The David Foster Wallace archive at the Harry Ransom Center is now open for research. The website includes samples of teaching materials and some of the additional materials in the collection.
You can also check out the contents of David Foster Wallace's library by searching the UTexas Library Catalog.
I'd love to see the annotations in William Gibson's Pattern Recognition, John Barth's Lost in the Funhouse and Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Don't forget to watch the live stream for Consider the Archive tonight!
Scope and Contents [via]
The David Foster Wallace Papers document all but one of Wallace’s major works, and many of his shorter works. The major works represented are: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (1999); The Broom of the System (1987); Consider the Lobster, And Other Essays (2005); Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity (2003); Girl with Curious Hair (1989); Infinite Jest (1996); Oblivion: Stories (2004); The Pale King, scheduled for publication in 2011; and A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments (1997). McCain’s Promise: Aboard the Straight Talk Express (2008) is documented with two previously published short versions titled "The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys, and the Shrub," and "Up, Simba." Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present (1990), coauthored by Wallace and Mark Costello, is Wallace’s only major work without representation. See the Index of Works for a complete listing of all titles in the papers. The papers are organized into three series: I. Works, 1984-2006, undated; II. Personal and Career-related, 1971-2008, undated; and III. Copies of Works by Don DeLillo, undated. Series I. has been subdivided into two subseries: A. Novels and Collections, 1987-2006, undated and B. Short Works, 1984-2006, undated. All of the materials are in English. Series I. makes up the bulk of the collection and includes handwritten notes and drafts, notebooks, interview notes, research materials, typescript drafts, proofs, and promotional materials. Some works are represented by as little as a single uncorrected typescript, but other works, such as Everything and More, provide comprehensive documentation of Wallace’s full creative process with research materials, notebooks, handwritten drafts, original and revised typescript drafts, annotated and corrected 1st, 2nd, and 3rd pass copyedited drafts, and related correspondence. The majority of the typewritten drafts contain significant annotations and corrections by Wallace, often in different color inks for subsequent passes through a particular draft. Also present are Wallace’s many comments, frequently humorous and often written on sticky notes attached to the transcripts, written to the people involved in the various stages of editing. Series II. contains personal and professional records including teaching materials, childhood schoolwork, and college awards, essays, and exams. Also present are some personal journal pages, a “midwesternisms” notebook, and research materials such as handwritten entomology notes. Series III. consists solely of photocopy typescripts of three works by Don DeLillo, one of which, Underworld, contains extensive handwritten annotations by Wallace. A relatively small amount of correspondence is in the papers, and what is present is almost entirely work-related between Wallace and his editors, fact-checkers, etc. All incoming letters are listed in an Index of Correspondents. The majority of Wallace’s papers are in excellent condition, with only a few items requiring preservation photocopying and/or special housing. Additional materials related to The Pale King are expected at the Ransom Center sometime in 2011 after publication of the novel.| < Prev | Next > |
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