Art Funded by you

The Mervyn Peake Archive

Mervyn Peake, 1940–1960s

The Peake Archive of drawings, poetry notebooks and manuscripts greatly strengthens and complements the LibraryÂ’s existing post-war literary holdings and will enable scholars to take forward research on PeakeÂ’s work. Mervyn Peake is best-known as the author of Gormenghast which ranks as one of this centuryÂ’s most remarkable feats of imaginative writing. Throughout his life, he illustrated a number of childrenÂ’s books and classic texts, including Treasure Island, AliceÂ’s Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. His illustrations form a significant portion of this archive and highlights include the complete set of original drawings and illustrations for Lewis CarrollÂ’s Alice books (see main illustration) and the Gormenghast notebooks.

More information

Title of artwork, date

The Mervyn Peake Archive, 1940–1960s

Date supported

2010

Medium and material

Pen & ink on paper

Dimensions

Various

Grant

100000

Total cost

400000

Content note: This object record is part of our archive and has not been updated since it was first published. It may contain inaccurate information or outdated language. Please get in touch if you think this record should be amended.

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