Notebooks and other Items belonging to Iris Murdoch
TitleNotebooks and other Items belonging to Iris Murdoch
ReferenceKUAS225
Date
1944- c. 1990s
Creator Iris Murdoch, 1919-1999, author
Production date 1944-01-01 - 1996-12-31
Scope and ContentNotebooks and other items belonging to Iris Murdoch from her home at Charlbury Road, Oxford. Includes:
1) File containing typed draft of paper 'Evil is to Love, what Mystery is to Intelligence' by Martin Andic dated 26 Feb 1995, plus typed text draft of the opening pages of John Bayley's 'Iris: A Memoir of Iris Murdoch'
2) Bundle containing handwritten notes by Iris Murdoch on Martin Heidegger, plus typed notes on philosophy with handwritten annotations by Murdoch c. early 1990s
3) 16 notebooks listing English-Russian grammar and vocabulary. Dated by Murdoch as:
a) October 1944
b) Nov 24 1963
c) September 27 1966
d) January 16 1967
e) September 1967
f) Dec 14 1968
g) April 23 1969
h) Oct 24 1969
i) December 15 1971
j) May 28 1973
k) Aug 16 1973
l) Nov 5 1973
m) June 6 1974
n) Nov 22 1977
p) undated
q) undated
4) Three notebooks with planning notes for the novel 'The Good Apprentice'
5) Notebook with notes on 'The Message to the Planet'
6) Notebook with notes on 'The Book and the Brotherhood'
7) Three notebooks with notes on philosophy, the Gifford Lectures and 'Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals'
8) Two notebooks on Iris Murdoch's trip to China 1979
9) Notebook from trip to India and Australia 1967
10) Appointment diaries 1978 and 1980
11) Notebook entitled 'Structure in Art and Science', Kronberg, May 1979
12) Notebook entitled 'Hebrew', 1979
13) Indexed notebook with topics written in top right hand corner of intermittent pages, though majority are blank. Title page contains Russian text followed by title 'Sea to Work', dated 1972.
14) Notebook dated 26 Jan 1954- first few pages have been removed, otherwise the notebook is blank
15) Notebook dated 1955- 1958. Three pages of notes on Nichomachean ethics in the back, and several pages have been ripped out from the front. Otherwise blank. Possibly originally used as a journal?
16) Notebook noted as belonging to Iris Murdoch at HM Treasury dated 12 Mar 1944. Several pages have been ripped out from the front. Otherwise blank. Possibly originally used as a journal?
17) Blank nature notebook
18) Two photographs of Iris Murdoch's desk, labelled on reverse by John Bayley as 'Iris Murdoch's table'
19) Piece of blotting paper used by Iris Murdoch when writing letters
20) 23 empty envelopes either addressed to Iris Murdoch and / or John Bayley, or addressed by Iris Murdoch to other people
21) Three pieces of Berkeley Department of English headed paper, one with beginnings of a letter written by Iris Murdoch to unknown recipient
22) Five blank postcards from St Catherine's College, and three blank pieces of notepaper. Murdoch has written the Cedar Lodge address on the back of one of the postcards
23) Two blank postcards
24) Blank postcard with Reynold Stone's name and address at the top
24) Blank notepaper with La Valencia Hotel printed at the top
25) Two blank pre-printed invitation cards
26) Six blank pieces of notepaper printed with the Conservation Society logo
27) Blank postcard from New College Oxford
28) Postcard advertising opening of an exhibition by Lesley Foxcroft at the Riverside Studios
29) Invitation to Iris Murdoch and John Bayley to attend an event at Parker and Son Ltd 14 Nov 1984
30) Invitation to cocktails at Timothy Dwight College 28 Feb 1983
31) Blank black notebook
32) Blank Basildon Bond notepad
33) Three blank WH Smith notebooks
34) Lion Brand cash book containing handwritten notes on an unknown subject
35) Black notebook. Original title 'Notebook of journey to India, Australia and New Zealand January to April 1967' has been crossed through. Also includes Murdoch's name and Cedar Lodge address with a note on the inside cover, 'If lost please return'. The last thirteen pages contain notes which appear to be on philosophy. The rest of the book is blank
36) Spiral-bound notebook. First nine pages contain notes possibly on politics or philosophy. The rest of the book is blank
37) Exercise book containing some poetry and other notes
38) WH Smith exercise book containing notes possibly on philosophy and other topics. 'Boca Raton April 27 1981' is handwritten in top right corner of the first page
39) WH Smith exercise book containing one brief note on Freud on p.2. The rest of the book is blank
40) WH Smith note book containing notes on philosophy on the middle six pages. The rest of the book is blank
1) File containing typed draft of paper 'Evil is to Love, what Mystery is to Intelligence' by Martin Andic dated 26 Feb 1995, plus typed text draft of the opening pages of John Bayley's 'Iris: A Memoir of Iris Murdoch'
2) Bundle containing handwritten notes by Iris Murdoch on Martin Heidegger, plus typed notes on philosophy with handwritten annotations by Murdoch c. early 1990s
3) 16 notebooks listing English-Russian grammar and vocabulary. Dated by Murdoch as:
a) October 1944
b) Nov 24 1963
c) September 27 1966
d) January 16 1967
e) September 1967
f) Dec 14 1968
g) April 23 1969
h) Oct 24 1969
i) December 15 1971
j) May 28 1973
k) Aug 16 1973
l) Nov 5 1973
m) June 6 1974
n) Nov 22 1977
p) undated
q) undated
4) Three notebooks with planning notes for the novel 'The Good Apprentice'
5) Notebook with notes on 'The Message to the Planet'
6) Notebook with notes on 'The Book and the Brotherhood'
7) Three notebooks with notes on philosophy, the Gifford Lectures and 'Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals'
8) Two notebooks on Iris Murdoch's trip to China 1979
9) Notebook from trip to India and Australia 1967
10) Appointment diaries 1978 and 1980
11) Notebook entitled 'Structure in Art and Science', Kronberg, May 1979
12) Notebook entitled 'Hebrew', 1979
13) Indexed notebook with topics written in top right hand corner of intermittent pages, though majority are blank. Title page contains Russian text followed by title 'Sea to Work', dated 1972.
14) Notebook dated 26 Jan 1954- first few pages have been removed, otherwise the notebook is blank
15) Notebook dated 1955- 1958. Three pages of notes on Nichomachean ethics in the back, and several pages have been ripped out from the front. Otherwise blank. Possibly originally used as a journal?
16) Notebook noted as belonging to Iris Murdoch at HM Treasury dated 12 Mar 1944. Several pages have been ripped out from the front. Otherwise blank. Possibly originally used as a journal?
17) Blank nature notebook
18) Two photographs of Iris Murdoch's desk, labelled on reverse by John Bayley as 'Iris Murdoch's table'
19) Piece of blotting paper used by Iris Murdoch when writing letters
20) 23 empty envelopes either addressed to Iris Murdoch and / or John Bayley, or addressed by Iris Murdoch to other people
21) Three pieces of Berkeley Department of English headed paper, one with beginnings of a letter written by Iris Murdoch to unknown recipient
22) Five blank postcards from St Catherine's College, and three blank pieces of notepaper. Murdoch has written the Cedar Lodge address on the back of one of the postcards
23) Two blank postcards
24) Blank postcard with Reynold Stone's name and address at the top
24) Blank notepaper with La Valencia Hotel printed at the top
25) Two blank pre-printed invitation cards
26) Six blank pieces of notepaper printed with the Conservation Society logo
27) Blank postcard from New College Oxford
28) Postcard advertising opening of an exhibition by Lesley Foxcroft at the Riverside Studios
29) Invitation to Iris Murdoch and John Bayley to attend an event at Parker and Son Ltd 14 Nov 1984
30) Invitation to cocktails at Timothy Dwight College 28 Feb 1983
31) Blank black notebook
32) Blank Basildon Bond notepad
33) Three blank WH Smith notebooks
34) Lion Brand cash book containing handwritten notes on an unknown subject
35) Black notebook. Original title 'Notebook of journey to India, Australia and New Zealand January to April 1967' has been crossed through. Also includes Murdoch's name and Cedar Lodge address with a note on the inside cover, 'If lost please return'. The last thirteen pages contain notes which appear to be on philosophy. The rest of the book is blank
36) Spiral-bound notebook. First nine pages contain notes possibly on politics or philosophy. The rest of the book is blank
37) Exercise book containing some poetry and other notes
38) WH Smith exercise book containing notes possibly on philosophy and other topics. 'Boca Raton April 27 1981' is handwritten in top right corner of the first page
39) WH Smith exercise book containing one brief note on Freud on p.2. The rest of the book is blank
40) WH Smith note book containing notes on philosophy on the middle six pages. The rest of the book is blank
Extent3 boxes
Physical descriptionAll items are quite dusty. The Appointment diary from 1980 is currently closed awating conservation work.
Archival historyStored in Iris Murdoch's home in Charlbury Road, Oxford. Kindly presented to the Archive by Audi Bayley.
Persons keyword Iris Murdoch, 1919-1999, author, Martin Andic, 1940-2005, philosopher, John Bayley, 1925-2015, author and literary critic, Audi Bayley, c. 1942-, wife of Borys Villers and John Bayley, Martin Heidegger, 1889-1976, philosopher
SubjectNotebook, Writing, Books, Fiction, Philosophy, Greek, Travelling, Diaries, Photographs, Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (book), Good Apprentice, The (novel), Message to the Planet (novel), Book and the Brotherhood, The (novel), Correspondence, Postcards, Invitations
Admin. history/BiographyIris 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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