Manuscripts and personal papers

Bottom half of a page in a diary with writing about seeing a mountain in the distance and a sketch of what it looked like

Diary of Robert Silby Bradley, 1867 April 22-July 22, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-234780216

Listing of immigrant diaries (1822-1895) held in the Manuscripts Collection

Information article

Drawings, sketches, plans and photographs of Australian colonial architecture, ancient buildings from China and Greece, furnature designs and sketches for a proposed "ideal city" of Kurrajong.

Collection guide

Hand coloured manuscript map of Australia, on base map titled 'A community survey of Australia', showing reach of Flying Doctor Service in red and reach of wireless communication in blue. Shows locations as Wyndham, Port Hedland, Kalgoorlie, Alice Springs, Cloncurry and Charleville and Broken Hill.

John Flynn, Flying Doctor Service of Australia, 1951, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-481242509

Australian Inland Mission

The Australian Inland Mission established 15 nursing homes, bush hospitals and services in remote Australian locations.

Collection guide

An antique world map titled 'General Chart' showing the discoveries made by Captain James Cook during his voyages.

Lieut Henry Roberts, A general chart exhibiting the discoveries made by Capt. James Cook in this and his two preceding voyages, 1789, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230604992

James Cook and his voyages

Our James Cook collection showcases the Library’s most famous item - Cook’s HMS Endeavour journal.

Collection guide

Map of East India Islands, Dutch colonies, with Thailand, French colonies, Indochina and Malay Peninsula.

Henry Otley Bayer, Malay Archipelag 1:8,500,000, 1942, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-580711626

Beyer Collection

Papers, including manuscripts on Philippine ethnography, books and pamphlets in various languages on a wide range of subjects with a focus on the Philippines, photographs and printed and manuscript maps collected by Henry Otley Beyer.

Collection guide

A black-and-white postcard depicting a forest scene with a large wooden structure resembling a natural shelter or barricade. The structure is made from wooden logs and branches, arranged in a semi-circle or arch. The dense forest in the background features tall trees, ferns, and thick underbrush, creating a secluded and mysterious atmosphere. The ground appears rough, with scattered debris and fallen logs. The image is reminiscent of a hidden or protected space within the wilderness.

Postcard of a sketch by William Knight of a native camp, Midlands, Tasmania, sketch made on the spot, 1924, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3265441693

Bates Collection

Papers, maps, photographs and other publications largely relating to Daisy Bates' research on First Australians.

Collection guide

First Australians

Nine medals awarded to J.P. and J.M. Braga, including an OBE awarded to J.P. Braga

Medals awarded to J.P. and J.M. Braga, including an OBE awarded to J.P. Braga, 1935, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-147186954

Braga Collection

Family papers, maps of the Hong Kong and Macau region, pictures, photographs and a large collection of books and pamphlets predominantly historical works, particularly histories of Portugal, the Portuguese colonies, China and Japan.

Collection guide

Crome Collection

The Crome Collection includes papers, photographs, ephemera, aero-philatelic material, objects, books and pamphlets relating to Australian aviation collected by Ernest Alfred Crome.

Collection guide

Print showing an early plan for Canberra

Detail of a black and white foolscap offprint of 'City and Environs, a plan of Canberra' from the papers of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony collected by Eric Nicholls, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3210431032

Griffin and early Canberra Collection

Papers, maps, plans, photographs, paintings and other material related to early Canberra and the work of architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin.

Collection guide

Stead Collection

Papers of Christina Stead including diaries, manuscripts of her works, correspondence, personal documents, cuttings and photographs as well as papers of her biographers.

Collection guide

Stephens Collection

Manuscripts of poems and stories and letters from over 70 writers that Stephens assembled in the years in which he was editing the ‘Red Page’ of the Bulletin and later the Bookfellow.

Collection guide

Tilghman Collection

About 260 books and pamphlets on American history, as well as papers of the Woodriff family and Tilghman, including about 380 of Tilghman's photographs of the Northern Territory 1925-1927 and Queensland 1931-1933.

Collection guide

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