Peter Pan is playwright and novelist J.M. Barrie's most famous work, published both as a play in 1904 and in 1911 as a novel. It tells the story of the magical Peter Pan, who flies into the Darling family's nursery in London one night and persuades the children to fly to Never Land with him, where they get caught up in a number of wild adventures. The play was an instant success upon its premiere and quickly found a following of devotees in both children and adults, who saw the story of the eternally young Peter Pan as a compelling allegory for the melancholy of growing up.
Barrie was inspired to write the story of Peter by the Davies children, whom Barrie adopted after the death of their parents, Sylvia and Arthur. Their names were used for the names of some of the characters in the story, and the adoption of the Lost Boys by the Darling Family is said to have been based on Barrie's experiences of adopting the Davies children. Barrie created Peter Pan as a story to amuse two of the boys, George and Jack.
Unlike many novelists and playwrights, Barrie attained fame and popularity during his lifetime. A patriotic Scot who lived in London, he was made a Baronet by King George V in 1913, which is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a "commoner" and is ranked above all other knighthoods. Although he wrote many other books, including Little White Bird, and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Barrie is still best known for his creation of the little boy who could fly. Shortly before his death, he bequeathed the copyright of Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in perpetuity.
