MS 8162

Papers of Robert F. Brissenden (1928-1991)



Scope and Content Note

Papers

1945-90

4.90 m. (35 boxes)

Restricted

The papers were purchased from Bob Brissenden in September 1990. Another consignment of papers, found in the English Department of the Australian National University, was acquired in August 1997.

The collection includes manuscripts (drafts of poems, short stories and reviews), correspondence (personal, literary, business and copies of many of his own letters), and papers relating to the Australia Council and the David Nichol Smith Memorial Seminars.


Biographical Note

Robert Francis Brissenden was born in Wentworthville, Sydney in 1928 and was educated at the Universities of Sydney and Leeds. He held teaching and research positions at several Australian and overseas universities, including the Australian National University where he was a lecturer and then a reader in the English Department (1957-85).

He was a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council (1977-81) and its chairman (1978-81). He was also an associate editor of Meanjin (1959-64) and literary editor of the Australian (1964-65).

Brissenden edited the anthologies Southern harvest (1964) and Australian poetry (1972). His published works include Winter matins and other poems (1971), Elegies: nine poems (1974), The whale in darkness (poems) (1980) and Sacred sites (1990). In his retirement he wrote crime fiction: Poor boy (1987) and Wildcat (1991).

He was also the convener and chairman of the Executive Committee of the David Nichol Smith Memorial Seminars (1964-77).

Brissenden died in Canberra in 1991.

See: 1. Who's who in Australia 1980, p.135

2. The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature, p. 113-114.


Series List

1 Manuscripts, 1945-75

2 Manuscripts of reviews, 1954-76

3 David Nichol Smith Memorial Seminars, 1964-83

4 Personal and literary correspondence, 1960-89

5 Business and official correspondence, 1957-90

6 Australia Council, 1967-87

7 Overseas visits, 1976-81

8 Miscellaneous, 1958-89


Series Description

Series 1 Manuscripts, 1945-75

This series contains manuscripts, typescripts, some correspondence, cuttings and photocopies of poems and short stories by Brissenden. The poems include Winter matins, Elegies: nine poems, 'Juvenilia': poems of early childhood, 'Treasure trove', 'The catapult', 'Convivia and trivia' (including A.N.U. Staff Centre drinking verses), 'Acton prehistory' and 'Come on let's get together' (poems for the 1975 Election including the music score).

Folder

1-9 Handwritten drafts of poems

10 Manuscripts of poems

11 Poems in progress: typescripts, manuscripts, cuttings and photocopies

12 Winter matins: cuttings and correspondence, 1970-71

13 ‘Acton prehistory’: an A.N.U. satirical verse

14 Manuscripts, typescripts (‘Treasure trove’ and ‘The catapult’), correspondence, 1962

15 Manuscripts and correspondence of poems of early childhood, ‘Juvenilia’, 1945-46

16 ‘Juvenilia’: poems from early childhood, 1946

17 ‘Convivia and trivia’: typescripts, including some A.N.U. Staff Centre drinking verses

18 ‘Come on let’s get together’ handwritten draft of words and music (Dec. 1975 Election)

19 Elegies: nine poems: proofs, notes, correspondence, 1974

20 Miscellaneous typescripts

Series 2 Manuscripts of reviews, 1954-76

For many years Brissenden was a reviewer and critic for various publications including the Australian and Southern review. He was also a reviewer for various ABC radio and television programs such as 'Today's books'.

This series contains manuscripts, typescripts, correspondence, photocopies and cuttings relating to reviews by Brissenden.

Folder

1 Typescripts of articles by Brissenden, 1954 and 1980

2 Typescripts of reviews by Brissenden of ABC programme ‘Today’s books’, 1955-63

3 Manuscripts and typescripts

4 Typescripts, photocopies, correspondence, 1957-59

5 Typescripts and cuttings, 1974-76

6 Typescripts and manuscripts of reviews, including The wounded hero: James McAuley’s collected poems

7 Typescripts, manuscripts, cuttings, photocopies, correspondence relating to reviews by Brissenden, 1976

8 Typescripts and cuttings, 1966-68

Series 3 David Nichol Smith Memorial Seminars, 1964-83

The seminars in Eighteenth Century Studies, first held in 1964, were give in honour of David Nichol Smith and were sponsored by the A.N.U. and the National Library. The first Memorial Seminar marked the arrival in Australia of Nichol Smith’s valuable collection of eighteenth century works now housed in the National Library. Later Seminars were held in 1970, 1973 and 1976. Brissenden was the Convener and Chairman of the Executive Committee from 1964 to 1977.

This series includes correspondence and minutes relating to the seminars. The correspondence was written in Brissenden’s capacities as Convenor of the David Nichol Smith Memorial Seminars and as President of the Australasian and Pacific Society for Eighteenth Century Studies (APSECS). The correspondents include academics from Australia and overseas invited to deliver papers at the Memorial Seminars and visiting specialists who attended the Seminars. The letters cover arrangements for the Seminars and matters that arose with the publication of the Seminar lectures in conference proceedings edited by Brissenden. Other correspondents include various embassies in Canberra, literary societies, various libraries including the National Library, and ANU Press. The files include copies of Brissenden’s letters.

Folder

Minutes:

1 Minutes, 1964-66

2 Minutes of DNS Memorial Seminar II, 1967-70

3 DNS Steering Committee: Minutes of DNS Memorial Seminar II, 1969-70

4 Correspondence and minutes of DNS Memorial Seminar II, 1967-70

5 APSECS minutes

Correspondence:

6 Correspondence with overseas scholars, 1964-66

7 General correspondence, 1964-65

8 Correspondence, 1965

9 DNS II: miscellaneous and correspondence, 1969-70

10 Munir Ahmed

11 Marcia Allentuck

12 American Embassy, Canberra, Anglo-American Associates

13 E. Arnold (Publishers) Ltd., Augustan Reprint Society

14 M.N. Austin

15 ANU Press

16 Dene Barnett

17 H.C. Barraclough, M.C. Battestin, W. Beattie

18 Yvon Belaval

19 Belgian-Dutch Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Belgian Embassy, Canberra

20 A.S. Bell, Theodore Besterman, Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand

21 L. Bodi, P.G. Boucé

22 British Council, Sydney

23 British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies

24 Barry S. Brook

25 G. Bullough, Joseph T. Burke, C.A. Burmester, J.F. Burrows, D. Butt

26 William J. Cameron, Tom Campbell, Leon Cantrell

27 M.J. Cardy, John Carroll, Arthur Cash

28 John Cashmere, Clark Memorial Library, Los Angeles

29 James L. Clifford

30 Richard N. Coe, Ralph Cohen

31 J.A. Colmer, Roger Covell

32 Lester G. Crocker, Alastair Crombie

33 David Nichol Smith Memorial Seminars, 1966 and 1973

34 Donald Davie, Geoffrey Day

35 Vinton A. Dearing, Richard Divall, Colin Duckworth

36 J.C. Eade, Peter Elkin, McD. Emslie

37 Bernhard Fabian

38 Andrew Field, John Flaus, J.D. Fleeman

39 Henri Fluchère, Franklin L. Ford

40 Foundations

41 M.J. Freyne, Arthur Friedman, Alan Frost

42 A. Gaudron, Aubrey Gibson, Robert Ginsberg, Jean F. Goetinck

43 S.L. Goldberg, Yasmine Gooneratne, Government House, Canberra

44 S.A. Grave, Donald F. Greene

45 John Hainsworth, Robert Halsband, John Hardy

46 Jocelyn Harris

47 John Hay, Ursula Hoff

48 William Holtz, Robert Hopkins, Colin Horne

49 Humanities Research Centre, A.N.U., Mary Hyde

50 George Irwin, Grahame C. Jones

51 Anthony Kearney, Colm Kiernan

52 James King, Wallace Kirsop

53 Paul J. Korshin

54 A.M. Laborde, J.A. La Nauze

55 Louis Landa

56 James J. Legasse, Wilmarth S. Lewis, Sten Lindroth

57 Agostino Lombardo, Harold H. Love

58 James P. McAuley, N. Floyd McGowin

59 D.F. McKenzie, T. McLoughlin, John McManners

60 Angus Martin, Henry Knight Miller

61 Earl Miner

62 Edmund S. Morgan, L.J. Morrissey

63 National Library of Australia, National Library of Scotland

64 R.S. Neale, Tim Nelson

65 P. O’Flaherty, G.C. Oldham, James M. Osborn

66 Ivan Page, John Passmore, Ronald Paulson

67 W.H. Pearson

68 Anne L. Phipps (nee Nichol Smith), Arthur Pollard, Portuguese Embassy, Martin Price

69 Correspondence with Graham Pont regarding ‘DNS 1980’, 1970-79

70 Thomas I. Rae, Regrets

71 Geoffrey W. Rice, Christopher B. Ricks, Charles Rihs, Philip Roberts

72 Roger Robinson, Russian Embassy, John Ryan

73 Correspondence with G.S. Rousseau regarding DNS III, 1969-83

74 W.A.G. Scott, Jyoti P. Sen

75 Robert Shackleton

76 Natsuo Shumuta, Christoph Siegrist

77 Sarup Singh

78 John Small, Bernard Smith, Henry L. Snyder

79 Société francaise d’étude du XVIIIe siècle

80 Brian Southam, Spanish Embassy, Canberra, Martin Stern, Gardner D. Stout

81 Swedish Embassy, Canberra, J.H. Tisch, William B. Todd, Clarence Tracy

82 Otto Van der Sprenkel, Francois Van Laere

83 Devendra P. Varma

84 Satinder Verma, Vice-Chancellor, A.N.U.

85 Craig Walton, Ian P. Watt, Arthur J. Weitzman

86 Michael Wilding, Roy M. Wiles

87 Peter Willis, Robert Wokler

88 Roy S. Wolper, David Woolley

89 A.J. Youngson

Publications:

90 APSECS 18th century news, No. 13 (Mar. 1981) - no. 16 (July 1982); Newsletter / APSECS, No. 1 (Dec. 1971), no. 4 (June 1973), no. 9 (Feb. 1978)

91 Eighteenth-century studies, 1969

92 ‘A prologue’, n.d.

93 The Scriblerian, 1969

94 Studies in the eighteenth century (1968), 1965-70

95 Studies in the eighteenth century, II (1973), 1971-75

96 Studies in the eighteenth century (1968), Studies in the eighteenth century, III (1976)

Series 4 Personal and literary correspondence, 1960-89

This series contains letters received by Brissenden from other writers and academics as well as copies of most of his own letters.

Folder

1 Bruce Beaver, 1976-87

2 Les Blakebrough, 1969-89

3 Russell Braddon, 1978-79

4 Vincent Buckley, 1960-88

5 Marilyn Butler, 1977

6 David Campbell, 1968-79

7 David Camroux (France), 1983-84

8 Laurie Clancy, 1967-78

9 John Couper, 1973-80

10 Blanche d'Alpuget, 1987

11 Beatrice Davis, 1984

12 Bruce Dawe, 1972

13 John Docker, 1975-81

14 Robert D. FitzGerald, 1980-84

15 Greg Gatenby, 1978

16 Sara Gatto, 1978

17 Rodney Hall, 1967-79

18 Bernard Hickey, 1978-87

19 A.D. Hope, 1956-83

20 Dick Hughes, 1987

21 Barry Humphries, 1964-85

22 Sir Leonard Huxley, 1964

23 Ivor Indyk, 1978

24 A.N. Jeffares, 1978-79

25 E.L. Jones, 1962-88

26 Margaret Jones, 1989

27 Sara Karig (Hungary), 1979

28 Stephen Knight, 1975-76

29 Christopher Koch, 1965

30 Jacques Leclaire, 1978

31 P.A. Lehmann (University of Franche Comte), 1978

32 Doireann McDermott (University of Barcelona), 1978-80

33 Ward McNally, 1978-79

34 Hena Maes-Jelinek (University of Liege), 1978

35 David Martin, 1965-67

36 Mark O'Connor, 1979-88

37 Timothy Pascoe, 1981-82

38 Bill Peach, 1979

39 Xavier Pons (University of Toulouse), 1978

40 Bernard Poujol (Paris), 1978

41 Katharine Susannah Prichard, 1965-66

42 Horst Priessnitz (Gesamthochule Wuppertal), 1978

43 Peter Quartermaine (University of Exeter), 1979

44 Dieter Ramm (Germany), 1979

45 Claude Rawson, 1968-79

46 Elizabeth Riddell, 1980

47 Philip Roberts, 1975-78

48 Judith Rodriguez, 1980-89

49 Bruce Clunies Ross (University of Copenhagen),1978-79

50 John Rowland, 1977-79

51 Anna Rutherford, 1977-79

52 Peter Ryan, 1980-81

53 Susan Ryan, 1969-79

54 Joko Damono Sapardi (Indonesia), 1977-84

55 Jurgen Schafer (University of Augsburg), 1979

56 Peter Schultz, 1979

57 Clem Semmler, 1968

58 Tom Shapcott, 1973-80

59 Peter Skrzynecki, 1973-81

60 Kendrick Smithyman, 1972-82

61 Christina Stead, 1980-87

62 Harold Stewart, 1963-89

63 Dal Stivens, 1979

64 Lynne Strahan, 1981, 1984

65 Mark Strand, 1976-84

66 Alison Summers, 1975-88

67 Judith Talbot, 1978

68 Andrew Taylor, 1977-89

69 Andrew Taylor, 1980

70 Colin Thiele, 1980

71 R.W. Thompson, 1968

72 Ric Throssell, 1969-80

73 John Tranter, 1980-81

74 P.N. Troy, 1981

75 Dimitris Tsaloumas, 1980-89

76 S.P. Walker, containing correspondence with K.L. Fenaughty and K. McBrearty, 1979

77 Robin and Chris Wallace-Crabbe, 1979-89

78 Alan Wearne, 1987

79 Patrick White, 1964-71

80 G.A. Wilkes, 1969-71

81 Hans Joachim Zimmermann, 1978-79

Series 5 Business and official correspondence, 1957-90

This series comprises correspondence with publishers and literary editors, as well as government agencies and private organisations.

Folder

1 A.B.C., 1961-77, 1984

2 Academy of American Poets, 1978-80

3 The Age, 1979-81

4 Australian, 1968-90

5 The Canberra Times, 1960-76

6 Island Press, 1977-78

7 Macquarie dictionary of Australian English, 1978-80

8 Matilda, 1986

9-13 Meanjin, 1960-77

14 Melbourne University Press, 1964

15 New Poetry, 1979

16 Overland, 1963-87

17 Poetry Australia, 1977

18 Quadrant, 1977-88

19 Scripsi, 1987

20 Sewanee Review, 1978-79

21 Sydney Morning Herald, 1957-87

22 Sydney Morning Herald, 1981

23 University of Queensland Press, 1977

24 Writers Week, 1978-80

Series 6 Australia Council, 1967-87

Brissenden was a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council (1977-81) and its Chairman (1978-81). This series contains reports, correspondence, cuttings and printed material.

Folder

1 Literature Board Chairmanship, 1975-78

2 Correspondence with the Minister, 1978-81

3 Emeritus Fellowships, 1980-81

4 Australia Council financial crisis, 1980-87

5 Funding for the Arts and the structure of the Council, 1979-81

6 Grants to writers: programme and evaluation, 1967-81

7 Literary Editors’ Seminar, Canberra, 1979

8 Comments by Brissenden on the Industries Assistance Commission Report on Publishing, 1979

9-10 Literature Board: miscellaneous, 1976-77, 1980-81

11 Overseas: Australian Literature Committee, 1979

12 Literature Board Record of achievements, 1978-81

13 Report by Chairman of the Literature Board, 1979

Series 7 Overseas visits, 1976-81

Brissenden visited Indonesia in 1977 and 1981 and China and Korea in 1979. This series contains correspondence, typescripts, photocopies and reports relating to these visits. The series also includes correspondence relating to the visit to Canberra by Chinese writers in 1981.

Folder

1 China, 1979

2 Chinese writers, 1980-81

3 Indonesia, 1981

4 Poetry reading in Jakarta, 1977

5 Antara News file including typescripts of Brissenden’s Indonesian poems, 1976

6 Korea, 1979

7 Overseas visits reports, 1978-79

Series 8 Miscellaneous, 1958-89

This series contains miscellaneous correspondence, photographs, cuttings, photocopies, typescripts and printed material.

Folder

1 Adelaide Festival, 1977-79

2 Excerpt from 'Autumn landscape roll' by Harold Stewart

3-5 Canberra Repertory Society files containing papers relating to 'Measure to measure' and 'The white devil', 1959

6 Convocation Poetry Reading at A.N.U., 1976

7 Order of Australia Award, 1980

8 Overseas universities, 1977

9 Poetry readings

10 'Remembering David Campbell', 1989

11 Reviews of Brissenden's poems The whale in darkness, 1979

12 Rice University (Texas), 1961

13 Various papers relating to the screening of 'The Teutonic sword' at the Canberra University College, 1958-64

14 Song lyrics, 1960


Box List

Box

Series

Folder

1

1

1-9

2

1

10-17

3

1

18-20

3

2

1-5

4

2

6-8

4

3

1-4

5

3

5-11

6

3

12-18

7

3

19-26

8

3

27-33

9

3

34-41

10

3

42-48

11

3

49-55

12

3

56-62

13

3

63-69

14

3

70-76

15

3

77-82

16

3

83-89

17

3

90-96

18

4

1-7

19

4

8-14

20

4

15-21

21

4

22-28

22

4

29-35

23

4

36-42

24

4

43-49

25

4

50-56

26

4

57-63

27

4

64-70

28

4

71-77

29

4

78-81

29

5

1-5

30

5

6-13

31

5

14-22

32

5

23-24

32

6

1-6

33

6

7-13

33

7

1

34

7

2-7

34

8

1-3

35

8

4-14

February 1991
Updated August 2000