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What’s got us talking

2019 NSW Premier's Literary Awards Shortlists

Woman with scattered books around her.

Eresource update: Financial Times Historical Archive

Looking for information about global financial and economic events reported in the London media during the 19th and 20th centuries?

Seven Little Australians

Ethel Turner's original manuscript for Seven Little Australians has been inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register.

Woman sitting at a desk handling manuscript of 'Seven Little Australians' by Ethel Turner.

#NewSelfWales

When the DX Lab set out to discover the face of New South Wales they launched an innovative community generated exhibition called #NewSelfWales. They have collected and archived over 12,000 portraits, which are all available to browse on their new website. 

Collage of faces.

Collection buzz

The Treaty of Waitangi 1840

On 6 February some 45 chiefs signed a ‘Treaty of Cession’, now known as the Treaty of Waitangi.

Elaborate running writing covers this aged document. Marks of broken dark red wax seals mark the bottom and left side edges of the document.

Across the curator's desk: Peter Hall's 1968 travel sketchbook

Anna Corkhill, curator in the Library's Research and Discovery team, shares a sketchbook from a crucial stage in the development of the Sydney Opera House. 

Sketchbook with pencil drawing of Sydney Opera House

Book of Hours

View our newly digitised Book of Hours, featuring 14 large miniatures, framed by pink marble columns or brown bands, and enter the world of an illuminated manuscript.

Places of Industry - works by Jeff Rigby

The Library has recently acquired a series of 25 works by Blue Mountains-based artist Jeff Rigby.

Delprats Mine

One hundred years of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

It’s one hundred years since May Gibbs’ much loved gumnut brothers, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie found their way into the hearts and homes of Australians.

Cover for Snugglepot and Cuddlepie : their Adventures Wonderful

Rose de Freycinet poem

A recent addition to the collection, a poem dedicated to Rose de Freycinet, shows us how this remarkable woman was perceived by those she met on her voyage around the world.

Text of a poem in French

Who was Kath?

The Library recently acquired an album of photographs, with no details of the owner or the subjects of the photographs – except for one named person. But who was Kath?

Austinmer 1930

F. S. Burnell's album

Australian journalist and radio presenter, Frederick Spencer Burnell's (1880-1958) was as a special correspondent with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force during World War One. His recently digitised album contains 99 black & white photographs that documenting this experience.

Burnell WW1 PXA 2165 SLNSW 009

Featured events

Strange Sydney

Lifelong learning
Thursday
Thursday 21 March 2019 - 10:30am to 12:30pm
Talk

Join us to explore the strange and unusual tales of Sydney and surrounds.

Ghost catchers on bikes

Bookplate making, collecting and use in Australia

Wednesday
Wednesday 27 March 2019 - 6pm to 7pm
Talk

Dr Mark Ferson, bookplate enthusiast and founding president of the New Australian Bookplate Society, will speak on 'Bookplate making, collecting and use in Australia' putting these important and frequently artistic marks of provenance in both a historical and contemporary context.

Samuel Clayton for Charles Manigault, 1818, the earliest known Australian-made bookplate

Analysis and Care of Oil Paintings

Lifelong learning
Thursday
Thursday 28 March 2019 - 10:30am to 12:30pm
Workshop

Led by a painting conservator this workshop focuses on analysing the materials that make up oil paintings and how this impacts on their care.

UNESCO pitch

Wednesday
Wednesday 3 April 2019 - 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Special event

Come to this fun, fast and informal event hosted by ABC Radio Sydney’s Cassie McCullough and have your say on which collections the Library should forward for the 2020 UNESCO Australian Memory of the World register.

Photograph in black and white of a man wearing a suit