The David Nichol Smith Collection

Staff Working on the David Nichol Smith Collection August 1966
Ivan Page (standing) Rare Book Curator and Diana Carroll (seated) in August 1966 working in the NLA Rare Books Stack in the Administrative Building, now the John Gorton Building, Parkes, ACT
David Nichol Smith Collection August 1966
photograph
Pictorial Collection

In 1962 the Library bought the David Nichol Smith Collection of 9000 books and 1500 pamphlets of English literature from the Restoration to the eighteenth century. The acquisition provoked the establishment of a separate collection, Rare Books, to oversee the now impressive collection of rare and valuable books held by the Library. The acquisition of the David Nichol Smith Collection was, in the words of Mr Burmester:

first and foremost, a scholar's research library rather than a collector's show-piece.

Guide to the Collections, National Library of Australia

The strength of the Collection lies in its extensive range of first and early editions of Restoration and eighteenth-century English literature, including first editions of Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe. The Collection has greatly enriched Australian academic and scholarly life. In 1966 the National Library and the Australian National University held a seminar on eighteenth-century literature, convened by Dr Bob Brissenden of the Australian National University. Twelve seminars have now been held, demonstrating the direct relationship between the collections held in the National Library and the intellectual and academic community beyond.

 

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