Manuscripts for The Blessing Way (1970)
For his first novel, The Blessing Way, Tony Hillerman produced 5 completed initial drafts, as well as notes and partial drafts, correspondence with his publisher and a final edited manuscript, all of which are in the collections of the Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico Libraries. A complete index of all Hillerman papers and manuscripts is also available on the Rocky Mountain Online Archive (RMOA) Website.
Click the red "View" link below to view a digitized copy of an original manuscript. Several manuscripts in this collection also include interactive hyperlinks throughout the texts. The hyperlinks lead to articles that further explain aspects of the novel, Native American and Southwestern culture, history and geography. Click the orange mouse icon 
below to view the interactive versions of the manuscripts.
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The Blessing Way, Draft, p.1-168. (MSS 501 BC / B01-F01) This is the initial draft of The Blessing Way; this version has been heavily edited by the author, including many corrections, and revisions. It appears that many editing marks... |
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The Blessing Way, Draft, p.1-108. (MSS 501 BC / B01-F02) This is an early typed draft of 108 pages that shows a moderate amount of editing and correction by the author. The draft shows a variety of major organizational changes as well as... |
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The Blessing Way, Copy of Draft, p.1-150. (MSS 501 BC / B01-F03) This manuscript is actually a carbon copy of a typed manuscript draft of The Blessing Way. It is possible that this was a backup copy of a draft that was sent to Hillerman's... |
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The Blessing Way, Draft, p.5-225. (MSS 501 BC / B01-F04) This draft was originally 225 typed pages, however pages 1-4 are missing. It appears that this draft has been edited by someone other than Tony Hillerman - the editing style is... |
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The Blessing Way, Draft, p.5-205. (MSS 501 BC / B01-F05) This is a typed draft of The Blessing Way, which is quite similar to draft 4 (MSS 501 BC / B01-F04), in that the page formatting, ink and typewriter paper appear to be the same... |
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The Blessing Way, Assorted Draft Pages and Notes. (MSS 501 BC / B01-F06) This manuscript is not a formal draft per se; it appears to be a grouping of notes and rough drafts of individual chapters for The Blessing Way. The pages are heavily edited... |
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The Blessing Way, Edited Manuscript. (MSS 501 BC / B01-F07) This final version of the manuscript includes written notes and comments from the editor as well as Hillerman's responses. Written well before the popularization of email, it is... |
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Correspondence Regarding The Blessing Way, 1969-1972. (MSS 501 BC / B01-F08) Digital renditions of correspondence relating to The Blessing Way are currently being prepared for online publication. Researchers may wish to visit the Center for Southwest... |
