Introduction

This guide traces the dedication pages of six drafts of Stephen Spender's semi-autobiographical novel , The Temple . Because Spender revised the work over the course of his literary career , from the early 1930s to the work's final publication in 1988 , many of his friendships and literary partnerships evolved over the course of the work's genesis . This research guide aims to use Spender's changing dedications to reframe the paratextual model of the dedication .

MS Spender 330

Photocopy of handwritten manuscript of The Temple Original manuscript c . 1929 ; Photocopied facsimile with notes c . 1987

Stephen Spender’s first handwritten manuscript of The Temple is in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin ( S. Spender 2.11 ) . This photocopied and watermarked facsimile is housed in the Weston Library at University of Oxford ( MS Spender 330 ) . As is partially visible in this facsimile , the manuscript of the novel is written in Spender’s hand in blue-black pen on lined paper . Given that the lined paper was photocopied one-sided , each folio of the Weston’s copy represents the recto or verso of one of the original folios . The photocopied manuscript is printed on 116 unbound white sheets of 21.6 cm x 35.5 cm printed paper . The photocopied pages are accompanied by three unnumbered 21 cm x 29.6 cm sheets of notes written in Spender’s hand . The photocopied handwritten manuscript , after the 75th and before the 76th sheet , also contains a 21cm x 29.6 cm white sheet with two paragraphs written in black type on its recto . The photocopy and corresponding notes can be dated to between 1986 and 1988 for two reasons . Firstly , the inserted sheet of typed text , clearly written on an electric typewriter , closely resembles the pages present in MS Spender 311. Secondly , in Spender’s hand , insertions and deletions on the photocopied pages in black and green ink often refer to “ Paul ” rather than “ S ” as the text’s protagonist , a feature that only appeared in Spender’s late-eighties drafts .

Aside from the aforementioned three sheets , the 116 photocopied sheets of each bear the 31.5 cm x 20.5 cm copied facsimile of Spender’s 1929 unbound , handwritten manuscript . The facsimiles are watermarked in red ink by University of Texas at Austin . The handwritten facsimiles themselves contain dense handwriting in black ink with occasional deletions and insertions also in Spender’s hand . After the table of contents , this dedication page , and the title page to “ Part I ” sheets are numbered at the top in Spender’s hand . There are several pages missing in the photocopy , and therefore , several gaps in this pagination .

Spender began handwriting this original manuscript in 1929 after his first summer in Hamburg . After selling the handwritten manuscript to the University of Texas in 1962 , Spender had forgotten about it altogether until his friend , John Fuller found it in the UT collections between 1985 and 1986 ( Spender The Temple , x ) . As Spender recounts in his introduction to the second published edition of The Temple , Spender’s friend , Fuller , asked for a xerox of the manuscript from UT and sent it to Spender . Given that this photocopy also dates to the late eighties , there is a high likelihood that this photocopy , housed at the Weston , was the one Fuller sent to Spender in 1986 , and Spender’s later notes and insertions came in 1987-1988 .

Between 1929 and 1933 when Spender was writing the original handwritten manuscript , his close friend , W.H. Auden ( to whom this piece is dedicated ) was working on his 1932 collection , The Orators . A highly dedicatory collection itself , The Orators contains poems also dedicated to Gabriel Carritt , Edward Upward , and John Warner , among others . Auden’s dedication of The Orators reads , “ To Stephen Spender . Private faces in public places / Are wiser and nicer / Than public faces in private places . ” Spender , by the time he finished this first handwritten manuscript , would have known of this dedication . Also significant is Spender’s direct appearance by name in Auden’s “ Six Odes ” in The Orators , a passage that Spender would later use as an epigraph in his later manuscript ( see annotations to MS Spender 310 , 311 , 312 ) .

The draft itself is structured around journal entries , based on Spender’s own , signed by the protagonist , “ S ” . In the draft , it is clear that Spender is curating and fictionalizing his writing from Germany . This dedication and corresponding manuscript thus embed the stories of Spender’s several trips to Germany , Spender’s memories of Hamburg , and , as the HRC watermarks suggest , his subsequent abandonment of the manuscript until 1962 and later revisions . They also indicate Spender’s ongoing creative dialogue with Auden during the drafting of The Temple and The Orators , respectively .

MS Spender 330

Original Typescripts of The Temple c . 1930-1933

This manuscript , dedicated to both W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood , dates to Spender’s return to London after his two summers in Germany . This manuscript , housed in the Weston Library at University of Oxford , consists of three bound volumes of Spender’s typescript of The Temple . Each volume is bound with thread a blue paper cover , titled in black and red ink in Spender’s hand . The first sheet of the first volume bears Spender’s handwritten address to Winifred Paine , and the third sheet of the first volume bears Spender’s typed dedication to W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood . The first volume of this typed manuscript consists of 111 folios , with text only on the recto of each folio . Spender’s pagination starts on the title page ( after the first folio , addressed to Paine ) and extends consistently , on the recto of each page , through the three volumes , though there has been some revision in Spender’s hand to the pagination . Each of the 22.5 x 28.5 cm cream-coloured pages bears , after the address , title page dedication , and “ Part 1 ” title page , blue type with occasional deletions and additions in black pen , also in Spender’s hand .

In 1931 , Spender sent his first handwritten manuscript of The Temple to Geoffrey Faber . Faber , when first presented with the manuscript , would openly reject it for its , as Faber viewed them , salacious descriptions of encounters between men ( Spender , The Temple , x ) . In this manuscript , likely in response to the criticism , the narrator , S ( later named Paul ) is a woman named Catherine . Upon finding this typed manuscript in London in 1976 , Spender would write in his journal , “ I found in the ‘ bottomless pit ’ where all our stuff is buried rather than stored , three typed volumes of a novel I wrote in – I surmise ( funny how I didn’t date things in those days ) called The Temple . With my hopeless inability to read things I’ve put aside , I haven’t read this for over thirty years and was astonished how evocative and alive it is . An absurdity is that I’ve made the main character – myself – a girl . This was doubtless out of fear of censorship ” ( Spender , Journals , 389 ) . Still the same in this manuscript is Spender’s description of the close relationship between two artists , Willy and Joachim . It is significant that Spender added Christopher Isherwood to the dedication because Spender clearly bases Willy on Isherwood ( see note on MS Spender 312 ) but does not remove the romantic overtones of Willy’s relationship with Joachim .

The Winifred to whom Spender informally addresses this manuscript is Winifred Paine , whom Spender’s grandmother hired as the family housekeeper in August 1926 ( Sutherland 66 ) . 10 Frognal in Hampstead was the address of the Spender family home . Spender and Paine became quite close , and Paine once confided in him that ‘ the idea of sharing a bedroom with a man , night after night , for her whole life was intolerable to her . ’ She had , Spender observed , a ‘ detached , almost amoral attitude on sexual habits , ” and she also never married ( Sutherland 67 ) .

This dedication to Isherwood and Auden , then , taken alongside Spender’s address to Winifred Paine at his childhood home , allows this , on the surface , clearly censored text a uniquely queer lens . The written address to Paine serves as an informal dedication to a figure who described herself as unable to share a bed with a man . Meanwhile , the text retains its descriptions of the relationship between Willy ( based on Isherwood ) and Joachim . Thus , after Geoffrey Faber condemned this text for its “ inappropriate ” content , queer experiences are still woven into the paratext of this typed manuscript .

MS Spender 306 , F02

Fragmentary typescript of an early version of The Temple c . Early 1930s

This manuscript of The Temple , dated to the early 1930s , begins with a ripped and smudged dedication page that reads , “ To W.H. Auden and Tony Hyndman . ” The manuscript is housed in the Weston Library at University of Oxford . It consists of 136 unbound , 22 cm x 28.5 cm cream-coloured sheets with typed text on the recto of each folio There are occasional additions and deletions in blue-black ink , in Spender’s hand . Each typed page is numbered , with the exception of the dedication , contents , and title pages , which are still counted in Spender’s pagination . There is significant tearing and curling at the edge of each folio , and the second half of the manuscript ( after folio 136 ) is missing . The first folio of the manuscript , the dedication notably bears a small , “ T ” shaped mark next to Auden’s name . The top right corner of the dedication page has been completely torn off . One can attribute these changes to the general weathering and aging , particularly given the browning paper and rough edges of the rest of the manuscript . It is also quite possible , however , that another name was written next to Auden’s , such as Christopher Isherwood’s . A gap of almost 5 cm exists between Auden’s name and what would have been the edge of the page .

This manuscript dates to after 1931 , which can be inferred firstly from the watermark reading “ Fabriano 1930 ” on the dedication page and secondly , from the epilogue dated 1931. The dedication to Hyndman , a former Welsh guardsman turned male prostitute , further dates the manuscript , given that Spender and Hyndman’s relationship began in London shortly after Spender returned from his summers in Germany ( 1929 and 1930 ) . This is the only manuscript dedicated to Hyndman , and the only manuscript aside from the first handwritten manuscript ( see MS Spender 330 annotation ) not dedicated to Isherwood . It is worth noting that Spender and Isherwood experienced a brief conflict during Isherwood’s years in Berlin due to , as Isherwood saw it , Spender’s innocent and “ cloying ” nature ( Izzo 74 ) . The gap in their friendship was quickly restored , but it could account for Isherwood’s absence in this particular dedication .

This manuscript contains many of the same structural features and descriptions as Spender’s other drafts between 1929 and 1933 and does restore the protagonist to the male “ S ” present in the 1929 handwritten manuscript . It also contains “ Ernst’s Soliloquy ” alongside journal entries based on Spender’s personal diaries from his summers in Germany , both of which appear in the previous two manuscripts . Given these similarities , its dedication to Tony Hyndman is significant because both positions the piece within Spender’s life and career and also raises questions about why Spender would have changed his dedication once again .

MS Spender 311 , F07

Revised typescript p. 3-135 of The Temple c . 1986

After selling his handwritten manuscript of The Temple ( dedicated to W.H. Auden ) to the University of Texas at Austin , Spender would largely forget about The Temple for another fifteen years . Spender rediscovered a different manuscript of The Temple in 1976 in London . This manuscript ( MS Spender 330 ) was written in three volumes in blue ink and told the story of The Temple from the perspective of a woman . He had also dedicated this manuscript to both Auden and Isherwood ( see notes to MS Spender 330 manuscripts ) . And back into the “ bottomless pit ” ( Spender , Journals , 389 ) it would go until John Fuller would contact Spender about the other handwritten manuscript at UT in 1985.

This later manuscript of The Temple , dated to 1986 , is now housed in Weston Library at University of Oxford . It consists of 135 white , 21cm x 29.5 cm loosely-bound sheets . The sheets are enclosed in a hardcover black binding , but the pages are not attached to the binding . Each folio bears dense , black text written by an electric typewriter , with heavy additions and deletions in black , purple , blue , and red ink , all in Spender’s hand . All typed and paginated text is on the recto of each folio , but handwritten notes and additions are present on the verso of several folios . Each typed page is numbered , with the exception of the dedication and title pages , both of which are still counted in Spender’s pagination .

The dedication of this manuscript , written on an electric typewriter then marked with substitutions in black ink in Spender’s hand , drastically departs from Spender’s early thirties manuscripts . The page contains a few features worth noting . Firstly , Spender adds in black ink the title of Part I of The Temple , “ Children of the Sun ” , not present in previous manuscripts . Secondly , the typed dedication underlying Spender’s hand reads , “ The original manuscript was dedicated in 1930 to W.H. Auden , to which now I add Christopher Isherwood . ” Spender’s deletions and additions suggest that he later remembered or found the manuscript dedicated to both Auden and Isherwood ( see note on MS Spender 330 ) . Here , Spender crossed out “ to which name I now add ” and wrote above it , “ a slightly later versi - ” without finishing the end of the word “ version . ” In this revision Spender indicates that he had , after dedicating the first handwritten manuscript to Auden , dedicated a “ slightly later version ” to both Auden and Isherwood . Spender abandons these practicalities for the simpler , “ The original manuscript was dedicated to W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood . ” He handwrites a second sentence afterwards , “ Now I add : with memories of Herbert List . ” In these few moves , Spender renegotiates the relationship between this manuscript and the manuscripts that preceded it in the 1930s . Spender does not mention the manuscript dedicated to Tony Hyndman whatsoever , and Spender effectively combines the two folios of MS Spender 330 ( the one dedicated to W.H. Auden and the one dedicated to both Auden and Isherwood ) as one unified version .

Herbert List had just passed away in 1976 , which may account for Spender’s choice to insert his name into this dedication . Auden had passed away in 1973 , and Isherwood in 1985. The dedication thus completely pivots in purpose after almost fifty years . With all three of these friends having passed away , two of whom Spender had dedicated the first manuscripts , the inclusion of these memories of Herbert List draws attention to their passing . In turn , this manuscript of The Temple serves as much more a tribute than only a fictionalised set of memories .

MS Spender 312

Unbound manuscript of The Temple c . 1986

This manuscript , housed at the Weston Library at University of Oxford , consists of 162 unbound , typed pages . The vast majority of the manuscript consists of 21cm x 29.5 cm white folios with black type on the recto of each . However , between the folios marked 49 to 52 , there are several sheets of manuscript taped together . There are also several unpaginated 21cm x 29.5 cm beige folios , written on an electric typewriter , added throughout the manuscript . Heavy marking in black , green and red pen , both deletions and editions in Spender’s hand , also span the manuscript . Lastly , it is worth noting that the draft is hand-paginated through page 64 then skips to page 119 , then starts over after several folios containing only notes in Spender’s hand . The first folio of the manuscript is the dedication page , the second the title page , then pagination begins with “ 2 ” on the following folio .

Aside from the significant structural and thematic changes featured in this manuscript more broadly , including the renaming of Spender’s first person “ S ” to “ Paul ” , who remains the central character in the final published editions of The Temple , this dedication itself is notable for a few reasons . Firstly , the font of its title , its lack of visible markings , and the inclusion of Spender’s name after The Temple all indicate this manuscript to be closer to the final publication than the dedication page of MS Spender 311. Secondly , Spender marks for the reader his own editorial process through his phrasing of the first part of the dedication . In this manuscript , he has applied his own suggested revisions and additions from the preceding manuscript ( see MS Spender 311 ) to the dedication . The changes he adopts clearly center his revision process . By starting his dedication and epigraph with , “ The original manuscript was dedicated in 1930 to W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood . Now I add : ‘ With memories of Herbert List , ’ ” Spender makes clear his acts of changing the dedication so as to honour List . This has the effect of centering List in the dedication and , as mentioned in the annotation to MS Spender 311 , honouring these three artists featured in the story who had , by 1986 , passed away . Though a few typos remain in this epigraph , Spender’s intention to honour Auden , Isherwood , and List is made clear .

MS Spender 310 F06

Typescript of The Temple c . 1987

This manuscript of The Temple is in the Weston Library at University of Oxford . It consists of 252 white 21cm x 29.6 cm folios , held together with a plastic , cream-coloured spiral spine . The entire manuscript is paginated except for the dedication page on folio 1 , with roman numeral pagination beginning at the table of contents , then , after the introduction , numerical pagination starting at the title page of the “ English Prelude ” . The recto of each folio bears black type with additions and deletions in pencil and blue ink , with additions and notes also on the verso of several pages .

This dedication , on the recto of folio 1 , varies little from the dedication pages of MS Spender 311 and 312 : it bears the names of the same dedicatees , W.H. Auden , Christopher Isherwood , and Herbert List , and it also includes the same epigraph from Auden’s The Orators . The dedication differs , however , from the previous two dedications in both its markings , in Spender’s hand , and its distinctive header . The markings correct the two typos in the Auden epigraph and make smaller-scale changes in the text thereafter . Additionally , the header dates The Temple to the span of 1929-1986 rather than 1929. The header thus brings the novel’s genesis to a notable completion and brings light to Spender’s later work on the novel .

This manuscript contains several additions and deletions in Spender’s hand , but it also contains revisions and marginal notes ( in pencil ) from a different hand . Most interestingly , there is a description of Willy ( the novel’s fictionalised caricature of Isherwood ) on page 214 of the manuscript that reads , “ William stood in the centre of the room . Grinning , he lifted up his arms in a gesture of mock helplessness and then let them fall again with a little spurt of laughter . He embraced Paul . ” Opposite this description , there is a note in pencil that reads , “ This recalls Christopher better than any photograph ! ” . This note demonstrates that the other hand present in these revisions knew both Spender and Isherwood well .

There is little to no mark that clearly identifies this hand , except for one . Opposite page 153 of the manuscript , one can find a note signed “ H. ” The notes also suggest that this “ H ” knows German , with corrections such as the change of “ Englisch ” to “ Engländer ” on page 58 of the manuscript . This hand , or “ H ” makes no comments on the dedication page ; the only markings present on this page are written in Spender’s blue pen . However , “ H ” ’s notes ( especially the note on Isherwood ) suggest the clearly dedicatory nature of the manuscript’s content .

The dedication of this manuscript signals a late stage of revision that includes the hand of Spender’s friends and interlocuters . This stage of completion manifests itself in both the changed heading of the dedication , which features both a “ beginning ” and “ completion ” date , as well as Spender’s finishing edits to the epigraph of the piece , an excerpt from the first of Auden’s first “ Odes ” in The Orators . As has been demonstrated , this later manuscript , which now honours Auden , Isherwood , and List from hindsight , takes this change of temporality into account in its language and formatting .