Have you read En Attendant Godot (Waiting for Godot) or seen it performed? The Booth Family Center for Special Collections recently received a gift of three letters, handwritten by Samuel Beckett, the Nobel Prize-winning author of that play and others.
The gift comes from Professor Emeritus Roger Bensky, a scholar of French theatre, who entered into correspondence with Beckett in 1969 while seeking to find publication for his article "La symbolique du mime dans le théâtre de Samuel Beckett." Having been rejected by two academic journals, Bensky decided to write directly to Beckett, seeking his opinion of the article's pertinence and potential for publication. Beckett's positive response yielded two additional letters to Bensky and an acceptance letter from Geneviève Serreau, co-editor of the prestigious literary review Les Lettres Nouvelles created by Maurice Nadeau, a major figure of French literary history. Bensky's article appeared in the journal's September-October 1969 issue. The letters are in French in Beckett’s very distinctive handwriting.
The originals can be seen in the Paul F. Betz Reading Room, or digitally in DigitalGeorgetown. More information about the letters and Professor Emeritus Bensky is in our finding aid for the Roger Bensky collection of Samuel Beckett letters. To view the letters or other materials in the Booth Family Center for Special Collections, please register using our Aeon Request System. For more information about Special Collections, contact us at 202-687-7444 or through our information request form.