Iris Murdoch's London Library

Small collection of books from Iris Murdoch's flat in London. Consists of books collected by Iris Murdoch throughout her lifetime. Many of the books were gifts given to the author, and are signed by the original author or the giver of the book. Friends of Murdoch whose works are included in the library include Brigid Brophy, Josephine Hart, JB Priestley and Marjorie Boulton. The collection also includes Murdoch's Bible given by her Grandmother in 1921. Also in the collection are first or rare editions of Murdoch's own novels, notably the Booker Prize presentation copy of The Sea, the Sea, given to Murdoch when she won the prize in 1978. A few of the texts in the collection contain annotations by Murdoch.

Iris Murdoch was born Jean Iris Murdoch in Dublin, Ireland on 15 Jul 1919. When she was very young Iris and her parents moved to London, England, and Iris studied at Frobel and Badminton schools. She followed this with studies in classics, ancient history and philosophy at the University of Oxford, and after the Second World War she undertook further study at the University of Cambridge. During the war years Murdoch worked for the 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 . Her last novel, Jackson's Dilemma was published in 1995.

In her youth Murdoch had relationships with a number of individuals, including Elias Canetti. She met author and scholar John Bayley while working at Oxford, and they married in 1956. She wrote to a great number of people and maintained friendships in this way.

Later in life Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the first effects of which she had attributed to writer's block. She died in 1999.

Open to researchers by appointment- please email archives@kingston.ac.uk. Appointments typically offered Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9am - 4.30pm. For more information on Kingston University Archives and Special Collections please see our website at http://blogs.kingston.ac.uk/asc

Also see our archives catalogue here

Item listings for the books can be found on our library catalogue.

Some items in the collection can not be copied from due to their physical condition or copyright law. Please send all copying enquiries to the Archive at archives@kingston.ac.uk

Books collected by Iris Murdoch throughout her lifetime and passed to Kingston University from her flat in London.

For more texts owned by Iris Murdoch please see Iris Murdoch's Oxford Library, reference number IML