Bob Dylan's "Secret Archive" To Be Thrown Open To The Public
“It makes a lot of sense and it’s a great honour,” says Bob as the University Of Tulsa buys his 60 year-old, 6000-strong personal collection of papers, films, recordings and more.
BOB DYLAN'S PRIVATE archive is to cracked open and exposed to public scrutiny for the first time following its sale to an American university.
The singer-songwriter’s personal archive – containing around 6000 pieces – has been acquired for an estimated $15 million to $20 million (£10.6m - £14m) by two bodies in Oklahoma and will be made available for academic study, the newly created Institution announced via www.bobdylanarchive.com today (March 2).
Among the collection of papers, films, correspondence and more are Dylan's lyric notebooks for Blood On The Tracks, his earliest music recordings from 1959 and handwritten lyrics for Chimes Of Freedom, scrawled on hotel stationery in 1964 (pictured).
The archive, which will take two years to be catalogued and digitalised, will be housed at The University of Tulsa’s Helmerich Center for American Research, which is already home to papers belonging to Woody Guthrie, a native of Oklahoma state.
“I’m glad that my archives, which have been collected all these years, have finally found a home and are to be included with the works of Woody Guthrie and especially alongside all the valuable artifacts from the Native American Nations,” said Dylan in a statement. “To me it makes a lot of sense and it’s a great honour.”
The collection, which contains 60 years’ worth of material, was purchased by George Kaiser Family Foundation – named after an oil and banking billionaire – and the university.
While most of the collection will be made available for academic study, items will be exhibited to the public in Tulsa’s Brady Arts District.
For full details visit www.bobdylanarchive.com plus watch a video about the unboxing of Dylan's collection.