Dear all,
Keep your eyes peeled in the national press tomorrow for the story featuring
one of our archive collections from Special Collections at Exeter University.
After featuring on the regional BBC TV news last night, one of our three Du
Maurier collections will star in the newspapers tomorrow, with the family
photograph album of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies taking the major role. The
discovery of the album has coincided perfectly with the approach of Christmas
and the publicity surrounding Peter Pan at the moment.
Sylvia Llewelyn Davies was an aunt of Daphne du Maurier (whose literary papers
are also here in Exeter), and was a renowned beauty of her day. Meeting Barrie
at a dinner party in London in c1897, she became a very close friend of
Barrie, and her five sons became the inspiration for the so-called Lost Boys
in Peter Pan, which is celebrating its 99th anniversary this December. A film
version of Peter Pan is coming out this year, to be followed next year by the
film which concentrates exclusively on the relationship between Sylvia
Llewelyn Davies and Barrie, and starring Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp!
The photograph album in question has recently been discovered during
cataloguing. Research revealed that the family photos contained are those of
the Llewelyn Davies family during the early years of the children. Some photos
feature Barrie himself, and we believe that most of the photos are taken by
Barrie. So it has rapidly become one of our star treasures!
For further info, including images of some of the photos and a photo of our
splendid strongroom, see the following BBC link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news_features/2003/peter_pan.shtml
Take a look, this is our moment of fame!
Charlotte Berry
Charlotte Berry
Archivist
Special Collections
Old Library
University of Exeter
Prince of Wales Road
EXETER EX4 4PX
tel: 01392 262096 or direct 01392 263879
fax: 01392 263871
email: [log in to unmask]
|