National Library of Australia

Explore the National Library's digitised Manuscripts

Discover Australia through the words of Captain James Cook in the Journal of the H.M.S. Endeavour, get to know Australia's first prime minister, Sir Edmund Barton, through his papers, or find out how Australia's most iconic song 'Waltzing Matilda' came into being.

Explore close to 9000 items online by viewing the selection showcased below or browse all digitised items from the Manuscript Collection in our catalogue. To review our progress read Manuscripts digitisation - progress so far and Digitisation - overview.

More Manuscripts

Other online resources

February Curator's Choice

  • Robert Guth (b. 1975) Mona Tur, 19 February 2001 Robert Guth (b. 1975), Mona Tur, 19 February 2001

Marking the second anniversary of the official apology to the Stolen Generations, the Library is making available recordings from the Bringing Them Home oral history project. In this interview, Mona Tur tells how she was threatened with removal from her mother, a traditional Antikirinja / Yunkunytjatjara woman. When she was eight years old, Mona was eventually sent to the United Aboriginies Mission at Oodnadatta, South Australia. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she was able to maintain strong links to her family and culture.