Patrick O`Brian (1914-2000) - photo 1
Patrick O`Brian (1914-2000) - photo 2
Patrick O`Brian (1914-2000) - photo 3
Patrick O`Brian (1914-2000) - photo 4
Patrick O`Brian (1914-2000) - photo 5
Patrick O`Brian (1914-2000) - photo 6
Patrick O`Brian (1914-2000) - photo 7

Patrick O`Brian (1914-2000)

Lot 109
10.07.2024 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 10 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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Archive
ID 1249716
Lot 109 | Patrick O'Brian (1914-2000)
Estimate value
£ 10 000 – 15 000
Patrick O'Brian (1914-2000)
Autograph manuscript draft for chapters I and II of 'XXI', the last, incomplete Aubrey-Maturin novel, with accompanying autograph outlines for the work, 1999
Heavily corrected draft of chapters I and II in black and occasionally blue ink on 32 leaves, 297 x 212mm (slightly erratic original foliation), the text on rectos with occasional sentences or notes on facing verso, a discarded first draft of Ch. II f. 6 surviving on the verso of Ch.II f. 9, in a blue card folder annotated ‘XXI MS’;

[and] Autograph manuscript outline, summaries and notes on the novel, early May - 8 December 1999, 15 leaves, 297 x 212mm (all but four leaves dated), in a blue card folder annotated ‘Thoughts on XXI / and summaries of Ch I / II’; [with] computer-printed timeline for the period from May 1790 to 1860, with columns for ‘Military Event’, ‘Naval Event’, ‘Political Events &c’ and ‘OBIT’. 14 leaves; and a faxed letter to O'Brian from Stuart Proffitt, 17 June 1999.

Autograph manuscript and notes for the last, unfinished Aubrey-Maturin novel. The autograph manuscript of chapters I and II are a heavily reworked first draft, providing a vivid sense of the novelist at work. The accompanying autograph notes, which are largely on separate leaves rather than forming a continuous text, are full of insights into O'Brian's writerly method and the genesis of the proposed book (referred to as 'XXI' throughout, as the 21st novel in the series): they begin with 'A broad sketch of the 21st Aubrey book' in early May 1999, amended with 'XXI later reflection' on 30 May, where he plans the division of the work in two parts; on 16 August there is 'A summary of Ch I', first as a brief paragraph, then a page-by-page summary. On 20 June there is a set of chapter outlines for chapters 1 to 8, and on 14 September memoranda relating to chapter II, followed by a summary of 'Ch II as it stands' on 18 October, again page-by-page, and on 28 October a reflection on having re-read the first two chapters, 'not without comfort and satisfaction'. On 26 November, writing at Trinity College Dublin, there is a moment of confusion, at having mislaid his draft for chapter III, a situation which seems to have been resolved by 8 December.

The novel was published in 2004 as The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey, based on the partially corrected typescript of the three chapters completed by O'Brian, followed by a facsimile of the autograph continuation. The present autograph draft is for the first two chapters only. O'Brian died on 2 January 2000, during a stay at Trinity College Dublin.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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10.07.2024 – 10.07.2024
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