Copy of Charles Lamb's Essays of Elia previously owned by Iris Murdoch
TitleCopy of Charles Lamb's Essays of Elia previously owned by Iris Murdoch
ReferenceKUAS175
Date
1932- c. early 1990s
Production date 1932-01-01 - 1994-12-31
Scope and ContentCopy of Charles Lamb's 'The Essays of Elia' (Everyman, 1932) previously owned by Iris Murdoch. She has written her name and the year 1934 in the front, plus there are annotations in on the front and back flyleaves and throughout the text by Murdoch. With a letter from Iris Murdoch to Dr William Baker confirming her ownership of the book. Letter undated (c. late 1980s/ early 1990s)
Extent1 book and 1 letter
Archival historyKindly presented to the archive by Mark Yoes
Persons keyword Charles Lamb, 1775-1834, writer, Iris Murdoch, 1919-1999, author, Everyman Library
SubjectBooks, Essays, Annotations, Correspondence
Admin. history/BiographyWriter best known for his essays and chilldren's versions of Shakespeare's worksIris Murdoch was born in Dublin, Ireland on 15 Jul 1919. When she was very young Iris and her parents moved to London, where Iris attended the Froebel Institute in Roehampton and Badminton School in Bristol. She followed this with studies in classics, ancient history and philosophy at Oxford, and further study at Cambridge. During the Second World War Murdoch worked for HM 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 in 1978. Her final novel, 'Jackson's Dilemma', was published in 1995.
Iris Murdoch had romantic relationships with a number of individuals. She met author and scholar John Bayley while at Oxford and they married in 1956.
Later in life Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the first effects of which she had attributed to writer's block. Iris Murdoch died in 1999.
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