Raymond Chandler is best known for hard-boiled crime novels including The Big Sleep (1939) and The Long Goodbye (1953) and as a screenwriter for some of the biggest motion pictures of the 1940s, including The Blue Dahlia. Since the start of the year, work has been underway to enhance and expand the original catalogue of the Chandler archive and to integrate and make accessible later accessions. These new additions cover papers and correspondence created by Chandler in his lifetime, as well as a vast afterlife of papers showcasing the legacy of the great mystery writer.
New additions to the archive largely focus on correspondence and papers concerning the Chandler estate, stewarded by his literary agent and heir, Helga Greene. These demonstrate a wealth of interest in Chandler’s work by filmmakers and biographers, largely covering a period from 1960-1990. By the 1970s, small and big screen adaptations of his novels and short stories were becoming apparent as a major focus of interest for the estate. Greene’s defence of Chandler’s work and legacy is evident in the papers, through her diligent renewal of copyright and selective choices over permissions for adaptations, anthologies and new publications. The papers also go into detail over a will contest and include material concerning Greene’s legal fight to be recognised as heir, in a suit brought by Chandler’s former secretary, MS. Chandler 112-113.
Amongst the papers generated by the estate following Chandler’s death are snippets of original writings that demonstrate his natural humour and wit, as well as leisurely pursuits and interests, including cookery and darts. In the final year of his life, whilst working on ‘The Poodle Springs Story’ (the last and unfinished novel, in which Marlowe marries heiress Linda Loring), Chandler and Greene were also collaborating on an idea for a cookery book with a provisional title of ‘Cooking For Idiots.’ Although the book never came to fruition, the collection does hold remnants of the early development of this work. As well as the above letter teasing recipes such as apples baked in cider (‘vociferously admired by anyone who owes me money’), the collection includes an assortment of handwritten recipe cards featuring the culinary creations of Chandler’s late wife Cissy, including ‘Cissy’s Ham Goodbye’ and ‘Pancakes for Raymio,’ MS. Chandler 102 & 106.
Alongside the cookery ‘specials’ of the Chandler household, a glimpse of Chandler’s humour is found in this unsent letter marked ‘For Posterity’ to Los Angeles department store Bullock’s Wilshire (in its heyday a glitzy haunt of famous clientele), where he conjures an elaborate narrative in an effort to return an unwanted sports jacket.
Additionally, original prose such as drafts and typescripts for short stories including ‘The Pencil’ (published as ‘Marlowe Takes on the Syndicate’ in the Daily Mail, 1959) and the fantastic story ‘Professor Bingo’s Snuff’ are now available, along with a selection of assorted notes, prose and unpublished writings in MS. Chandler 7. The material featured in this blog post, along with all other newly catalogued additions to the archive can now be consulted in the Weston Library. The new and enhanced catalogue for the Archive of Raymond Chandler is searchable here.