History

18th Century and before

  •  

19th Century

Origins of the State Library of New South Wales 1826 - 1869

Between 1826 and 1869 the Australian Subscription Library was reshaped into a Free Public Library.

  •  

20th Century onward

Mother Country

A century ago most Australians were swept up in the second conscription plebiscite of December 1917.

Decoration and Glass magazine

Decoration and Glass, a magazine for home builders, architects and decorators has been digitised in colour as part of the Library’s Digital Excellence Program. 

Alec Chisholm: bush naturalist and benign nationalist

Alec Chisholm (1890–1977) was once famous in Australia. Although that’s no longer so, he’s a man worth remembering.

Red Cross under the Southern Cross

The Australian Red Cross NSW Division archive spans over 100 years of humanitarian aid.

Record catch: 80 years of east coast fishing

Merging history and science, a Library fellowship tracked 80 years of fishing off the east coast of Australia.

Shutterbug Jitterbug Bondi Visionary

The photographs of George Caddy are an astonishing modernist record of Bondi Beach and its people during a remarkable era. 

Under the Rainbow

The 1970s were a transformative time for northern New South Wales, especially in the regional town of Nimbin.  The 1973 Aquarius Festival changed the small country town and the surrounding region forever.