The Pym Papers

Abstract

In 1978 Barbara Pym wrote to Philip Larkin to request his advice about the disposal of her private papers. The immediate occasion for her inquiry was the fact that an American university wished to make an offer for them. In the role of both friend and librarian, Larkin suggested various alternatives. Pym responded by choosing the path of least resistance: ‘I. (do nothing)’ she wrote to him, announcing her decision. She continued her letter with a description of her ‘literary remains’, which were ‘all in a large cardboard box in my bedroom — more like a novel by J. I. M. Stewart than The Aspern Papers!’ (A Very Private Eye, pp. 316–17). The main requirement for the final disposal of the collection was that it stay in England. She wrote conclusively to this effect to Larkin: ‘[I] wouldn’t like any of my MS handwritten material to go to USA to be pored over by earnest Americans (not even Jake Balokowsky)’ (p. 315). In due course the papers were donated to the Bodleian Library, an altogether fitting repository, as Pym herself was a graduate of St Hilda’s and had had a longstanding love for Oxford University.

I am indebted throughout this essay to conversations I had with the following people regarding the Bodleian collection: Hazel Holt, Hilary Pym, Tim Rogers, Robert Smith and Philip Larkin. In addition I should like to thank especially Colin Harris, Serena Surman and others of the Bodleian staff in Room 132 for their help in practical matters.