Edward Pagram (1927-2007) illustrated two of Burgess’s novels: The Eve of St Venus (1964) and A Vision of Battlements (1965). The charcoal illustrations, some of which are included here, show the humorous side to Burgess’s novels, but Burgess had his doubts about them. ‘This turned out not to be a good idea,’ he writes, ‘the […]
The library at the Anthony Burgess Foundation often reveals unexpected preoccupations and cultural connections. Alongside the more literary titles are several books about showbusiness, including biographies of David Niven, Sir Lew Grade, Jayne Mansfield, and Josephine Baker. Burgess’s interests in film, performance and popular culture were varied, but he had a particular affection for comedy. […]
This sandalwood box was in Burgess’s possession from at least 1964, when he is pictured with it at his home in Etchingham (below). The intricate carving on the box suggests that Burgess may have acquired it in Malaya during the 1950s, though there is no record in the archive of him buying it. The box […]
This copy of Frank Herbert’s Dune dates from 1966, when Anthony Burgess reviewed it for the Observer. He was impressed by the scope of the book and by the calibre of Herbert’s literary creation. The review displays a wide knowledge of science-fiction conventions. Dune is set on Arrakis, a desert planet on which humans mine […]
Anthony Burgess was fascinated by the possibility of predicting the future. Introduced to the mysteries of the Tarot through studying T.S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land while at school, he later designed his own Tarot decks with his first wife Lynne and practised cartomancy himself, giving readings at a village fete in Adderbury, Oxfordshire in […]
In 1984, Burgess released his book Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English Since 1939, a provocative list of his favourite novels in English. A recent discovery in the Burgess Foundation archive is a notebook containing a list of Burgess’s favourite books in translation. Internal evidence suggests that this list dates from the same year as […]
The archive at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation contains several objects relating to the work of American novelist Thomas Pynchon. Burgess has a similar artistic vision to Pynchon, despite their different backgrounds and literary influences. Both writers prefer their subject matter to stretch beyond the borders of their home countries, and both experiment with forms […]
The Burgess Foundation archive contains several diaries kept by Burgess between 1952 and 1974. These have a combination of personal entries, shopping lists, notes towards the writing of novels and records of finances. At the end of the diary for 1958, there are a series of limericks written by Burgess and his wife Lynne in […]
The sound archives at the Burgess Foundation contain thousands of hours of recordings, including Burgess playing music, practicing lectures, reading from his own works, and speaking in public. This audio extract is from a series of lectures Burgess gave at City College in New York about Shakespeare and his peers. This recording was made on […]
The archive at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation contains a box full of house keys, some of which date back as far as 1968. These keys are accompanied by a hand drawn chart that indicates the uses for several of the keys, and allows us to trace for which of his houses Burgess used them. […]