The personal archive of Britain’s most influential living playwright, Harold Pinter remains in the UK.

The British Library purchased Pinter’s archive that consists of up to 12,000 letters, manuscripts and scrapbooks. The Nobel literature laureate’s belongings are deposited in 150 boxes that are to be catalogued in about a year, and are expected to shed more light upon the writer who has revolutionized British theatre since the 1960s.

“I am delighted that the British Library has purchased my archive. I am very pleased indeed that it will stay in this country,” Pinter said. There has been a major concern over the fact that archives of British essential personalities have been lost overseas, as Britain couldn’t find enough financial resources to compete with the funds of US universities. This is how archives of J. M. Barrie, Graham Greene, D. H. Lawrence and Evelyn Waugh are held outside UK.

The 77-year old playwright has institutionalized a new language in the English literature, the Pinteresque, since his classic works appeared. “The Caretaker”, “The Homecoming” and “The Servant” are only some of his influential masterpiece, for which he was awarded in 2005 with the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Swedish Academy referred to him as the writer “who, in his plays, uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression’s closed rooms.”   

The British Library acquired the Pinter’s archive for $1.1 million aided by a £216,000 grant taken from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF). The archive also includes a draft of his unpublished memoir, “The Queen Of All Fairies” and correspondence with Samuel Beckett or poet Philip Larkin.

A selection of the archive will be on display at the British Library from January 11 to April 13.