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

Rare books and illuminated manuscripts

Showing 1 - 12 of 26 results
Collection guide
Valente Collection

Around 6,000 books, mostly in Portuguese, mostly relating to literature, history and religion among many other topics.

Collection guide
Shelf and table with dozens of old, leather-bound books, some with gold designs or writing on the spines

Baskerville Collection in the Rare Books Stacks

Using the Rare Books collection

Records for much of the Rare Books Collection are in our catalogue, but if you do not find the item you are looking for, please ask for help: the item may not yet be catalogued, or an alternative version may be available

Information article
Title page of a landscape oriented printed book: ornate engraving featuring musical performers. Scene is framed by theatre curtains.

James Hook, Guida di Musica: Being a Complete Book of Instructions for Beginners on the Harpsichord or Piano Forte, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn8650184

The Excellencies of Musick: Highlights from the Jamie and Michael Kassler Collection

Enter the musical world of seventeenth and early nineteenth century Britain with rare prints, books and manuscripts.

Exhibition
Old book open to page reading 'As You Like It: A comedy'

Nicholas Rowe (editor), The Works of Mr. William Shakespear, 6 volumes, volume 2, London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1709–1710, David Nichol Smith Collection, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1355760

Shakespeare in the Library’s rare books collections

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

Blog
Title page of the Margarita Philosophica 1517

Title page of the Margarita Philosophica (1517)

Reisch’s Margarita Philosophica (1517)

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

Blog
Rare Dictionaries

Jacques Lacombe (1724–1811), Dizionario Portatile Delle Belle Arti (Portable Dictionary of the Fine Arts), Venice: Bassano, 1768, Onions Collection, nla.cat-vn15907 

Rare dictionaries at the Library

Explore dictionaries of various shapes, sizes, languages and subjects from the Library's collection.

Blog
Rare Books Swimming - Roger Lever

Frontispiece and title page of Melchisédech Thévenot, The Art of Swimming. The second edition. London: Printed for John Lever, 1764, nla.cat-vn7756220

Rare book highlights – Swimming in 1764

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.

Blog
colour photo of books on shelves
Published guides and bibliographies

There are numerous guides and bibliographies available to help you navigate the Library's vast collections.

Information article
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
Collection guide
Pickering Collection

About 440 books published by William Pickering between 1820 and 1854 including reprints of classics and seventeenth-century Anglican religious works, plus contemporary writers of his time.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Petherick Collection

About 15,000 books and pamphlets. The great strength of the collection is in Pacific voyages and early Australiana with many very rare items. Also manuscripts including papers of Joseph Banks, maps and pictures.

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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