Papers of Marcus Clarke

Identifier(s): MS 8222

Collection

Scope and Content

This collection comprises of correspondence, manuscripts of prose and plays, notebooks, diaries, newspapers and press cuttings, legal documents and other miscellaneous papers and books. It is arranged into four series. Series one comprises of correspondence. It is arranged into two sub-series: outwards correspondence, 1873-1880, and correspondence to or about Clarke, 1868-1896. Outwards correspondence includes letters from Clarke about his publications, social life and employment at the Public Library of Melbourne. Correspondence to or about Clarke includes letters to him, his wife and his publisher, from people such as Sir Redmond Barry, Alfred Deakin, George McCrae and Arthur Patchett Martin in regard to his employment, writing, publication of books and the preservation of his memory after his death. Series two comprises of manuscripts and notes. It is arranged into four sub-series: prose, plays, diaries and notebooks, and notes. Some of the plays include preliminaries and stage directions and other annotation by Clarke, and some of the notes include fragments of plays and lists of characters. Series three comprises of newspapers and press cuttings. It consists of press cuttings relating to Clarke’s writing, printed proofs of articles published in newspapers, and a couple of early Melbourne newspapers. Series four comprises of legal and miscellaneous papers. It is arranged into two sub-series: Legal documents and miscellaneous items. Legal documents relate to the purchase of land, power of attorney, conveyance, and a memorandum of agreement. Miscellaneous items include sketches by George Gordon McCrae, musical scores, press cuttings, a book by Henri Kowalski, and a play by John Baldwin.

Dates

1857-1898

Creator

Clarke, Marcus (Marcus Andrew Hislop), 1846-1881 (Person)

Restrictions

Available for reference.

Biographical Information

Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke, journalist and novelist, was born on 24 April 1846. He was educated at Cholmeley Grammar School, Highgate, where he spent most of his time reading, while being initiated into the Bohemian life of the period by visitors to his home. Clarke arrived in Australia in June 1863 and obtained work in a Bank and later on a station near Glenorchy. During this time he began writing sketches for the magazines. In 1867 Clarke was recommended to the editor of the Argus, and became a member of the literary staff and later a freelance contributor. Clarke's association with the Argus lasted a number of years. He later wrote for the Melbourne Herald, the Daily Telegraph and finally the Age. He was also involved with a number of journals including the Australian Monthly Magazine, which he edited under the altered title of the Colonial Monthly, and Humbug. He also later obtained a position at the Public Library of Victoria, first becoming secretary to the trustees and later sub-librarian. Clarke’s major novel, 'His Natural Life', was serialised in the Australian Journal at the beginning 1870, and later published in book form in 1874. He wrote a number of books and plays including Old Tales of a Young Country (1871), Long Odds (1869), Twixt Shadow and Shine (1875), History of Australia (1877), and Chidiock Tichbourne, which was published posthumously in 1893. In 1869 Clarke married the actress Marian Dunn, daughter of John Dunn, an Irish actor. After Clarke's death in 1881, his friend Hamilton Mackinnon assembled the Marcus Clarke Memorial Volume (1884), a selection of his most popular journalism with a biographical introduction.