Rare books and illuminated manuscripts | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Rare books and illuminated manuscripts

Showing 1 - 12 of 29 results
Collection guide
Alston Collection

The Alston Collection is a treasure trove of over 1,800 works on philology and linguistics. From rare books and manuscripts to Robin Alston’s personal drafts and correspondence, this collection is a must for anyone exploring the history of language and early bibliographical studies.

Collection guide
Uncredited artist Glycine Rubicunda Dingy-Flowered Glycine Diadelphia Decandria Kennedia Rubicunda, Dusky Coral Pea, No 268, July 1 1794

Uncredited artist, Glycine Rubicunda. Dingy-Flowered Glycine: Diadelphia Decandria [Kennedia Rubicunda, Dusky Coral Pea], No. 268, July 1 1794

Australian flowers in print

Dive into two of the earliest English publications to feature Australian flowers and the stunning images they contain.

Blog
Close up of page of old, rare Latin book with a stylised letter A in the top left

Clifford family, Latin Chertsey Cartulary, England, c, 1301, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-241375708

Clifford Collection

Over 10,000 volumes and 1500 pamphlets in English, Latin, French, Italian, German and Spanish, with particular strength in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Collection guide
Print of two women in dresses holding hands. One has a trumpet in her other hands and is leaning over a sign reading 'Free Masons Hall Readings & Music'. Photoshopped on top is a teal circle with text reading 'Friends Event'

John Thornthwaite and Mather Brown, Ticket for an Evening of ‘Readings & Music’ Held at Free Masons Hall, c. 1790, from the Papers of Jamie and Michael Kassler, 1790-2021, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn5977647

Coffee with the Curator: The Excellencies of Musick

Dr Susannah Helman provided her insights into the Jamie and Michael Kassler Collection.

Event
The Birds of Australia Gould - Printed plate
Conserving John Gould’s Australian Bird Pattern Plates

Learn about the treatment work our conservators have recently done on thepattern plates for the supplement to The Birds of Australia by John Gould.

Blog
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
Title page of the musical score for Mozart's Marriage of Figaro

W.A. Mozart (1756–1791), Boosey and Sons’ Complete Edition of Mozart’s Opera, Figaro, for Voice and Pianoforte, with English and Italian Words, London: Boosey and Sons, 1854–1864, Hince Collection (Music), MUS Hince 2 collection M 76, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn8596647

Figaro!

Searching for the 18th-century character in the Library's rare books and music collections.

Blog
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
Katherine Parr’s handwriting and signature in a copy of A Sermon of Saint Chrysostom

Katherine Parr’s handwriting and signature in a copy of A Sermon of Saint Chrysostom (1542). Image by permission of Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe.

Gorgeous books and royal annotations

We stepped into the private libraries of one of history’s most infamous royal couples and discovered how ink, margins, and manuscript flourishes reveal more than meets the eye.

Event
Video
Sappho Hildegard von Bingen Aphra Behn rare books
Great female writers of centuries past: Sappho to Aphra Behn

Explore early women writers in the Library's rare books collections up to the year 1700.

Blog
Image of the title page and portrait frontispiece of NLA RB CLI 2050 with portrait frontispiece an image of a woman in profile with a prominent 18th-century wig.

Mrs M. Robinson, Poems, volume 1, London: Printed by J. Bell, British-Library, Strand, 1791, Clifford Collection (Overseas Rare Books), RB CLI 2050, nla.cat-vn2476718

Great female writers of the eighteenth century: Trailblazers and radicals

Dive into the works of great female writers held in the Library's rare books collection.

Blog
Collection guide
Italian Drama Collection

1,011 plays and libretti published in Italy between about 1,720 and 1,900 including a number of Italian translations of plays written by French, German and other European dramatists.

Collection guide

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