Papers of John Béchervaise, circa 1860-2001 [manuscript]
- Bib ID:
- 735541
- Format:
- Manuscript
- Author:
- Béchervaise, John (John Mayston), 1910-1998
- Access Conditions:
- Available for research. Not for loan.
- Description:
-
- [ca. 1860-2001]
- 17.55 m. (41 boxes) + 37 cartons + 1 fol. box.
- Summary:
-
MS 7972 comprises diaries, correspondence, research notes, manuscripts, sketches, family papers, lectures, subject files, photographs and cuttings. The day books (26 vols.) date from 1936 to 1988 and include detailed diaries and also copies of letters, manuscripts, cuttings and photographs. They document the Antarctic expeditions in great detail and also mountaineering and other expeditions and Béchervaise's career as a teacher in England and Geelong. Correspondence (15 vols.), mostly 1950-1988, includes letters of Sir Douglas Mawson, Phillip Law, Judith Wright, Sir James Darling, Sir William Dunk, Marnie Bassett, Myra Roper, Diana Mercer and Selwyn Speight. "Treading on Earth" (11 vols.) containing articles, drawings, cuttings, reports, invitations and other autobiographical material, 1922-1988. Literary papers include drafts of poetry and Antarctic books and research material, cuttings and drafts of books on Ballarat, Bendigo, Grampians, the University of Melbourne and other subjects in Sketchbook series (40 boxes, 37 cartons, 1 fol. box).
The Acc08.137 instalment comprises letters to and from Béchervaise, 1937-1995 (bulk 1990s); drafts of writings by Béchervaise; five small undated cannisters of black and white film with the following labels "Here and there in Australia" (x 2), "Rondo", "Paintings" (x 2); a tape recorder containing a small tape made by Béchervaise (most likely the recorder with which the "Rymill interviews" were made for Béchervaise's book Arctic and Antarctic: the will and the way of John Riddoch Rymill, published in 1996) (1 box).
- Biography/History:
-
Explorer, mountaineer, poet, author, schoolteacher. John Béchervaise was born in 1910 and educated in Melbourne and England. Trained as an artist and print maker, Béchervaise became a schoolteacher, poet, historian, architectural writer, explorer and mountaineer. He taught at St. George's School, Harpenden, England during the 1930s and 1940s, and later at Geelong College. He wrote 28 books, was the first man to climb Federation Peak in Tasmania, in 1949, and led exploring and mountaineering expeditions to Central Australia, the Himalayas and Central America. Béchervaise is probably best known as the leader of three Australian expeditions to the Antarctic, 1955-1956 and 1959-1960, and Heard Island in 1953-1954.
- Notes:
- Manuscript reference no.: MS 7972, MS Acc08.137.
- Related Material:
- John Bechervaise interviewed by Suzanne Lunney; Located at; National Library of Australia Oral History collection ORAL TRC 430.
- Cited In:
- Guide to collections of manuscripts relating to Australia ; E354.
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Finding aid available in the Special Collections Reading Room.
- Subject:
- Time Coverage:
- 1860-2001
- Occupation:
- Copyright:
-
Copyright Undetermined
If you wish to copy or order copies, contact us. For access conditions return to the record display above.
- Reason for copyright status:
- A Manuscript Collection may have a range of formats and dates.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.
Feedback
Similar items
- Factors in the administration and use of Australian departmental archives 1962 [manuscript] / Keith Penny
- Journal articles written by Professor John Campbell Earl 1924-1956 [manuscript]
- Papers of John Dengate, 1903-2014 (bulk 1960-2013)
- Organising local archival materials [by] L. Petocz
- System informacji archiwalnej / Maciej Golembiowski