Guide to the Papers of B. R. Whiting

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MS 8715

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Collection Summary

Creator
B. R. Whiting
Title
Papers of B. R. Whiting
Date Range
1939-1996
Collection Number
MS 8715
Extent
1.88 metres (14 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Repository
National Library of Australia

Introduction

Scope and Contents

The collection comprises diaries, correspondence, drafts, typescripts, cuttings, photographs, catalogues of art exhibitions, yachting logs and other printed material.

The correspondents include members of the Whiting and Fraser families (including Ernest Whiting, John Whiting, J. Neville Fraser and Malcolm Fraser), Bridget Bolland, Christopher Fry, Jon Stallworthy, Henry Moore, George Macbeth, Peter Finch, Robert Motherwell, Stanley Moss, John Huston, Mark Rothko, Gladys Collins and Geoffrey Fairbairn.

Conditions Governing Access

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2108705).

Conditions Governing Use

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred Citation

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of B. R. Whiting, National Library of Australia, MS 8715, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Provenance

The papers were donated, under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme, by B.R. Whiting's widow, Lorri Whiting, in 1994 and 1995.

Biographical Note

Writer and diarist. Whiting was born in Melbourne in 1923. He joined the Australian Army in 1940 and saw active service in Burma during the Second World War. He was appointed an ADC to Lord Mountbatten and later R.G. Casey in India. After the War he pursued a brief postwar career as a beekeeper in Victoria and South Australia. Whiting married the sculptor and painter Lorraine Fraser (sister of Malcolm Fraser) in 1948. They lived in England between 1952 and 1955 and in 1955 they moved to Italy. Whiting shared a keen interest in skiing and yachting with his wife.

Whiting's play 'Empress with teapot' was produced at the Royal Court Theatre, London in 1961. His book The poems of B.R. Whiting was published posthumously in 1991.

Whiting died in 1988.

Reference: Encyclopedia of Australian Art, vol. 2, p. 713.

Item Descriptions

Class. Original consignment

January 1936- December 1940 (File 1) - Box 1

May 1948 - February 1950 (File 2) - Box 1

July - September 1944 (File 3) - Box 1

August - December 1945 (File 4) - Box 1

Scrapbook, September - December 1945 (File 5) - Box 1

Beekeeping diary and family photographs, May 1948- March 1950 (File 6) - Box 1

February 1950 - August 1952 (File 7) - Box 2

Fragments of diary, drafts, typescripts and cuttings, c.1952 (File 8) - Box 2

Correspondence, 1951-53 (File 9-10) - Box 2

August 1952 - March 1953 (File 11) - Box 2

April - October 1953 (File 12-13) - Box 2

Diary, cuttings and printed material, c.1953 (File 14-15) - Box 3

Notes on food entitled 'The stomach', 1953-54 (File 16) - Box 3

Diary, notes, typescripts and cuttings, 1954 (File 17) - Box 3

Notes, drafts and cuttings, 1955 (File 18) - Box 3

June - August 1955 (File 19) - Box 3

September - November 1955 (File 20) - Box 3

Notes, drafts, cuttings and correspondence, 1956 (File 21) - Box 3

Notes and journal of 'Empress with teapot', May - June 1951 (File 22) - Box 4

Small wine diaries containing wine lists for the years 1959 to 1964 (File 23) - Box 4

Cervina photographs, 1965 (File 24) - Box 4

March - November 1963 (File 25-26) - Box 4

November 1963 - June 1964 (File 27) - Box 4

June - November 1964 (File 28) - Box 4

November 1964 - January 1965 (File 29) - Box 5

January - April 1965 (File 30-31) - Box 5

April - September 1965 (File 32) - Box 5

October 1966 - June 1967 (File 33-34) - Box 5

August 1967 - December 1968 (File 35-36) - Box 5

Diary, correspondence and cuttings, November 1968 - November 1969 (File 37-38) - Box 6

November 1971 - January 1974 (File 39-40) - Box 6

November 1974 - June 1975 (File 41-42) - Box 6

September 1975 - March 1976 (File 43) - Box 7

Logs of Tai III and Fiolet II, 1969-77 (File 44) - Box 7

November 1976 - June 1977 (File 45-46) - Box 7

Manuscripts and typescripts of 'The big shift' (File 47) - Box 7

Miscellaneous papers, including a copy of Whiting's obituary and a copy of The poems of B.R. Whiting (Added 17/3/1995) (File 48) - Box 7

Class. Consignment received June 1995

Journal, c.July 1954 - May 1955 (File 49) - Box 8

Journal, April 1959 - March 1963 (File 50-51) - Box 8

Journal, September - November 1965 (File 52-53) - Box 8

Journal, December 1965 - June 1966 (File 54) - Box 8

Journal, December 1969 - March 1971 (File 55-56) - Box 8

Journal, March - November 1971 (File 57-58) - Box 9

Journal, January - April 1974 (File 59-60) - Box 9

Journal, July - November 1974 (File 61-63) - Box 9

Journal, May 1977 - May 1978 (File 64-66) - Box 10

Journal, June 1978 - February 1979 (File 67-68) - Box 10

Journal fragments, February 1975 - May 1980 (File 69-71) - Box 10

Journal fragments, February 1975 - May 1980 (continued) (File 72) - Box 11

Yachting logs: Fiolet, April - December 1974; Fiolet II, April - September 1975 (File 73) - Box 11

Poetry manuscripts and typescripts, 1965-66 (File 74-76) - Box 11

Photographs of sculptures in England and Florence, 1952-54 (File 77) - Box 11

Draft of a play, 'The retreat' (File 78) - Box 11

Journal and correspondence, April 1980 - December 1980 (File 79) - Box 12

Journal and correspondence, April 1980 - September 1981 (File 80) - Box 12

Journal and correspondence, August 1980 -November 1983 (File 81 - 82) - Box 12

Journal and correspondence, March 1980 - July 1986 (File 83 - 85) - Box 12

Typescript of 'Empress with Teapot' (File 86) - Box 13

Drafts,notes, ideas and journal entries, 1964 - 65 for a play 'Inquest on an Unquiet Quest'. Interleaved with this material are notes for another play, 'The Masque' and part of a typescript for a novel, 'Watching a Man Die'. The folder also contains notes in Greek and part of a yacht log (File 87 - 88) - Box 13

Newscuttings, notes and drafts for a play, 'The Masque' (File 89) - Box 13

Folder titled 'Il Moyenage Leecher' containing notes in English and Italian. The folder also includes a typescript copy of a work in Italian 'La Scimmia Furente' (File 90) - Box 13

Typescript poems (File 91) - Box 13

Miscellaneous newscuttings and correspondence, 1968 - 96; an undated, handwritten note by Lori Whiting discussing some aspects of her husband's illness (File 92) - Box 13

Class. Consignment received January 1999

Typescripts of 6 plays, 'Pomp of waters', 'Empress with teapot', 'Event in life of Alexander the Great', 'Poor Henry', 'In the proper sense', 'The axe' (File 93 - 94) - Box 14


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