British Library acquires The Beatles collection of Hunter Davies

The collection of the journalist and broadcaster offers an insight into the writing of Davies’s The Beatles: The Authorised Biography.

Hunter Davies undertook the gargantuan task of writing a book about The Beatles after meeting and suggesting this idea to Paul McCartney in 1966. The Beatles: The Authorised Biography was published in 1968, and to this day remains the only official account of the Fab Four’s history.

The writer’s archive includes notebooks, drafts, photographs and ephemera related to the writing of his 1968’s book. Although building on the already existing collection of The Beatles lyrics and papers, donated by Hunter Davies in 2013, the catalogue displays previously unseen items. Some of those are the journalist’s notebook with sketches of George Harrison and John Lennon, hand drawn by Paul McCartney, Brian Epstein’s typed notes that deliver his vision of the band’s image, Super 8 video footage of Davies’ family on holiday in Portugal with Paul and Linda.

In the official release, Hunter Davies humbly comments on his collection: “The further we get from The Beatles, the bigger they become. I never thought all these years later my scruffy notebooks would be of such interest – and I’m pleased that they’ll be made available to a wider audience of Beatles fans and researchers through the British Library.”

The archive will be presented at an event at the British Library which will take place on 11 November 2022. More information is on the official website.