The P. G. Wodehouse Collection at Vanderbilt University

Explore Vanderbilt University’s extensive collection of manuscripts, letters, first editions, and rare memorabilia related to the life and literary legacy of P. G. Wodehouse.

Nearly a century and a quarter after leaving his beloved Dulwich College—and, more remarkably, some 45 years after his death—P. G. Wodehouse has arrived on the campus of a distinguished American institution.

The P. G. Wodehouse Collection at Vanderbilt University (VU) in Nashville, Tennessee, is the outcome of an idea voiced by TWS member Anita Avery at the 2015 Psmith in Pseattle convention. With the approval of TWS’s Board of Directors, it was eventually brought to life by Anita, Ken Clevenger, Arthur Robinson, Tad Boehmer, Ananth Kaitharam, and Noel Merrill over the ensuing two years. Begun with a couple of hundred items from Anita’s own collection and soon after augmented by a similar amount of material from Arthur, followed by donations from TWS members, the Collection now numbers more than 1,445 items that have been donated by TWS members. It is growing steadily year by year thanks to continuing donations and to purchases made by Vanderbilt University.

Housed in the university’s Special Collections and University Archives, this rich repository of Wodehouse works offers public access to a breadth and depth of Wodehouseana unavailable anywhere else in the United States. Literary scholars can study the comedic genius in depth. Musicians and theater impresarios can find resources for play revivals or period concerts. Avid Wodehouse readers will find a plethora of hard-to-find materials—and have a jolly good time doing so!

The goal of the Collection is to acquire and preserve U.K. and U.S. first editions of works by Wodehouse, plus first editions of works about or related to Wodehouse. The Collection is organized according to the “bible” of Wodehouse collectors, Eileen McIlvaine’s P. G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist. Accordingly, holdings are divided into sections devoted to specific types of works—novels, omnibus volumes, books about Wodehouse, periodicals, dramatic works, music, letters, manuscripts, etc.—and assigned the McIlvaine numbers that have become the internationally accepted standard for identifying specific editions and issues of works by, about, or related to Wodehouse. To accommodate types of Wodehouse-related items not included in the McIlvaine structure, four additional sections have been added to the Collection’s online database: television adaptations, ephemera and collectibles, journals (Plum Lines, Wooster Sauce), and TWS documents and ephemera. This extended structure broadens the Collection’s scope and keeps track of what has been donated and what is still needed.

Sam en zijn schat (Sam in the Suburbs), 1927, N.V. Drukkerij, Jacob van Campen, Dutch translation
Plum Pudding, A Wodehouse Alphabet, compiled by Doug & Margaret Stow, 1984, Avenue Press
A Damsel in Distress, 1930, Samuel French, First Issue, (UK + US) comedy play
How to Tell Your Friends from the Apes, by Will Cuppy, 1934, Methuen; introduction by P. G. Wodehouse; First Edition (UK)
A Bibliography and Reader’s Guide to the First Editions of P. G. Wodehouse, by David A. Jasen, 1970, Archon Books, First Edition (US)
The Wodehouse Society Tome, Volume 1, 1980–2009
Ainslee’s, December 1909; includes “The Gem Collector”
Leave it to Jane, 1958–59 revival, original cast recording, Strand, LP vinyl
The Swoop, or, How Clarence Saved England, 1909. Alson Rivers, First Edition (UK)
Members of The Wodehouse Society get an up-close view of artifacts from Vanderbilt’s P.G Wodehouse Collection. (Tim Gollins/Vanderbilt)
William Tell Told Again, n.d., Adam & Charles Black, Reprint (UK) of 1904 novel
Rosalie, 1937 film, Turner Entertainment, 1993 VHS release
Mam’Zelle Milliard, 1924, abridged version of A Damsel in Distress, 1919, French intertitles, silent film, DVD conversion
Pearson’s Magazine, March 1907; includes “How Kid Brady Took a Sea Voyage”
My Man Jeeves, 1938, First Wodehouse Penguin paperback title, 7th printing, with dust wrapper
Oh, Boy! 1917, J. Albert & Son, vocal score
Carry On, Jeeves!, 1927, George H. Doran, First American Edition
Anything Goes, 1936, Harms, Inc./Samuel French, First Edition Libretto (US + UK) libretto
In Search of Blandings, by NTP Murphy, 1981, Privately Printed, First Edition
Jeeves Omnibus, 1931, Herbert Jenkins, First Edition, (UK)
Wodehouse Playhouse, Series Two, 1976, Acorn Media, 2003 DVD release
A True and Faithful Account of the Adventures of The Wodehouse Society… by NTP Murphy, 1990, James H. Heineman
Uncle Fred in the Springtime, 1939, Doubleday, Doran, First Edition (US)
“Now That I’ve Turned Both Cheeks…”, ca.1945–46, carbon typescript
Brother Alfred, 1932 film, screenplay by PGW and Herbert Westbrook, Studio Canal, 2014 DVD release
Something New, 1915, D. Appleton, First Edition (US)
8x10 black-and-white photograph of PGW, October 12, 1973, by Erik Thomsen
Meet Mr. Mulliner, 1927, Herbert Jenkins, First Edition (UK)
A Prefect’s Uncle, 1903, Adam & Charles Black, First Edition (UK)
Wodehouse letter to Richard Morrissey, August 23, 1974
Over Seventy, 1957, Herbert Jenkins, First English Edition
Comments in Passing, 29 Aug 1980 a.d. (Vol. 1, No. 1)
The Clicking of Cuthbert, 1922, Herbert Jenkins, First Edition (UK)
The Pothunters, 1902, Adam & Charles Black, First Edition (UK)
Wodehouse’s monogrammed cigarette box, Drones match flap
By the Way Book, The Globe Newspaper limited edition facsimile, 1985, James H. Heineman and Scepter Press
The Autograph Edition of Louder and Funnier, 1963, Herbert Jenkins, First Issue
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, 1992, BBC Enterprises, radio dramatization, audiocassettes
Wodehouse’s checked cap, made by Lock & Co., St James’s Street, London
Love Among the Chickens, 1909, The Circle Publishing Co., First American Edition
Bill the Conqueror, 1924, George H. Doran, First American Edition

In addition to the various sections of enumerated catalogued items, there are two scrapbook-style collections of photographs, memorabilia, and other ephemera. The large collections of Erik Thomsen and Margaret and Doug Stow are not catalogued by individual items, but their breadth and depth are best represented by overall numbers in various categories.

Erik Thomsen’s extraordinary memorabilia album, which has been digitized, is singular among the Collection’s holdings. Donated by the late Mr. Thomsen’s family, the album’s 234 items include numerous formal and casual photos of Wodehouse, several with Ethel, photos of Wodehouse portraits, and photos Thomsen’s visits to Remsenburg; slides; negatives; letters from Wodehouse; letters from Ethel and PGW’s sister-in-law Nella; carbon copies of Thomsen’s letters to Wodehouse, Ethel, and Peter Schwed; audiotapes of interviews and conversations; news clippings and other ephemera; a signed copy of Jill the Reckless; and a sixteen-page carbon-copy manuscript of a rarely seen article by Wodehouse. A professional photographer and amateur artist, Erik developed a warm friendship with Wodehouse in the last two years of Plum’s life.

The Margaret and Doug Stow collection of four large scrapbooks, spanning 1981–2015, includes decades of memorabilia and ephemera from gatherings and conventions of The Wodehouse Society. Eighty-nine album pages of photos plus 26 individual photos are a tribute to past and current members. A wide range of 182 items—many of which were typeset by hand and printed on the Stows’ antique press for Paper Crane Press—includes mementoes of TWS events, bookmarks, handcrafted keepsake booklets featuring pieces or quotes by Wodehouse, convention announcements, programs, a Jeeves Christmas card, playbills, several Pauline Blanc publications, letters, pamphlets, and news clippings. Sketches and proposed Wodehouse alphabet quatrains for Plum Pudding, compiled by Doug Stow and illustrated by Chris Marrinan, round out this comprehensive chronicle of TWS’s activities up to 2015.

The Collection also includes the society’s revered Tome, Volume 1, containing TWS’s historical records for the years 1980–2005. This bound volume of over 284 pages includes Bill Blood’s first calls for a Wodehouse Society in 1980, early membership lists, photos of members, invitations, publicity, several letters and cards from Lady Ethel Wodehouse, Comments in Passing newsletters, early organizational and policy documents, convention information, programs and attendee lists, playbills, proclamations, book reviews, newspaper clippings and articles, dedications of PGW plaques, letters from TWS members, and clippings about prominent members.

At the Collection’s dedication at Vanderbilt University in September 2024, University Librarian Jon Shaw spoke of the exciting vision for the Collection’s future, which includes “digitizing as many [as permissions and copyright laws allow] of these materials as we can and making them accessible online” as well as “teaming with the British Library, where Wodehouse’s personal archive is on loan, in this digital preservation initiative.” He also noted: “Our ultimate goal is to make these materials accessible as broadly as possible and to preserve them in perpetuity for the rest of the world.” The dedication included an wonderful exhibit of holdings in the Collection.

Anita Avery is the TWS Project Leader for the Collection. She coordinates and vets potential donations to the Collection according to guidelines mutually agreed upon with VU. VU staff record acquisitions and classify, catalogue, and shelve items within the VU library system. In addition, VU has purchased other items for the Collection which are only included in their catalogue. An alternative method for searching VU’s catalogue can be found here.

If you have something you may wish to donate, write to Anita, who will be happy to hear from you.