IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 2108 KUAS78
Held at: Kingston University
Title: Murdoch, Iris: Letters from Iris Murdoch to Hal Lidderdale
Date(s): 1945-c.1990
Level of description: Collection (Fonds)
Extent: 1 file
Name of creator(s): Murdoch | Dame | Jean Iris | 1919-1999 | author
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin, Ireland on 15 Jul 1919. When she was very young Iris and her parents moved to London, England, and Iris studied at Frobel and Badminton Schools. She followed this with studies in classics, ancient history and philosophy at Oxford, and further study at Cambridge. During the war years Iris worked for the Treasury in London, and then joined the UNRRA providing relief in formerly occupied countries in Europe. In 1948 she became a fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford, where she taught and researched philosophy.
Iris Murdoch wrote a number of tracts on philosophy, however it is for her novels that she is best known. She wrote 26 novels in total, her first being Under the Net published in 1954. Other notable works include The Bell and The Sea, the Sea, for which she won the Booker Prize. Her last novel, Jackson's Dilemma, was published in 1995.
In her youth Iris Murdoch had relationships with a number of individuals, including Elias Canetti. She met author and scholar John Bayley while at Oxford, and they married in 1956. She wrote to a great number of people and maintained friendships in this way.
Later in life Iris Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, the first effects of which she had attributed to writer's block. She died in 1999.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Letters from Iris Murdoch to Hal Lidderdale dating from 1945 to 1990s. Lidderdale was a friend of Murdoch's from Oxford where they were students together, and they remained in touch until Lidderdale's death. Topics covered in the letters include Murdoch's work following the Second World War with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), meeting with Jean Paul Sartre, her brief engagement to David Hicks, and her later work and travels.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Original order.
Conditions governing access:
The letters are available to view by appointment in the Kingston University Archives and Special Collections search room.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copying from the letters is not allowed at this time.
Physical characteristics:
Some of the early letters are on very acidic paper which has deteriorated with age. Very careful handling required.
Finding aids:
An item list is available to view within the Archive. Full catalogue descriptions will eventually be added to our Archives catalogue at http://adlib.kingston.ac.uk.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Being held on permanent loan.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: 2014