The National Library of Ireland has described as a "major boost for Irish scholars" its acquisition of an extensive collection of 800 printed and other items by and about Samuel Beckett. John Downesreports.
The library announced the acquisition yesterday, the 17th anniversary of the death of the Irish playwright, author and Nobel laureate.
Among the materials are books and periodicals, as well as proof copies, galley proofs and production scripts for Beckett plays.
The library said the material was assembled over a 40-year period by Alan Clodd, a Dublin-born book collector, dealer, publisher and founder of the London-based Enitharmon Press.
According to the library, the production scripts show another aspect of Beckett's achievements, namely as a theatre director. It said four of the "very rare" scripts are signed by Beckett for Clodd, who died in 2002.
The collection was acquired in recent months from the London-based booksellers Maggs Bros, acting on behalf of the Clodd family.
The library has already taken possession of the material, which also includes photographs, posters and "ephemeral" items such as theatre programmes. It plans to make the collection available for public viewing once cataloguing is complete.
"Alan Clodd enjoyed a cordial, personal acquaintance with Samuel Beckett," the library said, adding that many of the items are signed by Beckett for the collector.
The nature of the collection and the extensive number of items it contains makes the National Library "an important centre for Beckett studies", the library statement said. It gave no details on the price paid for the collection.
The director of the library, Aongus Ó hAonghusa, described the acquisition as "a major boost for Irish scholars and for the library".
It was "particularly appropriate" to have made the acquisition during the centenary of the dramatist's birth, he said.
"Inscribed copies of Beckett's works are very uncommon. All the more interesting, then, that Beckett was more than happy to inscribe the books that Clodd always took with him on his numerous visits to see Beckett in Paris.
"This is an integral collection, representing a significant amount of the output of a major Irish writer, put together by a major, though as yet little-known, Irish collector.
"The comprehensive nature of the collection will enable researchers to further appreciate the contribution of this illustrious Dublin writer and Nobel Prize-winner to world literature."
Enitharmon Press's stable of writers included Beckett, Jorge Luis Borges, Federico García Lorca and Harold Pinter.