Le Carré is the pen name of David John Moore Cornwell The novelist John le Carré has donated his literary archive to Oxford University’s Bodleian Library.
Le Carré, 79, said he was “delighted” to hand over his works to his former university.
The display will include handwritten and typed drafts of one of his best known works, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Eighty-five boxes have been delivered to the library, and more material, such as personal and family papers, photos and correspondence will follow later.
Private photos of le Carré with Alec Guinness, who starred in the 1979 BBC series of the novel, will be on show.
Manuscripts of two of the writer’s own favourites, The Constant Gardener and The Tailor of Panama, will also feature in the display.
Le Carré said: “I am delighted to be able to do this. Oxford was Smiley’s [le Carré’s fictional intelligence officer] spiritual home, as it is mine.
“And while I have the greatest respect for American universities, the Bodleian is where I shall most happily rest.”
Richard Ovenden, Keeper of Special Collections and Associate Director of the Bodleian Libraries, said: “We are enormously grateful that John le Carré has made his archive available to the Bodleian.
“It is compelling primary evidence of a major cultural contribution to a literary genre and will offer scholars important insights into his work.
“We hope the collection will also be appreciated more widely, through exhibitions, seminars and conferences as well as through digitisation initiatives.”
Le Carré is the pen name of David John Moore Cornwell.
During the 1950s and the 1960s he worked for MI5 and MI6.
When his third novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) became an international best-seller, he left MI6 to become a full-time author.
Le Carré has written 22 novels. They have been translated into 36 languages.
He studied languages at Lincoln College, Oxford.
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