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Harold White 1950s

enlarge imageAxel Poignant (1906–1986)
Harold White 1950s
photograph
Pictorial Collection

 

The postwar period, from the late 1940s until the early 1960s, saw a dramatic increase in the number of formed collections acquired by the National Library. In 1947 Harold White took over from Kenneth Binns as Head Librarian. The diversity of the collections acquired under White’s administration are a tribute to his remarkable foresight. From Asian studies through to the papers of feminist Bessie Rischbieth, White ensured that little was overlooked that one day might be thought to be of historical and cultural significance. The collection policy of this period, however, also reflects the urgent need of the Library to fulfil its charter as a research library of distinction. An obvious way to rapidly build the collections was to acquire formed collections.

Lady Casey 1960s

enlarge imageLady Casey 1960s
photograph
Pictorial Collection
Lady Casey’s Papers are held in the NLA Manuscript Collection

 

In 1939 the Library first heard about the important collection of Rex Nan Kivell through the writer and patron Maie Casey. A New Zealand-born London dealer, Nan Kivell had collected material relating to the discovery and settlement of lands in the South Seas. However, it wasn’t until 1962 that the Library was able to secure the purchase of the collection.

Portrait of Sir John Ferguson (1881-1969)

enlarge imageKeast Burke (1896–1974)
Portrait of Sir John Ferguson (1881–1969)
colour photograph
Pictorial Collection

In 1946 the Library acquired the first stage of the Ferguson Collection of books, manuscripts and pictorial material, nearly a decade after Sir John Ferguson's presentation of newspapers and periodicals (1937). The Ferguson Collection consists of 34 000 items and is the largest private collection in the Library’s possession. It covers many areas relating to Australia and the Pacific, including sociology, publishing history, poetry, and economics. Among the treasures of the collection is the manuscript of the journal kept by James Burney on Captain Cook’s second voyage to the Pacific. After Ferguson's death in 1969, the remainder of the collection was purchased by the Library from the trustees of the estate.

 
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