Last year, Ransom Center archivist Richard Workman brought to my attention some journals that he was cataloging as part of the Guy Davenport Papers. Guy Davenport (1927–2005) was an American author, literary critic, and artist. Throughout his adulthood, he regularly kept journals of his day-to-day life and activities (including his feelings about his marriage gone bad, [Read more…] about Thinking outside the (tux) box: A novel solution to preserving the quirky diaries of the Guy Davenport collection
archive
Commitment to collecting
Going back to the origins of research libraries, there is a long history of scholars building collections to suit personal interests, constructing around themselves an athenaeum of books that supported their individual research goals. [Read more…] about Commitment to collecting
Enhancing the Gabriel García Márquez papers
When the papers of a renowned author like Gabriel García Márquez arrive at the Ransom Center, there’s always a sense of excitement among staff, who take great pride in being able to preserve and make accessible materials that are unavailable anywhere else and that offer students and scholars entirely new insights into the author’s life and work. When the acquisition of such a notable [Read more…] about Enhancing the Gabriel García Márquez papers
Los pentimenti de Gabriel García Márquez
Bajo las pinceladas finales de las grandes pinturas, debajo de la superficie, existen en ocasiones marcas de duda, líneas escondidas y colores suprimidos. Estas pinceladas casi invisibles se llaman pentimenti: arrepentimientos, rectificaciones, remordimientos. Me gusta la palabra pentimenti [Read more…] about Los pentimenti de Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez’s Pentimenti
Underneath the final brushstrokes of great paintings, below the surface, there are sometimes marks of doubt, hidden lines, and suppressed colors. These nearly invisible brushstrokes are called pentimenti—repentances, compunctions, remorses. I like the word pentimenti because it evokes a sense of drawn-out struggle and internal debate. [Read more…] about Gabriel García Márquez’s Pentimenti
Doctors Wenn and Camia, I Presume? Inside Ian McEwan’s papers
One of the delights of processing the papers of an author I enjoy reading is seeing evidence of the work taking shape, unfolding, and ultimately becoming the final story that is published. Revised drafts with lines crossed out and new passages added, early jottings of ideas and character names, original “working titles”…it’s as if I am being let in on a secret. [Read more…] about Doctors Wenn and Camia, I Presume? Inside Ian McEwan’s papers
