D. H. Lawrence has proved an endlessly fascinating, and controversial, subject for memoirists, literary biographers and the general public. Since his death in 1930, his legacy has been subject to continual re-evaluation in line with shifts in his literary reputation and changing perceptions of his impact on twentieth-century British culture.

This exhibition traces the origins and development of the biographical preoccupation with Lawrence. It begins with examples of Lawrence’s own occasional self-reflective words and describes how quickly public confrontations arose in the early 1930s between friends, family members and other biographers who offered starkly differing accounts of his life and legacy. The story continues through the beginnings of modern scholarship on Lawrence to the present, showing how recent discoveries are offering fresh perspectives and generating new biographical narratives.

The display draws on original manuscripts and correspondence, contemporary memoirs and other resources in the University of Nottingham’s nationally designated D.H. Lawrence Collections.