Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1984-1996 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 folder
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was born on 15 July 1919 in Dublin; later moving with her family to Brook Green, Hammersmith. Murdoch was educated at Froebel Demonstration School at Colet Gardens; Badminton School, Bristol from 1932 and Somerville College Oxford; winning scholarships to both Badminton and Somerville College.
At Oxford, Murdoch was influenced by the classicist, Eduard Fraenkel, and her philosophy tutor Donald MacKinnon and soon joined the Communist Party. Murdoch gained a first in Classics in 1942 and was employed as assistant principal in the Treasury, 1942-1944; later joining the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, working in London, Brussels and Austria. Murdoch returned to London in 1946 winning a place at Vassar College and a Commonwealth Scholarship, however as she had declared herself a communist on her application for an American visa her application was denied. Murdoch studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, 1947-1948 and won a philosophy tutorship at St Anne's, Oxford, where she stayed until 1963, she later worked as a lecturer at Royal College of Art for four years.
Murdoch's first book Sartre: Romantic Rationalist was published in 1953 by Bowes and Bowes in a series titled 'Studies in Modern Thought' and her first novel Under the net was accepted for publication. She went on to write many books including The Bell, 1958, which achieved great commercial success and The Red and the Green, 1965, concerning the Easter rising, reflecting her Irish background. Murdoch was appointed DBE in 1987 and presented with an honorary degree from Kingston University in 1993. In 1997 Murdoch was diagnosed as suffering with Alzheimer's disease and died in Oxford on 8 February 1999.
Publications include: Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Literature and Philosophy, 1997; A Fairly Honourable Defeat, 1970 and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, 1992.
Janine Canan was born in Los Angeles 2 November 1942; educated at Stanford and received an MD from New York University School of Medicine; working as a practising psychiatrist in Sonoma, California. She wrote many books of poetry including In the Palace of Creation: Selected Works 1969-1999 (Scars 2003).
Repository
Archival history
GB 2108 KUAS28 1984-1996 collection 1 folder Murdoch , Dame , Jean Iris , 1919-1999 , author x Murdoch , Iris
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was born on 15 July 1919 in Dublin; later moving with her family to Brook Green, Hammersmith. Murdoch was educated at Froebel Demonstration School at Colet Gardens; Badminton School, Bristol from 1932 and Somerville College Oxford; winning scholarships to both Badminton and Somerville College.
At Oxford, Murdoch was influenced by the classicist, Eduard Fraenkel, and her philosophy tutor Donald MacKinnon and soon joined the Communist Party. Murdoch gained a first in Classics in 1942 and was employed as assistant principal in the Treasury, 1942-1944; later joining the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, working in London, Brussels and Austria. Murdoch returned to London in 1946 winning a place at Vassar College and a Commonwealth Scholarship, however as she had declared herself a communist on her application for an American visa her application was denied. Murdoch studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, 1947-1948 and won a philosophy tutorship at St Anne's, Oxford, where she stayed until 1963, she later worked as a lecturer at Royal College of Art for four years.
Murdoch's first book Sartre: Romantic Rationalist was published in 1953 by Bowes and Bowes in a series titled 'Studies in Modern Thought' and her first novel Under the net was accepted for publication. She went on to write many books including The Bell, 1958, which achieved great commercial success and The Red and the Green, 1965, concerning the Easter rising, reflecting her Irish background. Murdoch was appointed DBE in 1987 and presented with an honorary degree from Kingston University in 1993. In 1997 Murdoch was diagnosed as suffering with Alzheimer's disease and died in Oxford on 8 February 1999.
Publications include: Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Literature and Philosophy, 1997; A Fairly Honourable Defeat, 1970 and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, 1992.
Janine Canan was born in Los Angeles 2 November 1942; educated at Stanford and received an MD from New York University School of Medicine; working as a practising psychiatrist in Sonoma, California. She wrote many books of poetry including In the Palace of Creation: Selected Works 1969-1999 (Scars 2003).
Acquired in 2004.
Papers of Iris Murdoch, 1984-1996, comprising photocopies of correspondence from Murdoch to Janine Canan, discussing arrangements for meeting, thanking her for various gifts, asking after Canan's poetry writing, reflecting upon the death of Murdoch's mother and remarking on Canan's work as a poet and essayist.
Arranged in chronological order.
Open. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment.
Contact archive for information concerning reproduction at archives@kingston.ac.uk.
English
No additional finding aids currently exist.
The originals are currently held by Janine Canan but will eventually be transferred to Canan's archive at the University of Iowa.
KUAS37, KUAS35, KUAS12, KUAS50, KUAS8, KUAS11, KUAS7, KUAS9, KUAS10, KUAS39.
Sources: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online.
Entry compiled by Samantha Velumyl, AIM25 cataloguer.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
May 2008. Canan , Janine , fl 1984-1996 , psychiatrist and poet Death Life cycle Literary forms and genres Literature Murdoch , Dame , Jean Iris , 1919-1999 , author x Murdoch , Iris Poetry
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Acquired in 2004.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of Iris Murdoch, 1984-1996, comprising photocopies of correspondence from Murdoch to Janine Canan, discussing arrangements for meeting, thanking her for various gifts, asking after Canan's poetry writing, reflecting upon the death of Murdoch's mother and remarking on Canan's work as a poet and essayist.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged in chronological order.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment.
Conditions governing reproduction
Contact archive for information concerning reproduction at archives@kingston.ac.uk.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
KUAS37, KUAS35, KUAS12, KUAS50, KUAS8, KUAS11, KUAS7, KUAS9, KUAS10, KUAS39.
Finding aids
No additional finding aids currently exist.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
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Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
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Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English