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More oxford books @ www.OxfordeBook.comFore more urdu books visit www.4Urdu.comESSAY ON SOURCES 293published diaries only the sections that I have personally verified as accurate with thearchival records, and I note where important discrepancies exist. (The only exception isin the case of Rand’s earliest philosophical journals, which were lost after publication, sothat no originals remain.) Similar problems plague Ayn Rand Answers (2005), The Artof Fiction (2000), The Art of Non-Fiction (2001), and Objectively Speaking (2009). Thesebooks are derived from archival materials but have been significantly rewritten.ARCHIVAL SOURCE SIn light of the bowdlerization of Rand’s published papers, the starting point for rigoroushistorical and philosophical inquiry into her work must be archival. The Ayn RandArchives, which holds original versions of the materials described above, is the definitiveresource for scholars. Material here ranges from the mundane to the spectacular, fromhousehold ephemera to the most wrenching of Rand’s diary entries during the agoniesof her break with Nathaniel Branden. The archive consists of two related collections,the Ayn Rand Papers and Special Collections. Together they encompass more than twohundred document cartons, which hold manuscripts, fiction and nonfiction notes andoutlines, screenplays, business and personal correspondence, fan mail, research files,personal photographs, daily calendars, address books, memorabilia, press clipping files,Objectivist periodicals, materials from Objectivist organizations, and Russian academicand legal documents. There are more than three thousand handwritten pages and severalhundred hours of interviews with Rand and persons who knew her, and more thaneleven hundred pages of letters sent to her from Russia by the Rosenbaum family. Thearchive has an active acquisitions program and has taken steps to digitize and preserveits ever-expanding holdings.Of particular note are transcripts of more than forty hours of interviews BarbaraBranden conducted with Rand in 1961, which formed the basis of Branden’s 1962 biographicalsketch, Who Is Ayn Rand?, and her later Passion of Ayn Rand. The biographicalinterviews reveal details about Rand that cannot be found elsewhere, particularly concerningher early life and her creative process. Later research indicates that Rand’s recollectionsof her life in Russia are of questionable accuracy, and the listener must alwayskeep in mind Rand’s novelistic inclination to embellishment. Nevertheless they are aninvaluable resource for understanding both the younger Rand and her self-presentation atmidcareer. These interviews are also held in the private collection of Barbara Branden.Although it is affiliated with the Ayn Rand Institute, an explicit advocacy organization,the Ayn Rand Archive has evolved into a professional institution on par with anyuniversity collection. The papers are well organized and include a detailed finding aid.During the course of my research I was afforded full access to Rand’s papers and benefitedenormously from the knowledge and efforts of the Archives staff. Since 2001 theArchive has been open to serious scholars, but does occasionally restrict access to avoidconflict with sponsored projects. Researchers known to be hostile to Rand, or with a historyof involvement in Objectivist controversies, may find their entry limited or denied.