Sayers, Dorothy L. (Sayers, Dorothy Leigh)
Dates
- Existence: 1893-1957
Biographical Statement
Considered one of the foremost modern detective writers and perhaps best known for her Lord Peter Wimsey novels, Dorothy Leigh Sayers was also an accomplished and popular playwright, religious commentator, and scholar whose translation of Dante's The Divine Comedy is considered unmatched in quality and readability.
Sayers attended Somerville College, Oxford, graduating in 1915 with first class honors in modern languages, but not caring for the academic life, for a number of years held a variety of jobs in publishing, advertising, and teaching. Frustrated with several relationships, worried about how to support herself, and unsure of her abilities, she nonetheless began writing detective fiction, and in 1923 her first Lord Peter Wimsey novel, Whose Body, was published. A few years later Sayers met and married Arthur Fleming, a journalist 12 years her senior, and over the next decade or so Sayers wrote 14 Lord Peter Wimsey novels and short stories, enjoying popular and financial success, her husband often acting as assistant and unofficial press agent. Sayers turned to play writing in the mid-1930s, a medium which highlighted her poetic skill and dramatic abilities with Christian themes. Although not her first play, The Zeal of Thy House, produced in 1937, was her first such commercial and critical success. Sayers' most well-known play, The Man Born to be King, broadcast on the BBC in 1941, was very popular but caused a stir for its Christ who spoke modern English. Sayers was sought out as a religious commentator as well, and so also in 1941 The Mind of the Maker was published. Sayers continued writing plays and other works throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s, and began translating Dante's The Divine Comedy, an interest of hers for some years as a result of reading Charles Williams' The Figure of Beatrice. Her translations of Dante were to be her greatest accomplishment, though she died in 1957 at age 64 before completing the last of its three volumes.
An Anglican all her life, Sayers also recognized that "I am quite without the thing known as 'inner light' or 'spiritual experience.'" Instead, she possessed what she termed a "passionate intellect," and it was this intellect and her creativity which enabled her to write as she did. Yet, for all her intellect, "Christianity is as plain and common as bread. The simplest person or the youngest child can be a Christian, by faith and baptism."
Citation:
http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/Authors/Dorothy-L-SayersFound in 15 Collections and/or Records:
Alzina Stone Dale Collection
The Alzina Stone Dale Collection includes materials relating to her work on Dorothy L. Sayers, including the 1993 Sayers Centenary celebration, the Thrones, Dominations book publishing project, the writing of Maker and Craftsman: The Story of Dorothy L. Sayers (a Sayers biography), and a diverse range of correspondence.
E.R. Gregory Papers
The Gregory Collection contains manuscripts, proofs, photographs, correspondence and other papers concerned with the book Wilkie Collins by Dorothy L. Sayers, ed. by Dr. Gregory (Toledo: The Friends of the Univ. of Toledo Libraries, 1977). Copyright resides with Dr. Gregory.
Future of the Jews Collection
This archive contains unpublished contributions by Dorothy L. Sayers for the 1944 symposium on "The Future of the Jews," as well as extensive correspondence and publications relating to the topic.
James Burleson Dissertation Research Papers
This archive contains James Burleson's correspondence with Ann Bowden, Muriel St. Clare Byrne, Charles Dywer, Marion Fairman, Anthony Fleming, Livia Gollancz, Marjorie Mead, Barbara Reynolds, James Sandoe, and Armitage Watkins regarding his dissertation. Also included are two pages of Burleson's dissertation titled: A Study of the Novels of Dorothy L. Sayers. (Wade Call no.: PR6037.A95 Z6258 1965 Diss.)
Love All and Busman’s Honeymoon Archive
This archive is a collection of materials relating to the book containing: Love All by Dorothy L. Sayers and Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers and Muriel St. Clare Byrne. Edited by Alzina Stone Dale. (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1984). The items in this archive represent some of the resources used by Mrs. Dale as she prepared the two plays for publication.
Religious Illustrated Cards and Booklets Archive
This archive contains correspondence and drafts relating to religious-themed booklets and cards containing text by Dorothy L. Sayers, including: "The Days of Christ's Coming," "The Story of Easter," "The Tale of Adam and Christ," "The Story of Noah's Ark," and "The Enchanted Garden." Commonly known as the "Advent cards," the works were mainly intended as Christmas and Easter cards.
Rosamond Sprague Collection
This archive contains materials related to Dorothy L. Sayers, donated by Rosamond Sprague. Contents include materials relating to A Matter of Eternity (a book of selections from Sayers's works, edited by Sprague), general correspondence, and personal papers.
Sayers Family Papers
This archive contains correspondence, certificates, and other documents and records relating to the family of Dorothy L. Sayers.
St. Anne's House Archive
This archive contains materials relating to St. Anne's House, an Anglican organization formed with the goal of bringing the Christian faith into dialogue with aspects of modern culture--with particular emphasis on reaching out to the artistic and intellectual communities of London. Dorothy L. Sayers was an active member of St. Anne's House and a strong supporter of its mission. At her death in December 1957, Sayers's ashes were placed under the tower of St. Anne's in Soho.
The Devil to Pay Archive
This archive contains materials for the play The Devil to Pay by Dorothy L. Sayers, including copies of the play, correspondence, production notes, and financial returns.
The Emperor Constantine Archive
The Emperor Constantine archive contains materials relating to the religious play of the same title by Dorothy L. Sayers including: various copies and scripts of the play, some production notes, and related correspondence primarily regarding the Colchester Festival where the play was first performed in 1951.
The Man Born to be King Archive
The Man Born to be King archive contains materials relating to the religious play cycle of the same title by Dorothy L. Sayers including: drafts and scripts of the 12 dramas, production notes, correspondence and fan mail, press cuttings, and correspondence between Sayers and Heinz Geck, who translated the play into German.
The New Cosmology Correspondence
This archive contains a single folder of correspondence, mainly fan mail, relating to Dorothy L. Sayers's BBC radio talk, "The New Cosmology."
The Pantheon Papers
This archive contains correspondence and drafts relating to The Pantheon Papers by Dorothy L. Sayers, a series of satirical sketches on invented saints and celebrations of secular society.
World War II Materials from Dorothy L. Sayers
This archive contains materials relating to Dorothy L. Sayers's work during World War II, including her advisory role in the Author's Planning Committee, and correspondence regarding knitting clothes for trawlermen.
Filtered By
- Subject: Correspondence X
Additional filters:
- Subject
- Sayers, Dorothy L. -- Archives. 14
- Sayers, Dorothy L. -- Correspondence. 10
- Authors, English. 1
- Burleson, James Bernard -- Correspondence. 1
- Byrne, M. St. Clare -- Archives. 1
- Correspondence 1
- Dale, Alzina Stone, -- Correspondence. 1
- Drama festivals 1
- Drama festivals -- Canterbury. 1
- Faust, -- Drama. 1
- Faust, -approximately 1540--In literature. 1
- Gregory, E. R. -- Correspondence. 1
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) 1
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Influence. 1
- Jesus Christ -- Drama. 1
- Jews 1
- Jews -- History 1
- Jews -- History -- 20th century. 1
- Judaism 1
- Judaism -- 20th century. 1
- Proofs. 1
- Radio plays. 1
- Reconstruction (1939-1951) 1
- Reconstruction (1939-1951) -- Jews. 1
- Sayers, Dorothy L. -- Astronomy. 1
- Sayers, Dorothy L. -- Family. 1
- Sayers, Henry -- Archives. 1
- Social problems 1
- Social problems -- England 1
- Social problems -- England -- 20th century. 1
- Sprague, Rosamond Kent -- Correspondence. 1
- Wimsey, Peter, Lord (Fictitious character) 1
- Wimsey, Peter, Lord (Fictitious character) -- Drama. 1
- World War, 1939-1945. 1
- Zionism. 1 ∧ less