Appeal

Important Rare Books
Annual Appeal 2023


 

Thanks to you we have now raised over half a million dollars in this year’s appeal.

Thank you so much for your imaginative generosity, which will enable us to continue with our plan to acquire some of the most important treasures in the history of printing. 

You have made this the most successful annual appeal in the history of the Library! 

— Dr John Vallance, State Librarian 

Rare books acquired

Thanks to your generosity the Library has been able to acquire these books and more exciting acquisitions are in the pipeline.

Printed page from book The father of comedy’s first printed edition
LITERATURE

The father of comedy’s first printed edition

Comoediae novem, 1498
by Aristophanes,
edited by Marcus Musurus
 

Illustration from A Pioneering work on Mining  
MINING

A pioneering work on mining

De re metallica libri XII. - De animantibus subterraneis liber, 1556
by Georgius Agricola

Illustration from A mediaeval bestseller
LITERATURE

A medieval bestseller
 

The Golden Legend, 1527
by Jacobus de Voragine, translated by William Caxton
 

Page from One of the earliest Chinese texts printed in Europe
CHINESE PHILOSOPY

One of the earliest Chinese texts printed in Europe

Meng Tseu, 1824

 

Page from the book I quattro libri dell'architettura di Andrea Palladio …, 1570
ARCHITECTURE

The most influential architectural book in the world

I quattro libri dell'architettura di Andrea Palladio …, 1570
by Andrea Palladio
 

Title page from book Les Provinciales, 1657
LITERATURE

A masterpiece of French prose
 

Les Provinciales, 1657
by Blaise Pascal

 

RELIGION

The most accessible Qur’an in Europe
 

Al-Coranus s. lex Islamitica Muhammedis, 1694
Edited by Abraham Hinckelmann

Title page from book Les oeuvres mathématiques, 1634
MATHEMATICS

How decimals reached Europe
 

Les oeuvres mathématiques, 1634
by Simon Stevin, edited by Albert Girard

Title page from book Historiarum et annalium libri qui exstant, 1574
HISTORY

A monument of Renaissance scholarship

Historiarum et annalium libri qui exstant, 1574
by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, edited by Justus Lipsius

Title page from book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1778
ECONOMICS

The first and greatest classic of modern economics

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1778
by Adam Smith

Make a donation

Your gift can be made online by clicking the button below or by contacting Susan Hunt, Director, State Library Foundation (02) 9273 1529 or 0438 012 264 email foundation@sl.nsw.gov.au. All donations are welcome and are tax deductible.

Thank you for supporting the State Library.

 

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