Series 4: Manuscripts

MLMSS 11909/Boxes 7-12
VT 5660

series

1963-2017

9673712

0.88 metres of textual material (5 boxes, 5 folders)
1 videocassette - VHS (NTSC encoding) 60 minutes - 18.7cm x 10.2cm x 2.5cm - VHS

Box 7

Poetry, 1963 - 2017

James Cowan book of typed poems, 1963 - 1989
Typescript copy of ‘Saint Anthony’ by Cowan, first published in Aspect, 1974
Typescript copy of ‘San Donato Chapel’ Cortona, 12 December 1999
Photocopy of ‘The Diwan of Joaquin of Toledo’
Photocopy of ‘Francis, poems by James Cowan’
Loose pages of poetry, undated including ‘John of Ruhysbroeck, First of the Twelve Beguines’; a series of poems dated September 2009 including ‘The Light of Being’, ‘By the Black Ships’, ‘Hector’s Lament’, ‘The Big Wet’ and other undated poems
‘Notes from a Pacific Voyage’ on board SS Volondam, January 2010
‘Temples of Love: New Poems from Khajuraho’, 2014
A series of poems written by Cowan at Bangalow during 2017
‘Song of the Earth’ an eco - poem. Contains drafts, explanatory notes, edited proofs and copies of published works
‘On Tallow Beach’, 2011, a collection of unpublished poems
‘Periploi’ or ‘Unfinished voyages I to VI’ a long poem, with printed inserts of Canto XIII, 1989

Other writing

The First Australian Chronicles I - X, James Cowan, Introduction by Tom Keneally, Xerox draft with inserted publisher's letter

Box 8

Bound manuscript, typescript ‘Imagined Lives’, 2008
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘Why We Travel’
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘The Shores of Philae’, annotated
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘The Open Road. A philosophy of Travel’, 2016
Manuscript, typescript printout ‘The Prince of Punt’, 1986
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘The Sultan’s Library’, 2003
Bound, manuscript, typescript ‘Exile in the Kingdom: A Journey through Coptic Egypt’, 2006
Bound, manuscript, typescript ‘The Castle of Oblivion’, 2006
Bound, manuscript, typescript ‘St Gregory of Nyssa: On Virginity’, 2007, annotated

Box 9

Cowan worked on a trilogy, with several iterations, which became ‘The Kingdom Trilogy’. Originally, book 1 was titled ‘Inn on La Mancha’ which later became ‘Snow on the Camino Real’

‘Inn on La Mancha’ (working title), 2009 Synopsis
‘Inn on La Mancha’, (working title), 3 bound typescript drafts, 2009
Edited typescript ‘Inn of La Mancha’, edited to be ‘Snow on the Camino Real’, August 2010
Edited typescript ‘Street Urchin of Toledo’ 1st draft, 2010
Edited typescript ‘John of Chester’ 1st draft, and 2nd draft, 2010
Edited typescript ‘The Prodigals’ Book 3

Box 10

Bound manuscript, typescript ‘Book of Kingdoms ‘, draft, 2012
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘Snow On The Camino Real: Volume 1 Kingdoms Trilogy’ draft
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘Book of Kingdoms ‘, 2013
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘Snow On The Camino Real: Volume 1 of Kingdoms Trilogy’, draft, 2016
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘Outremer’ Volume 3, Kingdoms Trilogy, draft, 2016
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘One. Parmenides and his Vision’, 2016
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘Palace of Memory: The Secret to King Roger of Sicily’s Pleasure Garden’, 2017
Bound manuscript, typescript ‘The Book of Letters: a meditation on the alphabet’, 2018

Box 11

Edited typescript ‘The Rock at Ngama‘ (working Title), 2011, 1st draft of ‘The Lizard Trap’, annotated
Edited typescript ‘The Lizard Trap: a novel’, 3rd draft, 6 August 2011
Bound typescript ‘The Lizard Trap: a novel’, 3rd draft revision, 2011
Bound typescript ‘The Lizard Trap: a novel’, 4th draft, October 2011
Bound typescript ‘The Lizard Trap: a novel’, 5th revision 2011
Bound typescript ‘The Lizard Trap: a novel’, 6th revision 2011

Box 12

Bound typescript, ‘The Lizard Trap: a novel’, 2014
Bound typescript film treatment, ‘The Lizard Trap’ by Peter Thompson based on the novel by James Cowan, 11th draft, 2016
Bound typescript film treatment, ‘The Lizard Trap’ by Peter Thompson based on the novel by James Cowan, 12th draft, 2016
Edited typescript ‘Ideal Man: Portrait of a Renaissance Prince’’ 1st draft, 2003 (Later to be University of Queensland, PhD)Thesis on Vespasiano Gonzaga and published as ‘Hamlet's Ghost: Vespasiano Gonzaga and his Ideal City’ Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2015)
‘Ideal Man’ research folder October 2012

VHS Tape, Commencement ceremony, 27 April 2002, James Cowan receiving a doctorate, honoris causa, from Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002 (NTSC encoding) (VT 5660)

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