. (James David)
O'Connor, Frank
Authors, Irish -- 20th century
Detention of persons -- Great Britain
Manuscripts for publication
Series 1:
Correspondence
1927-1987
Physical Description: Box 1-3
Subseries 1.1:
Outgoing
Physical Description: Box 1
box 1, folder 2
Driscoll, Michael
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 1, folder 3-6
Hart, J.D.
1972-1987
Physical Description: 31 letters.
Content Note
To James D. Hart, chiefly concerning O'Faolain correspondence and papers held at The Bancroft Library. Also includes a photocopy
of an article by O'Faolain, "The Art of Autobiography," from The Listener, May 19, 1966.
box 1, folder 7
Middleton, Neil
1980-1982
Physical Description: 8 letters.
Content Note
Mainly related to a collection of O'Faolain's works. Also includes 4 printed pages from the appendix to The Irish, annotated;
and 8 typescript (4 carbon) revisions of appendix to The Irish.
box 1, folder 8
Mr. Pinker (literary agent)
1928-1939
Physical Description: 18 letters.
box 1, folder 9
Rippier, Joseph S.
1970-1975
Physical Description: 7 letters.
Content Note
Correspondence concerns in part Mr. Rippier's dissertation, in which he sought to conclude that O'Faolain introduced minor
changes into certain stories between their original appearance and their appearance in the collected edition, Finest stories,
published by Bantam. Also dealt with are literary influences on O'Faolain, and some personal matters.
box 1, folder 10
Sam [?]
1962-1963
Physical Description: 3 letters.
box 1, folder 11
Christmas cards
approximately 1957
Physical Description: 2 cards.
Content Note
One addressed to John and Mary [Marshall] and one to an unidentified recipient.
Subseries 1.2:
Incoming
Physical Description: Box 2-3
box 2, folder 1
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
May 12, 1976
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 2
Annan, Baron Noel Gilroy
November 11, [?]
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 3
Atlantic Monthly Press (Peter Davison)
April 6, 1967
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 4
Baker, Carlos Heard
undated
Physical Description: 1 note.
box 2, folder 5
Barea, Arturo
November 13, 1953
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Contents
Regarding Ernest Hemingway and reception of
For Whom the Bell Tolls.
box 2, folder 6
Benson, Theodora
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Regarding Evelyn Waugh and the Twenties generally.
box 2, folder 7
Betjeman, Sir John
1968-1972
Physical Description: 10 letters.
Content Note
1971 letter addressed to Julia O'Faoláin.
box 2, folder 8
Böll, Heinrich
January 30, 1968
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 9
Bowen, Elizabeth
approximately 1939-1972
Physical Description: 3 letters.
Content Note
1 addressed to Julia O'Faoláin and 1 incomplete.
box 2, folder 10
Burns, Thomas F.
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Written as editor of
The Tablet.
box 2, folder 11
Cagney, E.
June 14, 1962
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 12
Colum, Padraic
February 1, 1968
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 13
The Critic
July 25, 1969
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
By Joel Wells.
box 2, folder 14
Cuala Press
September 19, 1932
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
By Elizabeth C. Yeats.
box 2, folder 15
Curtis Brown Ltd.
1955-1970
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Content Note
By Alan C. Collins and Emilie Jacobsen regarding O'Faoláin's
A Land of Dreams and
How to Write a Short Story.
box 2, folder 16
Day-Lewis, Cecil
February 17, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Addressed to Julia O'Faoláin.
box 2, folder 17
Ellman, Richard
1967-1976
Physical Description: 10 letters.
box 2, folder 18
Emmanuel, Pierre
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 19
Farrell, James Thomas
1973
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 2, folder 20
Friel, Brian
May 19, 1971
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 21
Garnett, Edward
approximately 1933
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Content Note
With note by Seán O'Faoláin regarding one of the letters.
box 2, folder 22
Gogarty, Oliver St. John
1936
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Content Note
To Mrs. O'Faoláin.
box 2, folder 23
The Golden Cockerel Press
1932-1934
Physical Description: 8 letters.
Content Note
By Robert Gibbings and Owen Rutter.
box 2, folder 24
Greene, Graham
1976
Physical Description: 3 letters.
box 2, folder 25
Hackett, Francis
November 7, 1934
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Regarding P.E.N. Club.
box 2, folder 26
Heaney, Seamus
approximately December 15, 1975
Physical Description: 1 postcard.
box 2, folder 27
Higgins, Frederick Robert
April 24, 1939
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 28
Horgan, Paul
May 22, 1966
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 29
Irish Academy of Letters
1968
Physical Description: 3 letters.
Content Note
By Mervyn Wall.
box 2, folder 30
Kelleher, John V.
1955
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Content Note
Regarding O'Faoláin's
A Land of Dreams or
Alien with a Passport.
box 2, folder 31
Lavin, Mary
1970-1972
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 2, folder 32
Leicester, Edward
February 22, 1968
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 33
Macaulay, Dame Rose
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 34
MacCarthy, Robert B.
1975-1976
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Content Note
Regarding funds for a projected memorial to Elizabeth Bowen.
box 2, folder 35
Maritain, Jacques
March 10, 1956
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 36
Mathew, Gervase
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
On Graham Greene.
box 2, folder 37
Maureen (typist)
1973
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 38
Mortimer, Raymond
December 7, 1953
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Regarding Evelyn Waugh.
box 2, folder 39
O'Connor, Frank
approximately 1932-1954
Physical Description: 33 letters.
Content Note
Mainly signed by M. or MOD. Frank O'Connor was born Michael O'Donovan. With clippings of a letter by o'Connor, September 13,
1936, protesting ban in O'Faoláin's
Bird Alone; comment by O'Connor; article on Ireland written for
Holiday; obituaries and tributes at the time of his death; typescript of poem
Cork; and statement regarding difficulties with Radio Eireann.
box 2, folder 40
O'Dálaigh, Cearbhall
approximately January 31, 1975
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 41
O'Donnell, Peadar
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 42
O'Donovan, Joan (Mrs. Frank O'Connor/Mrs. Michael O'Donovan)
March 14, 1966
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 43
O'Faoláin, Julia
approximately 1968-1970
Physical Description: 3 letters.
Content Note
Some letters regarding her father's
How to Write a Short Story.
box 2, folder 44
O'Flaherty, Liam
January 16, 1927
Physical Description: 1 letter. Missing page.
box 2, folder 45
O'Gowan, Eric
November 29, 1953
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Eric Doman Smith. Regarding Hemingway.
box 2, folder 46
Playboy
1970-1972
Physical Description: 12 letters.
Content Note
From Robie Macauley.
box 2, folder 47
Plomer, William
November 5, 1954
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Regarding O'Faoláin's
A Land of Dreams or
Alien with a Passport.
box 2, folder 48
Plunkett, James
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 49
Powers, James
1956-1975
Physical Description: 8 letters.
Content Note
Also includes a letter from Betty Powers (Mrs. J.F. Powers), 1968.
box 2, folder 50
Pritchett, Sir Victor S. (V.S.)
1966-1977
Physical Description: 6 letters.
box 2, folder 51
Russell, George William
1932-1935
Physical Description: 6 letters.
Content Note
Signed A.E. Some regarding Yeats and other Irish writers.
box 2, folder 52
Ryan, John
February 14, 1975
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 53
Saroyan, William
1946
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 2, folder 54
Shaw, George Bernard
1940-1948
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 2, folder 55
Sions, Harry
January 3, 1965
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Regarding demise of
Holiday.
box 2, folder 56
Spark, Muriel
August 21, 1976
Physical Description: 1 postcard.
box 2, folder 57
Spender, Stephen
March 13, 1973
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 2, folder 58
Stegner, Wallace
1976
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 2, folder 59
Tristram, Henry
November 15, 1952
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Regarding O'Faoláin's
Newman's Way.
box 2, folder 60
Watt (A.P.) and Son
August 20, 1969
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
By Hilary Rubinstein regarding Julia O'Faoláin's novel. With a note by Seán O'Faoláin.
box 2, folder 61
Waugh, Evelyn
1953, undated
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 2, folder 62
White, Terence de Vere
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Regarding Elizabeth Bowen.
box 2, folder 63
Wilson, John (Anthony Burgess)
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
With O'Faoláin's note regarding the letter.
box 2, folder 64
Yeats, George (Mrs. W.B. Yeats)
January 13, 1950
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Regarding Richard Ellman's 1948 book on Yeats.
box 2, folder 65
Yeats, William Butler
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Letters concerning detention without trial in Northern Ireland
box 3, folder 1
Auden, W.H.
1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Note on bottom of form letter. Signed.
box 3, folder 2
Ayer, Sir Alfred Jules
February 27, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 3
Barrett, Cyril
February 2, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 4
Beloff, Max
February 21, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 5
Berlin, Sir Isaiah
February 18, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 6
Betjeman, Sir John
February 15, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 7
Bowen, Elizabeth
1972
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 3, folder 8
Brogan, Sir Denis William
March 1, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 9
Clark, Kenneth McKenzie, Baron Clark
February 13, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 10
Day-Lewis, Cecil
February 12, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 11
Drabble, Margaret
1972
Physical Description: 1 card.
box 3, folder 12
Ellman, Richard
February 28, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 13
Gaitskell, Anna Dora (Creditor), Baroness
February 19, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 14
Greene, Graham
February 16, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 15
Guiness, Sir Alec
March 4, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 16
Hampshire, Stuart
February 16, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 17
Hoyle, Fred
May 7, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 18
Johnson, Pamela Hansford
February 12, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 19
Kermode, John Frank
February 24, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 20
Kilmartin, Terry
February 18, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 21
Laski, Marghanita
March 3, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 22
Law, Iris
March 1, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Content Note
Written as secretary to Sir Frederick Ashton.
box 3, folder 23
Lehmann, Rosamond
February 25, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 24
Lessing, Doris May
1972
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 3, folder 25
Linklater, Eric
February 16, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 26
Longford, Frank Pakenham (7th Earl of)
1972
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 3, folder 27
Mathew, David, abp.
February 22, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 28
Moore, Brian
February 16, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 29
Moore, Henry Spencer
March 6, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Scope and Contents
Signed form letter.
box 3, folder 30
Murdoch, Iris
1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 31
Osborne, John
February 16, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 32
Plomer, William Charles Franklyn
February 14, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 33
Pope-Hennessy, Sir John Wyndham
March 3, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 34
Popper, Sir Karl Raimund
March 1, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 35
Powell, Anthony
February 15, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 36
Pritchett, Victor Sawdon
February 12, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 37
Raine, Kathleen Jessie
1972
Physical Description: 1 card.
box 3, folder 38
Rees, Goronwy
February 11, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 39
Richardson, Sir Ralph David
February 15, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 40
Ross, Alan
February 25, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 41
Sellers, Peter
February 2, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Scope and Contents
Signed form letter and signed note.
box 3, folder 42
Snow, Charles Percy, Baron Snow
February 14, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 43
Spender, Stephen
1972
Physical Description: 2 letters.
box 3, folder 44
Steiner, George
February 11, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 45
Strode, Rosamund
March 3, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Scope and Contents
Written on behalf of Benjamin Britten.
box 3, folder 46
Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel
May 5, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 47
Trevor-Roper, Hugh
February 22, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 48
Wain, John
March 3, 1972
Physical Description: 1 letter.
box 3, folder 49
Walton, Sir William Turner
February 29, 1972
Physical Description: 1 card.
box 3, folder 50
Miscellaneous material related to obtaining signatures for letter in The Times
1972
Series 2:
Writings
approximately 1932-1986
Physical Description: Carton 1-2; carton 3, folder 1-14; box 4-5
carton 1, folder 1-4
Alien with a Passport or A Land of Dreams
Content Note
3 typescript drafts with corrections and 1 folder of notes.
carton 1, folder 5-18
And Again
Scope and Contents
Manuscripts and typescripts with revisions, correspondence, reviews, early drafts, and penultimate version.
carton 2, folder 1
The Bombshop
before 1932
Physical Description: Corrected typescript.
carton 2, folder 2
Brainsy
approximately 1965
Content Note
Notes, 6 revised typescripts, final [?].
carton 2, folder 3
The Creative Reader
November 4, 1974
Content Note
Uncorrected draft of talk given as Beckman Lecture, University of California, Berkeley.
carton 2, folder 4
A Dead Cert
undated
Content Note
Revised typescript. Variant title: Your's Ever.
carton 2, folder 5
The Faithless Wife
approximately 1973
Content Note
7 revised typescripts. Story was first published in
Playboy in December/January 1973-1974.
carton 2, folder 6
Falling Rocks, Narrowing Road, Cul de Sac, Stop
approximately 1972
Scope and Contents
2 carbon typescripts, one with some revisions, and tearsheets of version published in
Playboy in June 1972.
carton 2, folder 7
Feed My Lambs
approximately 1966-1967
Content Note
Fragments, 4 revised typescripts, and notes regarding the story. Alternate title: Pic de Jer.
carton 2, folder 8-11
Foreign Affairs
approximately 1976
Content Note
Notes, fragments, correspondence, reviews, 12 revised typescripts. Other titles: Georgie Freddy, What a Career!, and Miss
Pygmalion. Published in 1976 book of short stories,
Foreign Affairs and Other Stories.
carton 2, folder 12
How to Write a Short Story
approximately 1974
Content Note
9 typescripts, many of them revised. Original title: C'est la vie. Published in 1974 in
Winter's Tales.
carton 2, folder 13
Inside Outside Complex
undated
Content Note
2 revised typescripts. Letter about the story by Robie McCauley of
Playboy in correspondence files.
carton 2, folder 14
The Kitchen
1968
Content Note
3 revised typescripts.
carton 2, folder 15
Liberty
approximately 1976
Content Note
Fragments, 6 revised typescripts. Variant titles: Cornfield, World Without Walls, Freelifers. Published in
Foreign Affairs and Other Stories in 1976.
carton 2, folder 16-17
Murder at Cobbler's Hulk
undated
Content Note
Fragments, 9 revised typescripts and tearsheets from
Playboy. Earlier titles: Mr. Godkin Lends a Hand and A Station in Life.
carton 2, folder 18
No Country for Old Men
approximately 1956
Content Note
Revised typescript of a novel, written around 1956 and subsequently recast as a short story of the same title and published
in
I Remember! I Remember! in 1962.
carton 2, folder 19
Nora Barnacle: 'Pictor Ignotus'
1986
Content Note
Tearsheet, the
Irish Times, 29 July 1986.
carton 2, folder 20
Of Sanctity and Whiskey
undated
Content Note
Revised typescripts with variant pages of several drafts.
carton 2, folder 21-23
Old Lover's Ghost
undated
Content Note
Notes, 2 revised typescripts, many fragments.
carton 2, folder 24
Our Fearful Innocence
undated
Content Note
Reworking of This Shallow Bay, q.v. Includes copy of typescript of original story, revised printed tearsheet, and revised
typescript of several versions, with some notes. Alternate titles: Home, There is No Such Place as Moscow.
carton 2, folder 25
The Planets of the Years
undated
Content Note
Notes, holograph manuscript and 3 revised typescripts.
carton 3, folder 1
The Rain
undated
Content Note
Revised typescript, unpublished manuscript.
carton 3, folder 2
Something, Everything, Anything, Nothing
undated
Content Note
12 revised typescripts and fragments, expanded from unpublished
The Whirr of the Wings. Other titles:
Van Gogh Has Killed Himself;
Who Killed Cock Robbin;
Sancho Panza;
Dreams, Love, Folly, and Time; and
Oh, Everything!.
carton 3, folder 3-4
The Talking Trees
undated
Content Note
6 revised typescripts, fragments, and printer's copy in the American edition, with revisions and corrections. Alternate titles:
Night of Stars;
Starry Night;
A New Miss;
That Girl We Used to Say Was Fast; and,
The Planets of the Years.
carton 3, folder 5
Thieves
undated
Content Note
9 revised typescripts, fragments and notes by the author. Other titles
A Morning Call;
Wages of Sin;
The Case of the Blue Umbrella; and
Broken Biscuits.
carton 3, folder 6
This Shallow Bay
undated
Content Note
5 revised typescripts.
carton 3, folder 7-8
The Time of Her Life
undated
Content Note
9 revised typescripts, fragments.
carton 3, folder 9-12, box 4-5
Vive Moi!
approximately 1964
Content Note
Revised typescript, many fragments.
carton 3, folder 13
Wan Terrible Book
undated
Content Note
5 revised typescripts, fragments, and galley. Alternate title:
The Terrible Book.
carton 3, folder 14
A World of Fitzies
1977
Content Note
Newspaper article regarding Maurice Wohlgelernter's biography of Frank O'Connor.
Series 3:
Pictorial
undated
Physical Description: Carton 3, folder 15; oversize folder 1
Content Note
Carton 3, folder 15 contains 1 signed photograph of Seán O'Faoláin. Oversize folder 1 contains a woodcut from a 19th century
book of Russian popular prints signed by O'Faoláin.