Federation: Ephemera
Ephemera is material which is designed to be short lived and which is often not kept by its recipient. The National Library of Australia has been collecting ephemera for over 100 years and the collection includes all kinds of material: minor publications and pamphlets as well as leaflets, handbills, invitations, cards, menus and junk mail.
The ephemera material held by the Library relating to Federation includes programmes, invitations, posters, handbills promotional material, albums of newspaper and magazine clippings.
Our ephemera
The National Library of Australia News of February 1994 contains the article 'Ephemera: a lasting transcience' about the ephemera collections of the National Library of Australia.
Royal Visits - 1901 - Duke & Duchess of Cornwall and York : programs and invitations ephemera material collected by the National Library of Australia, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-54753475
Royal Visits - 1901 - Duke & Duchess of Cornwall and York : programs and invitations ephemera material collected by the National Library of Australia, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-54753475
Catalogue search tips
Descriptions for material in the collection are progressively being added to the Library's catalogue. To find relevant material add 'ephemera' to any keyword search. Some examples are listed below:
[Referendums, 1898, 1899 & 1900 (Constitution Bill Referendums) : ephemera material collected by the National Library of Australia], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-37147841
[Referendums, 1898, 1899 & 1900 (Constitution Bill Referendums) : ephemera material collected by the National Library of Australia], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-37147841
Richard Stone, Fragments of the everyday : a book of Australian ephemera, 2005, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn3413498
Richard Stone, Fragments of the everyday : a book of Australian ephemera, 2005, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn3413498
Also in this guide
Walter Burley Griffin, Canberra Federal Capital of Australia preliminary plan, 1914, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230041959
Australasian Federation Conference, Official record of the proceedings and debates of the Australasian Federation Conference, 1890, held in the Parliament House, Melbourne, 1890, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-226134849
Australian Commonwealth (1901, January 2). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 5, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196062003
New South Wales. Government Printing Office. (1897). Australian colonies and New Zealand, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231319653