ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the biographies of Iona and Peter Opie and describes their aims, methods and theoretical orientation with particular reference to the work on children’s play and games in the third quarter of the twentieth century. It also describes the Opies’ archival collection, especially their ‘working papers’ and sound recordings, and highlights the importance of evaluating the Opies’ contribution in terms of their archival legacy, as well as their published works. The situation was rather different for Iona. While she shared Peter’s curiosity about nursery rhymes and enjoyed the thrill of their discoveries, she soon had another imperative – the needs of James Opie who arrived on her 21st birthday. Whilst researching in the Bodleian Library in Oxford on one occasion, they were noticed by the then Keeper of Western Manuscripts, Richard Hunt, who introduced them to Betty Withycombe, the compiler of the Oxford dictionary of Christian names, which was the Opies’ model for their own work.
