| Description | Archival material connected to the Joyce family, primarily Lucia Joyce, daughter of the writer James Joyce. Consists of:
1. Lidderdale papers, which includes letters to Jane Lidderdale (god-daughter and joint biographer of Harriet Shaw Weaver, and Lucia Joyce's literary executor); copies of letters from Harriet Shaw Weaver (James Joyce's patron and publisher); and papers, letters and photographs of Lucia Joyce (James Joyce's daughter).
2. Weaver papers, a small collection of material relating to Harriet Shaw Weaver's connection with James and Lucia Joyce. Includes letters, cards and press cuttings.
3. Joyce Centenary papers contain various news cuttings etc from 1982.
4. Lucia Joyce Bequest: personal papers and letters of Lucia Joyce. |
| AdminHistory | The James Joyce Centre was set up in 1973. Not to be confused with the James Joyce Centre in Dublin, which is a museum and educational charity first opened to the public in 1996.
The collection held at UCL was started with the help of the Trustees of the Joyce Estate, Faber & Faber, the Society of Authors and other donors. The Centre started collecting archival material in 1974.
The collection consists primarily of printed books, and is the largest Joyce research collection in the UK. It includes first editions of all of Joyce’s major works, most other early and later editions (including translations), as well as critical and background literature. The archival material (listed here) was donated by Jane Lidderdale, relating to both Harriet Shaw Weaver (Joyce's patron) and Lucia, Joyce's daughter. |
| Acquisition | Received in five accessions, primarily from Jane Lidderdale, between 1974 and 1983.
Firstly, in January 1974: material that had been collected by Harriet Shaw Weaver during her association with James Joyce and passed to Jane Lidderdale. The formed the bassis of JOYCE/2, the Weaver Papers and contain material relating to both James and Lucia Joyce covering the period 1914-1958.
Also in January 1974, material accumulated by Lidderdale in the course writing of her biography of Lucia Joyce, consisting of items relating to Harriet Shaw Weaver, James Joyce and Lucia Joyce, covering the period 1924-1969. This formed the basis of JOYCE/1 the Lidderdale Papers.
The Lidderdale Papers were added to by further donations from Jane Lidderdale in 1980, 1982 (x2) and 1983. These additional papers related to Lidderdale's ongoing connection with Lucia Joyce.
The Joyce Centenary papers are mostly items such as programmes and press cuttings collected by Geoffrey Soar of UCL Library during the 1982 Joyce centenary year. |