Archive of manuscripts and notebooks of Peter Opie concerning the lore and language of school children

Oxford: Manuscript archive, 1947 - 1951. Unique.. Not bound. Very good throughout.. 4to.

An important archive of notebooks and manuscripts of Peter Opie and his pioneering research into children's games and the verbal lore, quips, and jeers of the street games of 10 year olds throughout the United Kingdom in the years immediately following WWII. The archive is made up of: three bound notebooks that contain notes, and annotated clippings from various printed sources comprising appx. 400 pp.; 20 autograph lectures and articles (fully corrected with additional notes) probably given at Oxford comprising appx. 250 pp. (each lecture on letter size blank sheets); the original 58 page autograph manuscript entitled 'The Collection of Folklore in England' ca 1950 (' ... the most difficult and concentrated month's work in my life ....'[Opie]); a fine copy of E G Withycombe's book, The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 1945, containing notes, insertions, postcards etc. (some from Withycombe). In all a rich, diverse group of the original resource material for Iona and Peter Opie's classic book published in 1959, The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren. The autograph lectures and articles present in the archive are the first fruits of the original research undertaken by the Opies in the UK. In the decades since its publication in 1959 their work has come to be viewed as offering profound insights into the world of children and the beginning of a new understanding of childhood.