Scope and Content Note
- 1922-90
- 12.7 metres (44 boxes)
- Available for reference
This collection was arranged and annotated by John Bechervaise. It consists of 135 files, 107 of
which are of the lever-arch type. The collection was purchased by the National Library in 1989
Biographical Note
John Bechervaise was born in 1910 and educated in Melbourne and England.
Trained as an artist and print maker, he 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 has written 28 books, was the first man to climb
Federation Peak in Tasmania, and has led exploring and mountaineering
expeditions to Central Australia, the Himalayas and Central America. He is
probably best known as the leader of three Australian expeditions to the
Antarctic and Heard Island in the 1950s.
- Daybooks, 1930-88
- Treading on earth, 1922-90
- Correspondence, 1936-88
- Papers re published works, 1967-85
- Lectures, articles and radio scripts, 1945-75
- Reference material/Subject files, 1953-85
Series 1: Daybooks
Box 1 1930-42 (files 1-8)
Box 2 1937-44 (files 9-11)
Box 3 1944-47 files 12-14)
Box 4 1947-50 (files 15-17)
Box 5 1950-53 (files 18-20)
Box 6 1953-56 (files 21-24)
Box 7 1955-57 (files 25-27)
Box 8 1958-64 (files 28-31)
Box 9 1965-70 (files 32-35)
Box 10 1970-74 (files 36-38)
Box 11 1975-77 (files 39-42)
Box 12 1977-78 (files 43-45)
Box 13 1978-79 (files 46-48)
Box 14 1979-81 (files 49-51)
Box 15 1981-84 (files 52-54)
Box 16 1984-86 (files 55-57)
Box 17 1986-88 (files 58-60)
Series 2: Treading on earth
(Autobiographical extracts from daybooks, published papers, memorabilia etc.)
Box 18 1922-47 (files 61-63)
Box 19 1948-65 (files 64-66)
Box 20 1965-88 (files 67-70)
Box 21 1988-90 s (files 71-73)
+ supplement
Series
3: Correspondence
Box 22 A-B (files 74-77)
Box 23 C-J (files 78-81)
Box 24 K-Z (files 82-85)
Box 25 1944-46 + (files 86-88)
various 1960s-1980
Box 26 Various 1970s-1980s (files 89-91)
Box 27 Various 1970s-1980s (files 92-94)
Series 4: Papers re Published Works
(Includes manuscript and typescript drafts, research notes, correspondence,
artwork and newscuttings)
Box way, 1970-71 (files 113-115)
Box 37 Discovering Victoria's goldfields, 1980
Bendigo sketchbook, 1970
The Bendigo book, 1982 (files 116-117)
Box 38 Men on ice in Antarctica, 1970-78
Antarctica (Readers Digest), 1985 (files 118-120)
Box 39 University of Melbourne, 1977-85 (files 121-122) 28
Australia: world of difference, (files 95-96)
1967
Box 29 Mountains and rivers of Australia, 1968,
In the eye of the sun, 1968
Mountaineering, 1969
Grampians sketchbook, 1969
(files 97-98)
Box 30 Goldfields sketchbook, 1971
Ballarat sketchbook (files 99-100)
Box 31 Castlemaine and Maldon sketchbook
Goldfields sketchbooks (files 101-102)
Box 32 Everest this way, 1970-76 (files 103-104)
Box 33 Blue Mountains sketchbook, 1971-74
Grampians sketchbook, 1971-75 (files 105-106)
Box 34 Old pubs of Victoria, 1974-75 (files 107-109)
Box 35 Old Melbourne hotels, 1972 (files 110-112)
Box 36 Wilson's Promontory, 1974-75
The Last horizon, 1979
Everest this
Series 5: Lectures, Articles and Radio Scripts
Box 40 Various, 1945-75 (files 123-125)
Box 41 Various, 1961-75
Lectures and notes on
Albatross behaviour, 1975 (files 126-128)
Series 6: Reference Material/Subject Files
Box 42 China, Tibet, India, Nepal, 1982-85
Antarctica, 1953-64
Himalayas (including plans and
photographs), 1975-76 (files 129-131)
Box 43 Antarctica, 1957-65 (files 132-134)
Box 44 Fiji, 1972 (file 135)