Mackaness Collection

Step into the world of early Australian literature and rare print culture. This rich collection includes manuscripts submitted to The Bulletin (1918–20), personal papers, and over 180 books on Australia—some extremely rare. It also holds 30 rare publications from Tahiti by the London Missionary Society (1817–37). Built by educator and bibliophile George Mackaness, it reflects a lifetime of collecting driven by scholarship and a passion for Australian history and literature.

Literature and writing

Key items in the collection

Highlights from this collection demonstrate its historical significance and variety.

The books and pamphlets acquired by the Library at the Mackaness sales in 1967–69 amount to 185 titles. The following are some of the extremely rare works in the collection:

Church of Scotland, Minutes of the Synod of Australia in Connexion with the Established Church of Scotland, Sydney, 1841
George Windsor Earl, The Steam Route from Singapore to Sydney via Torres Strait, [London, 1853]
John Fraser, The Aborigines of Australia: Stories about the Kamilaroi Tribe, Maitland, 1882
Nat Gould, The Sporting Annual, London, 1900
John Jennings, New Zealand Colonization, London, 1843
William Stanley Jevons, A Serious Fall in the Value of Gold, London, 1863
Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney, 1918
J Sheridan Moore, University Reform, its urgency and reasonableness, Sydney, 1865
Report of the State Trials before a General Court Martial Held at Montreal in 1838–39, Montreal, 1839
Select Portions of the Psalms of David, Hobart, 1830
Sydney Female School of Industry, Annual Report, Sydney, 1831
William Westgarth, Observations on the Present Commercial, Agricultural and Civil Condition of the Australian Colonies, Leith, 1844
Nathaniel William Wraxall, A Short Review of the Political State of Great Britain, London, 1787.

The Tahitian collection assembled by Mackaness consists of 30 books and pamphlets published by the London Missionary Society between 1817 and 1837. The first printing press was established by William Ellis on the island of Moorea (Eimeo) in 1817. He moved to Huahine in the Windward Group in 1818. In 1819, Robert Bourne set up a press at Burder’s Point in Tahiti, and in 1822 he moved to Tahaa in the Leeward Group.

The Tahitian imprints mainly comprise catechisms, hymnals, epistles and other books of the Bible, as well as an arithmetic book and a history of the mission. The collection includes the earliest book published in the Pacific, Tafaseo Aniwa (Eimeo, 1817), which was printed by Pomare II under the direction of Ellis.

The Mackaness Collection contains a large number of literary manuscripts submitted to The Bulletin between 1918 and 1920. These include poems and stories by:

JHM Abbott
Arthur Bayldon
Randolph Bedford
EJ Brady
Zora Cross
Dulcie Deamer
Edward Dyson
Leon Gellert
Mary Gilmore
Cecil Mann
George Gordon McCrae
Will Ogilvie
Roderick Quinn
Frank Wilmot
Donald McKee Wright

Mackaness also collected literary letters from various other sources. These include a letter by Louis Becke, written in 1896. Notably, the collection holds many letters written to the author and publisher Edward A Vidler (1863–1942) and to the poet A Bertha Crowther.

The correspondence of Mackaness, primarily dating from 1927 to 1957, is extensive. It includes 239 letters from Hugh McCrae, 150 from Mary Gilmore, and over 2,000 from other writers and collectors. Among the correspondents are:

Arthur Bayldon
William Baylebridge
John Le Gay Brereton
Alan Chisholm
Alec Chisholm
Sir William Crowther
Sir William Dixson
MH Ellis
Sir John Ferguson
RD FitzGerald
Miles Franklin
Ernestine Hill
Rex Ingamells
Arthur Jose
Dorothy Mackellar
James McAuley
JK Moir
E Morris Miller
Eris O’Brien
Nettie Palmer
Geoffrey Rawson
Percival Serle
PR Stephensen
Douglas Stewart
Frank Wilmot

Other papers of Mackaness comprise the manuscripts of his biographies of William Bligh and Arthur Phillip, a typescript account of the wreck of the Quetta in the Torres Strait in 1890 and an album of newspaper cuttings on the western district of New South Wales.

About George Mackaness

George Mackaness (1882–1968) was born in Sydney and attended Drummoyne Public School, Balmain Superior Public School, and the University of Sydney. He began teaching at Fort Street Public School in 1903. By 1912, he was master of English and deputy headmaster there. In 1924, he became lecturer-in-charge in the Department of English at Sydney Teachers’ College and also lectured at the University of Sydney at times. He retired in 1946.

Literary and cultural contributions

Mackaness was well known in Sydney’s literary and cultural circles. For more than 20 years, he was a trustee of the Public Library of New South Wales. He also served as president of the Fellowship of Australian Writers, the Junior Theatre League, and the Royal Australian Historical Society. Additionally, he was on the advisory board of the Commonwealth Literary Fund.

He wrote several textbooks and bibliographies, and two important biographies:

The Life of Vice-Admiral William Bligh (1931)
Admiral Arthur Phillip (1937)

He also edited collections including:

Australian Short Stories (1928)
A Selection from the Prose Works of Henry Lawson (1928)

Book collecting and legacy

Mackaness and his wife Alice were passionate book collectors, building a collection of over 16,000 titles. Mackaness believed, “You must be a scholar first before you become a successful book collector.” Much of his collection came from his research on Australian exploration, colonial history, and literature.

He closely followed dealers’ catalogues and worked with other collectors like Sir John Ferguson and Sir William Crowther. Ferguson included some of the Mackaness Library’s books in his Bibliography of Australia, noting that some were the only surviving copies.

Background to the collection

Mackaness was in regular communication with the Library from about 1930 onwards and often exchanged copies of early Australiana. In 1932, he donated the manuscript of his biography of William Bligh. In 1952, he sold to the Library a collection of books and pamphlets published by the London Missionary Society in Tahiti. In 1959, the Library purchased his collection of literary manuscripts and letters. His library was sold by Angus and Robertson in 1967–69, and the Library acquired a number of books. Further items have been purchased from dealers in subsequent years, including the manuscript of his biography of Arthur Phillip in 2006.

The books and pamphlets in the Mackaness Collection have been integrated in the Australian and general collections. The literary manuscripts and correspondence are held in the Manuscripts Collection. They occupy 16 boxes. Use the 36-page finding aid.

The Mitchell Library at the State Library of New South Wales holds papers of Mackaness, including literary and historical notes, broadcasts, some letters, and reviews of some of his books (MLMSS 2835, MLMSS 2374).

This guide was prepared using these references: