PRIMS Full-text transcription (HTML)
1
FOR W.H. AUDEN.
1
For Winifred
with love from
The writer.
Stephen Spender,
10, Frognal,
Hampstead,
London N. W. 3.
2
FOR CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD AND W.H. AUDEN.
3
To
W.H. AUDEN⟨ "T"⟩
&
TONY HYNDMAN.
4
THE TEMPLE
1929
The original manuscript was dedicated in 1930 to W.H. Auden⟨and⟩to
which name I now add⟨a slightly later versi⟩Christopher Isherwood. ⟨Now I add: "With⟩
⟨memory⟨memories⟩memories of Herbert List. " ⟩
Came summer like a flood, did never greedier gardener
Make blossoms flusher:
Summer meant lakes for many, a browner body,
Beauty from burning:
Far out in the water two heads discussed the position,
Out of the reeds like a fowl jumped the undressed German,
And Stephen signalled from the sand dunes like a wooden madman
"Destroy this temple."
It did fall, the quick hare died to the hounds 'hot breathing,
The Jewess fled Southwards.
W.H. Auden, first of Six Odes (January 1931)
PART ONE
CHILDREN OF THE SUN
5
The Temple
Stephen Spender
The Temple
1929
The original manuscript was dedicated in 1930 to W.H. Auden and
Christopher Isherwood. Now I add: "With memories of Herbert List."
Came summer like a flood, did never greedier gardener
Make blossoms flusher:
Summer meant lakes for many, a browner body,
Beauty from burning:
Far out in the water two heads discussed the position,
Out of the reeds like a fowl jumped the undressed German,
And Stephen signalled from the sand dunes like a wooden madman
"Destroy this temple."
It did fall, the quick hare died to the hounds 'hot breathing,
The Jewess fled Southwards.
W.H. Auden, first of Six Odes (January 1931)
6
THE TEMPLE
1929-1986
STEPHEN SPENDER
The original manuscript was dedicated in 1930 to W.H. Auden and
Christopher Isherwood. Now I add: "With memories of Herbert List."
Came summer like a flood, did never greedier⟨st⟩gardener
Make blossoms flusher:
Summer meant lakes for many, a browner body,
Beauty from burning:
Far out in the water two heads discussed the position,
Out of the reeds like a fowl jumped the undressed German,
And Stephen signalled from the sand dunes like a wooden madman
"Destroy this temple."
It did fall, the
. T
quick hare died to the hounds 'hot breathing,
The Jewess fled Southwards.
W.H. Auden, first of Six Odes (January 1931)
⟨153⟩

About this transcription

TextStephen Spender's The Temple : a digital research guide
AuthorSpender, Stephen.
Extent 6 pages of manuscript. Note: partial: dedication pages only
ResponsibilityCompiled by 1039682.
EditionTaylor edition
SeriesTaylor Editions: Manuscript
Additional notes

PNG

Folio

Transcribed from: Bodleian Libraryshelfmark MS Spender 306, shelfmark MS Spender 310, shelfmark MS Spender 311 (ff. 2 and 5), shelfmark MS Spender 312, and shelfmark MS Spender 330. Images scanned from Bodleian Library shelfmark MS Spender 306, shelfmark MS Spender 310, shelfmark MS Spender 311 (ff. 2 and 5), shelfmark MS Spender 312, and shelfmark MS Spender 330.

This is a facsimile and transcription of six dedication pages from The Temple, with annotations. Shelf marks: shelfmark MS Spender 306, shelfmark MS Spender 310, shelfmark MS Spender 311 (ff. 2 and 5), shelfmark MS Spender 312, and shelfmark MS Spender 330.

The transcription was encoded in TEI P5 XML by 1039682.

About the source text

Bibliographic information

Identification

Contents

Identification

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Spender 306

Contents

Fragmentary typescript of the original version of The Temple.

Physical description

Typescript:

History

1930s

Identification

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Spender 310

Contents

Typescript of The Temple. Loose leaves separated from between fols. 161-162.

Physical description

Typescript:

History

c. 1986

Identification

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Spender 311

Contents

Revised typescript pp. 3-135 of The Temple.

Physical description

Typescript:

History

c. 1986

Identification

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Spender 312

Contents

Unbound drafts and worksheets, including manuscripts, of The Temple, in order as found.

Physical description

Paper:

History

c. 1986

Identification

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Spender 330

Contents

Comprises:

  • Typescript of The Temple, c. 1929-1933
  • Photocopy of a manuscript of The Temple, c. 1929-1933
  • Photocopies of the original manuscript of The Temple with some corrections, plus some manuscript draft material, c. 1988
  • Printed corrections for the second edition of The Temple, c. 1989.
  • Fragment of typescript, some corrected, from the published edition of The Temple, c. 1988

Physical description

Paper:

History

c. 1929-1933, c. 1988-1989

Languageeng

Editorial statement

About the encoding

Created by encoding transcription from manuscript.

Editorial principles

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 changed over the course of the work's genesis. This research guide aims to use Spender's changing dedications to reconceptualize the paratextual model of the dedication.

Publication information

Publisher
  • Taylor Institution Library, one of the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford,
Imprint 2020.
Identifiers
  • BOD-archival-object 35203
  • BOD-archival-object 35207
  • BOD-archival-object 35208
  • BOD-archival-object 35209
  • BOD-archival-object 35227
  • ORA
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