Collection 04: Robert Dessaix further papers 1910-2022

MLMSS 12055/Boxes 1-20
MLMSS 12055/Box 21X
MLOH 930/1-15
MLOH 931/1-2
SLIDES 397
ON 713/1-3
DC 113/1-3

sub-fonds

1873, 1910-2022

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Moving Images, Watercolours, Clippings, Oral Histories, Objects

9673610

3.65 metres of textual material (20 boxes, 1 outsize box) includes photographs
5 Albums (350 photographic prints)
1 slide - Colour - 35mm
24 Negatives - Black and White - 35mm
550 photographs (2 boxes)
3 computer discs
17 audiocassettes

Collection 4 comprises Dessaix's diaries, manuscripts (both paper and digital), correspondence and photographs, and spans the early 1970s from Dessaix's time in Moscow, to more recent travels through Central Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The diaries record Dessaix's pensive moments and are supplemented by numerous pithy summaries of books read, and thoughts and notes, all of which informed his writing; included are notes and manuscripts for his recent publications The Time of Our Lives, What Days are For and Abracadabra.

Box 1

Correspondence, two diaries and several photographs. Correspondence comprises letters and postcards from Robert to his parents while travelling in the United States, Morocco and Europe in 1966 and 1967, and an extensive cache of letters written between September 1966 and June 1967 while Robert was living in Russia. Photographs include graduation and other photographs from the 1960s and 3 photographs from the Byron Writers Festival, 2016. Diaries relate to travel in 1965. 1965-2016

Box 2

Correspondence, diaries. Correspondence comprises letters and postcards from Robert and his then partner Elizabeth to Tom Jones from Kashmir, Srinagar, Russia, Helsinki, Hungary and Greece; letters from Elizabeth to Robert from Greece, England and France; miscellaneous postcards, 1969-1976
Diaries and notebooks, 1971-1979

Box 3

Correspondence, diaries, notes. Correspondence from Ray Wilson, 1984; Notes from Greece, USSR and India, 1988; correspondence, notes and a journal, 1980-1988, 2021
Diaries (14), 1980-1989

Box 4

Diaries (8), notes, theatre programs, Moscow Tribune edition and newspaper articles, magazines and articles relating to Gay and Lesbian liberation in Estonia and Russia; diary notes relating to HIV diagnosis – “The genesis of Night Letters”, 1990-1994

Box 5

Diaries (5), notebooks, ephemera, includes research for “Corfu’, 1995-1999

Box 6

Diaries (10), notebooks, notes including trips to France, Belgium, Netherlands, England, Canada, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Russia, Dubai, Oman, Korea, Algeria, Tunisia, Italy; correspondence regarding an obituary for Glenn Waller, 2000-2009

Box 7

Diaries (9), notebooks, notes including trips to Syria, Kuala Lumpur, Morocco, Turkey, India, Nepal, Thailand, France, Cambodia, Penang, Indonesia, Bali, Java, 2010-2017

Box 8

Diaries (5), notebooks, notes, maps and ephemera including trips to Java, Flores, Sumatra and India for Hindu Literature Festival in Chennai, Kolkata Literary Festival, Bangalore Literature Festival, Mumbai LitFest and the Jaipur Literature Festival, 2018-2022

Box 9

‘As I was Saying’ (published Random House Australia, 2012) original edited draft, draft edited by Catherine Hill, Random House with amendments and covering letter, 2011, edited proofs, 2011, originals of essays, research, articles and original essays for ‘As I was Saying’, short stories including ‘On Noise and Silence’, ‘On the Nose’, ‘Conversation’, ‘Letters to the an Unknown Friend’, ‘Vladivostok’, ‘Postcard from Damascus’, ‘Alexandria’, ‘The Grand Illusion’, ‘Beauty’, ‘Caught You! Reflections on being Painted’, ‘Australia’, ‘So long, Mate’, ‘The Subjunctive’, ‘Swearing’, ‘On Phrase Books’, 2009-2011

Box 10

Press articles on Robert Dessaix in Australian Book Review, Canberra Times, The Monthly and The Weekend Australian, 2008-2010

‘Great Travellers’ ABC Radio National series material. Topic files on Pirates, Xuanzang, Dalrymple, Richard Burton, Modern Travellers, IBN Battuta, Herodotus, Isabelle Eberhardt, Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville, Ellis Rowan, imaginary travellers, Thomas Cook, General file including listeners correspondence, 1999-2004

Audiocassettes - ‘Great Travellers’ ABC Radio National series. Physical carriers have been removed pending digitisation

Xuanzang Playlist 1, ABC, 120 minutes (MLOH 930/1)
Xuanzang Playlist 2, TDK, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/2)
Burton cuts, BASF, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/3)
Modern Travellers, ABC, 120 minutes (MLOH 930/4)
IBN Battuta Playlist, TDK, 120 minutes (MLOH 930/5)
Herodotus cuts, ABC, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/6)
Isabelle / Freya ABC, 120 minutes (MLOH 930/7)
Marco Polo, Giles Milton, Jacob of Ancona, BASF, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/8)
Ellis Rowan, ABC, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/9)
Thomas Cook / Lyn Withey, ABC, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/10)
Travellers Anton, ABC, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/11)
Susan Kurosawa, ABC, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/12)
Paul Smith, ABC, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/13)
Dampier / Marchant / Miriam Estensen, ABC 60 minutes (MLOH 930/14)
Juliet Stevenson, BASF, 90 minutes (MLOH 930/15)

Box 11

‘Abracadabra’ material including articles, reviews, interview transcript, correspondence and first second and final drafts of the short story ‘A Mad Affair’, 1998-1999, 2022
‘Pushing Against the Dark’ Seymour Lecture transcript, 2011; published in Australian Book review, April 2012
‘Play’ research for ‘The Pleasures of Leisure’ notes on a series of topics including cycling, collecting, sex, sport, travel, spelunking, hobbies, 2014
‘Nesting’ research for ‘The Pleasures of Leisure’ research notes on a series of topics including housework, pampering, food, 2016
‘Loafing’ research for ‘The Pleasures of Leisure’ research notes on a series of topics including reading, walking, boredom, socialising, 2015-2017
‘The Pleasures of Leisure’ uncorrected proof with editing notes by Catherine Hill, 2016
‘The Pleasures of Leisure’ research for Introduction, general and himself, 2016
‘The Pleasures of Leisure’ edited draft, editors notes, 2016
Notebook with chapter notes, articles for ‘What Days are For’ including working titles ‘An Affair of the Heart’, ‘Time of my Life’ and ‘Window of the Heart’, 2012
‘What Days are For’ archive including reviews, correspondence including from Drusilla Modjeska and David Marr, notes, 2014
‘What Days are For’ exercise book notes on intimacy, Enid Blyton, 2014
‘A Mad Affair’ correspondence relating to the play, in English, Russian,2014-2015

Box 12

Reviews of ‘The Time of our Lives’, 2020
‘The Time of our Lives’ research notes and articles for subjects including old Age, Forever Young, Loneliness, Religion, Happiness, Time, Freedom, Creativity, Being a Kid, Sex, Remembering, Acceptance, Conclusion, 2017-2019
‘The Time of our Lives’ drafts, early chapters
‘The Time of our Lives’ drafts, later chapters

Box 13

Translation of ‘Uncle Vanya’ by Anton Chekov, bound typescript prepared by Robert Dessaix and Aubrey Mellor for the Nimrod Theatre Company, January 1983

Translation of ‘Uncle Vanya’ by Anton Chekov, bound typescript prepared by Robert Dessaix and Aubrey Mellor, fourth draft prepared for MTC, 1991
Translation of ‘The Cherry Orchard’ by Anton Chekov, typescript prepared by Robert Dessaix and Aubrey Mellor for RQTC, third draft, March 1991
Translation of ‘The Cherry Orchard’ by Anton Chekov, typescript edition prepared by Anthony Skuse from the following translations: Sharon Marie Carnicke, 1980; Tom Stoppard, 2009; Maria Brodskaya, 2011 and Andrew Upton, 2011
Translation of ‘The Seagull: a comedy in four acts’ by Anton Chekov, typescript of a new translation by Aubrey Mellor and Robert Dessaix, commissioned by the State Theatre Company of South Australia, 1988
Translation of ‘The Seagull: a comedy in four acts’ by Anton Chekov, typescript of a translation by Robert Dessaix, stage version of Moscow Art Theatre

Box 14

Personal correspondence between Robert Dessaix (Jones) and Elizabeth Wetherell (Jones), 1968-1971, letters to Elizabeth from her mother, letter from Jeremy Ward to Elizabeth Wetherell, 1969
Cards, photographs, 1968-1971

Newspaper clippings including wedding notice in the Armidale Express, a photograph of Elizabeth Wetherell at Bruce Hall, ANU (Canberra Times 4 May 1968), an article in the Canberra Times on the Woolner Circuit property built by the couple in 1988, an article written by Elizabeth Wetherell in The Christian Science Monitor, 4 May 1973, House plan for Hawker Block 19 Section 9, Prayer card, congratulatory card from Elizabeth to Robert, 1975, Two theatre programs BATS Theatre Company, Wellington ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and ‘Private Lives’, 1978, The Griffin Theatre Company program ‘Danton’s Death, 1980. Dessaix assisted both companies

Photograph of Bruce Hall, ANU alumnus, Robert Dessaix back row, second from the left, 1964
“Irenna – fortune teller” reading for Dessaix, 1980
Australian House & Garden, November 1984 featuring Dessaix’s Windsor Street, Paddington terrace

Moscow postcards, official passes, photographs, newspaper clipping, Russian language article by Kulesha, Dessaix’s nemesis in 1971
North Sydney Boys High, 50th Anniversary Reunion including correspondence
Papers relating to the Wilson Dessaix Galleries including photographs of Ray Wilson, 1982-1983

Box 15

Papers relating to Christian Science including notes, papers and correspondence from the 6th and 7th Biennial College meeting, 1961-2005
Condolence letters and cards, obituaries for Tom Jones, 1971
Jean and Tom Jones papers including Jean’s nursing qualifications, watercolour sketch of Woodford Bay, Lane Cove by M. Marston, 1923-1926, 2005
Robert Jones (Dessaix) notebook, 1972
Juvenilia including writing, drawings, school reports, photographs, issues of the “6D reporter”, birth and baptism certificates, school reunion invitation, 1946-1961, 2000
Dessaix family correspondence, 1999-2002

Box 16

Address books (22), 1960-2000
Passports (8), 1963-2019
Notebooks (9)
Airline tickets
YHA Membership Cards, 1965-1971
Used postage stamps, New South Wales (3), 1871-1897; Victoria (1), 1873; Western Australia (1), 1902; 10 Australian 1915-1923

Box 17

University Testamurs: BA with Honours, ANU, 1965; Master of Arts with Honours, ANU, 1969; PhD, ANU 1975; Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, University of New South Wales, 2002

Congregation for the Conferring of Degrees program, ANU, 1975

Large notebook reflecting on life events, Robert Dessaix, 1944-2022

Official documents including Adoption particulars for the Baby Dessaix, 1944; copy of the Order of Adoption, where the Minister is the Applicant, 14 April 1944; registered copies of Certificate of Particulars of Birth for Thomas Robert Jones issued between 1968 and 1983; Certificate of Marriage between Thomas Robert Jones and Elizabeth Ruth Wetherell, January 1970; Chane of names by deed poll from Dessaix to Jones, 1973; Application for the Dissolution of Marriage, 1980; Decree NISI of Dissolution of Marriage, 1980; Removal of name from the membership list of the Mother Church, First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1981, correspondence with ABC and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, 1995

Box 18

‘Night Letters’ material including Seymour State Theatre production flyer; article in QANTAS Inflight magazine ‘The Australian Way, 1996’; Title page of ‘Italy and the Transformation of the Traveller in Robert Dessaix's Night Letters’ by Roberta Trape from Imagined Australia : Reflections around the Reciprocal Construction of Identity between Australia and Europe Renata Summo-O'Connell (editor), Berne New York (City) : Peter Lang , 2009 anthology criticism pg. 215-231; Australian Literature in the Translation Zone: Robert Dessaix and David Malouf Resourceful Reading The New Empiricism, eResearch and Australian Literary Culture Edited by Katherine Bode and Robert Dixon, 2009 pg. 87-104

‘Tetu’ magazine (French), featuring an article on Robert Dessaix’s novel, ‘Corfu’ November 2002
Papers relating to ‘On Humbug’ including notes, draft manuscript, edited proofs, correspondence, articles and newspaper cuttings, 2008-2010
Papers relating to ‘Arabesques’ including correspondence, reviews and an essay on the book by Caitlin Sandy, an International Baccalaureate Diploma student, 2008-2009
Correspondence relating to the Russian translation of ‘Twilight of Love. Travels with Turgenev’ mostly in Russian, 2007-2010
‘A Mother’s Disgrace’ screenplay draft by Ross Wilson, July 1998 (never made), correspondence from distant relatives regard the Dessaix family, 2015-2016
articles, speech transcripts, Adelaide, Melbourne, Byron Bay, 2002-2022
Interviews in The Age, The Monthly and Sunday Life, 2011-2012
Papers relating to the French translation of ‘Vagabondages’ (never published) including correspondence, edited drafts, 2002-2003

Interviews with Thea Astley at the launch of the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, 1992 two cassettes (MLOH 931/1-2) with notes have been removed pending digitisation.

Box 19

Photographs
Yvonne Dessaix, Royal Dessaix, Dessaix family ca. 1910-1999
Jean Jones (nee Cant), 1920-1947
Album Jean Cant, 1919-1926
Tom Jones photographs, several while on active service including the sinking of the SS Waitotara and the rescue of its crew by the SS Pacifique, 1914-1944
Elizabeth Wetherell, 1952-1982
Tom Jones and friends at Gerringong Bowls Club, 1970s
Photographs at 69 Austin Street, Lane Cove, 1970s
Robert Dessaix childhood, youth and young adult photographs including the Christian Science Forum, 1962, 1944-1974
Robert Dessaix transparency, about 1970 (SLIDES 397)
Early trips to Europe, 1960-1970s
Wedding portrait, 17 January 1970
Awards Ceremony Government House, Tasmania presented by Premier Will Hodgman
Portrait, aged about 20
Photographs at official functions, professional portraits by The Age newspaper, Vicky Jones, Simone Sassen, James Braund, Greg Noakes, Giliola Chiste’, Lorrie Graham and others

Box 20

Robert Dessaix photographs, 1980-2010
Robert Dessaix photographs including first trip to the snowfields, Canberra, graduation, 1960s-1988
Robert Dessaix 50th birthday party, 1994
Sydney years, black and white photographs by John Grech, 1980s
Peter Timms and Robert Dessaix photographs
Travel photographs, Europe, Brazil, Japan, USSR, Holland and Paris, 1982-1992
Negatives of Holland and Paris (ON 713)
Travel photographs, Italy, Barcelona, Berlin, Dubai, Oman, 1995-2004
South of France photographs, 2001-2002
Photographs of friends including Mrs Bondarenko and Natasha

Box 21X

Photograph Albums

Russia researching Turgenev, 2003
Greece first ideas for Corfu, 1996; Banff with Isabel Huggan (Literary Festival), 1996
Ladakh, Kerala, India 2014 (references from Abracadabra)
Isabel Allende album of photographs and a note from Allende, 1999

Photographic portrait of Robert Dessaix by Polixeni Papapetrou, 1998

DC 113/1-3

‘A Mad Affair’ DVD of photographs by Justin Emery of a reading of this in Sydney, July 2011 removed from Box 11 [Dessaix noted "I was in Sydney to see the reading of this play of mine when I had the heart attack 'What Days are For' " (DC 113/1)
Talks and interviews, 2008-2009 removed from Box 18 (DC 113/2)
‘Arabesques’ digital copy removed from Box 18 (DC 113/3)

English, Russian, French

For access to this collection please submit your request through Ask a Librarian: Applies to DC 113/1-3

This material is held in cold storage and requires 3 working days notice to retrieve. Please submit your request through Ask a Librarian - Applies to ON 713; SLIDES 397

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Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder