Recent Acquisition Highlights

December 2004

Background

This report to Council offers a review of recent major acquisitions of significance and trends in collection development activity in the National Library. It covers the period from June 2004 to November 2004. It does not describe the large volume of acquisitions of both Australian and overseas materials that are routinely acquired through deposit, purchase or donation to build the collections. During the financial year 2004-2005 it is estimated that the Library will acquire over 380,000 collection items in a wide range of formats.

Australian Printed Materials

A number of books related to Australia and not previously held in the Library’s collections have been received. These include nineteenth and twentieth century imprints.

Australian documentary heritage is also represented by more ephemeral or insubstantial material, and the National Library collects a varied selection documenting aspects of Australian life.

  • A selection of menus, invitations and programmes relating to The Right Honourable William Hughes’s visit to Lyon and Paris, 1918-1919. These items complement the material the Library already holds on William Hughes, particularly the manuscript collection of William Hughes’ papers.
  • Program of sports in conjunction with world’s ¼ mile championship, August 15, 1908 , Salford Football Ground, Day ( United Kingdom ) v. Postle ( Australia ), for £500. Manchester, E. Hulton & Co. [1908].
  • Souvenir brochure Scotland v Australia at Mannofield, Aberdeen on Friday and Saturday September 17 and 18, 1948. [ Aberdeen ], Aberdeenshire Cricket Club, 1948. Includes a score card from the match. This was Sir Donald Bradman’s last game in the UK .
  • Aslanis, C. Qantas wants us. Ask about our $420 fading blue denim flights to London . Sydney, Qantas, ca. 1970. This poster targets the backpacker market when air travel became more affordable.
  • Northfield, James. Gratify your wish for health, demand quality, guaranteed Board Eggs. Melbourne, Egg & Pulp Marketing Board of Victoria, ca. 1940. 1 poster, 102 cm.
  • Weston, Harry J. DUNLOP the quality TYRE . [192?] Poster 73 x 100 cm. This acquisition complements several other works by Weston held by the Library. Weston was well known for his WW1 recruitment posters.
  • W. P. There’s a man’s job for you in Australia. Canberra ? Commonwealth Dept of Immigration, ca. 1947. 1 poster 102 x 77 cm. An immigration recruitment poster.
  • Mayo, Eileen. Australia . Melbourne, Australian National Travel Association, ca. 1950. 1 poster 101 x 64 cm. Artwork depicts a kangaroo with joey standing on red rock with grass trees in the background. This acquisition complements one other Eileen Mayo poster which the Library has in its collection.

Australian Electronic Publications

The Library’s Digital Archiving Section seeks out and archives significant Australian websites and other electronic documents as a way of preserving this aspect of Australia ’s published heritage material. The following examples of items recently archived show the diversity of the material being collected and preserved.

  • Transnational terrorism: the threat to Australia . The government’s white paper on terrorism launched in July by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.
  • Page Research Centre Limited. Web site of the Centre established to undertake research and develop policy aimed at enhancing the prosperity of regional Australia . Includes speeches, orations, research papers and other communications of the Centre.
  • Bob Ellis’s web site. Web site of the writer, film maker and ALP speechwriter. Includes essays not published in print.
  • Ruddock v Roxon: the great legal debate . A webcast of the debate on current legal issues by the Attorney-General and Shadow Attorney-General held on 21 September 2004 at the Centre of Public Law at the University of New South Wales .

2004 Federal Election Campaign web sites. Approximately 270 titles were archived for the 2004 Federal Election collection which represents a significant increase in the number and range of sites archived from previous federal elections. In the 2001 Federal Election 150 titles were archived and in 1998, 22 titles were archived. Almost 70% of the titles archived from the 2004 election were candidate and political party web sites and the remaining 30% comprise lobby, comment, analysis and media web sites.

Asian Collections

Several new titles relating to the Bali bombing were recently received from the Library’s acquisitions office in Jakarta , Indonesia . Oliver Mann , the Regional Officer, works to acquire books, journals and newspapers on a range of subjects to meet the needs of researchers and scholars of Indonesia . The Bali bombing in October 2002 generated a considerable amount of discussion and debate within Indonesia and publications representing several different viewpoints have been added to the collection. Buku putih bom Bali : peristiwa dan pengungkapan. Jakarta : PTIK Press, 2004 (White paper on the Bali bombing: events and statements) is a comprehensive compilation of official records on the Bali bombing, compiled by the Indonesian Police. This level of disclosure by the police is relatively unusual, although the ‘white paper’ format, which presents factual data on controversial topics, is well established in Indonesia .

An autobiography of one of the convicted Bali bombers, Imam Samudra, recently appeared and a copy was secured for the collection. Aku melawan teroris! Solo: Jazera, 2004 (I fight terrorists!) had a limited distribution of 5,000 copies to non-retail sources and sold out quickly. The book is a mixture of autobiography, religious musings and Samudra’s account of the events in Bali . (The ‘terrorists’ of the title are the United States and its allies).

Oliver also acquired a CD of 68 images taken in the vicinity of the Bali bomb site on the morning after the explosion in 2002. The images will be catalogued and made accessible through the Library’s Pictures catalogue. A similar compilation of images recording the aftermath of the Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta on 9 September 2004 will be gathered.

Also on the Embassy bombing, Oliver acquired two ‘Wanted’ posters for suspects in the Embassy bombing. They display the various names and disguises used by the suspects, Noordin M. Top and Dr Azahari, and offer a reward of one billion rupiah (approximately A$190,000).

In December 2004 Oliver Mann leaves the Regional Office and will be replaced by Ralph Sanderson of the Library’s staff. We are grateful to Oliver for his considerable efforts over the last eight years to maintain the acquisitions programme at its present level of strength and ensure the Library’s Indonesian collections are continually current and relevant.

Overseas Materials

The provision of access to electronic resources continues to be a priority. During the last six months, the following resources have been made available:

  • Factiva electronic news and business information service . This online service provides access to global news and business information, including full text coverage of Australian newspapers, many overseas newspapers, same-day news wires, and company reports. Investment analyst reports, market research reports, country and regional profiles, company profiles, and historical market data are also provided.
  • The Gerritsen Collection – women’s history online (1543-1945) . The collection contains more than 4,700 printed works in fifteen languages and provides valuable research material in areas such as history, women’s studies, political science, sociology, education, health and psychology.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . This invaluable reference source took 12 years to complete and has been published in print and online. The Library has purchased the 60 volumes in print and has 15 months free online access.
  • Four more e-book encyclopaedia titles from the Gale Virtual Reference Library were purchased, making a total of 13 titles available online and able to be searched simultaneously, with another two titles due within the next year.

Microform collections are still being acquired or added to and during this period, the following collections were purchased:

  • Church Missionary Society Archive: Section 1, East Asia Missions . This major purchase of 389 reels of microfilm covers the period 1880-1949 in China and is a significant research resource that complements a number of other collections including the London Missionary Society Collection and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.: Board of Foreign Missions collections (see below). The CMS collection has an Australian component relating to several Australian women who worked with missions in China in the 1890s.
  • Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. : Board of Foreign Missions Correspondence and Reports, 1833-1911 . This purchase includes records from the China Mission, 1837-1911; Japan Mission, 1859-1911; Philippine Mission, 1898-1910; Thailand ( Siam ) Mission , 1840-1910; and India Mission, 1833-1910.
  • British Foreign Office: Japan Correspondence, 1949-1951 . The Library now holds records covering the period 1856-1951.
  • The papers of William Stanley Jevons, 1835-1882, from the John Rylands University Library of Manchester . William Jevons was a noted English economist who spent 1853-1858 in Australia during which time he worked at the Sydney Mint.

Although the Library no longer has an active rare book acquisition program, material for the collection is still acquired, either through purchase or donation, where it augments existing collections and when resources permit. Titles acquired for the Rare Books Collection in this period include:

  • Buc ov samz was donated by a reader. Published in London by Fred Pitman in 1849, this tiny book is a shorthand and phonetic version of the Psalms in the Bible. No other holdings in Australia have been reported to Kinetica.
  • The Life of Saint Edmund King & Martyr was purchased from the Folio Society for $1150. This limited edition facsimile is issued in two volumes in a box, and took more than two years to produce. The facsimile volume is hand-bound in full goatskin leather with red leather title inlays on spine and front, while the commentary volume is bound in full buckram.
  • A collection of facsimile children’s books was purchased from Grant’s Bookshop in Melbourne for $1500. The Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books comprises 35 titles in 27 slipcases, and includes some important examples of children’s book production from the 18 th and 19 th centuries. It includes works by Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.
  • Erinnerungen aus dem Jahr 1790 in historischen Gemälden und Bildnissen von D. Chodowiecki, D. Berger, Cl. Kohl, J.F. Bolt und J.S. Ringck / by Georg Forster. Published in Berlin by Voss in 1793, this is a first edition of Forster’s illustrated historical cameos on the French Revolution. Forster, famous for having sailed on Cook’s second voyage round the world, had returned to Germany in 1788 where, in addition to his scholarly activities, he became increasingly involved in revolutionary politics. Forster advocated the incorporation of the Rhineland into France and his Erinnerungen aus dem Jahr 1790 was published in the same year as his election as representative of the Mainz republicans in Paris . Outlawed in Germany , he died of fever in Paris in January 1794.

Manuscripts

During the period under review the Library has acquired papers of three individuals who, at different times and in different ways, were preoccupied with matters relating to Australian defence. Sir Brudenell White had a long military and public career and was Chief of the General Staff in World War I and again briefly in 1940. His grandchildren have donated further papers, in particular family photographs dating from the mid 19 th century onwards. Sir Arthur Tange also had a long career as a diplomat and public servant and between 1954 and 1979 was Secretary of the Department of External Affairs and the Department of Defence. The papers he bequeathed to the Library have now been received. In particular, they contain writings and reflections on public policy and defence administration. Whereas Tange was a powerful figure within the government, Bruce Ruxton achieved notoriety as an outspoken critic of government policies generally and defence policy in particular. His huge personal archive, purchased by the Library, extends back to his service with the Occupation Forces in Japan . The bulk of the papers document his 24 years as President of the Victorian branch of the Returned Services League.

Other public figures who have placed papers in the Library include Ainsley Gotto, John Gorton’s principal private secretary from 1968 to 1972. Ms Gotto Carson’s papers cover not only her time in the Prime Minister’s Office but also her childhood and her later years working in advertising and the media in Britain and Australia. The economist and university administrator Peter Karmel has donated files relating to the Australian Universities Commission and the Tertiary Education Commission, which he headed in 1976-84, as well as earlier letters and speeches. The leading Sydney barrister Chester Porter has passed over the first instalment of his papers, which include an account of the last case of capital punishment in New South Wales . Papers have also been received of Kevin Newman, who was a minister in the Fraser Government, and Jocelyn Newman, who was a minister in the Howard Government.

The Library has acquired an organisational archive that will be a major source for political historians. The Australian Republican Movement has transferred its older records, dating from its formation in 1991 until 1999 and including important material on the 1998 Constitutional Convention.

In recent times the Library has tried to strengthen its holdings of papers of leading economists and two noteworthy collections have been received. Sir Timothy Coghlan was the New South Wales Government Statistician from 1886 to 1905 and a prolific writer on economic history, public finance and statistics. The Library already held his personal papers and has now purchased a series of notebooks containing his calculations on national wealth and income. Geoff Harcourt was Professor of Economics at Adelaide University for nearly 20 years, before being lured to Cambridge . An international authority on Keynes and modern political economy, he has accumulated a huge archive extending over 40 years and including letters from well-known economists in many countries.

The Library continues to be successful in acquiring papers of Australian historians. Kenneth McIntyre was a Melbourne lawyer whose book The secret discovery of Australia provoked much debate when it was published in 1977. He died recently and his family has passed over papers which are particularly strong on Portuguese voyages and the early mapping of the western Pacific. Professor John Ritchie is the author of books on J.T. Bigge and D’Arcy and William Wentworth and was General Editor of the Australian Dictionary of Biography from 1988 to 2002. He has presented his correspondence files which cover 40 years and include letters from notable historians such as Manning Clark, Geoffrey Serle and Allan Martin.

The family of the expatriate actor Ed Devereaux have donated photographs, scripts and business papers concerning ‘Skippy’, the television series in which he starred in 1966-68. Further papers have been received of the violinist and conductor Ernest Llewellyn, including a fine selection of photographs and files on the early years of the Canberra School of Music. Additions have also been made to the papers of several writers, such as David Martin, Marion Halligan and Philip Mead. New literary collections have included papers of Pauline Armstrong relating to Frank Hardy and papers of Barbara Ross concerning the Queensland novelist and short story writer Dorothy Cottrell.

Maps

The Library’s collection of rare maps was strengthened through the acquisition of a previously unrecorded edition of a Spanish map of the Pacific Ocean, published in 1835 by Josef Espinosa y Tello: Carta general para las navegaciones a la India Oriental por el Mar del Sur y el Grande Oceano. The map shows the exploration and charting of the Australian coastline and inland. It joins two earlier editions published in 1812 and 1814. Another notable acquisition is a 1598 map from the Cologne publishing house J. Metellus: Maris Pacific, vulgo mar del zur. This edition of the second-oldest known map of the Pacific is modelled on Abraham Ortelius’ 1589 map of the same area.

Globe plat ou mappe-monde d’une projection nouvelle, published by A. Duplessy in Paris c.1780 and previously unknown, features an unusual projection of a flat world, in one hemisphere, encircled by a time clock. An interesting acquisition is an atlas for schoolchildren, published by Karl Vogel in Leipzig in 1855: Kleiner schulatlas der elementargeographie. This item contains a series of maps depicting the physical geography of the six continents. Another most unusual acquisition is a late eighteenth century woodblock print published by the Japanese cartographer Saokichi Hashimoto: Oranda shinyaku chikyáu zenzu, Edo , 1796. This map, copied from Dutch maps of the early eighteenth century, features a commentary on the continents and countries of the known world and contains references to a possible sixth continent.

Globe terrestre revu et corrige sur les dernieres observations. produced in Paris by Louis Charles Desnos in 1757, consists of two sheets of terrestrial gores for an 18 cm. diameter globe with two sheets of globe papers. Three items created by French cartographers during the second half of the eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century complete the list of rare maps acquired during the period under review. The first of these was published by Joseph de la Lande: Figure du passage de Venus sur le disque du Soleil … 5 Juin, 1769 Paris, 1760-69. It consists of a double hemispherical world map, showing the transit of Venus in 1769. The second was published by Augustin Legrand: Globe artificial et mecanique a l’usage du petit geographe, Paris , 1820. It consists of a six gore folding paper globe of the world, in a container, with accompanying booklet. The third was published by Hyacinthe Langlois: Geographie, Paris, 1841. It comprises a boxed set of six jigsaw-puzzle maps of the World, Oceania , France , North and South America and Africa . It was issued as an educational aid for teaching geography to young students.

One notable item added to the Library’s collection of modern maps is entitled Around Ground Zero, Dec. 2001. Published in New York in 2001-2002 it is an orthophotomap of the World Trade Centre Buildings with before and after views of the September 11 disaster site.

Music and Dance

The first instalment of the papers of the internationally acclaimed Australian composer, pianist, organist, writer and lecturer Malcolm Williamson CBE was donated in July by his sister, Library volunteer Marion Foote. Two additional Williamson scores were donated to the Library by the former Anglican Bishop of Canberra , Owen Dowling.

Several existing collections were strengthened. Jill Antill-Rose, daughter of the composer of Corroboree, added further materials to the John Antill Collection. The German-born Australian George Dreyfus AM, renowned for his work in opera, chamber music, new music, children’s music, and music for film and television, added fresh material to his very extensive collection of music scores.

An important addition to the Library’s collection of sound recordings was acquired from Warren Fahey. A writer, columnist, former chief executive of Festival Records, the founder of Larrikin records, founder and leader of The Larrikins bush band, and one of Australia’s best known folklorists, Mr. Fahey was awarded an AM in 1997 for his services to the Australian music recording industry, especially in the field of traditional Australian music. The recordings were received as a component of his manuscript collection, and represent a virtually complete collection of the many recordings of Australian music issued by Larrikin Records.

An interesting donation of overseas materials was presented to the Library by the family of Professor Robin Wood AM, a distinguished Australian dentist and keen music lover. The donation consists of a set of volumes of the folk songs and folk tunes of Burgundy . Based on original field recordings, the volumes were co-compiled in France by M. Georges Delarue, a member of the Woods family.

There are few living Australian choreographers whose careers have created such interest and controversy as Meryl Tankard and the donation under the Cultural Gifts Program of a collection of material covering her activities from the 1970s to the present day was a significant addition to the Library’s dance resources. This gift is the first instalment of what will be a major archive documenting Tankard’s work, including her contribution to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Opening Ceremony, her consultancy with the jewellery house Tiffany and Co. and her choreography for major dance and theatre companies in Australia and Europe.

The dance collections were further strengthened with the purchase of 106 photographs, some acquired as prints, others as digital objects, from eight different specialist dance photographers. Particularly welcome were portfolios from two Perth-based photographers, Jon Green and Ashley de Prazer. These items document recent dance activities in Western Australia , an area in which the Library’s existing collection has not been strong. One of the photographers, Regis Lansac, donated an additional twenty items recording Meryl Tankard productions: Wild Swans for the Australian Ballet in 2003, and Pearl , created to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Sydney Opera House in the same year.

The Library’s coverage of Australian dance artists performing at international level was boosted by an arrangement reached with Houston Ballet. The Houston Ballet, currently employing Stanton Welch as artistic director, has agreed to supply the Library with programs featuring Welch’s work. A retrospective consignment of materials has been received and future materials will be provided on an on-going basis.

Oral History

The most outstanding recent addition to the Oral History Collection is an eight hour interview recorded with the former Governor-General, the Right Reverend Dr Peter Hollingworth. The recording, undertaken at Dr. Hollingworth’s suggestion, was conducted by Daniel Connell. Distinguished academics recorded during the period include the archaeologist Professor Isabel McBryde and several historians, including Professor Alan Powell and Dr Michelle Dewar in Darwin , Dr Edward Duyker in Sydney and Dr. Edgar Waters in Canberra . In the arts notable interviewees include the expatriate poet Jocelyn Orrt-Saeed (visiting Australia from Pakistan ); composer John Hopkins; Walkley Award-winning journalist, poet and writer, Max Fatchen; sculptor Max Lyle; potter Milton Moon; theatre publicist Betty Stewart and patron, gallery owner and jazz musician, Kym Bonython. In the field of popular entertainment Bill Stephens recorded an interview with the veteran side-show promoter Jim Sharman snr, renowned for his travelling tent shows and boxing troupe. Some of the Library’s own history was documented in an interview with NLA architect, Noel Potter who is now in his early eighties.

The Indigenous history project Seven Years On devised in 1995 by Professor Peter Read and Jackie Huggins entered its tenth year. Emerging Indigenous leaders first interviewed in 1997 who were re-interviewed ‘seven years on’ in 2004 include: university lecturer Daryle Rigney, land management facilitator Adrian Stanley, archaeologist David Johnston and university student Alinta Williams. Following a suggestion made by the Hon. Phillip Ruddock MP, an interview was recorded with Mrs. Eve Sher OAM, a veteran community worker living in Melbourne . Also interviewed was Marion Le, a prominent spokeswoman for refugee rights in the present era.

The Folklore collection was strengthened by materials received from Library field collectors working in NSW, Tasmania and the Torres Strait . In June and July folklorists Rob and Olya Willis travelled through NSW and Tasmania documenting working life and social life in rural and isolated communities from 1912 to the present day. Their contributors included former shearers, policemen, housewives, hunters, trappers, hydro-electricity workers and others. Most of the recordings include examples of traditional songs, dance music and yarns. In August, Townsville-based ethnomusicologist Dr Karl Neuenfeldt travelled to Horn Island in the Torres Strait and recorded an interview with Henry ‘Seaman’ Dan. Mr Dan, an island elder and renowned singer-songwriter, was recently honoured with an award for the best world music recording by the Australian Record Industry Association. In September folklorist Dr Gwenda Davey travelled to Tasmania and recorded six interviews for Tradition Bearers, a project she is conducting jointly with the National Library and the National Folk Festival. Dr Davey’s recordings were made with Indigenous women in Hobart and Launceston. Five of her contributors were specialists in the traditional craft of shell necklace-making, the sixth was a traditional artist.

Pictures

The Library successfully bid for two lots relating to Captain James Cook offered at Christies Exploration and Travel sale in London on 23 September, Cook’s coat-of-arms and an exquisite miniature portrait on ivory of Sir George Jackson. Cook’s coat-of arms, incorporating a globe and two polar stars, was granted by George III to the explorer’s widow in 1785. This watercolour depiction of the coat-of-arms is made on paper watermarked 1818. Sir George Jackson was Second Secretary to the Admiralty and Judge Advocate of the Fleet. Jackson was a friend and patron of Cook who named both Point Jackson in New Zealand and Port Jackson in New South Wales after him. Also acquired at the Christies sale was a photographic portrait of the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.

The Library’s record of life on the Victorian goldfields was enhanced by the purchase of two watercolours Diggings in the Mount Alexander District and The Rush to the Goldfields by renowned artist S. T. Gill. Diggings in the Mount Alexander District depicts the denuded landscape of the gold diggings in the Mount Alexander District near Bendigo ; it shows mining activities and equipment with some detail, and the working conditions of the miners. The Rush to the Goldfields is a lively and animated depiction of the rush to find fortune on the diggings. The watercolours were purchased at Deutscher Menzies’ auction in Sydney on 17 June 2004. Also in the Sydney salerooms the Library was the successful bidder at a Christies auction for an attractive oil painting by Ethel Carrick Fox of Old Parliament House, adding to its coverage of significant historical buildings.

A collection of 1,409 colour transparencies compiled by the elite Sydney interior decorator Warren R. Harding added valuable new material to the Library’s documentation of Australian lifestyles in the 1970’s. The Harding Collection depicts an era of new ideas, when moss green and shocking pink were considered restful tones for a lounge room.

A series of 27 photographs of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was purchased from William Yang. William Yang photographed the Mardi Gras from its early days as an illegal street protest to its evolution into an internationally recognised celebratory event. The acquisition fills a significant gap in the Pictures Collection as no photographs of the Mardi Gras were previously held.

Among the portraits of eminent Australians acquired during the period, the most notable include an oil painting of the writer Russell Braddon, and photographs by television producer Peter Luck of Sir John Kerr’s former official secretary, Sir David Smith, the nuclear physicist Sir Ernest Titterton, and the former senator Gareth Evans.

68 digital images taken the day after the Bali nightclub bombings of 12 October 2002 were purchased from Indonesian photographer Gede Bingin. The images depict the area in the vicinity of the Sari Club and Paddy’s Irish Bar, before it was sealed off to the general public, showing the condition of the street, damaged buildings and cars, and the work of emergency personnel. They were acquired with the assistance of the Library’s liaison officer in Indonesia , Oliver Mann.

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