J.J. Bray - Poems 1961-1971 and 2 Letters to the Publisher Jacaranda Press, South Australia 1972. 40pp. Edition of 200, this being No. 3
A selection from a decade of Bray's poetry plus 2 very frank and revealing letters (March and June 1971 on Chief Justice notepaper) to 'Neil' of Jacaranda Press …."I don't think I ought to publish poems with piss shit arse or fuck in them. I don't think I ought to publish the (…?) about Brian's love affairs. As Chancellor I ought not to publish nasty poems about academics. But I am not finally resolved on these matters."
Also other pertinent content on supply of poems, selection and production.
The legally smart and respected Bray, in 1967, was appointed Chief Justice of South Australia and from 1968 to 1983 he served as Chancellor of the University of Adelaide.
'Describing himself as having a 'Bohemian and unconventional temperament' (Bray Papers), Bray did not fit the usual mould for a judge-he rarely worked after hours and preferred drinking and smoking with literary friends at the Sturt Arcade Hotel to rubbing shoulders with his legal peers at the Adelaide Club. Since the 1950s he had also been active in Adelaide's small community of writers. He was a long-time friend of the poet Charles Jury and later joined the literary group led by Max Harris. Bray's play Papinian was performed in 1955 in North Adelaide, and in 1962 he published the first of several volumes of poetry. He was a regular participant in the Adelaide Festival of Arts from its inception in 1960, repeatedly being invited to read his poetry at Writers' Week events. A voracious reader and an avid library user, he served on the Libraries Board of South Australia from 1944 to 1987.' (ADB)
Original black cloth boards are rubbed and marked. Contents are clean and straight, binding good. Some musty damp odour. (26x19cm)


Estimate $150-300