James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) was born in Scotland. He moved to London in 1885. He had a high reputation as a playwright, with productions including Quality Street (1901) and The Admirable Crichton (1902). Peter Pan was first produced on stage in 1904 and in 1911 he turned the story into a book.
Barrie wrote his fantasy of childhood, added another figure to our enduring literature, and thereby undoubtedly made one of the boldest bids for immortality of any writer. . . . It is a masterpiece. J. B. PRIESTLEY