Our Manuscripts collections are wide ranging and provide rich evidence of the lives and activities of Australians who have shaped our society.

Seven men painting in art studio

An art studio at GCC (German Concentration Camp), New South Wales, c.1914-1919

Part of the Ferguson collection of papers relating to World War I.
Close up of journal page featuring coloured paint

Salute to Five bells : John Olsen's Opera House journal, 1971-1973

Original manuscript published by Angus and Robertson.
Close up of handwritten notebook

Notebook and list of mutineers, 1789

Unpublished autograph manuscript documenting Lieutenant William Bligh's voyage.
Cook's handwritten 1768 journal entry

Journal of H.M.S. Endeavour, 1768-1771

Journal by James Cook on the voyage of discovering eastern Australia and circumnavigated New Zealand.
Handwritten diary entry with a photo of a ship

Papers of Frank Hurley, 1912-1962

Part of the diary kept on the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Expedition.

The Library's Manuscripts collections tell the stories and endeavours of individuals and organisations, offering first hand insights into events, people and places significant in Australia's history.

Ranging from single items to large collections, they comprise a wide variety of unpublished materials including letters, diaries, sketches and artworks, notebooks, maps, photographs, literary works, organisational records, blogs and many other types of records in both paper and digital form.

Our Manuscript collection includes many outstanding single items and small collections from the colonial period, but its greatest strength dates from the 1890s and Australia's development as a nation. The collections predominantly relate to Australia, but there are also important holdings relating to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the Pacific.

As part of the Library's mission to document all aspects of Australian life, we actively collect the papers and records of individuals and organisations that reflect the diversity of Australian society, culture, environments and political systems. While most of our collecting relates to recent Australian life, earlier materials are acquired as opportunities arise. 

Highlights

The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cultural Notification

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.

ENTER SITE