Shaw Neilson's Notebook

Component identifier:

Item 60

Content Summary:

One of the poet's many work books. An ordinary exercise book in which the poet has written out many early drafts of his poems: others have been written in for him at his dictation. The poems include, Paint Me a Petticoat Green, All the World's a Lolly Shop, Play Hour, Leaving the Nest, Pretty Gleaner, Maggie Tulliver, together with some humorous verse. There are also prose writings. Some verses are set out in skeleton formation with only the first and last words to each line, and groups of similarly sounding words. Perhaps the poet's method of working out his verses.

The book came to me in dilapidated state, nevertheless I instructed the binders to preserve the broken covers. This they neglected to do and so the book has been robbed of much of the original character, although the contents remain undisturbed. The book as it is, is an interesting and important association item.

Most of Neilson's notebooks are now in the Mitchell Library. The Trustees acquired them from Frank Neilson after they had been rejected by the National Library, Canberra, to which they had been offered in 1946.

The book has been attractively bound in quarter blue leather, with the following insertions.

(a) Letter from Commonwealth Literary Fund to James Devaney, 19 June 1946, commenting upon the rejection of the notebooks by the National Librarian (Mr Kenneth Binns). The books were considered to be of insufficient value to warrant purchase, especially as the price set upon them was believed to be too high. It was at the suggestion of Devaney that the books were offered: he had just concluded a detailed examination of their contents and had extracted therefrom the material for his Unpublished Poems.

(b) Autograph letters (2) from Kate Baker to Devaney. Written November and December 1942 (8pp) they are solely of Neilson interest. K.B. comments upon Devaney's difficulty in getting access to the notebooks and Frank Neilson's reluctance to co-operate. She writes: "One would think that J.S.N.'s brother would be only too glad to give you all the information he could. What a strange attitude!" There are references to A.G.S. and The Bookfellow. One item of interest is a character analysis of Shaw Neilson by some system of numerology. The poet emerges from all this cabalistic mumbo-jumbo with distinction - as it should be.

(c) Other letters, and items of Neilson interest.

Names:

John Shaw Neilson

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