| Description | The collection includes several early manuscript notebooks of Daphne du Maurier, the earliest being dated 1923. Amongst these are several attempts at early works including notebooks relating to 'The Progress of Julius', 'Rebecca' (including the Rebecca notebook) and 'My Cousin Rachel'. Most of her later works are represented in either original typescript (du Maurier wrote her drafts on a typewriter from c 1934) or proof, and there are original and corrected typescripts for 'Gerald', 'Jamaica Inn', 'Rebecca', and 'The King's General' among many others. There is further a treatment of' The King's General' for film, including script, partly in red ribbon typewriter ink, and her early autobiography and the photographs used in it. For some works, e.g. 'The Glassblowers' and 'Mary Ann', there are in addition series of notes and research papers used for the background.
In addition, the collection includes the manuscript of 'The Martian' by George du Maurier, and a notebook of his which was reused by Daphne for notes for 'Mary Ann' |
| Admin History | George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (1834-1896) was a well-known illustrator and novelist. Born in Paris, he moved to London with the rest of his family in 1851, where he originally studied chemistry, followed by opera-singing and then art in Paris. He eventually returned from his studies abroad in 1860, becoming quickly established as a magazine illustrator, working for both 'Once a Week' and 'Punch' as a cartoonist. He married Emma Wightwick in 1863, and rapidly formed part of the Bohemian Hampstead circle. Friends of the family included Kate Greenaway, Sir Walter Besant, John Millais and George Eliot. Joining the Rabelais Club, he met other established literary figures, and illustrated the novels of Thomas Hardy, Elizabeth Gaskell and Wilkie Collins. He also had illustrations published in other London literary magazine throughout his life, such as 'The Illustrated London News', 'Good Words', the 'Illustrated Times', 'London Society', the 'Sunday Magazine', 'The Leisure Hour', 'Harper's Magazine' and the 'English Illustrated Magazine'. He was also a successful novelist, publishing 'Peter Ibbetson' (1889), 'Trilby' (1894) and 'The Martian' (1897).
Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) was the daughter of the actor Sir Gerald Du Maurier (1873-1934), and his wife Muriel, and the granddaughter of the artist and novelist George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (1834-1896). She grew up in Cumberland Terrace, London, and Cannon Hall, Hampstead, but the family developed strong links with Cornwall after buying a riverside house near Fowey, and it was in Cornwall that Daphne settled. She began publishing stories and articles in 1928; her first novel, 'The Loving Spirit', was published in 1931 by Heineman. There followed 'The Progress of Julius' (Heineman, 1933) and 'Gerald, a portrait' (Gollancz, 1934) before her first enduring success, 'Jamaica Inn', which was published by Gollancz in 1936. Two years later she published her most significant and best-loved novel, 'Rebecca'. Besides these she published a number of other novels, short-stories and biographical portraits, blending history and literary art in some, while developing her own unique vision of the macabre in others. She published one volume of autobiography, 'Growing Pains', about her early life in 1977. Du Maurier used both male and female narrators in her novels and her works often explored themes around gender and sexuality. Until the age of 15, Daphne du Maurier had a male alter ego, 'Eric Avon' (see 'Growing Pains: The Shaping of a Writer', p. 59) and she often spoke privately about having a masculine side to her personality (see M. Forster, 'Daphne du Maurier, p. 222). During her life, du Maurier experienced attraction to both men and women, but she never spoke or wrote publically about her own sexual identity. In 1932, she married Frederick A M Browning, later Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick (d 1965); they had one son and two daughters. |