WALKER, ALICE, 1944-
Alice Walker papers > Writings by Walker > Fiction > Novels

Subseries 2.3a
Novels, circa 1960s-2004
Box 44 (folder 78) - Box 67 (folder 2); OP1

Scope and Content Note

This section of the fiction subseries contains manuscript and typescript drafts of Alice Walker's seven novels published between 1970 and 2004 and two unpublished novels, The Ditch and The Sixty-Nine Braids during the late 1960s. Novels typically include several drafts and multiple printed copies of proofs and galleys. Because of its episodic structure, Meridian (1976) has a large number of draft fragments which have generally and loosely been arranged chronologically, although in some instances this information was hard to determine because character names and titles often changed, even within the space of one draft. Researchers should also consult the notebooks series for additional information about Meridian. Also of particular interest is a full manuscript of The Color Purple (1982).

Additionally, the collection contains a draft and materials relating to two unpublished novels: The Ditch, most likely written in the late 1960s and The Sixty-Nine Braids, written in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The Ditch invokes characters also in both The Third Life of Grange Copeland and early drafts of Meridian, but it cannot be definitively characterized as early drafts of either of those works. In similar fashion, The Sixty-Nine Braids includes characters that reappear in Walker's short story "To Hell With Dying" published in In Love and Trouble.

Arrangement Note

Arranged by date of publication; unpublished novels at end.

The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970)
Box Folder Content
44 78 Manuscript, early draft fragment
44 79 Typescript, draft fragments [1]
44 80 Typescript, draft fragments [2]
45 1 Manuscript notes and draft fragment
45 2 Early typescript draft [1] [1 of 3]
45 3 Early typescript draft [1] [2 of 3]
45 4 Early typescript draft [1] [3 of 3]
45 5 Early typescript draft [2] [1 of 3]
45 6 Early typescript draft [2] [2 of 3]
45 7 Early typescript draft [2] [3 of 3]
46 1 Later typescript draft [1] [1 of 2]
46 2 Later typescript draft [1] [2 of 2]
46 3 Later typescript draft [2] [1 of 2]
46 4 Later typescript draft [2] [2 of 2]
46 5 Page proof
46 6 Corrected page proof [1 of 3]
47 1 Corrected page proof [2 of 3]
47 2 Corrected page proof [3 of 3]
47 3 Galley proof [1]
47 4 Galley proof [2]
47 5 Galley proof, author's marked set
47 6 Typescript chronology of novel
47 7 "Afterword" typescript and printed, 1988
47 8 Cover art with correspondence [includes additional covers for The Color Purple,Alice Walker: The Complete Stories, and In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens] Alice Walker: The Complete Stories, and In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens]
Meridian (1976)
47 9 Typescript draft fragment [1] [Includes notes on the characters and early draft fragments]
48 1 Typescript draft fragments [2] [Includes early draft fragments]
48 2 Typescript draft fragment [3]
48 3 Typescript draft fragment [4]
48 4 Typescript draft fragment [5]
48 5 Typescript and manuscript draft fragment [6]
48 6 Typescript draft fragment [7]
48 7 Typescript draft fragment [8]
48 8 Typescript draft fragment [9]
48 9 Manuscript draft fragment [10]
48 10 Typescript draft fragment [11]
48 11 Typescript draft fragment [12]
48 12 Typescript draft fragment [13]
48 13 Typescript draft fragment [14] with title: "The Maturation of Winson Riley"
48 14 Partial typescript draft [1] [includes a draft with pages missing intermittently, editorial notes/changes, and some manuscript rewrites of particular sections]
49 1 Partial typescript draft [2] [includes a draft of part II of the novel along with an additional fragment that prefaces part II entitled "Of Bitches and Wives"]
49 2 Early typescript draft [includes AW correspondence]
49 3 Later typescript draft [1] with variant titles: Premium Salt and Walking AwayWalking Away
49 4 Later typescript draft [2] with variant title: Atonement and Release [Part 1 of 2]
49 5 Later typescript draft [2] with variant title: Atonement and Release [Part 2 of 2]
49 6 Corrected page proofs [1 of 3]
50 1 Corrected page proofs [2 of 3]
50 2 Corrected page proofs [3 of 3]
50 3 Uncorrected bound proof
50 4 First galley proof
50 5 Author's marked galley proofs
50 6 Galley proof [for Essence Magazine excerpt]
50 7 Early title pages
The Color Purple (1982)
50 8 Manuscript
50 9 Typescript draft fragment
51 1 Typescript draft [1] [1 of 2]
51 2 Typescript draft [1] [2 of 2]
51 3 Typescript draft [2] [1 of 2]
51 4 Typescript draft [2] [2 of 2]
51 5 Typescript draft [3] [1 of 2]
51 6 Typescript draft [3] [2 of 2]
52 1 Final typescript draft [1 of 2]
52 2 Final typescript draft [2 of 2]
52 3 Setting copy [1 of 2]
52 4 Setting copy [2 of 2]
52 5 Galley proof [1]
52 6 Galley proof [2]
53 1 Page proofs
53 2 Cover art
The Temple of My Familiar (1988)
53 3 Partial typescript draft [1] with editorial comments
53 4 Partial typescript draft [2] with editorial comments
53 5 Partial typescript draft [3] with editorial correspondence
53 6 Typescript draft [1] [1 of 3]
53 7 Typescript draft [1] [2 of 3]
53 8 Typescript draft [1] [3 of 3]
54 1 Typescript draft [2] [1 of 3]
54 2 Typescript draft [2] [2 of 3]
54 3 Typescript draft [2] [3 of 3]
54 4 Typescript draft [3] [1 of 3]
54 5 Typescript draft [3] [2 of 3]
54 6 Typescript draft [3] [3 of 3]
55 1 Typescript draft [4] [1 of 3]
55 2 Typescript draft [4] [2 of 3]
55 3 Typescript draft [4] [3 of 3]
55 4 Typescript draft [5] [1 of 3]
55 5 Typescript draft [5] [2 of 3]
55 6 Typescript draft [5] [3 of 3]
256 4 Typescript draft [6] [1 of 3]
256 5 Typescript draft [6] [2 of 3]
256 6 Typescript draft [6] [3 of 3]
256 7 Typescript draft [7] [1 of 3]
256 8 Typescript draft [7] [2 of 3]
257 1 Typescript draft [7] [3 of 3]
257 2 Typescript draft [8] [1 of 3]
257 3 Typescript draft [8] [2 of 3]
257 4 Typescript draft [8] [3 of 3]
56 1 Typescript draft fragment [1]
56 2 Typescript draft fragment [2]
56 3 Typescript draft fragment [3]
56 4 Typescript draft fragment [4]
56 5 Typescript draft fragment [5]
257 5 Typescript draft fragment [6]
56 6 Typescript draft fragments with AW edits
56 7 Partial typescript draft with correspondence
56 8 Page proofs with editor's annotations [1 of 3]
56 9 Page proofs with editor's annotations [2 of 3]
56 10 Page proofs with editor's annotations [3 of 3]
57 1 Partial galley proof, December 1988
57 2 Galley proof [1] [1of 3]
57 3 Galley proof [1] [2 of 3]
57 4 Galley proof [1] [3 of 3]
57 5 Repro dupe [1] [1 of 3]
57 6 Repro dupe [1] [2 of 3]
58 1 Repro dupe [1] [3 of 3]
58 2 Repro dupe [2]
58 3 Repro dupe [3]
58 4 Repro dupe [4] [1 of 3]
58 5 Repro dupe [4] [2 of 3]
58 6 Repro dupe [4] [3 of 3]
58 7 Galley proof [2] [1 of 3]
58 8 Galley proof [2] [2 of 3]
59 1 Galley proof [2] [3 of 3]
59 2 Notes for The Temple of My Familiar
59 3 John Ferrone correspondence, 1988-1989
59 4 Editorial correspondence, 1989-1991
59 5 Cover art
257 6 Book covers
Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992)
OP12 1 Possessing the Secret of Joy, publishing proposal, 1991-1992
59 6 Typescript draft [1]
59 7 Typescript draft [2] [1 of 2]
59 8 Typescript draft [2] [2 of 2]
59 9 Typescript draft [3] [1 of 2]
59 10 Typescript draft [3] [2 of 2]
59 11 Typescript draft [4] [1 of 2]
60 1 Typescript draft [4] [2 of 2]
60 2 Typescript draft [5] [1 of 2]
60 3 Typescript draft [5] [2 of 2]
60 4 Typescript draft [6] [1 of 2]
60 5 Typescript draft [6] [2 of 2]
60 6 Typescript draft [7] [1 of 2]
60 7 Typescript draft [7] [2 of 2]
257 7 Partial typescript draft
60 8 Typescript draft fragment [1]
60 9 Typescript draft fragment [2]
60 10 Cover art with correspondence
60 11 Editorial correspondence
OP1 3 Cover art
By the Light of My Father's Smile (1998)
61 1 Typescript draft [1] with variant title: A Kiss Between the Dead Is a Breeze [1 of 2]
61 2 Typescript draft [1] with variant title: A Kiss Between the Dead Is a Breeze [2 of 2]
61 3 Typescript draft [2] [1 of 2]
61 4 Typescript draft [2] [2 of 2]
61 5 Typescript draft [3] [1 of 2]
61 6 Typescript draft [3] [2 of 2]
61 7 Typescript draft [4] [1 of 2]
62 1 Typescript draft [4] [2 of 2]
62 2 Corrected page proofs [1 of 2]
62 3 Corrected page proofs [2 of 2]
62 4 Partial corrected page proof
62 5 Setting copy [1 of 2]
62 6 Setting copy [2 of 2]
62 7 Master copy [1 of 2]
63 1 Master copy [2 of 2]
63 2 Uncorrected galley proof [1 of 2]
63 3 Uncorrected galley proof [2 of 2]
63 4 Galley proof [1 of 2]
63 5 Galley proof [2 of 2]
63 6 Partial proof pages with correspondence
63 7 Editorial comments
63 8 Cover art with correspondence
63 9 Front and back matter
Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart (2004)
63 10 Typescript draft [1]
63 11 Typescript draft [2] [1 of 2]
64 1 Typescript draft [2] [2 of 2]
64 2 Typescript draft [3] [1 of 2]
64 3 Typescript draft [3] [2 of 2]
64 4 Typescript draft [4] [1 of 2]
64 5 Typescript draft [4] [2 of 2]
64 6 Typescript draft fragment [1]
64 7 Typescript draft fragment [2]
64 8 Typescript draft fragment [3]
65 1 Typescript draft fragment [4]
65 2 Typescript draft fragment [5]
65 3 Corrected page proofs [1 of 2]
65 4 Corrected page proofs [2 of 2]
65 5 Rough page proofs [1 of 2]
65 6 Rough page proofs [2 of 2]
65 7 Master page proofs [1 of 2]
65 8 Master page proofs [2 of 2]
66 1 Page proofs [1] [1 of 2]
66 2 Page proofs [1] [2 of 2]
66 3 Page proofs [2] [1 of 2]
66 4 Page proofs [2] [2 of 2]
66 5 Page proof fragments
66 6 Galley proof
66 7 Unbound proofs
66 8 Partial page proofs with correspondence
66 9 Cover art
The Ditch (circa late 1960s)
66 10 Typescript draft
66 11 Partial typescript draft [first 10 pages missing]
66 12 Typescript, chapter 4 (partial) and chapter 5
66 13 Typescript draft fragment [1]
67 1 Typescript draft fragment [2]
The Sixty-Nine Braids (circa late 1960s/Early 1970s)
67 2 The Sixty-Nine Braids typescript
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