About Playwright in the Cages

Playwright Peter Arnott was Writer-in-Residence at the John Murray Archive from 2009-2011.

This blog follow's Peter's treasure hunting in the Archive, encountering letters, ledgers, poems and manuscripts from one of the most important publishing houses in history. From Byron to Darwin, from Regency scandal to the origin of life, the arctic to Afghanistan you can trace Peter's journey as he found stories to amaze and entertain.

The blog

During his residency, Peter Arnott was researching material for a project to develop a learning resource for schools. This blog recorded Peter's experiences of using the archive for research and explores the things he discovered there. To find out more about the material Peter discusses and how to access it yourself, visit www.nls.uk/jma/

Blog entries are tagged under different themes like literature or travel and exploration.  The 'Dramatis Personae' page introduces the people who Peter blogs about.

Why is the blog called 'Playwright in the Cages?'
Peter is a playwright, and when he first started his residency the John Murray Archive was stored in a secure area which was nicknamed 'the cage'. When we were thinking about what to call this blog, Peter remembered his first experiences of encountering the collection in the cage, and so the title was created.