Douglas Harding Archive

The Hierarchy: Typed Synopsis Manuscript Excerpt

After completing the large typed version of The Hierarchy in September 1950, Douglas immediately began work on a shorter version, taking the view that the original large version was unlikely to be published because of its huge size. This next short version was the ’synopsis’. It took Douglas a couple of months to write and was the version he sent out to various authors for their comments, including C.S. Lewis, who wrote a preface for the book in 1951. The synopsis was followed by a slightly expanded version which was finally followed by

the version that was published by Faber & Faber in 1952

.

Photographs of the Manuscript