Series 1: The Big Sea, First Draft, 1939
This series consists of all extant pages of the draft typed and then hand-corrected in pencil by Langston Hughes, working at the Hotel Grand in Chicago from April 24 to May 26, 1939. The draft is presented in the order in which it was arranged by Hughes. Toward the end of the manuscript some of the chapters contain two typescript versions. Several other chapters, which appear in later drafts, do not appear in this first effort. The order and titles of the chapters also undergo significant changes from this draft to later versions. According to Hughes, the penciled corrections were added when he reread each chapter at the end of the first draft.
.Series 2: The Big Sea, Second Draft, 1939
This series consists of all extant pages of the draft typed and then hand-corrected in pencil by Langston Hughes. It was completed on October 3, 1939 at a writer’s colony, Hollow Hills Farm, located in Monterey, California. The draft is presented in the order in which it was arranged by Hughes. It appears much closer to the final published book. Several chapters which do not appear in the first draft are now added. Titles of chapters are changed, and contents are significantly revised in others. Hughes told his Chicago Public Library audience that in the second draft he made penciled revisions soon after some of the chapters were written, and did not wait until the whole second draft was completed. Even so, there are chapters added in the second draft which were late insertions; these have no pagination.
Series 3: The Big Sea, Third Draft, 1939
On the title page of the third draft, Langston Hughes wrote that this draft was the “final copy as delivered to the publishers.” The content of this draft is nearly the same as what was set in type for the galley proofs. Nevertheless, there are several pages of the third draft which are missing. We do not know whether these were lost by Hughes before he donated all the drafts to the Special Negro Collection at George Cleveland Hall branch of the Chicago Public Library, or whether they were lost at some later date.
Series 4: “Big Sea” Fragments, and a short story, “Spanish Blood”
Thirteen (13) pages of manuscript fragments, found in a separate envelope, are included in this series. Four (4) of these pages appear to have been part of a chapter of the book entitled “Literary Quarrel,” on a dispute Hughes had with Zora Neale Hurston while the two of them were working on a play, “Mulebone.” Also included in this series is a short story entitled “Spanish Blood.” Hughes wrote the story in 1934 and it was published in a magazine then. An introductory paragraph to this typescript, as well as page numbers added, seems to show that Hughes intended to include it in the second draft of The Big Sea. In the end, it did not become part of the book.
Series 5: Galley Proofs of “The Big Sea”
This series consists of all the galley proofs of The Big Sea sent to Hughes by the typesetters at H. Wolff Book Manufacturing Company, June 7, 1940. On the first galley, Hughes wrote: “Read and corrected by Langston Hughes, June 15, 1940, Hotel Grand, Chicago.” Hughes was instructed to make only corrections of typographical errors, but an examination of the galleys reveals a significant number of authorial changes.
Series 6: Addendum to the Langston Hughes Papers
