Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Briggs, Ernest, 1905-1967.
Title:	Ernest Briggs Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1905-1966
Bulk Dates:	1955-1966
Quantity:	4.25 linear ft
Abstract:	Writings, correspondence, publications and memorabilia relating to/created by the Australian poet, radio broadcaster and music critic.
Language:	Collection materials are mostly in English, a few items in French and Italian.
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Ernest Briggs (1905-1967) was a poet, radio broadcaster and music critic from Sydney, Australia.

Born in Sydney, Briggs was a fifth-generation Australian. His mother died in 1908 and Briggs was raised by his father, who passed on a love of music and history, and spent a good deal of time roaming the Australian countryside. After leaving Kogarah Public School he got into radio, and in 1931 he moved to Queensland to join station 4BK-Brisbane, where he served as general announcer, continuity manager, program director, feature writer and publicity officer. He also served as a lay Methodist minister for many years.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Briggs published multiple volumes of poetry inspired by W.B. Yeats and the "Celtic Twilight" movement. His first volume of poetry, The Merciless Beauty,was published in 1943. Stationed as a clerk in New Guinea Force headquarters during 1942, Briggs drew upon his experiences there to craft a second work of powerful emotionalism, The Death of the Hare (1949). This was followed by The Secret Listener (1949) and The Timeless Flowers (1952). Briggs' sequences on Yeats in The High Ascent and Other Poems (1953) earned him admittance to the Poetry Society of America, and his contributions to international culture and understanding won him the Literature Diploma of the Leonardo da Vinci Academy, Rome, in 1961 and 1962. Others of his works were inspired by Australia's history and natural environment.

In addition to his poetry and radio work, Briggs wrote art and music reviews for the Brisbane Courier-Mail and Sunday Mail, and the music journal Canon. Some of Briggs' poems were set as choral arrangements. Briggs' corpus extends to over forty works in manuscript or limited private editions.

Briggs corresponded with a number of singers and musicians during his life, and had a long-standing friendship with Elizabeth Hazelton Haight, a professor of Classics at Vassar and the second female president of the American Philological Association.

[Adapted in part from "Briggs, Ernest", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University]

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Ernest Briggs Papers consists of biographical material, correspondence, memorabilia, printed materials, recordings, and writings.

Biographical material contains Briggs' notes on his career and publications, and letters of reference from radiot station 4BK in Brisbane.

Correspondence is a mix of incoming and outgoing, most of which relates to Briggs' poetry and music criticism for the Courier-Mail. Correspondents include singers, poets, scholars, colleagues, and friends. A significant portion of the letters are from Briggs to Elizabeth Hazelton Haight, a scholar and author who taught in the Classics Department at Vassar College, and with whom Briggs evidently had a long, close friendship. Almost all the letters are annotated by Briggs as to sender, context, topic, and/or importance.

Memorabilia contains photographs, mostly of Briggs; a few items relating to the Poetry Society of America; programs and greeting cards; several handmade scrapbooks; a small folder made by Briggs at age 5; and a few miscellaneous items. The scrapbooks contain a mix of clippings, correspondence, photographs and art by Briggs, and so on. Most are hand-bound by Briggs with original cover art and decorations.

Printed material, from the 1930s through 1960s, include clippings by and about Briggs; poetry journals and periodicals containing pieces by him; a few of his poems set to music; and two small poetry collections by him.

Recordings contains phonodiscs with recordings of Briggs' poems read by himself or others, as well as an early commercial wildlife recording (bird songs).

Writings comprises the largest part of the collection, and is subdivided into lyrics, poetry, prose, and translations. Poetry includes "work sheets," handwritten drafts and notes, typed pages, and a few hand-bound typescripts of longer poems or poetry collections. Prose includes a speech to the Folklore Society, articles on Verdi and Francesco Castellano, and a children's radio program "Sammy the sparrow," among other items. A small amount of writings by others is filed at the end of the series, including the handbound typescript of a collection by Elizabeth Hazelton Haight entitled "The quiet heart."

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Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Memorabilia is arranged alphabetically by type of material. Printed material is subdivided by type and arranged alphabetically. Writings are subdivided by form and arranged alphabetically.

Many of the items bear numbers in red colored pencil in the top right corner; these were consecutively assigned by Briggs as he donated them and have no organizational significance, thematically or contextually.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Access to audiovisual material requires advance notice to produce a use copy.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

Additional Briggs material is held by The University of Queensland.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Ernest Briggs Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Ernest Briggs, 1964-1967

Finding Aid Information

Created by: MRC
Date: 9 Apr 2010
Revision history: 19 Apr 2023 - processed (AS, HL)

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Inventory

	Biographical material
Box 1		Biographical notes
Box 1		Reference letters - from colleagues at radio station 4BK-Brisbane

	Correspondence
Box 1		Allan & Co. 1963
Box 1		Armitage, Helen 1964-1965
Box 1		Brisbane City Mission - Rev. Clarrie Trudgian; includes limericks by Briggs
Box 1		A-B, misc
Box 1		The Canon 1960
Box 1		Clausen, William 1951
Box 1		Cohen, Harriet 1948-1951, 1962, undated
Box 1		Costantino, Romola 1964-1965
Box 1		Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Australia) 1948-1956
Box 1		C-E, misc
Box 1		Farrar, Geraldine 1964
Box 1		F-G, misc
Box 1		Haight, Elizabeth Hazelton 1955-1964, undated (8 folders)
Box 2		Heinze, Bernard 1951-1957, 1961-1966, undated (3 folders)
Box 2		H-L, misc
Box 2		MacEwan, Sydney 1961-1964
Box 2		Mackaness, George 1954
Box 2		Mackenzie, Barbara and Thomas Findlay 1965
Box 2		Mackenzie, Compton 1952-1953
Box 2		Masefield, John 1953
Box 2		Meisle, Kathryn 1964-1965
Box 2		M-N, misc
Box 2		National anthem 1964 - includes worksheets
Box 2		O'Duffy, Michael 1960, 1964
Box 2		O, misc - includes brief thank-you note from Sir Laurence Olivier
Box 2		Prabuddha Bharata 1964-1965
Box 2		Preaching, letters regarding 1926-1931 - relating to Briggs' work as a lay Methodist preacher
Box 2		P-R, misc
Box 2		Steffe, Edwin 1965
Box 2		Stokes, Margot (Mrs. R.M.) 1963-1964
Box 2		Szigeti, Joseph 1962-1963
Box 2		S, misc
Box 2		Tucker, Agnes 1962-1964
Box 2		T-U, misc
Box 2		West, Mae 1964, 1966
Box 2		Williams, Emlyn 1958
Box 2		Wilson, Ernest H. 1959, 1964
Box 2		W, misc
Box 2		Unidentified

	Memorabilia
		Photographs
Box 2			Briggs 1905, 1927, 1935-1965
Box 2			Dame Clara Butt 1925, 1933, undated
Box 2			Miscellaneous - people, places
Box 2		Poetry Society of America
Box 2		Programs and cards
		Scrapbooks
Box 3			Broadwater sonnets, and poems circa 1950-1956 - handbound volume containing poems, handwritten notes, greeting cards, drawings, printed pictures, etc.; paper cover is hand-inscribed "Elizabeth"
Box 3			CSSI Honours Medal, Leonardo da Vinci Academy 1966
Box 3			Karl Ossianilsson's review of Ernest Briggs poem "The undying glory" 1954 - clippings, letters, etc.; attached to back cover is a smaller handbound booklet containing a printed copy of the poem, clippings, etc.
Box 3			The poetry diploma of the C.S.S.I., Leonardo da Vinci Academy, Rome 1960s
Box 3		Writing paper folder - folder with embroidered covers, made by Briggs age 5 for his father
Box 4		Miscellaneous - typed copies of comments about Brigg's work, drawings, notes, etc.

	Printed material
Box 4		Clippings 1930-1966 - about Briggs (reviews of his books, mentions of his poetry) and by Briggs (poetry, music and concert reviews, etc.); many are heavily annotated by Briggs to provide dates, context, etc. (5 folders)
		Journals and periodicals - music and poetry journals featuring Brigg's work
Box 4			Aspect 1962-1963
Box 4			Canon: Australian music journal 1959
Box 4			Prabuddha Bharata [Awakened India] 1964-1966 (3 folders)
Box 5			Quaderni di poesia [1964-1965?]
Box 5		Music 1956-1962 - Briggs' poems set to music; composers include William Lovelock, Henry Krips
			Australia! ; By the moongate; Christmas; The counterparts; Four Australian songs; Our daily need; To-morrow is a-dying (from "Here was spring"); God be good to little ships: A sea prayer
Box 5		Poetry collections 1949, 1954 - "The undying glory" and "The secret listener"

	Recordings
Box 9		Actual bird record, made by A Captive Thrush and A Captive Blackbird, by Carl [sic] Reich of Bremen circa 1910 - first commercially available wildlife record produced by Gramophone Company (Shellac disc) (ID#: briggs_e_007)
Box 9		Carnevale Di Venezia, Toti Dal Monte, soprano, parts 1 and 2 circa 1925 - commercial recording (Shellac disc) (ID#: briggs_e_008)
Box 9		Christmas Oratorio: The Shepherds' Music, by Bach, performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski, parts 1 and 2 undated (Shellac disc) (ID#: briggs_e_004)
Box 9		Ernest Briggs reading his own poems 01/09/1953 (Shellac disc) (ID#: briggs_e_003)
			Side A: "To Dr. Oliver St. John Gogarty"; Side B: "The Music Pavilion"; "At the Bend of the Road"; "The Voice of the Heart"; "The Hill at the Night"; "The Snow-white Ibis"; "At the Fair"; "The Far-Away Australia".
Box 9		"Largo" by Handel, organ solo by [C.] Whitaker-Wilson; "The Lost Chord" by Sullivan, organ solo by Gatty Sellars undated (Shellac disc) (ID#: briggs_e_005)
Box 9		"La paloma" by Yradier; "The trailing arbutus", by Friedman, performed by Regal Concert Orchestra undated (Shellac disc) (ID#: briggs_e_006)
Box 9		Poems by Ernest Briggs, music by Jenny MacFarlane 1955 (Grooved analog disc) (ID#: briggs_e_002)
			Side A: "The First Christmas"; Side B: "An Island Lullaby". Vocal performance by Mme. Jenny MacFarlane (contralto), with harp accompaniment by Una Morgan, of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Box 9		Poems of Ernest Briggs 18 Jun 1951 - poems from "The peat-fire flame" (Shellac disc) (ID#: briggs_e_001)
			Side 1: "A Bairnie's Sang", read by Colin Caithness (13 years of age); "The Couthie Wauken Anes", read by Ramsay Patterson (25 years of age); Side 2: "The 23rd Psalm" (a paraphrase) and "Hush-a-ba Birdie" read by Ramsay Patterson.

	Writings
		Lyrics
Box 5			Australia! national anthem
Box 5			Barcarolle in A minor
Box 5			Prelude to Act 3 of Tristan and Isolde
Box 5			Requiem for heroes - from "The death of the hare," set for full choir and orchestra; includes clippings, program from 1961 performance
Box 5			Slavonic dance in E minor
Box 5			Miscellaneous
		Poetry
Box 5			A-B, misc
Box 5			Casual conversations
Box 5			Cries of old London
Box 5			Curlew hills - handbound typescript
Box 5			C, misc
Box 5			The death of the hare 1961 - handbound typescript, hand-inscribed to "dear Elizabeth"
Box 6			The death of the hare 1962 - handbound typescript, "completed revised version"
Box 6			Dun do suile
Box 6			D-F, misc
Box 6			Gwina lay down ma life for ma lord
Box 6			G, misc
Box 6			Here was spring: Millay memorial sonnets - worksheets (2 folders)
Box 6			Here was spring: Millay memorial sonnets 1958 - handbound typescript, hand-inscribed to "To dear Elizabeth, with love and gratitude for your unfailing encouragement"
Box 6			Here was spring: Millay memorial sonnets 1965 - handbound typescript, "full finalised version"
Box 6			The high ascent 1954 - handbound typescript
Box 6			H-K, misc
Box 6			Ladies! 1963 - handbound typescript, "with an introduction by Countess Leola del Cavalieri, and an autographed frontispiece of Mae west"
Box 7			L, misc
Box 7			The merciless beauty 1943 - handbound typescript
Box 7			M-N, misc
Box 7			On the coastal road
Box 7			One star - written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, with translation back into English by Egyptologist Ronald Burton
Box 7			Out of the silence - "the world's longest poem in monometrics"; dedicated to Harriet Cohen, includes letter and clipping
Box 7			O, misc
Box 7			The peatfire flame - several separately-titled pieces noted as being from this collection
Box 7			P-R, misc
Box 7			The secret listener - handbound typescript, and handwritten complimentary comment from Roy Connolly
Box 7			Sight cannot follow 1964 - handbound typescript carbon, "final version"
Box 7			Spanish is a lovin' tongue 1965 - "a poetry scene for two voices", entered in Australian Broadcasting Commission's poetry competition
Box 7			Sweet honey-sucking bees 1962, 1964 - typescript carbon and handbound typescript, "a satire on the manner in which various poets might have written on the honey-bee"
Box 7			S, misc
Box 7			This writing trade 1964 - "a sequence written during a severe attack of opthalmia"
Box 7			A transcendental victory - "a sonnet sequence for Madame Lul Gardo"; Gardo, born Varvara Kassovskaia, was a Russian soprano who served in a Cossack regiment during the Russian revolution
Box 7			The tribute
Box 7			T, misc
Box 8			The undying glory 1954 - "pulblic recital copy with musical interpolations"; handbound volume with printed clippings
Box 8			Up the bloody creek without a paddle / Share that amongst you - "a study of Australian slang"
Box 8			U-W, misc
Box 8			Untitled and fragments - also a few sheets that have multiple poems on them, and notes for a reading before the Warana Writers Conference
		Prose
Box 8			The diva 1965 - television script for The Bea Blunt Show
Box 8			Edna St. Vincent Millay: Her life and work 1964 - address before the Queensland Art of Speech Association; handbound typescript
Box 8			Folklore Society of Queensland 1964 - speech
Box 7			Giuseppe Verdi, a miracle of old age 1964 - handbound typescript, written for Prabuddha Bharata
Box 8			The most remarkable character I ever met: Dr Francesco Castellano - handbound typescript carbon
Box 8			The old music master 1965 - handbound typescript carbon, "a short story with glossary"
Box 8			Sammy the sparrow - children's radio program; Briggs voiced Sammy
Box 8			Songs of Christmastime 1964 - written for Prabuddha Bharata
Box 8			Tribute to William Butler Yeats 1950 - radio broadcast; handbound typescript carbon
Box 8			The unknown Margaret Ann Ogg 1964 - address to Brisbane Women's Club; handbound typescript
Box 8			Miscellaneous fragments
		Translations
Box 8			Castellano, Francesco - article about; lecture by, on Neapolitan folk songs
Box 8			Garcia Lorca, Federico, "Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Meijias"
Box 8			di Giacomo, Salvatore - selection of poems
Box 8			Sándor, Petöfi, "The place where I was born" - poem
Box 8			Schiller, Friedrich, "The song of the bell" - handbound typescript carbon, title page states "A birthday gift for Magda Wollner"; inscribed "to dear Elizabeth, with every good wish"
Box 8			Unknown author, "In este mundo" - Castilian folk song
		By others
Box 8			Haight, Elizabeth Hazelton, "The quiet heart" - collection edited by Briggs; handbound typescript carbon and notes1966
Box 8			Hunt, Edward, "Sonnet for Ernest Briggs" - includes correspondence1965
Box 8			Ogg, Margaret Ann, "The Melba wedding" - account of the wedding of Nellie Melba; mix of handwritten, typed, and newspaper clippings
Box 8			Miscellaneous

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