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

Rare books and illuminated manuscripts

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on the left is the cover of the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia. On the right is a title page with 'Australia. Vol. 1' and an illustration of sheep, a dog, and a man on a horse with a country scene in the background

A version of the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia's cover, alongside a F. B. Schell and F. H. Wellington illustration from Volume 1 of the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1654251

Picturesque Atlas of Australasia

Lavishly illustrated travel books had long been popular in Europe and North America when the same American team that produced Picturesque Canada established the Picturesque Atlas Publishing Company in Wynyard Square, Sydney, on Gadigal Country, in 1885.

Information article
Video
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
Collection guide
Jesuit Collection

5482 titles published 1564-1965 and written in Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. They cover a wide range of subjects, mostly related to religion, philosophy and the Society of Jesus.

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

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