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NLA News cover On the cover this month

N.[?] Smith (active 1845)
Portrait of Four Children, Possibly of the Brabyn Family, Carrying Toys 1845
watercolour; 30.7 x 25.2 cm
Pictures Collection
nla.pic-vn3280961

This 1845 watercolour has captured children with some classic playthings—a hoop, a skipping rope, and a spinning top. Down through the ages, children have amused themselves with all manner of toys and games, many of which have remained popular over generations while others have come and gone with time. The culture and folklore of childhood holds strong interest for contemporary academic research, including a current four-year project focused on the notions of continuity and change in children’s playlore. Read story

November 2008 Volume XIX Number 2

Durlacher’s JOURNAL

Barry York studies the work of John Slade Durlacher and considers its contribution to our understanding of the early ‘nor’ west’ of Australia

Lollies or Lolita? The perils of modern childhood research

Gwenda Beed Davey argues the case for preserving the culture of primary school playgrounds

‘A decent and amiable man’: Jim Cope MP

Stephen Holt examines the legacy of a veteran Laborite as revealed in the Library’s Oral History Collection

‘Pa le Sydney Woman Made Strong and Rosy!’

Ian Warden uses the Newspapers Collection to explore the health worries and associated ‘cures’ of Australians 100 years ago

Into a Maelstrom: One Man’s View of Mid Twentieth-Century Australia

Jonathan Stone investigates his father Julius Stone’s papers, held in the Library’s Manuscripts Collection

Friends

A regular news page about the activities of the Friends of the National Library of Australia

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