SOURCE: Sjönell, Barbro Ståhle. “The Plans, Drafts, and Manuscripts of the Historical Plays in Strindberg's ‘Green Bag.’” Scandinavian Studies 62, no. 1 (winter 1990): 69-75.

In the following essay, based on the notes in Strindberg's “green bag,” Sjönell describes Strindberg's construction of the history plays and his plans to complete a history cycle.

During Strindberg's second long stay abroad (1890-98) he began to collect his drafts and manuscripts in a green cloth bag. The bag aroused great curiosity among all who met him, and it is mentioned in several of the memoirs written by friends he made during his time in Berlin. Dr. Carl Ludwig Schleich gives the following description of the repository:

Alla sina planer, utkast, fragment, skisser stoppade han i en stor grön flanellsäck, som kunde tillsnöras och vilken han vaktade som en skatt. Hur månget av honom i samtal präglat...