975 books, including many relating to the essayist and poet Charles Lamb and his circle and books by or relating to the poet Edward Thomas.

Every year, on 1 January, creative works come out of copyright and into the public domain.

How is a rare book about swimming connected to an important early European map of Australia and American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin? Find out in this blog.

Explore these book recommendations from the National Library staff to help library lovers of all ages get in the Library Lovers’ Day spirit!

The Margarita Philosophica (Pearl of Philosophy) (1517) of German Carthusian monk and prior Gregor Reisch (c. 1467-1525).

Learn about the fascinating career of Eleanor Witcombe with 2023 National Library Fellow and biographer Eleanor Hogan.

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.

More than 1,000 comics, mostly published in Australia and including some overseas titles reprinted in Australia, from the 1940s to 1970s, as well as fanzines and personal papers.

1,066 Japanese books, nearly all published in the 20th century. They mostly relate to Japanese literature and include a large number of novels and also poetry, plays, essays, biographies of writers, literary history and critical works.

Celebrate William Shakespeare's birthday with Shakespearean gems from the National Library's rare books collections.

We held the third illustrated Shakespeare lecture and discovered the objects and stories that reveal how Shakespeare made landfall in Australia.  

See Dr Kate Flaherty and actors from Bell Shakespeare explore the link between the books that inspired Shakespeare and Shakespeare's own work.