The Harold Pinter Archive in the British Library

The Harold Pinter Archive in the British Library is the literary archive of Harold Pinter, which Pinter had first placed "on permanent loan" in the British Library in September 1993See Merritt, "The Harold Pinter Archive in the British Library"; Gale and Hudgins; and Baker and Ross.] and which became a permanent acquisition in December 2007.Brown, "British Library's ₤1.1m Saves Pinter's Papers for Nation".] British Library, "Pinter Archive Saved for the Nation" (British Library press release).] Howard, "British Library Acquires Pinter Papers".]

Acquisition

On 11 December 2007 the British Library announced that it had purchased Pinter's literary archive for ₤1.1 million (approx. $2.24 million), augmenting its current "Harold Pinter Archive" of 80 boxes ("Loan 110 A"). It now comprises "over one hundred and fifty boxes of manuscripts, scrapbooks, letters, photographs, programmes, and emails," constituting "an invaluable resource for researchers and scholars of Pinter's work for stage, cinema, and poetry."

Highlights

Among its "highlights" are "an exceedingly perceptive and enormously affectionate run of letters from Samuel Beckett; letters and hand-written manuscripts revealing Pinter's close collaboration with director Joseph Losey; a charming and highly amusing exchange of letters with Philip Larkin; and a draft of Pinter's unpublished autobiographical memoir of his youth, 'The Queen of all the Fairies'," as well as especially-poignant letters from Pinter's "inspirational" Hackney Downs School English teacher and friend, Joseph Brearley.

BL press release

According to the official BL press release, citing its head of Modern Literary Manuscripts, Jamie Andrews, the "extensive collection of correspondence" of "over 12,000 letters" in its expanded Pinter Archive "encompasses the personal, professional and political aspects of the legendary writer, whose career has covered directing, acting, screenwriting, poetry and journalism, as well as his original work for the theatre" and documents Pinter's "key role in post-War theatre and film ... through his extensive correspondence with [other] leading playwrights and literary figures such as Simon Gray, David Hare, David Mamet, Arthur Miller, John Osborne, and [Sir] Tom Stoppard, as well as actors and directors including Sir John Gielgud [corrected] and Sir Peter Hall." This collection also "documents all international performances of Pinter's plays, as well as exchanges with academics that highlight Pinter's engagement with the global scholarly community. There is also extensive material relating to Pinter's commitment to human rights, covering his journalism, poetry and direct action."

"His Own Domain"

From 10 January through 13 April 2008, the British Library exhibited a "small temporary display, 'His Own Domain: Harold Pinter, A Life in Theatre', featuring a range of unique manuscripts, letters, photographs, and sound recordings from the archive charting Pinter's life in the theatre as an actor, director, and writer of some of the most significant and celebrated plays of the twentieth-century."

Cataloguing

The British Library expects to catalogue the whole Archive by "the end of 2008." "The Harold Pinter Archive Blog", hosted for the BL by "Typepad", provides updates about the cataloguing process by Pinter Archive cataloguer Kate O'Brien and the other BL curators, including Jamie Andrews, director of Modern Literary Manuscripts, where the Archive is housed." [http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/pinter_archive_blog/ Harold Pinter Archive Blog] : British Library Curators on Cataloguing the Pinter Archive", inaugurated in February 2008, accessed 9 May 2008.]

Notes

Works cited

External links

* [http://www.bl.uk/collections/manuscriptsrecacq.html "Recent Acquisitions: The Pinter Archive"] in the British Library (BL). "Collections; Manuscripts" hyperlinked announcement page, with links to official BL press release of 11 Dec. 2007 and the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Accessed 18 June 2008.
** [http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/pinter_archive_blog/ Harold Pinter Archive Blog] . Accessed 18 June 2008.