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| Manuscript Name | Papers of Nancy Phelan |
| Manuscript Number | MSS 072 |
| Last Updated | June 2021 |
| Extent | 4 boxes |
| Location | Special Collections, UNSW Canberra |
| Abstract | Typescripts, galley proofs |
Collection Subject Type
Literary
Scope and Content
This collection comprises typescripts and proof copies of biographical and other works by Nancy Phelan including The Voice Beyond the Trees, Home is the Sailor, Charles Mackerras, The Romantic Lives of Louise Mack, The Chilean Way, A Kingdom by the Sea and Pieces of Heaven.
Biographical Note
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Phelan
Nancy Phelan was educated at the University of Sydney and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She lived in England from 1938 to 1945, returning to Australia after World War II with her husband and daughter. For five years Phelan was a member of the South Pacific Commission, working and travelling in the Pacific Islands, experiences described in her book Pieces of Heaven. She travelled widely in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, South America, Japan and the USSR.
As well as the works listed on AustLit, Phelan wrote a number of travel books, including Morocco is a Lion (1982). She also wrote, either in collaboration with Michael Volin or on her own, a series of yoga guides (from Yoga for Women in 1963 to Yoga and Sex in 1977, with many titles reprinted in later years), as well as craft books including Coral as a Building Material (1952), How to Make Your Own Filmstrips (1954) and How to Make Your Own Posters (1957). In collaboration with Nina Nicolaieff she produced a series of Russian cookbooks between 1969 and 1981. Phelan published a biography of her cousin, the musician and conductor Charles Mackerras, in 1987.
Phelan befriended a number of well known artists and writers, among them Dorothy Hewett, Patrick White and Kylie Tennant. Three of Phelan's aunts, Louise Mack, Amy Mack and Gertrude Mack, were also Australian writers.
For further details about her life see her autobiography Writing Round the Edges (2003).
Reference: Austlit - https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A6964
Administrative Information
Access and Copying Conditions
Access: Open Access
This collection contains a variety of copyright material. Copyright is held by the creator of each item. Specific conditions for this collection are listed below. If no conditions are stipulated then the standard terms of the Copyright Act apply for published and unpublished items. Digitised material from manuscript collections is provided to clients by UNSW Canberra in good faith for private study and research only, and may not be published or re-purposed without the express and written permission of the individual legal holder of that copyright. Refer also to the UNSW copyright, disclaimer and takedown policy.
Copying: Copying of material for private study and research is approved
Preferred Citation
Papers of Nancy Phelan, Special Collections, UNSW Canberra, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, MSS 72, Box [Number], Folder [Number].
Provenance
The collection was acquired in 1988, 1991 and 1996
Related Material
Further papers of Nancy Phelan are held by the State Library of New South Wales at MLMSS 6427 and MLOH 279
Subject Keywords
Subjects
Women writers - Australia - Archives
Biographers - Australia - Archives
Personal Names
Nancy Phelan, 1913-2008
Louise Mack, 1870-1935
Charles Mackerras, 1925-2010
Occupations
Writers
Biographers
Container List
Box 1
Manuscripts
Folder 1
Annotated typescript of The Voice beyond the trees
Folder 2
The Voice beyond the Trees - Galley
Folder 3
Annotated typescript of Home is the Sailor and The Best of Intentions
Folder 4
Typescript of Home is the Sailor (‘2nd last version’)
Folder 5
Charles Mackerras: A musicians’ musician – Annotated galley
Folder 6
Typescripts: ‘The Appoggiatura’, ‘What Mozart really meant: Figaro’, ‘Handel’, ‘Janacek’ and ‘Aspects of conducting’
Box 2
Typescript
Folder 7
Annotated typescript of Charles Mackerras: A musicians’ musician
Box 3
Typescripts
Folder 8
Annotated typescript of The Romantic Lives of Louise Mack (final version, working copy) (1/2)
Folder 9
Annotated typescript of The Romantic Lives of Louise Mack (2/2)
Folder 10
Typescript of The Chilean Way (last version)
Folder 11
Typescript of The Chilean Way
Folder 12
Typescript of A Kingdom by the Sea
Folder 13
First proofs of The Romantic Lives of Louise Mack (corrected but replaced because of wrong type setting) (1/2)
Folder 14
First proofs of The Romantic Lives of Louise Mack (corrected but replaced because of wrong type setting) (2/2)
Box 4
Typescripts
Folder 15
Pieces of Heaven – Annotated original typescript copy
Folder 16
Pieces of Heaven – Page proofs, altered and worked over