Pictures

A watercolour image from 1827 of an echidna. This depiction is not accurate with what we know echidnas to look like in real life.

An 1827 illustration of an echidna has recently been added to our collection.

News article

Woman looking a large colourful colourful illustration of two birds in a tree

Ellis Rowan, Rothschild's Bird-of-Paradise, or Rothschild's Astrapia (Astrapia rothschildi), Papua New Guinea, 1917, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138748166

Using the Pictures Collection

How to find and use items in the Pictures Collection.

Information article

Library services

Bijin Shinobazunoike o nozomu, Beauty looking at Shinobazu Pond (1895), nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn5744665

Asian collections

The Asian language collections cover a broad range of formats and focus on contemporary Asia from the 19th century onwards

Information article

Magazines and books from the 00s and 90s spread out, including the 'Australian Women's Weekly: Children's birthday cake book' and a document titled 'Y2K: State disaster contingency plan'

Discovery video: 90s and 00s nostalgia

Join Madeline and Allister as they dive into our collection and discover items from the '90s and '00s.

Video

Three colourful tapestry panels depicting Australian landscapes hung in the main reading room

Alice Kettle (b.1961), Australian Landscapes I–IV 2000 ca.1998 ; 4 machine-embroidered tapestries, Main Reading Room

Artwork in the Main Reading Room

The Main Reading Room houses a collection of sculptures and paintings inspired by Indigenous stories of the Australian landscape.

Information article

Six women ballet dancers standing in a line

Greg Power & National Library of Australia, Annabel Knight, Juliette Barton and dancers during dress rehearsal for Sid's Waltzing Masquerade by Aszure Barton, Sydney Dance Company, The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, 1 September 2009, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-132043442

Dance collection

Our dance collection contains portraits, manuscripts, oral history interviews, photographs, music scores, personal papers, theatre programs and memorabilia.

Information article

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

George Raper, King parrot (Alisterus scapularis), 1788, nla.obj-150068793

Rights and the Pictures Collection

A summary of copyright and rights in the Pictures Collection.

Information article

Wilson Collection

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

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

Two colourful birds standing on branches eating fruit

Ellis Rowan, [Lorikeets (Geoffroyus heteroclitus)], 1917, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138740512

Rowan Collection

919 watercolours and gouaches of flowers and birds of Australia and Papua New Guinea painted 1870-1920, plus a small quantity of personal papers.

Collection guide

Mabo Collection

Personal papers and legal material that record of one of the most important and controversial legal cases in Australian history and the life of the man who is chiefly associated with the case.

Collection guide

First Australians

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