Natural world

Desert Trees

The Larapinta Trail shifts what a nature writer thought she knew about trees.

The future is fungi

Without nature’s alchemists, the world as we know it would not exist. Now we are beginning to understand fungi’s restorative role.

The Tree of Life

In the depths of grief, Indira Naidoo turns to the natural world around her for answers.

Grand vistas

Sixteen panoramas will displayed in the inaugural exhibition of the Library’s new Drawings, Watercolours and Prints Gallery.

Embracing the uncertainty

Science writer Jackson Ryan travels to Antarctica, via Mars, distant asteroids and tardigrades.

Recasting sandstone country

Sydney’s sandstone tells a story of deep time, colonial geology and a future in the balance.

Grand designs

Photographs reveal the grand inner-city gardens that were once the glory of Sydney.

Dyarubbin

Dyarubbin, the Hawkesbury River, begins at the confluence of the Grose and Nepean rivers and ends at Broken Bay. This long, winding and ancient river has been home to the Darug people for millennia and is a vital and sustaining resource.

Coming home

A life, as much as a gathering of words, is a story of places. It begins and ends with soil beneath feet, water within heart.

A fleeting return

Beauty and rarity were irresistible in the search for the Paradise Parrot one hundred years ago, as they are for birders today.

Gifts from the sea

The timeless appeal of shells has seen them preserved in many ways over the centuries.

Deeper history

Science and history come together in conserving the swamplands of southern Sydney.

Drawing to a close

An artist followed in the inspiring footsteps of a botanist rescued from a tragic expedition in 1848. 

Totems

How can a dialogue between Indigenous ancestors and descendants forge connections to country for all Australians?

Singing with the wind

Sydney writer and naturalist Ella McFadyen combined a love of nature, folklore and poetry. 

The real secret river: exploring Dyarubbin

A list of Aboriginal placenames was a trigger for seeking the ‘real secret river’.

River dreams

Bold plans to transform the Cooks River in Sydney are reflected in the Library's collection.

Through Darwin's eyes

Australia played an important role in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Splendid Species

The Library is delighted to announce the complete digitisation of its renowned "pattern" set of 681 folio-sized plates for  'The Birds of Australia' by John Gould. 

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.

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.

Slide show

The quirky and obscure Hallams slide collection is a curator’s dream, revealing ordinary Australian gardens in the 1960s and 70s.

The modern garden

Outstanding gardens are revealed by leading photographers in a new exhibition.

Planting Dreams: audio guides

Hear Jonathan Jones, Bruce Pascoe and Richard Aitken share their thoughts about some of the items on display in Planting Dreams

Antarctica: modern adventures

Like many other nations, Australia was looking to the future after the turmoil of the Second World War. Several countries saw Antarctica as a potential source of territory, fishing and mineral resources.

Early Antarctic adventures

The subject of much speculation, the idea of an unknown southern land began with the ancient Greeks.

Mysterious leaves from the past: Bray’s Museum of Curios

Historical discoveries from the Library's collections.

Looking north: Sydney's Upper North Shore

The Upper North Shore is one of the jewels of Sydney. Follow the development of this region from isolated bush and farmland to a prosperous residential area.