Guide to the Papers of Robert D. FitzGerald [MSS 004]

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Manuscript Name Papers of Robert D. FitzGerald
Manuscript Number MSS 004
Last Updated August 2021
Extent 18 cm (2 boxes)
Location Special Collections, UNSW Canberra
Abstract This collection comprises papers and related material produced or accumulated by Robert D. FitzGerald.

Collection Subject Type

Literary

Scope and Content

The collection comprises correspondence, drafts of published poetry, including The wind at your door : a poem, together with correspondence between FitzGerald and the publisher Walter Stone. There are also carbon and photocopies of correspondence selected by FitzGerald for The letters of Hugh McCrae.

Date Range of Content

1904-1970

Biographical Note

Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._D._Fitzgerald

Robert David FitzGerald was born in Hunters Hill, New South Wales on the 22 February 1902, and died on the 25 May 1987 in Sydney, New South Wales. He attended Sydney Grammar School before beginning his university studies at the University of Sydney. He discontinued his studies to pursue a career as a surveyor, which took him to Fiji for most of the 1930s, and saw him appointed to several positions in the Commonwealth Department of the Interior before his retirement in 1965.

FitzGerald was the recipient of numerous nominations and awards, including:
Order of Australia, Member in the Order of Australia (AM), 1982
Robert Frost Medallion, 1974
The Order of the British Empire, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Civil, 1951 Note: for literature
Grace Leven Poetry Prize, 1962: winner for Southmost twelve 
Grace Leven Poetry Prize, 1959: winner for The wind at your door : a poem 
Grace Leven Poetry Prize, 1952: winner for Between two tides 
Australian Literature Society Poetry Gold Medal, 1938: winner for Moonlight acre 
Australia's Sesquicentenary Celebration Long Poem Prize, 1938: winner for 'Essay on memory'
Panton Arts Club (UK), Festival of Arts and Letters Bronze Medal, 1928: winner for To meet the sun.

References: AustLit Australian Literature Gateway database, 2004.

 

Administrative Information

 

Access and Copying Conditions

Access: Check with Curator

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: Check with Curator

Preferred Citation

[Manuscript Item], Papers of Robert D. FitzGerald, Special Collections, UNSW Canberra, Australian Defence Force Academy, MSS 004, Series [Number], Folder [Number].

Provenance

The collection was acquired by the Library from Tim McCormick in 1986.

Separated Material

Further papers of Robert D. FitzGerald are held by the National Library, in Guide to the Papers of Robert D. FitzGerald (1902-1987) at MS 7334.

 

Subject Keywords

 

Subjects

Australian poetry, poets, 20th century poetry

Personal Names

Robert D. FitzGerald 1902-1987

Hugh McCrae 1876-1958

Occupations

Poets

 

Container List

 

Series 1 Poetry, 1944-1960

Signed collection of manuscript and typescript drafts of poems and letters written and received by FitzGerald tipped-into cloth bound volumes.

Folder 1 
Collection of manuscript and typescript drafts of poems and letters written and received by FitzGerald, 1944-1954

Including:
Manuscript draft of the poem entitled 'Traditional tune'
Three page manuscript letter to Norman, 6/11/1953
Annotated manuscript draft of the poem entitled 'Wonder'
Annotated manuscript draft of the poem entitled 'The Fakir', 29/6/1949
Annotated manuscript draft of the poem entitled 'Glad world', 29/6/1949
Manuscript draft of the poem entitled 'Limitation', 29/6/1949
Annotated manuscript draft of the poem entitled 'This understanding', 21/6/1949
Annotated typescript draft of the poem entitled 'New Australian', 2 p.
One page manuscript letter to Doug, 8/6/44
One page manuscript letter to Doug, 13/10/47
Two page letter to FitzGerald from Father Tim Kelly, Sacred Heart College, Toowoomba, Qld., 21/8/1954
Roneoed copy of Everyman magazine, vol. 1, 1954, containing the article written by FitzGerald entitled 'Of payment', p. 2-6 and 'A note on Robert FitzGerald's imagery' by Tim Kelly, p. 6 and p. 16
Carbon typescript copy of the article 'Of payment', 5 p.

Folder 2 
Annotated typescript draft of The wind at your door : a poem, published by Talkarra Press, Cremorne, New South Wales, 1959 (spine title: 'The wind at the door') together with correspondence between FitzGerald and the publisher Walter Stone, 1958-1960

Including:
Black and white photograph of Norman Lindsay's portrait of FitzGerald, 1950
Newspaper clipping of review for Southmost twelve 
Five page annotated typescript draft of The wind at your door : a poem with publishing notes between Stone and FitzGerald, 22/9/58
Publishing correspondence between FitzGerald and Stone, textual alterations, comments on typography and lay-out and proofs, 24/9/1958, 3/10/1958, 31/12/1958, 7/3/1959, 16/3/1959, 16/3/1959, 16/5/1959, 16/8/1959, 18/8/1959 and December 1960
Letter from Paul O'Loughlin, A/Director of Drama and Features, Australian Broadcasting Commission, 22/8/1960
Photocopy of p. 1 of Biblionews, vol. 12, no. 10, October 1959

Folder 3 
Photocopies of folders 1 and 2, 1944-1960

 

Series 2 Editorial, 1904-1970

Carbon and photocopies of correspondence collected by FitzGerald for The letters of Hugh McCrae, selected by Robert D. FitzGerald, published by Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1970, tipped-into cloth bound volumes. This material was given to Walter Stone by FitzGerald on the eve of his departure for England in March 1972 and formed part of Stone's collection.

Folder 1 
Bound volume entitled 'Carbon copies of drafts of letters written by Hugh McCrae to various literary personalities' - spine title McCrae letters 1, 1917-1952

Folder 2 
Bound volume entitled 'Carbon copies of drafts of letters written by Hugh McCrae to his father, his family et al.' - spine title McCrae letters 2, c. 1904-1955

Folder 3 
Bound volume entitled 'Carbon copies of letters written by Hugh McCrae to Norman Lindsay and Lionel Lindsay' - spine title McCrae letters 3, 1912-1957

Folder 4 
Bound volume entitled 'Original and carbon copies of letters written by Hugh McCrae to various authors' - spine title McCrae letters 4, 1929-1953

Folder 5 
Bound volume entitled 'Xerox and carbon copies of letters and drawings by Hugh McCrae to H. M. Green and Letters R. D. FitzGerald' - spine title McCrae letters 5, 1925-1956