Tom Stoppard’s extensive correspondence with Isabel Dunjohn, his first love and lifelong confidante, is set to be auctioned next month, offering a rare glimpse into the early life and creative development of the celebrated playwright. The archive, comprising more than 200 pages of letters, cards, poems, and books, spans over seven decades and is estimated by Sotheby’s to be valued between £15,000 and £20,000.
The relationship between Stoppard and Dunjohn began in 1954 when the future playwright, then a 17-year-old reporter at the Western Daily Press in Bristol, met the 21-year-old journalist. Dunjohn, who had two more years’ experience in the newsroom, quickly became a mentor figure while also encouraging Stoppard’s literary ambitions. Despite her seeing him more as a younger brother, the pair maintained a close, deeply revealing and affectionate correspondence throughout their lives.
Their relationship became more complex in 1958 after Stoppard introduced Dunjohn to his friend, actor Peter O’Toole. The ensuing romance between Dunjohn and O’Toole lasted approximately 18 months, during which she moved to London. Meanwhile, Stoppard’s letters from this period, often undated and unsigned, reveal a young man wrestling with intense emotions as well as his aspirations. He candidly discussed his fears about revealing too much of himself, and shared early ideas for plays, including one that would later become *The Real Inspector Hound*.
Travel and a shared love of adventure featured prominently in their exchanges. The summer of 1960 saw them travelling around the Mediterranean together, during which Stoppard recounted finding a lost signet ring Dunjohn had dropped on a beach in Elba — an incident he described with a sense of almost spiritual significance.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, their correspondence reflected the evolving trajectories of their lives. Dunjohn pursued journalistic roles in London before joining the Foreign Office, which took her to various European cities including Milan, Brussels, and The Hague. Stoppard married Josie Ingle in 1965 and began establishing himself as a prominent playwright, with works such as *Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead* gaining critical attention. Although their correspondence waned for a time, they reconnected in 1985 after Stoppard’s appearance on the BBC’s *Desert Island Discs*, where a shared appreciation of Bessie Smith’s music rekindled their communication.
The letters reveal Stoppard’s personal struggles as well, including a fraught relationship with his stepfather and a discreet affair with actress Felicity Kendal, as well as reflections on the challenges brought by public attention. Despite his earlier reluctance toward biography, Stoppard supported the decision by Dunjohn’s family to bring the correspondence to public auction following her death in 2021.
Sotheby’s has described the collection as a significant showcase of Stoppard’s wit and literary mastery, capturing the voice of one of the most influential English dramatists of the past six decades through his intimate, eloquent exchanges with a key figure in his early life.