Literature and writing | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Literature and writing

Showing 13 - 24 of 95 results
Collection guide
Leighton Collection

This small but significant collection of early 20th-century German and Austrian books includes poetry, plays, novels, essays, fairytales, folklore, art books, memoirs, and works on theatre and opera. Many are rare or limited editions, notable for their fine bindings and illustrations.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Fitzhardinge Collection

About 300 books including incunabula and early editions of classical texts, plus limited edition reprints of celebrated English writers, mostly published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Collection guide
Collection guide
De Vesci Collection

Country house library collection of 1648 books and 54 serials with strength in English and French publications of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Collection guide
Collection guide
Duncan-Hughes Collection

About 6200 books about European literature, history and culture, mostly published in the period 1880-1960. 

Collection guide
Collection guide
Durand Collection

About 4000 books, mostly published in France in the 19th and early 20th century, as well as a number of German, Italian, Latin and Greek books.

Collection guide
Books and octavos of various colours and binding from the Ferguson Collection on shelves

The Ferguson Collection situated in the National Library stacks

Honouring a legacy through digitisation

A gift from the Ralf Iannuzzi Memorial Trust is helping us to digitise some of our rarest items. 

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Collection guide
Chaplin Collection

Collections of papers from several significant Australian authors collected by Harry Chaplin.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Wang Collection

A vast repository of over 4,000 books, primarily in Chinese, covering history, culture, politics, and religion. Collected between 1950 and 2000, it includes rare texts from Taiwan and China, reflecting the richness of Chinese scholarship. 

Collection guide
Collection guide
Australian Literature Society Collection

Explore Australia's literary heritage with the Australian Literature Society Collection. Home to over 500 works, including novels, verse, and essays, it showcases iconic authors like Patrick White, Joseph Furphy, and Kylie Tennant. Founded in 1899, this collection highlights the society's crucial role in shaping Australia’s vibrant literary tradition.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Lowenstein Collection

Oral history recordings, manuscripts and papers relating mainly to Australian folklore and Lowenstein's books Weevils in the flour and Under the hook.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Mackaness Collection

Literary manuscripts submitted to the Bulletin in 1918–20, personal papers, 185 books related to Australia, some very rare, plus 30 books published in Tahiti by the London Missionary Society in 1817–37.

Collection guide
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

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