"US university negotiating to buy literary archive of Donleavy work"
Original manuscript for controversial 'Ginger Man' novel to be included in sale

by Ruadhán Mac Eoin

The author JP Donleavy is in the process of selling his archive to a well-known east coast American university.

The archive includes the original manuscript for his controversial and best-selling novel, The Ginger Man, which is annotated and autographed by Brendan Behan.

Negotiations on the sale of the archive are currently under way with the university and it is understood that a seven-digit figure is being discussed. Donleavy (79), who lives near Mullingar in Co Westmeath [at Levington Park], said yesterday he did not want to name the university.

He told The Irish Times: "My archive is so massive with papers stacked in my study, which I either kick or fall over, I lose all hope of finding what I was looking for. By releasing the archive now, I can ensure that it will remain intact, well-minded, and available in perpetuity."

The author said he would prefer if the papers remained in Ireland but apart from requiring space suitable for their storage, he said it would require appropriate renumeration.

Apart from The Ginger Man manuscript, other material in the archive includes correspondence with literati contemporaries such as Ernest Gébler. Also included are right to the Olympia Press which was the original publisher of The Ginger Man. It also published Samuel Beckett, Vladimir Nabokov and William Burroughs.

Infamous for erotic and pornographic publications, Olympia Press was acquired by Donleavy after a protracted 18-year legal battle in which he sought to regain control of his work.

Subsequently he received an approach by letter which he describes as "possibly the rarest in literary history" from the former owner of the Olympia Press, Maurice Girodias, asking that ownership of Olympia be returned free-of-charge.

The letter, which ends with the request, "if you can't kindly comply, just throw this letter away," is also included for sale with the archive.

When first published 50 years ago in 1955, The Ginger Man was banned in Ireland as well as a number of other countries, and remained prohibited until the 1970s.

Despite censorship, the book quickly became a bestseller and has been republished 166 times in at least two dozen languages.

It features the semi-ficticious misadventures of the anti-hero Sebastian Dangerfield, and American studying at Trinity College Dublin just after the second World War.

Anybody hoping the sale of the archive might throw light on the true identity of some of the book's characters may be disappointed, as Donleavy has indicated that an embargo is being placed on certain papers for a further period.

Robin Adams, librarian for Trinity College Dublin, said in principle the college would have an interest in the archive. "However, regrettably in the absence of benefactions like those available to US universities, it is difficult for us to be in a position to acquire such archives."

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