Undergraduate Notes and Essays Archive by Dorothy L. Sayers

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: Wade-A-102

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This archive is divided into 3 series: Notes and Essays, Notebooks, and Publications. The Notes and Essays and Notebooks series primarily contain handwritten notes by Sayers during her undergraduate studies. There are also a few instances of original artwork (pencil sketches) by Sayers, and some content which is decidedly from quite a bit later in her career. The Publications series includes several examination papers from 1909, and a newspaper article from 1957.

Dates

Created: 1909-1957
Other: Majority of material found in 1912-1916

Creator

Sayers, Dorothy L. (Sayers, Dorothy Leigh) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Copies or publication of materials by Dorothy L. Sayers require permissions from the Sayers Literary Executor.

Biographical or Historical Information

This archive contains extensive notes by Dorothy L. Sayers during her undergraduate years at Somerville College, Oxford University (1912-1915), or in the immediate period afterwards with a few pieces from other stages of her life. Sayers did not receive her degree until October 14, 1920. She was in the first group of women to be granted an Oxford degree, and in 1920 Oxford University passed a statute which officially received women into full membership in the University. Prior to this, women who completed all the necessary requirements, including attendance at lectures and sitting examinations, were eligible only for the title to a degree - but were not official graduates of the University.

The material in this archive was acquired at auction from Sotheby's in London by the Wade Center in 2000. The original Sotheby's lot(s) included in this archive is Lot 299, i.

Extent

1.00 box : 26 Folders

0.8 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Source of Acquisition

01/1a

Related Materials

Researchers interested in this archive may also wish to consult the following resources in the Wade Center holdings:

Sayers’s Certificate for a Degree Course with Honours, with original mailing tube. (Equivalent to a college diploma, certifying that Sayers had passed her degree examinations in the period before women were awarded degrees.) Somerville College, Oxford University. Trinity Term, 1915. Removed from this archive, see article file entry AF-21770 and the Wade Center memorabilia collection record 78.

Manuscripts on the translation of Tristan during Sayers’s undergraduate years. See Dorothy L. Sayers MS-409-419.

Notes on the translation of Chanson de Roland. See Dorothy L. Sayers MS-420-424.

Other materials in the Wade Center holdings may relate to the topics in this archive. See the archivist for further research assistance.

Other Descriptive Information

Sayers's undergraduate certificate from Somerville College is stored in the Fragile Storage Artwork Cabinet, see article file entry AF-21770 and the Wade Center memorabilia collection record 78. There is an acquisition file for this collection. There is a research copy of this collection.