A very busy, comprehensively revised, first draft autograph manuscript comprising nearly half of Raven’s second novel from his witty and scabrous novel sequence, Alms for Oblivion. Perhaps on account of his rackety later years Raven’s manuscripts do not appear to be represented in any of the major research libraries; this one was gifted to a ‘Dr Schwartz’ in October 1964 with the promise, presumably unfulfilled, that ‘If you are interested, I can send you the rest of the MS as it becomes available.’ A Trollopian comedy, Raven’s satire is underpinned by ‘a talent for writing about very bad behaviour in very good prose’ (Peter Parker). Alms for Oblivion has come to be seen as a raffish pendant to Powell’s Dance to the Music of Time - this is a rare opportunity to acquire one of Simon Raven’s autograph manuscripts.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Quarto sized paper (26x20.5cm) Cover sheet (with spotting): ‘Friends in Low Places. A novel By S.R.’ ff174, but unreliably numbered: written on rectos only in blue biro, not always an easy hand, c25,000 words; in the printed text this occupies pages 8-79. Within the manuscript there are several additional leaves adding extra material to the text: cf 6A and 6B and 7A, f11 appears twice but there is no f4, ff22-4, ff48-9 or f166 - the sense of the prose dictates that this is certainly a numbering error with no loss of text. Additionally f38 appears twice as typescript; Part II - Chapter II - begins at f55; f82 is two typescript leaves and ff118-119 appear twice with entirely different text and may be transposed from elsewhere in the manuscript. The organisation of the manuscript does begin to resemble Raven’s lifestyle. His prose is lavishly revised and corrected throughout; large passages are excised as at f100 where a London trip from Gower Street to Lord’s ‘where he had arranged, as a member of the MCC, to have a practice net...’ doesn’t make the cut, on some pages there is more crossing out than surviving text, cf ff125 and 164. A brief comparison with the printed text of the first edition which is offered alongside this MS suggests that Raven’s alterations bring this version closer to the printed form but that it underwent significant further alteration beyond this text. Even the first words of the novel are revised from the manuscript’s ‘“Christ,” said Mark Lewson’ to ‘“Jesus Christ,” said Mark Lewson; and the idea of this opening as a ‘Prologue’ in the manuscript is abandoned in the printed text.
Accompanying the manuscript is an unsigned, typed letter to ‘Dr Schwartz’ presenting the manuscript as ‘the MS of the first two chapters of the novel I am writing’ - even though Chapter III is certainly present here. Dr Schwartz’s identity remains unknown though it has been suggested that this might be a mocking reference to his publisher, Anthony Blond (Schwartz, black - Blond, white) though this seems implausible. Certainly Blond was indeed responsible for maintaining the author at the address he gives, ‘236 London Road, Deal’, after the pair concluded that Raven would only be able to write if he could keep the pleasures and distractions of London at arms length. Accompanied by a first edition of the novel in its published form and contained within a drop back box with typed spine label, faded.
CONTEXT The critic Peter Hitchens best sums up Simon Raven’s achievement in Alms for Oblivion: ‘It encompasses the melancholy era of national decline, from the last trumpets of empire to the seedy, garish concrete and glass squalor of Ted Heath’s fevered age. It is funny, bitter and full of a surprisingly uninhibited love of this country. It is interested in history, patriotism, courage, money, food, drink and sex, not necessarily in that order. ‘
