Barrie, Sir James Matthew

Scope and Content

SL V 37 is a typescript, with corrections made by Barrie of the play and correspondence relating to the production of Alice Sit By the Fire (1906); SL V 38 is the original manuscript of Hsiung's translation into Chinese of the play Shall We Join the Ladies (1921) and the book Barrie and His Work .

Administrative / Biographical History

James Barrie was born at Kirriemuir, Forfarshire on 9 May 1860. He received his education from, the Glasgow Academy, Dumfries Academy, 1873-1878 and Edinburgh University, 1878-1882.

He was appointed leader writer and sub-editor on the Nottingham Journal in January 1883. In March 1885, Barrie moved to London, where he wrote for many magazines including, the British Weekly .

Barrie published his first book Better Dead in November 1887 and his first play, Richard Savage , on which he collaborated with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1891. His plays were performed in theatres in London's West End. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens was published in 1906, the same year as his play, Alice by the Fire , which was produced at the Duke of York's Theatre. Barrie continued to write many plays, including Shall We Join the Ladies in 1921 and The Boy David , 1936, the last work which Barrie wrote.

He received honorary degrees from the universities of St. Andrews, 1898, Edinburgh 1909, Oxford, 1926, and Cambridge, 1930. He was appointed as Lord Rector of St Andrews University in 1919 and chancellor of Edinburgh University in 1930. He was appointed the Order of Merit in 1922. Barrie died in London on 19 June 1937.

Access Information

Access to the items in the collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the controlled environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Access to archive collections may be restricted under the Freedom of Information Act. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Other Finding Aids

University of London Library, The Sterling library: a catalogue of the printed books and literary manuscripts collected by Sir Louis Sterling and presented by him to the University of London , Cambridge, (1954).

Archivist's Note

Separated Material

The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA, holds literary manuscripts and papers, letters to Maude Adams, and letters to Charles Frohman (Ref: NUC MS 81-420); the Beinecke Library, Yale University, Connecticut, USA, has correspondence, literary manuscripts and papers; the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, contains literary manuscripts (Ref: MSS 5202, 6625-57, 15941), letters to Sir Thomas Graham Balfour, 1895-1901 (Ref: MSS 9894-95), letters to the Haldane family, 1924-1932 (Ref: MSS 5916-6037), letters to Elizabeth Sanderson Haldane, 1924-1932 (Ref: MSS 6014-6040), letters to Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, 1924-1928 (Ref: MSS 5901-17), letters to Sir Edward Seymour Hicks, 1902-1913, letters to Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson, 1904-1935, letters to Lilian Norrie, 1916-1918 (Ref: MS 19622), letters to Katherine Oliver, 1911-1930 (Ref: Acc 7676, 7726, 7750, 7824, 7841-43, 7930, 8346), letters to Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1891-1897, and letters, 1902-1935 (Ref: MS 9755); the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Library, University of Texas at Austin, USA, holds papers; the British Library, London, has letters to William Archer, 1896-1924 (Ref: Add MS 45290), letters to George Lillie Craik, 1893-1897 (Ref: Add MSS 61895), letters to Alfred Daniell, 1899-1936 (Ref: RP 2004), letters to Lady Juliet Duff, 1913-1935 (Ref: Add MS 57853), letters to Sir Edmund William Gosse, 1892-1912 (Ref: Ashley Collection), letters to William Meredith, 1898-1923 (Ref: RP 2223), letters to George Bernard Shaw, 1901-1913 (Ref: Add MS 50529), and correspondence with the Society of Archivists, 1909-1935 (Ref: Add MS 56660); Reading University Library contains correspondence with Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor, 1912-1933 (Ref: MS 1416/1/4/24); Cambridge University Library holds letters to Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, 1925-1936, and letters to Montague Rhodes James, 1925-1930 (Ref: Add 7481/B44-49); Shropshire Records and Research Centre, Shrewsbury, has letters to William Clive Bridgeman, 1st Viscount Bridgeman, 1922-1932 (Ref: 4629); the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, contains letters to Robert Seymour Bridges, 1921-1929 (Ref: Dep Bridges), correspondence with George Geoffrey Dawson, 1925-1936 (Ref: MSS Dawson), letters to the Lewis family, 1898-1932 (Ref: MSS Dep c831, 839, 840, 842, 849), correspondence with George Gilbert Aimé Murray, 1899-1933 (Ref: MSS Gilbert Murray), and letters to Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, 1907-1925 (Ref: MSS Eng hist c655-57, 669); Birmingham University Information Services holds correspondence with John Galsworthy (Ref: JG(II)7/1/1-43); Worcestershire Record Office, St Helen's, has letters to Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Bt; the Brotherton Library, Leeds University, contains letters to Sir Edmund William Gosse, 1898-1927, and letters to Clement King Shorter, 1905-1922; the Huntington Library, California, USA, holds letters to Reginald Golding Bright, 1907-1927 (Ref: NUC MS 77-301); the Theatre Museum, London, has letters to Pauline Chase, 1906-1937; the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge University, contains letters to Alfred Duff Cooper, 1923-1924 (Ref: DUFC); the Dorset County Museum, Dorchester, holds letters to Thomas Hardy, 1889-1925 (Ref: Thomas Hardy Memorial Collection), and letters to Florence Hardy, 1915-1936; the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, USA, has letters to William Ernest Henley and literary manuscripts (Ref: NUC MS 84-2129); the Guildhall Library, London, contains correspondence with Hodder and Stoughton (Ref: MSS 16262-453, 28982-29080); the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Dublin, holds letters to Edith Helen Vane-Tempest-Stuart, Lady Londonderry, 1919-1930 (Ref: D3099/3/16); Queens University Archives, Ontario, Canada, have letters to J A Roy, 1920-1937; the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University, contains letters to the Scott family, 1905-1937; the Ellen Terry Memorial Museum, Tenterden, holds letters to Dame Alice Ellen Terry, 1896-1920; Cheltenham College Library has letters to Charles Turley, [1911]-1937; Princeton University Library, new Jersey, Boston Public Library, Massachusetts, and the Lilly Library, Indiana University, USA, all holds letters and literary papers; correspondence, literary manuscripts and papers are held privately (Ref: NRA(S)1139).

Conditions Governing Use

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.