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The papers consist of correspondence, writings, diaries, photographs, and printed material which document the life and work of playwright Sir Peter Levin Shaffer. The papers consist of two series: personal papers and writings. The personal papers include correspondence, diaries, and photographs while materials relating to his writings are gathered in the second series by date. The writings include correspondence, drafts, photographs, and printed material for his best-known plays, and drafts of unpublished and unfinished plays as well.

Writings are listed in order of first production, or date of writing if not produced, with all associated correspondence, writings, and printed material gathered under the title. Many of the playscripts feature multiple revisions Shaffer made over the years as the plays were restaged.

There are playscripts for one play performed on television: 'The Salt Land', two plays for the radio: 'The Prodigal Father' and 'Whom Do I Have the Honour of Addressing?', and 14 plays for the theatre; four of these plays were adapted to screenplays by Shaffer: 'The Public Eye,' 'Equus,' 'Amadeus,' and 'Lettice and Lovage'.

Shaffer also kept full playscripts for two unproduced plays: ‘Our Lady of the Volcano’ and ‘The Syllabub Saloon’ and an unproduced screenplay, ‘Sir Lucas and the Two Sams.’ At least six more plays are represented by unfinished playscripts: ‘The Comedy of the Gourd’, ‘The Italian Play’, ‘Peter Shaffer, a Monologue with Interruptions’, ‘Cowl’, ‘The Danger Doll of the Dum Dum Desert’, his last unfinished play about Tchaikovsky’s last days, ‘Bezique’, an unfinished screenplay, ‘Richard IV,’ as well as a number of fragments of unfinished plays or screenplays.

Writings also include complete drafts of the published novel How Doth the Little Crocodile? and the unpublished ‘The King of Gongi.’ Unfinished stories include ‘The Bus Drove On’ and another about a Bevin Boy, as well as several others represented only by fragments.

The Personal Papers series is arranged into Incoming correspondence, Outgoing correspondence, Diaries, Photographs and artwork, Printed Material, Other papers, and Writings by others. A distinction was made to keep material relating to specific plays and other works in the Writings series, but material relating to Shaffer's entire life, such as the transcript of the oral history interviews (SHAF A6/1), would be kept in this series.