Manuscripts
The Library’s manuscript collections are some of the largest and most significant in Australia. Dating from the seventeenth century through to the present day, they comprise the personal papers of individuals and the archives of private organisations and include letters, diaries, journals, literary works, minutes of meetings, note books and memoirs.
The collections are wide ranging and provide rich evidence of the lives, society and activities of Australians from all walks of life.
Collection strengths include:
- Australia's foundation documents including nine of the 11 known First Fleet journals and records of the early governors.
- Collections documenting European exploration of the Pacific including journals and letters from the voyages of Abel Tasman, James Cook, William Bligh, Matthew Flinders and Phillip Parker King, as well as the extensive correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks.
- Collections documenting the inland exploration of Australia by men such as Gregory Blaxland, Sir Thomas Mitchell, Charles Sturt and Ludwig Leichhardt.
- The papers of the Macarthurs, Wentworths, Kings and other prominent colonial families.
- The collections of clergymen and missionaries including the extensive records of the Methodist Overseas Mission.
- Literary papers of authors including their correspondence and annotated drafts of their works. Among the many authors represented are Henry Lawson, Miles Franklin, Patrick White, Elizabeth Jolley, Kate Grenville, Rubi Langford Ginibi and Douglas Stewart.
- The history of Australia's involvement in Antarctica as evidenced by the papers of Frank Hurley, the Australian Antarctic Expedition and other important collections.
- The diaries and letters of World War I servicemen.
- Collections relating to the conservation of the environment including the papers of Myles Dunphy and Marie Byles, and the records of organisations such as the Total Environment Centre.
- Other collection strengths include theatrical and publishing records, and records of the major political parties.
This fascinating section of the Library continues to collect material through donation, purchase, or assisted by the Federal Government's cultural gifts program.
Top image: Detail from the journal kept by Joseph Banks on board HMS Endeavour. It is one of the Library’s most significant manuscripts, recording the first Pacific voyage of Captain James Cook, from 1768 to 1771.
