Novels

Scope and content:

This subseries contains drafts of Tyler's published and unpublished novels. Many drafts have numbered pages. Most drafts are handwritten, but some are typed. The majority of the holographs and typescripts were edited by hand, though some materials in this subseries show no editing marks. Many notes that Tyler made for herself are included. All of her notes, including maps and floorplans, are handwritten/hand-drawn unless otherwise noted. The materials are arranged chronologically by publication date. For the unpublished novels, estimated date of completion was used.

Notes about the materials:

A section of I Know You, Rider part II was typed on scrap paper.

Celestial Navigation notes include a drawing of a row house façade and the house floorplan, a chapter outline, a character list with descriptions, and a chronology and ages of characters.

Searching for Caleb notes include alternate titles for the book, chronology, a family tree, and a street layout.

Morgan's Passing notes include chronology and character dates as well as a house floorplan. The editing notes are photocopied slips of paper with typed questions regarding continuity of the novel, details, etc. Most notes are followed by the relevant typed page of the novel, with changes made to answer the question.

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant notes include a chronology of characters. An author's note on the cover page of the typescript indicates that it is the second rough typed manuscript. Years and minutes are recorded on the first page of most chapters. Times are recorded on the back of the last page of each chapter.

Saint Maybe notes include: 4 notecards of chronology, characters, and important dates; a photocopy of pages 344-345 of The Collected Stories of André Maurois; a page of handwritten questions from editor Judith Jones; a brief letter from Tyler to Jones; and typed pages of responses to Jones's questions.

Ladder of Years notes folder includes 14 sleeved notecards: chronology, grocery list, job ad clipping, birth chronology, Dr. Felson's house floorplan, weather notes, characters as of April 1992, lines of text, Miller house floorplan, street map, boarding house floorplan, Mapo Dofu recipe with a table seating chart on the reverse, possible chronology notes, and "OC-Balto" notes. The folder also includes: a street map with important locations marked; a printed map of Cambridge and Salisbury, MD and the surrounding area; and a photocopy of a page of American Album: Rare Photographs Collected by the Editors of American Heritage, showing pictures of C. R. Savage.

The Amateur Marriage notecards (5 total) include two road maps with locations, Michael's Apartment floorplan, House in Elmview Acres floorplan, and St. Cassian House floorplan.

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