Introduction

The Campbell Howard Collection of Australian Plays in Manuscript provides a unique body of research material concerning Australian drama of the period 1920–55. It contains some three hundred plays in manuscript or typescript, together with published plays, theatre programmes, and correspondence and research files.

History

The collection was largely assembled by the late Campbell Howard in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Howard believed that the international success of Ray Lawler’s The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1955) could not have sprung from a barren theatrical landscape. He began to hunt down manuscripts of Australian plays from the period 1920–55, looking for plays which had been performed by a reputable company or reviewed by reputable critics. By perseverance and tact, he built his collection, obtaining texts from playwrights, actors, drama companies, estate, and from relatives and friends of the dramatists.

An index to the Collection, the Campbell Howard Index, is available online. This is based on Campbell Howard Annotated Index of Australian Plays 1920–1955, compiled and edited by Jack Bedson and Julian Croft.

A growing collection

The Campbell Howard Collection continues to grow. The latest additions are manuscripts of fifteen Australian plays dating back to the 1920s. The plays were written by Millicent Sylvia Armstrong (1888–1973), two in collaboration with her sister Daphne. The manuscripts had been in the keeping of the family since Ms Armstrong’s death and were donated by her nephew, Mr Peter Lightfoot of Brisbane. The plays have been catalogued and microfilmed for archival preservation. Photocopies are available for consultation by researchers.

The collection is located in the Karl Schmude Special Collections Room on the Lower Ground Floor of Dixson Library.

Questions regarding the collection may be directed to the Curator,  Pauline Jenkins.

For access to the Collection, see the guidelines elsewhere on the Library site. 

Publications relating to the Collection

Australian plays in manuscript: a checklist of the Campbell Howard Collection held in the Dixson Library, University of New England edited by Sheila Apted, second edition, revised and enlarged by Karl G. Schmude. Copies of this checklist are available at $5 (postage included) Order to: Accounts Officer, Dixson Library, University of New England, ARMIDALE NSW 2351 AUSTRALIA.

The Campbell Howard Annotated index of Australian Plays 1920-1955, compiled and edited by Jack Bedson and Julian Croft. $30 (postage included). Order to: CALLTS, University of New England, ARMIDALE NSW 2351 AUSTRALIA.