The Library recently acquired an original draft of a poem by Mark Twain in the form of a letter.

A little-known chapter of Australia’s past is that the convict settlement at Port Jackson became the first British port in the Pacific. Following his 2025 lecture at the Library, maritime historian Chris Maxworthy returns to expand on his research.

Sarah Luke

Our Maps collection includes around 1 million maps, from early European charts to current mapping of Australia, in print and digital form.

Topic

In 1877, meteorologist and astronomer Henry Russell produced the first published weather map for the colony of New South Wales.

We explored early modern maps with cartographic historian Chet Van Duzer.

Thanks to the generous support of donors to the 2025 Tax Time appeal, selections from the Library’s Antarctica Collections are now available on Trove.

614 books and pamphlets, mostly published overseas in the period 1850–1950, including children’s books, novels, atlases, scripture readings, prayer books, hymn books, works on theology, school textbooks and some historical works.

View historical maps overlaid on a modern map.

Our Manuscripts collections are wide ranging and provide rich evidence of the lives and activities of Australians who have shaped our society.