Two significant items relating to the botanical history of Australia were purchased. These are: Josef Gaertner, De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum (Leipzig, 1801-1805); and Ch. L. L'Heritier de Brutelle, Sertum Anglicum, seu Plantae Rariores quae in Hortis juxta Londinum, imprimis in Horto Regio Kewensi Excoluntur, Ab anno 1786 ad annum 1787 observatae (Paris, 1788-1792). These books contain some of the earliest documentation of a number of Australian plants. An additional botanical item purchased from another source is Louis-Isidore Duperrey, Voyage autour du monde Histoire naturelle, Botanique. Atlas (Paris, 1826). This volume completes a set for the Library. Another similar natural history title, Heinrich Rudolf Schinz, Naturgeschichte und Abbildung des Menschen der verschiedenen Rassen und Stamme Dritte vermehrte auflage (Zurich, 1845) includes some early studies of Australian Aborigines and is not listed in Sir John Ferguson's Bibliography of Australia.
Six travel posters acquired during the period under review form a valuable addition to the travel posters already in the Library's collection. One German poster from the late 1950s, Anton passagier und Schneillfracht Linie / Nach Australien / Gemeinschaftsdients Hapag-Lloyd, Hamburg-Amerika Linie , is a beautiful depiction of kangaroos and gum trees. A poster by Percy Trompf, 3 Vital Words/ Made in Australia / For Value / Wherever you trade/ Buy/ Australian made (c1950) is a visually appealing record of a promotion for Australian goods.
Negotiations were successfully concluded with three publishers of e-books. The publishers, Zeus Publications, Jacobyte Books and bob-e-books have agreed to provide their titles for archiving in the Library's PANDORA archive. These titles will be available within the Library for five years, after which they will be freely available without restriction.
The Library has received several collections of personal papers of Australians who have been prominent in public life. They include Sir Thomas White, a Minister in the Lyons Government and later High Commissioner in London; Sir Donald Cleland, the Administrator of Papua New Guinea from 1953 to 1967; Sir William Keys, for many years the Secretary and then the President of the RSL; the diplomat and commentator on foreign affairs Malcolm Booker; the broadcaster and columnist Phillip Adams; the controversial philosopher Peter Singer; and the journalist and foreign correspondent John Hamilton. Each of these collections is substantial and they will be fine sources for biographers, as well as documenting many aspects of Australian public life from the 1920s to the present.
For some time the Library has been seeking the papers of scientists and conservationists. In the four months under review, papers of the physicist (and poet) John Philip and the zoologist and entomologist John Calaby have been donated by their families. The veteran conservationist Vincent Serventy has added further papers, as has John Sinclair, best known for leading the fight against mining on Fraser Island. These personal collections are complemented by a huge instalment of the records of the Australian Conservation Foundation, covering the years 1989 to 1996.
Literature and the arts continue to feature among recent acquisitions. The Library has bought a further instalment of papers of Les Murray comprising manuscripts, correspondence and addresses of Australia's most famous living poet. The Sri Lankan-born writer and academic Yasmine Gooneratne has also added papers to the collection. Performing arts holdings have been greatly strengthened by the acquisition of papers of the actors Ruth Cracknell, Dinah Shearing and Noel Ferrier. These collections are rich in photographs as well as letters, reviews, programs and other written records.
The Library is currently making an effort to improve the representation of economists in the collection. It is therefore pleasing that the doyen of academic economists, Heinz Arndt, has presented a large collection of his papers. They include manuscripts extending back to the 1930s, diaries of overseas trips, research files and correspondence with economists, officials and politicians throughout the world. The Anglo-Australian historian Francis West has donated further papers, in particular many letters received when he was researching the lives of the brothers Sir Hubert Murray, the New Guinea proconsul, and Professor Gilbert Murray, the classical scholar. Finally, Pauline Fanning, whose association with the Library began with her appointment to the staff in 1936, has passed over several boxes of papers relating to her work as a librarian, collector and bibliographer.
Library photographer Loui Seselja attended some Olympic and Paralympic events to document a range of venues and the social context of the Games, including the impact on the host city, the technology and equipment used and subjects such as crowds, fashions, food, transportation, and security. A selection of his prints will be displayed at the Council meeting. Photos of athletes and events will also be acquired from photographers who had official media accreditation to the Games. Photographs of previous Olympics were acquired at a Melbourne auction: Mike Wenden winner of 200-metre freestyle, Gold and Silver medalists, 600 metres freestyle and Australia gets bronze 400 metre freestyle from Mexico, 1968; postcard Australian athletes in March Past, Paris, 1924.
Recent photographic acquisitions include portraits of South Australian lawyers, including Justice Kemeri Ann Murray, Chief Justice John Doyle and Elliott Johnson QC by Michal Kluvanek and photographs of prominent Australian film makers by Reece Scannell. Photographs taken in the 1940s and 50s by Albert Tucker were acquired through a Melbourne dealer. The collection includes portraits of Tucker and artists such as Joy Hester; the Boyds, John Perceval, Yosl Bergner, Danila Vassilieff, Sidney Nolan; art patrons John and Sunday Reed and aspects of life at Heide, the Reed's Heidelberg farmhouse.
Two cartoon collections were acquired through the Cultural Gifts Program: 2,600 by Canberra Times cartoonist Geoffrey Pryor and 652 by Courier Mail cartoonist, Stewart McCrae. The collections document themes such as royal visits, fringe benefits tax, elections and drug testing of athletes.
The Library's documentation of satirical commentary and censorship was strengthened by the purchase of an archive of photographs, cartoons and manuscript materials, relating to the magazine, Matilda. According to the magazine's editor, Matilda was the 'most sued magazine' in Australian history and closed after 12 issues. The collection has a strong focus on Australian politics and politicians, and includes many informal and humorous photographs, such Bob Hawke signing an autograph for a bored child, and Russ Hinze wearing a Viking helmet. The collection also includes comment on social issues, such as a 1980s beach beauty competition, cannabis plants, in vitro fertilisation, and tax reform.
In the period since the last report, interviews with a broad group of eminent Australians have been added to the Library's Oral History Collection. They include businessman Leon Fink; food writer and festival director Leo Schofield, and writers Shirley Hazzard (recorded in the United States by James Murdoch), Maurice Saxby and Laurie Copping. Interviews with medical researcher Professor David Penington and former politician Neville Wran were conducted as part of the Library's series of interviews with former Australians of the Year. Other eminent Australians interviewed were folklorist Dr. Gwenda Davey; anthropologist Dr. Martha Macintyre; RSL state president Bruce Ruxton; and publisher Peter Ryan.
A number of other notable interviews cover Australians active in the field of music. Pioneer musicologist Andrew McCredie, formerly Professor of Music at the University of Adelaide, was interviewed by the National Library's new Curator of Music, Robyn Holmes. Anthony Fogg, currently artistic administrator of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was interviewed in the United States, again by James Murdoch. And finally, Donald Hollier and Moneta Eagles were interviewed in Canberra and Melbourne by Larry Sitsky and Ruth Lee Martin respectively for the Library's Australian composers oral history project.
Several notable maps have been added to the Library's rare maps collections. The earliest, Laurie and Whittle's A new chart of the world on Wright's or Mercators' projection (London, 1799) is a large world map showing the routes of major explorers. Dating from the following year, Atlas e charte geographike ton dyo Hemisphairion mela ton diaphoron Thesontes sphairos tes ges Georgioy Golesky (Vienna, 1800), is a large, black and white wall map of the world attributed to a Greek philosopher and Orthodox priest, Anthimos Gazes. This map is regarded as particularly rare and not known to be held by the Library of Congress or British Library. Charte von der Verbreitung der Nutzbarsten Pflanzen uber den Erdkoerper, nach Klimaten geordnet und mit erlauterndem Texte begleitet (Berlin, 1834) is a double hemispherical world map by W. Iaeck, showing plant zonations and dominant plant groups within each zone. An attractive world map by Antonio Villardi, Planisferio illustrato che presenta la descrizione geografica delle parti conosciute della Terra (Milan, c.1880) shows the distribution of European colonies with a range of statistical tables around the perimeter of the map.
A collection of approximately 1,000 topographic and thematic maps of areas of the world where Australian troops served during the twentieth century has been received. Two poster-sized colour world maps issued by Imperial Airways (c.1937) and Qantas (1963) show these airlines' world passenger route services at the time. Another interesting modern acquisition is North Mildura Region path oriented Image (1999), one of a set of four Landsat images covering the Mildura-Balranald area of New South Wales, featuring manuscript annotations of Aboriginal Dreaming tracks by Aboriginal artist, Tracy Andrews.
Asian language reference works in electronic form are becoming increasingly important. Recent acquisitions include Fu yin bao kan zi liao [Chinese newspaper and periodical abstracts] (Beijing: Information Centre, Peoples University of China; 4 CD-ROMs for the full text for 1999 plus 1 CD-ROM index), and Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan zosho mokuroku [National Diet Library of Japan catalogue for the Taisho period (1912-1925) on CD-ROM] (Tokyo: National Diet Library and Kinokuniya, 1999).
The Library has strong holdings of beautifully illustrated publications on many aspects of the arts and cultures of Asia. Interesting new titles include Zhongguo ming yuan = Chinese famous parks and gardens (Shanghai: San lian, 1999), covering over 90 ancient and modern parks and gardens in China; Mark Hanusz' Kretek: the culture and heritage of Indonesia's clove cigarettes (Jakarta: Equinox, 2000), a serious study of this important Indonesian industry; Art and art-industry in Siam, edited by Charles Doehring (Bangkok: Siam Society, [1915]), one of a limited set of 100 reprints produced in 1999 to commemorate the Sixth Cycle of HM King Bhumiphol Adulayej of Thailand; Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan 50-nen no ayumi [Photographic history of the National Diet Library of Japan, 1948-1998] (Tokyo: National Diet Library, 1998) and Zhongguo lao gu piao = Old share certificates of China (Shanghai: Fudan University, 1999) looking at Chinese share certificates from 1872 to the present.
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