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Peter
Pan, the boy who refused to grow up, is one of the greatest stories
in children's literature.
The year 2004 marks the 100th anniversary of the first performance
of J.M. Barrie's classic play.
In a timely discovery a unique photograph album has been unearthed
in Exeter, which shows the real-life subjects who were the inspiration
for the play and later the book.
The album, from the pioneering days of photography, was uncovered
in the vaults at Exeter University where the papers of novelist
Daphne du Maurier are stored.
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| Dr
Jessica Gardner with the newly discovered album. |
It
contains a series of beautiful late 19th and early 20th century
photographs taken by Barrie of the family which inspired him to
write Peter Pan.
Two boys featured in the photographs are of particular significance
- because it was they who provided the inspiration for the so-called
‘Lost Boys’ in Peter Pan.
The children were those of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies - the
aunt of Daphne Du Maurier.
The family was befriended by Barrie and when Sylvia Llewelyn Davies
died in 1910, the author became the boys' unofficial guardian.
It's taken a year of hard work to find out exactly how important
the photographs are.
"It was immediately obvious that they were something special,"
explained Dr Jessica Gardner, Exeter University librarian.
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| The
Llewelyn Davies family as seen through J.M. Barrie's camera. |
"But
it was only when we began doing some research into the pictures
that we identified it actually was a photograph album relating to
J.M. Barrie and Peter Pan.
"They are quite unique, we think the photographs were taken
by J.M. Barrie himself and they really show the relationship he
had with this family.
"They capture something of the lost innocence of this era in
the late 19th Century."
Peter
Pan, or the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up, was first performed on December
27th 1904 at the Duke of York Theatre, in London
Ever since, Barrie's classic adventure story has thrilled and delighted
generations of children.
The
album was found among a treasure trove of family and literary papers
which once belonged to the Cornish writer Daphne du Maurier.
Also tucked away in the vaults were original illustrations by du
Maurier’s grandfather, the novelist and illustrator George du Maurier
(1834-1896), theatre scrap books of Daphne’s father, Gerald du Maurier
(1873-1934), and original handwritten manuscripts of Rebecca, one
of the nation’s favourite novels.
First published: December 2003
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