Add MS 89161/6/38

Autograph and some typed notes by Bakewell, chronicling the history of her relationship with Harold Pinter in preparation for drafting The Centre of the Bed. The notes include records of conversations with him in 1995-6 and 2001-2.

(1). 'Chronology'. List of dates and events in Bakewell's and Pinter's lives. Also, what appears to be a (previously well-folded) typed list of dinner party guests for 10 October 1976 at 33 Launceston Place, each guest paired with a literary figure. The guest names are first names only but surnames have been added by hand by Bakewell. In addition to 'Harold' and 'Antonia' (the hosts) are: Francis [Wyndham], Emma [Tennant], Kevin [Billington], Joan [Bakewell], Simon [Gray], Henry [Woolf], John [Gross], Rachel [Billington], Jack [Emery], and Peter [Ayers(?)].

(2). Notes on Pinter's play Betrayal (1978) and an attempt at correlating the play with actual events.

(3). Notes (1993-96) of Bakewell's conversations with Pinter, and a letter from Michael Billington:

• 'A poem from Harold has arrived in the post. It is a Photostat of a white page with 8 lines typed in the middle under the title: God' [1993]. Various autograph comments by Bakewell follow (1 x A4 sheet).
• Michael Billington. Typed letter signed (1 sheet, 14 December 1993). Has just been commissioned 'to write a book about Harold Pinter [...] with Harold's full endorsement'. Would like to meet to discuss 'his development as an artist and indeed the complex nature of the man himself'.
• Yellow 'post-it' note recording that on 22 December [1993] Bakewell phoned Pinter about Billington. Pinter 'going away 30th to Scotland'.
• Autograph notes dated 24 January 1994 and 21 February [1994] (3 notepad sheets).
• Autograph notes dated 'March 23.94' (5 notepad sheets).
• Autograph notes dated '28.3.95' (4 x A4 sheets).
• Undated autograph note (1 A4 sheet), beginning: 'Talk of my visit to S. Africa'.
• Autograph notes headed 'Lunch with Harold - 18.10.95' (2 x A4 sheets, red ink).
• Autograph notes dated '19th April 1996' (10 notepad sheets). 'Harold & I have lunch at Orsino's'.

(4). 'The Story breaks' (September 1996). Chronological record of media reaction to (Bakewell in) Billington's biography of Pinter. (4 x A4 sheets + 1 notepad sheet). Also, autograph letter dated 'Wednesday' from 'Alison' ('I hope the reptiles haven't given you too bad a time').

(5). 'Pinter Chapter'. Autograph notes (8 x A4 sheets) towards The Centre of the Bed. Also typed draft chapter (1 x A4 sheet), beginning: 'One evening in the autumn of 1959 or the early months of 1960 a man and a woman met at a party.'

(6). Further autograph biographical notes (26 x A4 sheets) towards The Centre of the Bed. Also, four photocopied memos (1955-59) from the BBC archives relating to Pinter:

• 24 January 1955. R.D. Smith to Pinter (regarding his change of name to 'David Baron')
• 3 June 1958. Internal memo from Michael Bakewell regarding Pinter, Something in Common.
• 13 November 1958. Internal memo from Michael Bakewell regarding Pinter, A Slight Ache.
• 25 March 1959. Internal memo from Archie Campbell regarding A Slight Ache ('By no standards could this work be judged a play').

(7). Autograph and typed notes (2001-2):

• 'Harold 27.4.01. Lunch at Aix' (autograph, 3 x A4 sheets).
• Autograph draft letter to Pinter 'sent Feb. 17 2002' (1 sheet).
• 'Phonecall with Harold / Feb 20th 2002'. Typed notes (2 versions, 5 x A4 sheets).
• Autograph notes (1 white card), dated 'July 11th' [2002] - refers to 'my book & its likely impact' and Pinter's 'hallucinations for 5 days after his operation'.
• 'Harold's Role in my Book' (typed notes, 2 sheets). Notes made 4 November 2002, with supplementary notes for 20 and 29 December. Refers to Pinter's response to draft text of The Centre of the Bed in which passages from Betrayal were included. Letter from Pinter received by courier: 'Very formal, almost as though written by a lawyer, saying I could not use extracts from Betrayal in my book. What to do! There remain the two poems he wrote to me.'