Such Was Life, 1964-1986

Component identifier:

Series 18

Content Summary:

Such Was Life was a three volume work involving a lengthy collaboration between Ward and John Robertson. Robertson was originally a colleague at the University of New England, but then moved to the Royal Military College at Duntroon. The books reproduced documents, mainly newspaper reports and articles, on Australian social history, building on the work that Manning Clark had done with his Select Documents on Australian History. Volume 1 (1788-1850) of Such Was Life was published by Ure Smith in 1969 and was reissued by the Alternative Publishing Cooperative in 1978. The latter publisher issued Volume 2 (1851-1913) and Volume 3 (1914-1983) in 1986.

This large series contains a typescript of volume 2, extensive material collected for volume 3, correspondence and reviews. The principal correspondent is John Robertson and there is also correspondence with the publishers Richard Smart and Alec Bolton (Ure Smith) and David Cleaver (Alternative Publishing Cooperative).

Immediate source of acquisition:

The bulk of the papers were purchased from Russel Ward in 1988. Following his death in 1995, a further five cartons of papers were donated by his family.

Names:

Russel Ward

Contents

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