The Robert Menzies Collection at the University of Melbourne - Unimelb Library

 
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The Robert Menzies Collection at the University of Melbourne - Unimelb Library
The Robert Menzies Collection
at the University of Melbourne
Caitlin Stone and Jim Berryman

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies                     light on Menzies’ public and private       during the war’.2 Menzies was active
(1894–1978) is best remembered as             worlds, his varied interests and tastes,   in student politics and clubs: he
the founder of the Liberal Party and          and his vast political and social          was involved in the Law Students’
Australia’s longest-serving prime             networks.                                  Society, the Students’ Christian
minister, a role he occupied in two               Enrolled as a student at the           Union and the Historical Society,
terms from 1939 to 1941 and 1949 to           university from 1913 to 1918,              and was president of the Students’
1966. Menzies was also an alumnus             Menzies was awarded his Bachelor           Representative Council.3 But his
of the University of Melbourne and,           of Laws in 1916 and Master of              association with the university did
from 1967 to 1972, its chancellor.            Laws in 1918. His student record           not end with his student days. On
His long association with the                 card (illustrated below) reveals that      21 March 1959, as prime minister,
university is reflected in many of its        he failed Latin in his first year,         Menzies officially opened the Baillieu
collections. This article focuses on          but passed his other subjects with         Library; later, in 1967, he was made
just one of these, his personal library.1     honours. In 1917 Menzies won the           the first honorary member of the
Accumulated over his lifetime, the            Bowen Prize (awarded to the best           Friends of the Baillieu Library.4
Robert Menzies Collection casts               English essay) for ‘The rule of law        Before Menzies finished his term as
                                                                                         chancellor in 1972, the members of
                                                                                         the University Council commissioned
                                                                                         William Dargie to paint a portrait
                                                                                         of Menzies in his academic gown
                                                                                         (illustrated page 46). This picture,
                                                                                         the last official portrait of the former
                                                                                         prime minister, is displayed in the
                                                                                         Council Chamber.

                                                                                         The Robert Menzies
                                                                                         Collection
                                                                                         Since 1979 the Leigh Scott Room
                                                                                         in the Baillieu Library has housed
                                                                                         the Robert Menzies Collection,
                                                                                         Menzies’ personal library of around
                                                                                         4,000 books, photograph albums,
                                                                                         pamphlets and student lecture notes.
                                                                                         Of all of the Menzies-related objects
                                                                                         held in the university’s collections,
                                                                                         the personal library is the most
                                                                                         compelling testament to Menzies’

Caitlin Stone and Jim Berryman, ‘The Robert Menzies Collection’                                                                45
The Robert Menzies Collection at the University of Melbourne - Unimelb Library
Previous page: Robert Gordon Menzies’ student                        Opposite below: Robert Menzies (seated,
record card. Reference no. 1988.0051, Student                    centre front) as president of the University of
Administration (formerly Student Records),                     Melbourne Students’ Representatives Council,
University of Melbourne Archives.                               1916, Melbourne University Magazine, vol. 10,
                                                               no. 3, October 1916, p. 74. Special Collections,
Below: William Dargie, The Rt Hon. Sir Robert                       Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne.
Menzies kt ak ch frs oc, 1971, oil on canvas,
106.5 × 92.5 cm. Accession no. 1971.0052,
commissioned by members of Council, 1971,
University of Melbourne Art Collection.

                                                           life and times. Menzies had formally
                                                           approached the university to suggest
                                                           donating his personal library in
                                                           January 1976, two years before he
                                                           died. In a letter to Vice-Chancellor
                                                           Professor Sir David Derham, Menzies
                                                           set out the terms of the donation:

                                                                That my library would remain
                                                                intact, housed in one room in the
                                                                Baillieu Library.
                                                                   That the books would be used
                                                                as a Reference Library.
                                                                   That the portion of the
                                                                Library housed at 2 Haverbrack
                                                                Avenue, Malvern, would not be
                                                                available until my wife indicated
                                                                that she was closing the house or
                                                                on her death.
                                                                   That the portion housed at
                                                                95 Collins Street, Melbourne,
                                                                would be available when the
                                                                office closed or upon my death.5

                                                           Derham accepted the offer. He wrote
                                                           to Menzies on 3 February 1976:
                                                           ‘Your books will be a much valued
                                                           and distinguished part of our great
                                                           Library’.6
                                                               Menzies died on 15 May 1978,
                                                           reportedly while reading in his
                                                           study.7 About a year later, most of his
                                                           library was relocated to the university.
                                                           Menzies had already given away some
                                                           of his books: in the mid-1970s, he
                                                           donated about 50 cricketing books to

46                                              University of Melbourne Collections, issue 12, June 2013
The Robert Menzies Collection at the University of Melbourne - Unimelb Library
Right: Prime Minister Robert Menzies and
Chancellor Arthur Dean at the opening of the
Baillieu Library, 1959, photographic print,
20.7 × 15.8 cm. Robert Menzies Collection,
Special Collections, Baillieu Library, University
of Melbourne.

Far right: Dedication in A.R. Chisholm, Men
were my milestones: Australian portraits and
sketches, Melbourne University Press, 1958.
Robert Menzies Collection, Special Collections,
Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne. This
book was presented to Menzies at the opening
of the Baillieu Library on 21 March 1959.

the Melbourne Cricket Club Library.8                with fondness; he kept his personal     given to Menzies by his family and
Nonetheless, a significant collection,              set of the magazine, many issues of     close circle of friends to official gifts
ranging from rare and collectable                   which show his editorial markings.      presented by political contemporaries.
editions to common paperbacks,                      As well as editing the student          In November 1972, Arthur Calwell
remained. The formal acceptance                     paper, he contributed numerous          presented Menzies with a copy of his
of the collection took place on                     poems and articles. Titles like ‘An     book, Be just and fear not; it contains
25 September 1980. Menzies’ widow                   autumn reverie’, ‘To a mountain’ and    the inscription, ‘For my good friend
Dame Pattie presented the collection                ‘Nocturne’ reveal an adolescent taste   Bob Menzies, with every good wish’.
to guests who included Chancellor                   for romantic themes and Edwardian       Other books came from Richard
R.D. ‘Pansy’ Wright, Sir Ninian                     aestheticism.                           Casey, Paul Hasluck, Percy Joske (an
Stephen, Sir John Bunting, Alfred                       To fully appreciate the signifi-    old school-friend as well as politician)
Stirling and Hubert Opperman.9                      cance of the collection, it pays to     and George Foster Pearce. Menzies
Vice-Chancellor Derham also spoke:                  understand that most of the books       also kept books by and about his
                                                    were gifts. These range from books      political adversaries. He had several
    The library is a very personal one.
    It says much of Sir Robert’s public
    life, both in this country and in
    the world of international affairs
    … The marks of that service over
    more than 40 years can be seen in
    books of this library.

He went on to describe the library
as ‘a reader’s library, not a collector’s
collection’.10
     The ‘marks of service’ Derham
referred to encompass Menzies’
entire student, legal and political
careers. Some of the earliest material
dates from Menzies’ student days.
In 1916 he was elected president of
the Students’ Representative Council
(see photograph right). That year
he also began editing the Melbourne
University Magazine. Menzies must
have remembered his student years

Caitlin Stone and Jim Berryman, ‘The Robert Menzies Collection’                                                                   47
The Robert Menzies Collection at the University of Melbourne - Unimelb Library
Right: Author’s dedication in Winston Churchill,
Marlborough: His life and times, London: Harrap,
1933. Robert Menzies Collection, Special
Collections, Baillieu Library, University of
Melbourne.

Below: Author’s dedication in Arthur Calwell,
Be just and fear not, Melbourne: Lloyd O’Neil in
association with Rigby, 1972. Robert Menzies
Collection, Special Collections, Baillieu Library,
University of Melbourne.

                                                     of the Nobel Prize for literature,         seen bookplate was produced by
                                                     presented Menzies with numerous            J.S. MacDonald, another artistic
                                                     signed copies of his literary works.       friend of Menzies. MacDonald was
                                                     These books attest to the two men’s        a controversial figure and future
                                                     close rapport, especially during the       director of the Art Gallery of New
                                                     early war years when Menzies was           South Wales and the National
                                                     in London during the blitz. To ‘my         Gallery of Victoria. Some books
                                                     comrade in anxious days’, Churchill        also show signs of their previous
                                                     wrote in a copy of his Marlborough:        owners. Books belonging to Henry
                                                     His life and times presented to            Bournes Higgins (T.M. Cooley,
                                                     Menzies in 1941 (illustrated above).       Constitutional history of the United
                                                         It is clear that Menzies valued all    States as seen in the development of
of Herbert Vere (‘Doc’) Evatt’s books                of his books. His student volumes          American law, 1890) and to Owen
including Australia in world affairs                 were usually signed or initialled          Dixon (H.R. Curlewis, The mirror
(1946) and a signed copy of The task                 ‘R.G.M.’ In professional practice,         of justice, 1906) provide evidence
of nations (1949).                                   each new addition to his growing           of Menzies’ legal training and
    An astonishing number of                         library was marked with a blue             burgeoning professional network.
international dignitaries and officials              ink stamp, ‘Robert G. Menzies,                 What more can scholars of
also contributed to the library.                     Barrister at Law’. The most elaborate      history and politics learn about
Menzies was a globetrotter and a                     evidence of ownership was Menzies’         Menzies from his books? As was
statesman, and the list of dedications               personalised bookplate (illustrated        noted by A.W. Martin, his official
from presidents and prime ministers                  right). Designed in 1940 by a close        biographer, Menzies lived a very
reads like a who’s who of 20th-                      friend, the artist Lionel Lindsay, this    private life outside politics; his
century world affairs: United States                 wood engraving depicts a barrister’s       public persona was not necessarily
presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower,                     wig, a dispatch box, eucalyptus            indicative of his private personality.11
John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson,                     blossom, books and a wine decanter.        The collection reflects Menzies’
Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter;                      In the foreground is the declaration       predilections for art, literature,
British prime ministers Stanley                      of war, which Menzies broadcast to         history, music, travel, food and
Baldwin, Clement Attlee, Anthony                     the nation on 3 September 1939.            drink (and weight loss) and, as is
Eden and Harold Macmillan; and                       Each emblem represented a facet            well known, cricket. It also reflects
Commonwealth leaders including                       of Menzies’ character. Hundreds of         his extensive—and sometimes
Jawaharlal Nehru and Liaquat Ali                     bookplates were printed, with one          unexpected—connections. Noël
Khan all presented books. Menzies’                   affixed to almost every volume in          Coward was a dinner companion in
friendship with Winston Churchill                    the collection; even unsolicited gifts     London and dedicated his Australia
is reflected strongly in the collection.             and ephemera were almost always            visited, 1940 to ‘R.G. Menzies
Churchill, a prolific writer and winner              marked in this way. An earlier, rarely     gratefully and with admiration’.

48                                                                                   University of Melbourne Collections, issue 12, June 2013
The Robert Menzies Collection at the University of Melbourne - Unimelb Library
Right: Author’s dedication in Richard Nixon,
Six crises, London: W.H. Allen, 1962. Robert
Menzies Collection, Special Collections, Baillieu
Library, University of Melbourne.

Below: Two Robert G. Menzies bookplates:
by Lionel Lindsay, 1940 (left) and by J.S.
MacDonald (right), affixed to C. Maclaurin, Post
mortem: Essays, historical and medical, London:
Jonathan Cape, 1923. Robert Menzies Collection,
Special Collections, Baillieu Library, University
of Melbourne.

Caitlin Stone and Jim Berryman, ‘The Robert Menzies Collection’   49
Author’s dedication in Lionel Lindsay,
                                                                                                         Discobolus, and other verse, Melbourne:
                                                                                                         F.W. Cheshire, 1959. Robert Menzies
                                                                                                        Collection, Special Collections, Baillieu
                                                                                                             Library, University of Melbourne.

Lionel Lindsay not only designed              As with all experimental projects,               1 	For other brief descriptions of the collection,
                                                                                                   see Alan Attwood, ‘Menzies between the
Menzies’ bookplate but presented          there are many questions to answer.                      covers’, The Age, 22 July 1982, p. 9; Amanda
him with several books, signing           The most immediately relevant                            Buckley, Richard McGregor and Peter Ryan,
himself ‘Lionello’ (illustrated above).   concern is the relationship between                      ‘A black hole in Australia’s history’, National
Labor leader Arthur Calwell was a         Menzies and the objects he acquired,                     Times on Sunday, 31 August 1986, pp. 6–7.
                                                                                               2 	Robert Gordon Menzies (with a foreword
good friend. In many cases, evidence      and the circumstances that led to                        by W. Harrison Moore), The rule of law
for these connections is in the           their acquisition. Did Menzies                           during the war (The 1917 Bowen Prize essay,
hundreds of dedications and personal      buy the book for himself or was it                       University of Melbourne), Melbourne: Charles
                                                                                                   F. Maxwell, 1917.
messages that reside within the books.    given to him? Was it a gift from a
                                                                                               3 	A.W. Martin, Robert Menzies: A life (vol. 1,
These inscriptions impart unique          friend, colleague or family member,                      1894–1943), Melbourne University Press,
historical information contributing to    or a formal presentation from                            1993, pp. 20, 22.
a complex picture of Menzies’ private     an organisation or international                     4 	Robert Menzies, ‘Address to the Friends of
                                                                                                   the Baillieu Library dinner at Union House,
and public relationships.                 dignitary? Does it relate to any                         University of Melbourne, 22 November
    We are currently undertaking a        specific event? Does it include a                        1967’. MS 4936, Sir Robert Menzies Papers,
project to describe each item in the      contribution by Menzies himself ?                        National Library of Australia.
                                                                                               5 	Robert Menzies, Letter to David Derham,
Menzies collection and document           (Menzies regularly wrote forewords
                                                                                                   28 January 1976. Reference no. 1994/47, box
the key people, organisations             to books by his friends.) And did the                    74, Records Services, University of Melbourne.
and events represented in it. This        book previously belong to someone                    6 	David Derham, Letter to Robert Menzies,
involves identifying the presenter        else? Ultimately, through this                           3 February 1976. Reference no. 1994/47, box
                                                                                                   74, Records Services, University of Melbourne.
of a book (if any), recording and         project we hope to produce a greater                 7 	Peter Bowers, ‘Menzies dies at 83’, Sydney
digitising significant markings—          understanding of Robert Menzies as                       Morning Herald, 16 May 1978, p. 1.
including Menzies’ annotations—           revealed through his library.                        8 	Melbourne Cricket Club, MCC Library
                                                                                                   website, www.mcc.org.au/About the MCC/
and transcribing all dedications.
                                                                                                   Heritage/MCC Library/History, accessed
Provisionally titled ‘The Robert          The authors would like to thank Tom Hyde                 3 January 2013.
Menzies Collection: A living library’,    (Baillieu Library), Susan Millard and Leanne         9 	Invitation list for reception of Sir Robert
the aim is to discover more about         McCredden (Special Collections), Helen                   Menzies Collection, 25 September 1980.
                                          Morgan and Associate Professor Gavan                     Reference no. 1994/47, box 74, Records
Menzies’ interests and connections                                                                 Services, University of Melbourne.
                                          McCarthy (eScholarship Research Centre),
through his library and to publish an     Ben Kreunen (University Digitisation Service)       10 	‘The Robert Menzies Collection presented to
online resource based on our research.    and Dr Juliet Flesch, honorary fellow, School            university’, Staff News, vol. 8, no. 8, October
                                          of Historical and Philosophical Studies.                 1980, p. 104.
We are using the Online Heritage
                                                                                              11 	Martin, Robert Menzies: A life (vol. 1);
Resource Manager (OHRM)—a                                                                          A.W. Martin, Robert Menzies: A life (vol. 2,
relational database developed by the      Dr Caitlin Stone is currently a senior project           1944–1978), Melbourne University Press,
eScholarship Research Centre in the       archivist at the eScholarship Research Centre,           1999.
                                          University of Melbourne Library. Dr Jim
University of Melbourne Library—to
                                          Berryman is currently liaison librarian for the
map the relationships between books,      School of Historical and Philosophical Studies
people, organisations and events.         at the Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne.

50                                                                                 University of Melbourne Collections, issue 12, June 2013
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