[ P. G. Wodehouse, humorist. ] Two typewritten drafts, each with autograph emendations, of 'The Day I met the Master', Barrie Pitt's account of his encounter with Wodehouse in Tost internment camp. With printed version the article, and other material

All items in good condition, with minor signs of age. The drafts are both printed on yellow paper. Each is 4pp., 4to. The two appear the same textually, but one has two slips of paper with amended text attached, and the autograph emendations to the two are different from one another. Also present is a leaf from 'Lifewise' magazine, November 1993, with one page carrying Pitt's memoir, accompanied by a photograph of Wodehouse being interviewed at Tost by Angus Thuermer. The piece begins: 'I first saw P. G. Wodehouse from behind the barred window of a prison cell in Upper Silesia, and was not at that moment particularly interested in who he might be.' The interment camp is 'Ilag VIII b, Tost', and Pitt recalls his conversations with Wodehouse ('Oh, Lord. Time to feed. Wonder what colour gravy they've boiled the old socks in today?'), and Wodehouse's advice regarding a short stoy by Pitt and its possible publication ('I wrote Latin hexameters at Dulwich: very useful when it comes to writing lyrics. Cole Porter and I always tried 'em out in Latin first. Showed up the flat spots immediately!'). Pitt is also alowed to 'look through the first chapters of Money in the Bank', which he discusses with Wodehouse. Towards the end he writes: 'I have no idea of the date, but the time came when I watched him being escorted down the staircase by a somewhat sinister character and by Sonderfuhrer Heide and two German guards, and the next thing I knew was that he had been released and was living in Berlin.' Together with the drafts and magazine version of the article, there are also typewritten copies of two letters from Pitt. The first, to Bernard Kaukas of the Savage Club, 2 April 1992, enquires whether Wodehouse was a member of the Club. The second, to Diana Shine of the Society of Authors, 21 March 1992, offers the article for publication in the Society's magazine 'The Author'. The collection also includes a TLS to Pitt from Derek Parker, editor of 'The Author', 27 March 1992, explaining the reasons for declining the piece. Also present is a photocopy of the article as printed in the journal of the Wodehouse Society, 'Plum Lines', Summer 1995.