Lawrence Durrell collection
| Record No. | SC040 |
| Main Entry | Durrell, Lawrence |
| Title | Lawrence Durrell collection |
| Dates | 1950-2001 |
| Physical Description | 9 cm of textual records. -- 1 drawing. -- 1 watercolour. |
| Bio/Admin History | Lawrence Durrell was born in India and educated there and in England. He was refused admission to Cambridge University and left England in 1935. He edited "The Booster" with Henry Miller and Alfred Perles 1937-39. He later worked in various government, newspaper and teaching positions in such places as Egypt, Greece, Yugoslavia, Cyprus, and Argentina. He became a full time writer in 1957 and moved to France. He was mainly a writer of poetry and novels, but also worked as a playwright, short story writer, translator, travel writer, and editor. His major works include "The Alexandria Quartet" "The Black Book", "Tunc" and "Nunquam". He also wrote many volumes of poetry and travel literature. He won several awards for his work. He also wrote under the pseudonyms "Charles Norden (Panic Spring) and Gaffer Peeslake (Bromo Bombastes). He had a close friendship, spanning many years, with Henry Miller and Alfred Perles. He died in Sommieres, France. The University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections has a mandate to acquire literary papers. |
| Scope and Content | The collection consists of correspondence from Durrell to Alfred Perles, William Woods, John Lehmann, Peter Russell, Tambimuttu (LD's notes on Dylan Thomas in the form of a letter), and others; also included are a corrected proof of "Balthazar"(sent to Perles); a sketch (1959) by Eve Miller of Henry Miller, Alfred Perles and Durrell; and, a watercolour by "Oscar Epfs" (pseud. of L. Durrell) done for a record sleeve "Songs of Greece" plus a Xmas card reproduced from the painting in 1964. Alfred Perles later changed his name to Alfred Barret, and was often addressed by Durrell and Miller as Joe or Joey in their letters to him. |
| Title Source | Title based on the contents of the collection. |
| Finding Aids | Item list available. |
| Online Finding Aids | The Lawrence Durrell Collection Lawrence Durrell Letters (PDF, 37 kB) File List for Accession 2007-019 (PDF, 19 kB) |
| Restrictions | |
| Notes | |
| Provenance | University of Victoria (B.C.). Libraries. Special Collections, collector |
| Repository | University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections |
| Subject Headings | Authors, English--Correspondence Durrell, Lawrence Durrell, Lawrence. Balthazar Durrell, Lawrence--Correspondence English fiction--20th century Lehmann, John, 1907-1987 Literature Miller, Henry, 1891-1980 Perles, Alfred Russell, Peter, 1921- Tambimuttu, 1915-1983 Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953 |
| Related Links | Literature Collections |