John le Carré has announced plans to donate of his entire literary archive to the Bodleian Library.
85 boxes of books, manuscripts, papers and digital material arrived at the Bod last summer and a selection will be on display on 3rd March as part of the World Book Day celebrations.
The collection includes very early manuscripts of his famous novela in which the lead character, Smiley, like le Carré himself, is an old Oxonian who goes on to work for MI6.
The author of 22 novels said, “I am delighted to be able to do this. Oxford was Smiley’s spiritual home, as it is mine.”
Richard Ovenden, the Associate Director of the Bodleian Libraries, said, “We hope the collection will also be appreciated more widely, through exhibitions, seminars and conferences as well as through digitisation initiatives.”
