Explore items in the National Library’s collection that enter the public domain this year, including the unpublished works of Miles Franklin and Chester Wilmot.

A letter from Sir John Franklin to Captain John Washington from 1839 was recently acquired by the Library.

Pamphlets, newspapers, printed ephemera, transcripts from archives in Ireland and Australia, records of Irish organisations in Australia, and personal papers of Irish nationalists and Catholic clergy. Also about 1200 photographs of Australian places and people with an Irish connection.

3099 books & pamphlets, plus modern facsimile editions of medieval manuscripts with a strength in English philology, including English dialects, as well as European poetry, novels, literature, and religion.

About 200 American books and a smaller number on the French Revolution and Napoleon, plus 15 letters by 18th- and 19th-century scientists and physicians.

The National Library holds a rich and diverse range of library materials on the Pacific region, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Personal papers including correspondence, manuscripts of books, newspaper articles, lectures and material concerning writers, artists and literary organisations as well as about 2500 books published from 1900 to 1960, many inscribed by the authors and is particularly strong in novels, poetry and history.

Recordings of the music of various language, nationality or region-based communities in Melbourne, from 1975 to 1983. Also includes oral history interviews with people who lived in the Illawarra region from the 1920s to 1990s and people involved with the 1989 Newcastle earthquake.

Ten signed stencil prints by Pablo Picasso. 54 sketchbooks of John Power, a small group of personal papers of Power, and 262 books relating to art and architecture.

Read about works and manuscripts in our collection that are now in the public domain.

Hear from Dr Jo Langdon about her research and experience as a 2024 Creative Arts Fellow.

Oral history interviews with Charles Perkins, a key figure in Aboriginal rights, alongside a pilot project on how people form mental maps. It also includes ongoing interviews for the 'Seven Years On' project, launched in 1995, which focuses on emerging Aboriginal leaders. This collection offers valuable insights into Aboriginal activism, leadership, and personal stories that have shaped history.