The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers

C. S. Lewis predicted that Dorothy L. Sayers would be regarded as one of the great letter writers of the twentieth century. It can now be seen how right he was.

Three volumes of Sayers' letters have recently been published and a fourth is due to be published in January 2000. From childhood on, they show a marvellous talent for describing scenes, writing dialogue and arguing passionately about world affairs. When she became famous, other famous people wrote to her and she grew to be one of the most influential personalities of her time. Her views on religion, education, politics, writing and criticism were continually sought. Like C. S. Lewis she was generous in responding to strangers who wrote for advice and clarification about the Christian faith. Her letters show the full range of her mind and reveal many things about her personality, previously misunderstood.

The publication of Volume 3, The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: A Noble Daring, coincides with the 50th anniversary of her translation of Dante's lnferno. This event changed the awareness of Dante among English-speaking readers. All three volumes, Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, published by Penguin Classics and still in print, have sold over a million and a quarter copies, something unprecedented in Dante studies. Sayers began reading Dante in 1944, sitting in an air-raid shelter, while bombs were falling. She was amazed to find what a vivid and relevant writer he was and at once set down her ideas about him in letters to Charles Williams. He wanted to publish them but died before he could do so. Now, after more than 50 years, they are in print for the first time: exuberant, informal, full of humour, to read them is like having an exhilarating conversation with a friend.

Volume 3 contains sketches of Dante's Hell by Dorothy Sayers, discovered by the editor, Barbara Reynolds, and reproduced among the many illustrations. It also contains eight colour plates of designs for two of Sayers' dramas, The Just Vengeance (1946) and The Zeal of Thy House (new production, 1949).

Volume 4 is now also available.

The four volumes can be obtained as follows:

• Vol.l: The Making of a Detective Novelist, London, Hodder and Stoughton, £25; New York, St Martin's Press, $26.95.
• Vol.2: From Novelist to Playwright, Carole Green Publishing, 2-4 Station Road, Swavesey, Cambridge, CB4 5QJ, U.K., £20, plus £3.50 p.and p.; New York, St Martin's Press, $27.95.
• Vol.3: A Noble Daring, Carole Green Publishing, 2-4 Station Road, Swavesey, Cambridge, CB4 5QJ, U.K., £25, plus £3.50 p. and p.; Harold Shaw Publishers, 338 Gunderson Drive, Wheaton, Illinois 60189.
• Vol.4: In the Midst of Life, Carole Green Publishing, 2-4 Station Road, Swavesey, Cambridge CB4 5QJ, U.K.

All four volumes of letters have a Preface by P.D. James.