KUBRICK / Leaves treasures to Britain

One of the most extraordinary collections in film history is coming to London. The extensive archives of Stanley Kubrick, maverick director of 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, are to be housed at the capital's University of the Arts from next summer.

It will be the first time the archives - including scripts, photographs, props and letters - have been displayed in Britain, though Kubrick lived and worked here for 38 years until his sudden death from a heart attack in March 1999.

Kubrick, a passionate collector, amassed more than 400 boxes of documents and memorabilia at his Hertfordshire mansion. Alongside family photographs and correspondence with the likes of Mrs Vladimir Nabokov, the archives include hundreds of fan letters, which Kubrick filed meticulously but rarely answered. One of the few surviving responses reads: 'Dear Mr William, Thank you for writing. No comment about A Clockwork Orange. You will have to decide for yourself. Sincerely, Stanley Kubrick.'

There is a library full of research for a film about Napoleon that he never made. True to his reputation for meticulous preparation, he had several hundred books on the subject shipped from France in the Sixties. With a team of assistants, he spent several years filling 25,000 library cards with information about Napoleon's life.

Still more boxes are filled with stationery, about which he was passionate. One assistant remembered him ordering 100 bottles of brown ink because he was concerned that the makers had discontinued it.

The collection is so huge that the university, which unites five arts colleges including Central St Martins College of Art and Design and the London College of Communication, is to build a centre for them at the Elephant and Castle. 'This inspirational collection will be the jewel in the crown of the new centre,' said Will Wyatt, chair of the governors. 'We're planning on attracting other archives to go alongside it.'

The acquisition is a coup for the university, as several US institutions had expressed an interest in housing the archives. But Kubrick's family were keen for it to stay in Britain. 'Stanley spent most of his life in the UK and we are very happy the archives will be located in London,' said his widow, Christiane.

Steven Spielberg, a great Kubrick admirer, said: 'I am pleased to hear his archives are going to the university. His work will inspire future generations of film-makers to push the boundaries of film.'

Kubrick moved to Childwick Bury, near St Albans, in 1961 and never again left Britain. The Bronx-born doctor's son started by writing, producing and directing low-budget pictures. He was hired by Kirk Douglas to replace another director on Spartacus in 1960. Despite the film's box office success, Kubrick became disillusioned with Hollywood and left the US.

His next big success was Dr Strangelove (1964), followed by the science fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971). Seven years elapsed between The Shining (1980) and the Vietnam epic Full Metal Jacket. His last film, Eyes Wide Shut, came 12 years later.

After Kubrick's death an archivist worked between 12 and 15 hours a day for eight months to sort several hundred boxes of material. 'He didn't hoard,' Christiane Kubrick has said. 'He just didn't throw anything away.' [GUARDIAN]