Overview
Manuscripts of Achebe's main publications from Arrow of God (1964) to Anthills of the Savannah (1987), and of a few later occasional writings down to 1993; with some publishers' correspondence.
Dates
- Creation: 1963-1993
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
3 linear feet (9 boxes)The collection consists of manuscripts of Achebe's main publications from Arrow of God (1964) to Anthills of the Savannah (1987), and of a few later occasional writings down to 1993; and a small amount of correspondence, mostly with publishers. Achebe wrote almost all the compositions in this collection in longhand. The original manuscripts went through several drafts, and when they were typed he continued to revise them by hand. The publishers' setting copies, however, are usually clean.
Biographical / Historical
Chinua Achebe (1930- ) is a Nigerian writer and scholar. He became well known after his first novel Things fall apart (1958), which depicted the encounter of the Igbo people of Nigeria with the British colonial power. His subsequent novels and short stories are likewise set in West Africa. Achebe's poetry was written out of the experience of the Biafran war of 1966-1970. He became Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1970, and Emeritus Professor of English in 1985. After holding several visiting appointments in Britain and the United States, in 1991 he became Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College in New York.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- I. Compositions: A. Fiction
- I. Compositions: B. Poetry
- I. Compositions: C. Essays and other compositions
- II. Correspondence
- III. Other papers
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
*95M-57. Purchased from Chinua Achebe through George Robert Minkoff with funds from the Amy Lowell fund and from the Afro-American Studies Department. Received 1996 May 15.
Processing Information
Processed by: J. F. Coakley
- Title
- Achebe, Chinua. Chinua Achebe papers, circa 1963-1993: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00116
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440
Houghton_Library@harvard.edu