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| Library gaining Bennett archives | Library gaining Bennett archives |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Alan Bennett is to give a wealth of written work from nearly 50 years as an author and playwright to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. | Alan Bennett is to give a wealth of written work from nearly 50 years as an author and playwright to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. |
| Notes, drafts and scripts for all of his stage and TV plays were among the collection, the library said. | Notes, drafts and scripts for all of his stage and TV plays were among the collection, the library said. |
| There are also manuscripts for his autobiographies and short stories, plus letters and a number of unpublished diaries dating back to 1974. | There are also manuscripts for his autobiographies and short stories, plus letters and a number of unpublished diaries dating back to 1974. |
| Bennett has kept virtually everything he has written during his career. | Bennett has kept virtually everything he has written during his career. |
| "Since I don't have a computer, this does make for a fair amount of paperwork," he said. FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME class="" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/default.stm">More from Today programme | |
| And while the prospect of sorting through everything "seems to delight the archivists", he said, the sheer volume of material "dismayed" him. | |
| "There's so much [that] I'm quite glad to see the back of it. I just pity the poor research student who may have to make sense of it all." | "There's so much [that] I'm quite glad to see the back of it. I just pity the poor research student who may have to make sense of it all." |
| The 74-year-old is donating his work without charge because he sees it as a way of repaying the free education he received at Exeter College in Oxford. | The 74-year-old is donating his work without charge because he sees it as a way of repaying the free education he received at Exeter College in Oxford. |
| The librarian at the Bodleian, Dr Sarah Thomas, hailed Bennett's "extraordinary generosity" as the source of "one of the most important acquisitions for the library in recent times". | The librarian at the Bodleian, Dr Sarah Thomas, hailed Bennett's "extraordinary generosity" as the source of "one of the most important acquisitions for the library in recent times". |
| A formal reception will take place to mark the handover on Monday. | A formal reception will take place to mark the handover on Monday. |
| The library, which holds more than eight million written works, is more than 400 years old. | The library, which holds more than eight million written works, is more than 400 years old. |