JG Ballard archive acquired by British Library

AN "EXTRAORDINARY insight" into author JG Ballard, spanning half a century, has been saved for the nation.

The British Library will hold the archive of 15 large storage boxes containing manuscripts, notebooks, letters, photographs, school reports and birth and baptism certificates for Ballard, who attracted both acclaim and controversy and described himself as "picturing the psychology of the future".

The treasures cover the writer's output from 1962's The Drowned World to Miracles of Life in 2008. The author has built up a passionate readership and Empire of The Sun (1984), a fictionalised account of his childhood, was made into a film.

Ballard was quoted in 1982 as saying: "There are no Ballard archives. I never keep letters, reviews, research materials. Every page is a fresh start."