Manuscripts and personal papers | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Manuscripts and personal papers

Showing 85 - 96 of 126 results
An open notebook with handwritten text in black ink

Handwritten manuscript for Old Blastus of Bandicoot from the Papers of Miles Franklin 1887-[ca. 1931], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-229628535

National Library releases out-of-copyright works

Explore items in the National Library’s collection that enter the public domain this year, including the unpublished works of Miles Franklin and Chester Wilmot.

News article
An old hand-written letter in old style script

Letter by Sir John Franklin to Captain Washington, 15 February 1839, nla.obj-3142222639

Newly acquired correspondence between Sir John Franklin and Captain Washington

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

News article
Collection guide
O'Farrell Collection

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.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Onions Collection

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.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Osborne Collection

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.

Collection guide
A group of men performing a traditional dance

Terence & Margaret Spencer, Independence Day Celebration (15) Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 1975, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-145645567

Pacific collections

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

Information article
Collection guide
Palmer Collection

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.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Parkhill Collection

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.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Power Collection

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.

Collection guide
Dr Jo Langdon standing and leaning on a table in the Special Collections Reading Room with a Royal Perth Hospital Nurses uniform worn including a red cape and two pilot's helmets and goggles on it

Dr Jo Langdon with Royal Perth Hospital Nurses uniform worn including a red cape from the Papers of Robin Miller Dicks, 1943-1978, nla.cat-vn4456021, and Air pilot's cap and goggles owned by Freda Thompson, c. 1934, nla.obj-139636320

Re-presenting Australian female pilots through poetry

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

Blog
Collection guide
Read Collection

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.

Collection guide
First Australians
Muted oil painting of a short dark haired woman wearing a yellow scarf and light blue shirt.

 Rupert Bunny, Portrait of Henry Handel Richardson, (192-?), nla.gov.au/nla.obj-134317179

Richardson Collection

Extensive personal and family papers of Henry Handel Richardson (Pseudonym of Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson (née Richardson)). The Richardson Collection also includes original manuscripts of the music composed by Richardson for many songs.

Collection guide

Need help?

Our librarians are here to guide you.

Ask a librarian