Guide to the Papers of David Campbell, 1890-1980

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 5028
Creator:
Campbell, David, 1915-1979
Extent:
3.22 metres and (23 boxes + 5 folio packages)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of David Campbell, National Library of Australia, MS 5028, [series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection includes correspondence, manuscript and typescript drafts, page proofs, notebooks, photographs, newspaper cuttings and other printed material. There are family papers, including material relating to Campbell's father, Alfred Campbell, and sister, Meg Campbell. The collection also features a RAAF flying logbook kept by Campbell, 1939-1945, and a caricature of Campbell by John Frith.

The literary drafts relate to Campbell's poetry, short stories, articles, reviews and other writings. Those works documented in the collection include The miracle at Mullion Hill (1956), Evening under lamplight (1959), Poems (1962), Selected poems (1968), The branch of Dodona and other poems (1970), Starting from Central Station (1973), Devil's Rock and other poems (1974), Death and pretty cousins (1975), Moscow trefoil (1975), Flame and shadow (1976), Words with a black orpington (1978), Seven Russian poets (1979) and The man in the honeysuckle (1979).

The correspondence comprises letters from family, friends, writers and publishers. Among the correspondents are Bruce Beaver, Alec Bolton, R.F. Brissenden, Vincent Buckley, Nancy Cato, John Couper, Beatrice Davis, Bruce Dawe, C. Day Lewis, Rosemary Dobson, Russell Drysdale, Geoffrey Dutton, Geoffrey Fairbairn, R.D. FitzGerald, H.M. Green, Rodney Hall, Kevin Hart, A.D. Hope, Nancy Keesing, Thomas Keneally, Geoffrey Lehmann, Norman Lindsay, James McAuley, Ronald McCuaig, Nan McDonald, Ann MacLean, James McNeish, John Manifold, Philip Martin, Elyne Mitchell, Les Murray, Roland Robinson, John Rowland, Thomas Shapcott, Kenneth Slessor, Douglas Stewart, Brian Stonier, John Thompson, E.M.W. Tillyard, Russel Ward, Francis Webb, Patrick White and Judith Wright.

Biographical Note:
Date Event
1915 Born at Ellerslie Station, Adelong, New South Wales, on 16 July
1930 Entered The King's School, Parramatta, Sydney
1933-1934 Held the J.D. Futter Memorial Scholarship, The King's School
1935 Entered Jesus College, Cambridge
Represented England in Rugby Union
1937 Graduated Bachelor of Arts, Jesus College
1938 Returned to Australia
1939-1945 Joined the Royal Australian Air Force. Campbell served as a pilot in World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar.
1940 Married Bonnie Edith Lawrence
1949 Published <em>Speak with the sun</em>
1956 Published <em>The miracle of Mullion Hill</em>
1959 Published <em>Evening under lamplight: short stories</em>
1962 Published <em>Poems</em>
1964-1965 Worked as poetry editor of <em>The Australian</em> newspaper
1966 Edited the journal <em>Australian poetry</em>
1968 Published <em>Selected poems 1942-1968</em>, for which he was awarded the 1968 Grace Leven Prize
1970 Published <em>The branch of Dodona and other poems</em>, 1969-1970
Received the Henry Lawson Australian Arts Award
Edited <em>Modern Australian poetry</em>
1973 Published <em>Starting from Central Station: a sequence of poems</em>
1973-1976 Held a senior fellowship of the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Arts
1974 Published <em>Devil's Rock and other poems</em>, 1970-1972
Married Judith Anne Jones
1975 Published <em>Moscow trefoil: poems from the Russian of Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam</em> with Rosemary Dobson and Natalie Staples
Received the Patrick White Literary Award
Published <em>David Campbell reads from his own work</em> (Poets on record; 14)
1976 Published <em>Flame and shadow: selected stories</em>
Published <em>The history of Australia</em> with Keith Looby
1977 Published <em>Encounters</em>
1978 Published <em>Words with a black orpington</em>
1979 Published <em>Seven Russian poets: imitations with Rosemary Dobson</em>
Died in Canberra on 29 July
Published (posthumously) <em>The man in the honeysuckle</em>
Awarded (posthumously) the NSW Premier's Prize for Poetry, the Fellowship of Australian Writers' Christopher Brennan Award and the Grace Leven Prize
Provenance:

The collection was received from David Campbell and his wife, Judy Campbell, in a number of instalments between 1975 and 1988. A further donation was made by Judy Campbell in 2002.

Arrangement:

The Library has tried to retain the order of the papers as they were maintained by Campbell. Many of the folders have been identified and annotated with contextual information by Judy Campbell.

Container List:
Series File/Item Box
1 1-7 1
1 8-13 2
1 14-19 3
1 20-25 4
1 26-31 5
1 32-37 6
2 1-7 7
2 8-13 8
2 14-20 9
2 21-27 10
2 28 Folio Package 1
2 29-35 11
2 36-43 12
2 44-50 13
2 51-57 14
2 58-64 15
2 65-70 16
2 71-77 17
3 1-7 18
3 8-9 19
4 1-5 19
4 6-8 20
5 1-5 20
5 6-13 21
6 1-12 22
6 13 Folio Package 1
7 1-7 23
7 8 Folio Package 2
7 9-10 Folio Package 3
7 11 Folio Package 4
7 12 Folio Package 5

Indexed terms

Names:
Campbell, David, 1915-1979

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is available for reference.
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 David Campbell, National Library of Australia, MS 5028, [series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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