In a gently lit reading room inside the University of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, you can peruse the first draft of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian classic, The Handmaid’s Tale.

“I was surprised how few changes she made,” librarian Jennifer Toews told CTV News. “[It’s] as if it was almost fully formed in her mind before she began to write.”

On Sunday, the television adaptation of the Governor General’s Award-winning novel netted five Emmy awards, including best drama series.

Written in pen on ruled pages in tight, cuneiform-like cursive complete with corrections and notes, the original manuscript, which likely dates from the early 1980s, is kept tucked inside a manila folder in one of the 542 boxes of material the author has been donating to the library since the 1970s.

“This is probably our most-used manuscript collection,” Toews said.

The library’s Atwood collection -- which spans a staggering 73 metres of shelf space -- has been attracting a steady stream of scholars and fans for decades, and with the exception of the author’s personal correspondences, the collection can be viewed in its entirety by anyone in the library’s supervised reading room.

“People can come from all over the world,” Toews said. “Japan, Israel, England, the States -- everywhere.”

For information on how to view the manuscript and other Atwood papers, visit the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library’s website at fisher.library.utoronto.ca.

With a report from CTV News’ John Vennavally-Rao