This report is one of a series which provides information about the National Library's acquisitions program. It is important to note that the report does not provide details of the large on-going volume of acquisitions of both Australian and overseas published materials which occur on a regular basis throughout the year. Rather, it offers details about unusual and important acquisitions which contribute significantly to the research strength of the Library or which provide information about particular initiatives intended to rectify notable gaps in holdings. In addition, the report offers information on recent collection development initiatives of the Library which reflect the current Strategic Plan. The report gives major emphasis to the acquisition of Australian materials consistent with the Library's central responsibility to collect comprehensively in this field. Information is also provided about some recent activity in the overseas collecting program in areas which have been accorded priority in the Strategic Plan.
In the six months which have elapsed since the federal election and the change of government, the Library has continued to acquire a range of printed and documentary materials relating to the election campaign. The peak period for the receipt of material from candidates was in the first two to three months after the election. This was particularly so in the case of successful candidates who utilised the services of their new parliamentary offices to dispatch material. The resulting collection has grown to over seventy boxes of campaign literature representing responses from nearly 260 candidates as well as political parties and nearly eighty lobby groups. This collection includes good representation of minor parties, independent candidates and fringe groups.
A concentrated effort has been made to collect material generated by the gun control debate. Care has been taken to ensure that a balanced coverage is achieved across both sides of the debate. The Library has made contact with over twenty groups and significant material has come in from approximately half this number. The material received includes press statements, circulars, newsletters, serials and brochures. Internet sites have also been identified and monitored and printouts of major documentary value have been made for addition to the collection.
In the lead-up to the recent federal budget and subsequently, the Library has made a special effort to acquire examples of the protest literature which has been generated by a range of groups. Internet sites for unions and other groups have been identified and printouts added to the collection.
Although the Library has strong holdings of English language editions of the works of Patrick White published in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, foreign language editions are more difficult to obtain, particularly since translation sometimes occurred much later than the original publication in English and may not always have been readily identifiable. A recent catalogue issued by a Melbourne bookseller listed 40 foreign language editions of which the Library held nineteen. A further four titles were held in two State libraries. The National Library purchased seventeen of these titles for which there were no recorded Australian holdings. Eight of White's novels are represented in ten languages including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch as well as languages such as Croatian, Czech and Romanian. In addition to the purchase of translations of a selection of White's novels, the Library acquired programs for performances of two revues performed in London in 1938 and 1940. Both revues included sketches written by Patrick White (Peter Plover's Party performed by Cyril Ritchard and La Grande Amoureuse performed by Hermione Gingold), interesting forerunners to the major plays he later wrote in Australia.
The Library recently purchased a bound volume of 350 issues of the rare nineteenth century theatrical paper L'Entr'Acte. Tabloid sized publications of this name were distributed free to theatre patrons in various colonial cities from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards. Until recently, the National Library had only very scattered holdings of L'Entr'acte, some of them pasted into scrapbooks. The recent purchase is a major addition to the Library's holdings of nineteenth century Australian theatrical publishing. The volume covers the decade of the 1860's in Melbourne and includes, in addition to the large run of issues of L'Entr'acte, copies of rival publications such as Dramatic Chronicle and Program. This important acquisition provides a vivid picture of Melbourne theatrical life in the post-goldrush era.
The firm of Arthur Yates & Co has been in the business of testing and breeding seeds and selling them to Australian gardeners and farmers for over 100 years. In that time, the firm became a household name. The well-known Yates Garden Guide first appeared in the 1890's and is still published annually. At the same time, Yates produced many individual seed catalogues for a wide range of species and crops. Arthur Yates & Co. recently donated a collection of approximately 250 of its publications to the Library a gift which includes early issues of the Yates Garden Guide as well as seasonal catalogues and special seed catalogues for a variety of flowers and vegetables. A collection of photographs which document the firm's test farms, business premises and sale outlets is included in the Yates gift and has been added to the Pictorial collection.
Three rare broadsides relating to Australia's nineteenth and twentieth century circus history have recently been acquired. The first of these is an 1891 broadside for Wirth's Circus originally published as an insert in the Dimboola Banner, a Victorian country newspaper. In excellent condition, this broadside both advertises and illustrates the acts in the circus. A mid-twentieth century poster, also for Wirth's Circus, advertises the 'Greatest Show on Earth:Wirth's Circus and menagerie of performing wild animals'. Another unusual item, acquired from a dealer in the United States, is a broadside advertising an Australian circus touring to Singapore in 1896. Of all the performing arts, the circus is perhaps one of the most difficult to document. Printed materials such as programs and posters remain elusive and rarities in the antiquarian trade. These items are therefore of considerable interest as a record of Australia's strong circus tradition and are a valuable addition to the Library's rich performing arts collections.
Manuscript acquisitions during the review period have been wide ranging and have added substantially to the Library's capacity to support original research in a range of subject areas of national importance and where Australians have achieved notable success. Acquisitions have been by purchase, by direct gift, by gift under the terms of the Commonwealth Government's Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme and through deposit organised by the Australian Science Archives Project. While a number of acquisitions have further enriched existing strengths and in a number of cases have seen additions made to existing collections of papers, in the case of science the Library has acquired materials which will go some way to filling an area previously poorly represented.
The Library acquired through both gift and purchase three interesting single documents which add to existing strengths in its extensive holdings relating to nineteenth century Australian history. The first of these is a letter written in 1838 by Sarah Broughton, wife of Bishop Broughton, describing travels in New South Wales. The second is a letter written in 1855 by Ann Collick describing her voyage from England and first impressions of Tasmania. And third is a letter written by Patrick McMahon Glynn, one of the architects of the federation of Australia and a member of the first Commonwealth Parliament, in which he proposes marriage to the woman who became his wife. A curiosity of this eloquent and persuasive letter is that it was written by Glynn at the 1898 Federal Convention in the midst of a major discussion on the floor of the New South Wales Parliament. This letter comes as the gift of descendants of Glynn and joins an existing body of Glynn Papers which have been held in the Library for many years.
In the field of science and conservation, the Library has acquired some important collections which significantly extend the range and quality of existing holdings. The most important of these is the 68 boxes of the papers of the scientist, explorer, soldier and writer A.J (Jock) Marshall which have been received through the Australian Scince Archives Project. This is probably the most important collection of papers of a scientist ever acquired by the Library. The collection includes family papers, correspondence, records relating to Marshall's war service, expeditions to New Guinea, Monash University where Marshall was Foundation Professor of Zoology and Comparative Physiology (1960-1967), scientific photographs, lectures and press cuttings.Also through the Australian Science Archives Project, the Library acquired the papers of the chemist Francis Lennox, formerly Chief of the Division of Protein Chemistry, CSIRO together with an addition to the papers of the medical researcher Professor Graeme Clark, the inventor of the bionic ear. In the field of conservation, the Library acquired a major addition to the large collection of Vincent Serventy AM, writer, film maker and conservationist.
Australian literature has for many years been a major research strength of the National Library. A number of recent acquisitions add significantly to holdings which are of major importance at the national level. One of the most significant of these is the collection of papers presented by Helen Garner under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme. This gift of papers relates mainly to The First Stone and the controversy which followed publication of this book. Other notable acquisitions include the following: a long series of letters of Christina Stead to Professor Ron Geering, written in the period 1960-1982; a major addition to the papers of the poet Les Murray; manuscripts and associated papers of the expatriate writer Russell Braddon, bound in 47 volumes; manuscripts and papers of the children's writer Nadia Wheatley; poetry manuscripts and correspondence of Dennis Haskell; further papers of the writer Roger Mcdonald including a substantial correspondence, diaries, photographs, drafts of Shearers' Motel and other works; further papers of Drusilla Modjeska, mainly relating to her book The Orchard; further papers of David Martin, including an extensive correspondence, papers relating to his book Armed neutrality for Australia, television scripts, work in progress and other papers; further manuscripts and correspondence of Tim Winton, including drafts of The Riders; further papers of the playwright Sydney Tomholt (1884-1974) including two letters of George Bernard Shaw; papers of Ed Duyker, including original papers and research material on Dutch and Mauritians in Australia; further papers of Humphrey McQueen, including an extensive correspondence and drafts of his biography of Tom Roberts; further papers of Jill Hellyer, including a long series of letters of A. D. Hope and Nancy Keesing; and a collection of letters of the publisher Rolf Hennequel.
The Library is gradually extending the strength of its holdings in the fields of both music and the visual arts. Notable additions to its collections in these areas include the music scores of the Australian-born violinist Johann Kruse (1859-1927), further papers of the conductor Patrick Thomas, including scores, programs, letters and an unpublished autobiography and a collection of plans, specifications and photographs of the Sydney architect Eleanor Cullis-Hill. Of special interest is the collection of correspondence, draft catalogues, photographs and other papers of Gisella Scheinberg, the director of the Holdsworth Galleries, which documents her long and close association with Donald Friend whose outstanding collection of illustrated diaries and journals is held by the National Library.
The National Library has great research strength in the fields of Australian political history, public administration, Aboriginal affairs and in certain areas of public controversy and sensation. In each of these areas, a number of interesting and useful additions have been made including the following: further correspondence, photographs and printed material of Australia's first Prime Minister Sir Edmund Barton together with correspondence of Lady Barton and their daughter Lady Maughan and her husband Sir David Maughan; papers of Robert Armstrong, a former Secretary of the Department of Immigration, including a diary that he kept while on an overseas trip with Arthur Calwell in 1947-1948; papers of Greg McIntyre, solicitor for the plaintiffs in the Mabo Case, including letters and copies of exhibits and other court documents; and further papers of Lindy Chamberlain.
The Library holds many collections of national organisations. During recent months, it has augmented these holdings with the addition of further records of the Australian Society of Women Writers and the complete files of the London office of the Australian Joint Copying Project (1948-1993), that remarkable joint enterprise of the National Library and the State Library of New South Wales which was established to microfilm records of Australasian interest held in public and private collections in the United Kingdom.
A number of collections have been acquired in microform including selected records of Australian interest of the Royal Greenwich Observatory held in Cambridge University Library. These include the papers of the astronomers Nevill Maskelyne, Sir George Airy and Sir William Christie. The Library has received the third and final instalment of the papers of Sir Joseph Banks in the British Library filmed by Adam Matthew Publications and the papers of John Dunmore Lang held in the State Library of New South Wales (Mitchell Library).
The National Library maintains an extensive pictorial collection which aims to document through the visual record aspects of Australian national life and achievement. Acquisition of material is achieved in a number of ways including gift, purchase and use of the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme. More recently, the Library has carried out a number of major photographic projects constructed around particular themes in order to fill gaps in holdings and to shape the collection according to a deliberate plan. This work has been carried out by photographers especially commissioned to work on the Library's behalf. Portrait acquisitions have also been a significant part of collection development activity in recent months. While the Library has always been interested in portraiture as part of its program to document the life and work of prominent Australians, the establishment of the National Portrait Gallery as a program of the National Library has seen an increase in offers of portraits through both gift and sale.
Completing the Regional Cities and Major Towns project which was established to document a representative collection of cities and towns in all parts of Australia at the end of the twentieth century, photographs were received of Cairns, Townsville and Winton (Qld.); New Norfolk (Tasmania); Coffs Harbour, Cootamundra, Cowra, Bathurst, Broken Hill, Grafton, Gunning, Holbrook, Inverell, Katoomba, Mittagong, Moss Vale, Orange, Queanbeyan, Tamworth, Tumut, Yass and Young (New South Wales).
As part of the Aspects of Australian Life project, contemporary photographs have been acquired of a diverse range of subjects including: bush walking in the Kosciusko National Park; water skiing at Broulee; skateboarding; anti-woodchipping demonstrations; the Australia Day Carnival at Port Macquarie; Lebanese, Turkish and Arabic festivals; a Greek Orthodox religious festival at Port Melbourne; the building of the Crown Casino in Melbourne; the opening of the Glebe Island Bridge; interior viws of the Sydney Opera House; aspects of the Festival of Perth; and demonstrations against the Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne.
The Library is also continuing with a project to document the legal profession in Australia. This project, Law in Australian Society, is being carried out in association with both the Manuscript and Oral History Sections to ensure that prominent practitioners of the legal profession are adequately represented as part of the Library's collections. To date photographs of twenty Victorian lawyers with a national reputation have been commissioned form the Melbourne photographer Francis Reiss. This project will later be extended to other Australian states and territories.
A range of documentary photographs of various Australian subjects have been acquired. These include the following: a collection of forty photographs of the Vietnam Morotorium demonstration in Melbourne in 1971; photographs of the writer Katharine Susannah Prichard lent for copying by her son Ric Throssell; photographs of the noted authority on Australian constitutional law, the late Professor Geoffrey Sawer, lent for copying by his daughter; five photographs of the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre were purchased from the photographer Lee Chittick; thirteeen exhibition prints of athletes who have represented Australia at events such as the 1992 Paralympic Games (Barcelona) were purchased from the photographer Serena Owens; and the photographer Tricia Dixon presented eight of her colour photographs of gardens in New South Wales and Victoria (these have since been published as a set of greeting cards by the Library).
Following publication by the National Library of the highly successful book on the photographer Olive Cotton, the Library has received as a gift from the photographer and her daughter (Sally McInerney) a collection of forty-eight photographs including many vintage prints. This gift represents a major addition to the Library's holdings since previously the work of this eminent Australian was only modestly represented in the collection.
One of the most significant photographic acquisitions by the Library in recent years was the purchase from Wolfgang Sievers of Melbourne of a collection of 500 of his photographs documenting aspects of Australian industry between the years 1938 and 1990. Sievers is one of Australia's most significant and influential photographers. Born in Germany in 1913, he trained at the Contempora School for the Applied Arts in Berlin (an off shoot of the famous Bauhaus School) and took architectural photographs for his father's books on Berlin's historical buildings before emigrating to Australia in 1938. In Australia, Sievers was befriended by Sydney Ure smith, Max Dupain, Richard and Maie Casey and Athol Shmith. He opened his own studio in Melbourne and carried on a commercial practice for some years, gradually coming to specialise in industry and architecture.
The photographs acquired from Sievers are mainly black and white and have been divided into more than forty subject areas depicting heavy industry textile industry, Vickers Ruwolt, clothing manufacture, women in laboratories, craftsmanship, timber felling, bauxite mining and the wine industry in the Barossa Valley. Sievers' promotion of Australian industry helped to change the traditional image of Australia overseas from that of a country of wheat and sheep to a producer of high quality products and technical expertise.
The Library has acquired a number of important portraits in recent months in a range of media. These include the following: the Melbourne publisher and war hero Peter Isaacson, painted by Peter Zageris (presented by the Joseph Brown Gallery); the Australian painter Douglas Dundas, painted by Roland Wakelin (purchase); the sculptor Harold Parker, painted by James Quinn (purchase); the Australian journalist Brian Toohey, painted by Neil Moore (purchase); the politicians Sir William McMahon and Sir John McEwen, charcoal sketches by Ivor Hele (purchase); the medical scientist Sir Gustav Nossal, a bronze bust by the sculptor Julie Edgar (purchase); and the writer Patrick White, a bronze bust by the sculptor Peter Schipperheyn (presented by the National Australia Day Council).
Photographic portraits have also been acquired of a number of well-known Australians including Sir Tristan Antico, Arthur Boyd, Jim Cairns, Alison Crook, John B. Fairfax; Max Gillies, Lisbeth Gore (aka Elle McFeast), Frank Hardy, Carolyn Hewson, Bruce Ruxton, Malcolm Turnbull, Sir Murray Tyrrell, and Professor Di Yerbury.
The major collection development activity in oral history in recent months has been in the elite interviewing program with interviews being conducted with subjects of national reputation in their respective fields of endeavour. Major interviews were conducted in a number of subject areas including the performing arts, journalism and publishing, law, indigenous affairs, politics, librarianship and the environmental movement.
Of particular interest is the progress being made in the project Seven Years On: Emerged or emerging Aboriginal Leaders led by Dr Peter Read and aboriginal historian Jackie Huggins. Modelled in some ways on the well-known British television documentary project Seven Up, the Read-Huggins project is the first of its type to be supported by an Australian library or archive. To date, fifteen interviews have been completed. The quality of the material recorded is very high. Subjects so far recorded are: Aden Ridgway (Lands Council Director); Sandra Phillips (publisher); Darryl Pearce (Lands Council Director); Wes Patten (footballer, actor); Linda Ford (teacher, traditional owner); Adrian Stanley (teacher, environmentalist); Pam Hegarty (archaeologist); Rachel Perkins (film maker); Ian Anderson (doctor); Nathan Jarro (law student); Wesley Enoch (theatre director); Deborah Mailman (actor); Ricky Mullet (environmentalist, archaeologist); Larissa Behrendt (lawyer, lands rights activist); and Bruce Clayton-Brown (social worker).
In the field of the performing arts, Dr Michelle Potter has recorded interviews with Graeme Murphy of the Sydney Dance Company, Meryl Tankard, founder of the Meryl Tankard Company resident in Adelaide, and Padma Menon, founder of the Kailash Company based in the ACT. Dr Potter is expected to draw on these interviews for her forthcoming book on contemporary Australian dance to be published by the National Library.
In the fields of journalism and publishing, John Farquarson interviewed the former political and sports journalist Peter Bowers. Diana Giese interviewed publishers Laurie Muller (University of Queensland Press) and Diana Gribble (Text Publishing Company and founder, with Hilary McPhee,of McPhee Gribble). The writer Sara Dowse has recently completed an interview with John Iremonger (formerly of Melbourne University Press).
The special project Law in Australian Society (referred to above) is making good progress: Peter Coleman recorded an interview with Sir Kenneth Jacobs (in the United Kingdom); Dr Ruth Campbell recorded interviews with Melbourne based academic lawyers Dr Colin Howard and Professor Louis Waller; and Daniel Connell recorded extensive interviews in Sydney with Judge Deidre O'Connor and Sir Laurence Street. Twentyone interviews have now been recorded for this project with an overall target of fifty to sixty interviews to be completed within the next two years.
The Library collects both Australian and overseas maps with the major emphasis being placed on the mapping of Australia and its geographic region. In the case of Australian material, the Library acquires both retrospective and current materials to provide as complete a record as possible of the published mapping of the country.
In recent months, there have been a number of important additions of older material to the collection. These include the following:
From 8-19 July, Margaret Phillips (Manager, Acquisitions) travelled to Hawaii to attend the Eleventh Pacific History Association Conference and to represent the National Library at two meetings being held in association with it: a Pacific Manuscripts Bureau Management Committee meeting and a meeting of librarians associated with Pacific collections. Acquisitions visits were also made in Honolulu and during a stopover in Fiji on the way back to Australia. Contacts made at the Pacific History Association will enhance cooperation between libraries with Pacific collections and have provided an enhanced understanding of the collecting scope and intentions of other libraries. Visits made to agencies in Fiji should result in improved supply of some publications. Publishers' catalogues were acquired for checking against NLA holdings and information was obtained about a new supplier in Fiji. A number of publications which would have been difficult to identify and acquire from Australia were brought back. Constructive working relationships with agencies such as the University of the South Pacific, the South pacific Forum and the South Pacific Commission were consolidated and will prove valuable in the Library's on-going program to acquire Pacific materials.
In recent discussions of the overseas collecting policies of the National Library, reference has been made to the increasing importance of electronic alternatives to traditional paper-based materials. Consistent with its intentions to continue the provision of a major information and reference service, the Library is turning more frequently to electronic publications which offers significant cost advantages and are generally more efficient to use. Examples of major reference tools in CD-ROM form acquired by the Library recently are the following:
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