Manuscripts for Lord of the Dawn : The Legend of Quetzalcoatl

For his novel, Lord of the Dawn : The Legend of Quetzalcoatl, Rudolfo Anaya produced an initial handwritten draft and ten typed drafts, all of which are available online. The Rudolfo Anaya Papers collection also contains two sets of page proofs (not provided online), and also a glossary and pronunciation guide Anaya used while writing the work. The original manuscript documents are in the collections of the Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico Libraries. The complete collection finding aid is available on the Rocky Mountain Online Archive (RMOA) Website.


Lord of the Dawn, Holographic Manuscript. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F04)

This is the earliest draft of Lord of the Dawn, handwritten and unedited. The manuscript contains 11 chapters and some notes regarding Toltec history and terminology at the end.

Lord of the Dawn, Typescript, with Note and Comments from David Johnson. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F05)

This typed draft of Lord of the Dawn contains handwritten edits from David Johnson, both in pencil and red ink. The manuscript is accompanied by a letter from Johnson, commenting on the story and its development.

Lord of the Dawn, Revised Typescript, Johnson's Comments Incorporated. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F06)

A revised draft of Lord of the Dawn that Anaya typed after applying David Johnson’s comments and suggestions. The manuscript is clean, with no edits or corrections.

Lord of the Dawn, Edited Typescript. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F07)

This is an edited draft of Lord of the Dawn, probably from early 1885, with Anaya’s handwritten edits in black ink.

Lord of the Dawn, Edited Typescript, "Ready to Print." (MSS 321 BC / B03-F08)

A heavily marked draft, containing structural and stylistic edits, as well as proofreading corrections both in pencil and black ink.

Lord of the Dawn, Edited Typescript, May 1985. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F09)

This draft of Lord of the Dawn is lightly edited, mostly with proofreading corrections.

Lord of the Dawn, Edited Typescript. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F10)

This is a mid-way draft of Lord of the Dawn, which contains handwritten editorial comments as well as Anaya’s own edits and notes concerning the style and structure of the manuscript.

Lord of the Dawn, Second Version, with Comments from Editor. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F11)

This is a significantly revised version of Lord of the Dawn. The first pages of the typed draft contain some edits from Claire Sanderson at UNM Press, but the rest of the manuscript is clean and unmarked.

Lord of the Dawn, Revised Version. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F12)

This is a clean, unmarked typed draft of Lord of the Dawn, after some major revisions were made and the manuscript was getting close to being published.

Lord of the Dawn, Edited Typescript, Photocopy. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F13)

A photocopy of a later draft of Lord of the Dawn, with handwritten edits and proofreading corrections.

Lord of the Dawn, Glossary and Pronunciation Guide. (MSS 321 BC / B03-F14)

This is a heavily edited draft of the terminology glossary and Nahuatl pronunciation guide that were added to the manuscript of Lord of the Dawn before the book was published in 1987. This draft was sent to Anaya with a note here from Claire Sanderson, the editor at UNM Press, requesting his final revisions.