Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) in David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) in David Leanโ€™s The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Alec Guinness letters and diaries sold to the British Library

Date posted Date posted Alec Guinness

I really like Alec Guinness as an actor. His Ealing performances in particular really resonated with me growing up, leading to a life-long love of 1940s British cinema. What a shame, then, that from what Iโ€™ve read, Mr Guinness doesnโ€™t seem to have been a terribly nice person.

Guinnessโ€™s 100 volumes of diaries, and almost 1,000 letters to family and friends, has been sold to the British Library for a reported ยฃ320,000. The Library hopes soon to put some of the new collection on display and to open up the archive to researchers.

British Library website: www.bl.uk.