ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 68 | April 2004
Exhibition: Future MemoryNational Library Recent Acquisitions
Each year, the National Library of Australia acquires many thousands of new items. Some are purchases, some are received under the legal deposit provisions of the Copyright Act 1968, some are given as gifts, bequests or donations.
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| Courtship and Marriage,
a Fascinating Game for 2, 3 or 4 Players [Melbourne: National Game Co., c.1905] col. cardboard and paper; 36.8 x 36.8 cm Pictures Collection, nla.pic-an21318296 |
A new exhibition, Future Memory: National Library Recent Acquisitions, opening at the Library on 27 May 2004, displays just a small proportion of those items received into the Library’s Collection since 1999. Future Memory: National Library Recent Acquisitions is a very special exhibition for the Library. Featuring approximately 200 items, the Library hopes this will be the first of a semi-regular series highlighting recent acquisitions. Future Memory will include the photography of Wolfgang Sievers, Peter Sculthorpe’s music manuscripts, the poetry of Judith Wright, the papers and watercolours of Edward Koiki (Eddie) Mabo, rare books such as a 1636 edition of Machiavelli’s The Prince, sporting memorabilia, political cartoons, an invitation to the Bali memorial service, an early nineteenth-century map of the Pacific and Courtship and Marriage, ‘a fascinating game for 2, 3 or 4 players’.
While the exhibition will demonstrate the breadth and depth of the Library’s Collection, it is also an opportunity to recognise the many ways in which we acquire new material. In particular, the exhibition highlights the role of individual donors and the importance of the Cultural Gifts Program to the development of our Collection. A special Future Memory edition of National Library of Australia News, released in May 2004, will tell stories about the ways in which items have made their way to the Library. For example, the 1732 edition of Samuel Butler’s Hudibras on display, which was donated by Mrs Ruth Cramond, was retrieved from the rubble following air raids on Bristol during World War II. We see this exhibition as an opportunity to thank many of the individuals who have contributed to the development of the Library’s Collection in recent years.
Future Memory: National Library Recent Acquisitions will be on display in the Library’s Exhibition Gallery from 27 May to 1 August 2004. From 8 April, there will be a related display in the Visitor Centre of Australian items received by legal deposit and publications deposited by international organisations such as the United Nations.
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| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |