The University's Beckett Collection is the world's largest collection of materials related to Nobel Prize winning writer, Samuel Beckett. With its extensive range of manuscripts, letters, books, recordings, artefacts, and other materials, it was hailed by renowned film director and screenwriter, Anthony Minghella, as one of the "best-kept arts secrets in Britain" (The Observer, 17/09/06).
The collection originated in an exhibition organised by James Knowlson in 1971, for which Beckett and his friends donated materials. Beckett's support of the collection continued until his death in 1989. His personal donations included manuscripts, livres d'artiste, and paintings by Gerr van Velde, Henri Hayden and Avigdor Arikha. Since then, the archive has continued to grow, with notable acquisitions including the original Murphy manuscript, the Knowlson Collection and the Billie Whitelaw Collection.
The Beckett Collection is managed by Special Collections and the Beckett International Foundation. It is housed in the same building as the Museum of English Rural Life, located behind our London Road campus.
