Skip header and navigation

Narrow Results By

2 records – page 1 of 1.

Gordon Burles fonds

https://archives.whyte.org/en/permalink/descriptions118
Part Of
Gordon Burles fonds
Scope & Content
Fonds consists mainly of poems by Gordon Burles, 1970-2017. Manuscripts contain about twenty-seven hundred poems, mainly in free verse, some with revisions. Poems are numbered in chronological order. About 2016 Burles stopped numbering each poem. The year of creation is indicated with each poem.…
Date Range
1970-2017, 2022
Reference Code
M196 / V103
Description Level
1 / Fonds
GMD
Photograph
Negative
Photograph print
Textual record
Machine-readable data file
Private record
  1 Electronic Resource  
Part Of
Gordon Burles fonds
Description Level
1 / Fonds
Fonds Number
M 196
V 103
Sous-Fonds
M 196
V 103
Accession Number
1199, 1367, 1414, 1674, 2061, 2212, 2239, 2890, 3233, 3769, 3874, 5526, 5689, 5903, 6347, 6487, 6927,7215, 7483, 7486, 7612
Reference Code
M196 / V103
GMD
Photograph
Negative
Photograph print
Textual record
Machine-readable data file
Private record
Date Range
1970-2017, 2022
Physical Description
ca. 36.5 cm textual records + 9 CD-R (textual records). -- 7 photographs : prints, negatives.
History / Biographical
James Gordon Burles, b.1949, is a poet, surveyor and civil servant at Banff, Alberta, Canada. A native of Banff, Burles is a student of the Canadian Rockies. In Burles' own words, much of his poetry is inspired by four environments: the life and history of Banff National Park, the town of Banff, the Okanagan Valley, and Calgary.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists mainly of poems by Gordon Burles, 1970-2017. Manuscripts contain about twenty-seven hundred poems, mainly in free verse, some with revisions. Poems are numbered in chronological order. About 2016 Burles stopped numbering each poem. The year of creation is indicated with each poem. Some poems pertain to mountain personalities such as Bill Peyto, Norman Sanson, Margaret Stone, Walter D. Wilcox, Walter J. Phillips, Conrad Kain, and Georgia Engelhard. Many are surrealist or nonsense poems and many deal with the Cemetery Tea House, an imaginary teahouse frequented by various characters.
Fonds consists of three series: I : Poetry Manuscripts; II : Prose and research; III: Digital typeset copies of published poems
Some poems deal with Burle's parents and family. The collection also holds fifty-three books and booklets, self-published by the author from 1984 to 2017. The books published from 2003 to 2017 contain all the poems which the author considers worth preserving. Some in one book have been revised in a later book. Some poems were revised more than once. The three books published in 1984, 1986, and 1990 are considered by the author as early works. Only the poems in those books that the author considered worth publishing have been republished in the 2003-2017 books. Names in the poem titles are usually made up.
Some titles are tongue-in-cheek. There were so many poems that the author resorted to names like "Portrait for Bertrand Clerihew-Guggenheim" to make it easier. Some titles, of course, are obviously connected to the content of the poem. Many titles were long enough to preclude the difficulty of getting the graphic designer to centre the title over the poem! Also included are manuscripts, research materials, articles, and notes etc. regarding Bill Peyto, the Copper Mountain Mine, Banff National Park museum, logging roads in the Johnson Lake area, and the Sanson-Bethune connection.
Photographs pertain to remains of hay rake and wagon in the Third Vermilion Lake area (1975) and remains of the Queen of the Hills Mine, above Silver City (1977).
CD-ROMS's contain typeset copies of manuscripts by Gordon Burles in Pagemaker, In Design and .pdf file formats. Manuscripts include "The Jagged Harmony," 2005, "An Avenue Without End," 2005, "That Perfect Elsewhere," n.d., "Much Like A Dream," 2004, "All the Universe of Sight," 2006, "Those Grand Poplars," 2004, "Lords of Many Orchards: Selected Best Poems of Gordon Burles," 2003, "That trellis of tombs: Further Selected Poems of Gordon Burles," 2004, "The Closing of Many Doors: More Poems by Gordon Burles," 2006.
II : Prose and research includes "Life story of James Gordon Burles," 2022
Notes
Books of poetry published by Gordon Burles are located in the Whyte Museum Archives Library 05.1/B92. In 2018 Gordon Burles compiled a listing of the original poems that were edited and re-published. This list is in the M196 document file, and is also a PDF attached to the fonds level record
Name Access
Burles, Gordon
Subject Access
Arts
Access Restrictions
No restrictions on access
Copyright, privacy, commercial use and other restrictions may apply
Language
Language is English
Finding Aid
Finding aids and reference tools: file level descriptions with inventory
Creator
Burles, Gordon
Category
Arts
Title Source
Title based on contents of fonds
Processing Status
Processed
Electronic Resources

05.1_b92_burles_poems_original_finalversions.pdf

Read PDF Download PDF
Less detail
This material is presented as originally created; it may contain outdated cultural descriptions and potentially offensive content. Read more.
Part Of
Jon Whyte fonds
Scope & Content
I. Literary papers, ca.1960-1990, 154.5 cm of textual records: A. Projects (book files, Carl Rungius project, Peter and Catharine Whyte portfolio papers, other projects); B. General literary papers (loose papers and writing notebooks) includes Jon Whyte's concrete poetry; C. Career documents; D. Wo…
Date Range
1948-1992
Reference Code
M88 / S28 / V690
Description Level
1 / Fonds
GMD
Machine-readable data file
Recording disc
Motion picture
Film
Photograph
Negative
Photograph print
Transparency
Sound recording
Cassette
Reel to reel
Textual record
Organization record
Private record
Published record
Part Of
Jon Whyte fonds
Description Level
1 / Fonds
Fonds Number
M 88
S 28
V 690
Sous-Fonds
M 88
S 28
V 690
Accession Number
553, 1315, 1497, 3854, 3865, 4020, 5301, 5663, 5869, 6283, 6785, 7498 (unproc)
Reference Code
M88 / S28 / V690
GMD
Machine-readable data file
Recording disc
Motion picture
Film
Photograph
Negative
Photograph print
Transparency
Sound recording
Cassette
Reel to reel
Textual record
Organization record
Private record
Published record
Date Range
1948-1992
Physical Description
4.5 m textual records. -- ca.7600 photographs: ca.6400 transparencies, ca.1200 prints and negatives. -- 27 electronic records (425 files): computer diskettes. -- 39 sound recordings: audio tape reels, audio cassettes. -- 5 motion pictures
History / Biographical
Jon Anthony Whyte, 1941-1992, was an author, poet, writer, editor, journalist, broadcaster, publisher, environmentalist and museum curator at Banff, Alberta, Canada. Whyte was born in Banff to Jack White, son of merchant Dave White, and Barbara Carpenter Whyte. After public school education in Banff and Medicine Hat, Alberta, he received a B.A. in English from the University of Alberta in 1964, followed by a Masters degree in Medieval English in 1967. Subsequently, he received a Masters in Communications from Stanford University, California in 1974. His thesis at Stanford was a film documentary, "Jimmy Simpson, Mountain Man". During his time at U of A, Whyte worked as a broadcaster for CKUA Radio and as a sessional Instructor at U of A, 1965-1967.
Upon returning to Banff, ca.1968, Whyte managed the Book and Art Den and helped establish Summerthought Press. In 1969 he became a columnist for the "Crag and Canyon," continuing until 1991, and in 1970 became a board member of the Peter Whyte Foundation (now Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies). From 1980 until his death, Whyte was Curator of the Heritage collections at the museum. He continued to write and publish extensively throughout the 1980s. He was involved with the formation of the Writer's Guild of Alberta and was elected its president in 1990. He received the WGA's Stephan Stephansson Award for Poetry in 1983. Whyte was also active in numerous other organizations, including the League of Canadian Poets, Alberta Museums Association, Canadian Museums Association, Interpretation Canada, Bow Valley Naturalists and the Alberta Wilderness Association.
Scope & Content
I. Literary papers, ca.1960-1990, 154.5 cm of textual records: A. Projects (book files, Carl Rungius project, Peter and Catharine Whyte portfolio papers, other projects); B. General literary papers (loose papers and writing notebooks) includes Jon Whyte's concrete poetry; C. Career documents; D. Works by other writers and artists.
II. Personal / professional papers, 1948-1991, 325.5 cm of textual records: A. School and university papers; B. Correspondence; C. Alphabetical files; D. Travel papers; E. Organizations (incl. Writer's Guild of Alberta, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Bow Valley Naturalists, others); F. Other.
III. Electronic records, 1984-1991, 27 computer disks (425 files); files are mainly literary, with some letters and files pertaining to organizations, including the Whyte Museum
IV. Photographs and films, ca.1950-1991, ca.7600 items (mainly transparencies): A. Transparencies. Included in this sub-series are The Princess of the Stars musical drama performed in Banff National Park; B. Prints and negatives; C. Collected photographs; D. Films (5 items)
V. Sound recordings, ca.1950- 1988, 39 items.
Name Access
Whyte, Jon
Subject Access
Arts
Communications
Environment
Family and personal life
Access Restrictions
Some restriction/s on access
Copyright, privacy, commercial use and other restrictions may apply
Language
Language is English
Finding Aid
Finding aids and reference tools: arrangement outline
series and file description
electronic finding aid
searchable electronic lists for correspondence files (sub-series II.B.) and alphabetical files (sub-series II.C.)
video reference copy for "Jimmy Simpson: mountain man"
list of available Jon Whyte publications held by the Whyte Museum
list of Jon Whyte Crag and Canyon newspaper columns
Related Material
Art works and artifacts transferred to art collection and Heritage Collection, Whyte Museum
Creator
Whyte, Jon
Category
Arts
Communications
Environment
Family and personal life
Title Source
Title based on accession records and contents of fonds
Processing Status
Processed / Unprocessed
Less detail
This material is presented as originally created; it may contain outdated cultural descriptions and potentially offensive content. Read more.
Back to Top