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MS Eng 1406

Achebe, Chinua. Chinua Achebe papers: Guide.

Houghton Library, Harvard College Library

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Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138

© 2001 The President and Fellows of Harvard College

Last update on 2009 January 28

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
Location: b
Call No.: MS Eng 1406
Creator: Achebe, Chinua.
Title: Chinua Achebe papers,
Date(s): ca. 1963-1993.
Quantity: 9 boxes (3 linear ft.)
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Abstract: 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.

Processing Information:

Processed by: J. F. Coakley

Acquisition Information:

*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.

Access Restrictions:

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Preferred Citation for Publication:

Chinua Achebe Papers (MS Eng 1406). Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Historical Note

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:

Scope and Content

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.

Container List


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