Larry McMurtry Collection

Collection

Identifier: RB03

Staff Only
No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

The McMurtry Collection at the UNT Libraries contains McMurtry's early manuscripts, which convey his development as a writer. These include college papers, correspondence, and drafts to his early novels, Horseman, Pass By and Leaving Cheyenne. In addition to manuscripts, the Collection also consists of published first editions, most signed by McMurtry. 2024 Accretion consists of newspaper and magazines articles related to McMurtry and his work, along with a small selection of his graded ungraduated writings. Contents of accretion cover the evolution of McMurtry’s writings for publication, his time as a book shop owner, critic responses to his works and their adaptations in film and TV, as well as advertisements.

Dates

Creation: 1954-1961

Creator

McMurtry, Larry (Person)

Extent

73.00 items (Includes manuscripts, papers, and published volumes.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Larry Jeff McMurtry (born June 3, 1936) is an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas. He is known for his 1975 novel Terms of Endearment, his 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove, a historical saga that follows ex-Texas Rangers as they drive their cattle from the Rio Grande to a new home in the frontier of Montana, and for co-writing the adapted screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. Lonesome Dove was adapted into a television miniseries and both the films of Terms of Endearment and Brokeback Mountain won Academy Awards. He also awarded Brian Allen Carr the inaugural Texas Observer Story Prize.

Arrangement Note

The manuscripts in the Larry McMurtry Collection are numbered, and the corresponding numbers are listed in the finding aid with a brief description of the contents