State Library ... aGAIN ...

The vestibule often has a heads-up for a current exhibition or workshop.

The Mitchell Wing was commenced in 1910, which is quite late in the history of Sydney. Hence, it will be apparent that this building was not the original home of the State Library collection. The privately owned Australian Subscription Library commenced in 1826, in rented premises. In 1845 it moved into its own building diagonally opposite to where it stands today. In 1869, the ASL went broke and the state government bought it out, changing the name to The Sydney Free Public Library. Another example of privatise your profits, and socialise your losses.

Two views of the Mitchell Wing vestibule. One from the foyer (right), and the other from the first floor (left)showing the Abel Tasman marble map.

This marble staircase winds from the vestibule up to the first floor.

In 1895 it became The Public Library of New South Wales. In 1975 it was renamed yet again to The State Library of NSW. It is only in the last quarter century that I have overcome a childhood habit of refering to this library as The Mitchell Library.

A quotation from the Scottish philosopher, Thomas Carlyle, adorns the eastern wall of the vestibule. There is an item about the quotation in the Curio exhibition.

State Library of NSW

There are three "wings" to the State Library: The Mitchell Wing (1910); the Dixson Wing (1929); and the Macquarie Street Wing (1988). The logo Is atop the Macquarie Street Wing. The smaller two images were taken in the vestibule of the Mitchell Wing.

Painting flesh on the bones

The complexity that was master cartographer, Matthew Flinders, was brought flagrantly to life on Sunday afternoon at the National Maritime Museum, when Robert Clancy (professor, physician, and map tragic), Paul Brunton (Curator at Mitchell Library, bon vivant and generally good bloke), and Miriam Estersen (biographer) were let loose with the bones.

Hard to convey what FUN this seminar was. The packed theatre resounded with gales of laughter. This museum and its event calendar has a special place in my heart.

To my immense delight, I met Judy who has about 90 letters from her aunt who nursed in India during WW1 and is interested in transcribing and preserving them. Right up my alley way!

Mr Mitchell's monument

Main: Mitchell Reading Room; Left: Exhibition in the walkway between the two buildings; Right: Exhibition in the grand foyer

If you are in Sydney, GO SEE THIS EXHIBITION!!

In 1907 David Mitchell died and bequeathed his book collection to the state if they would house it well. Joseph Banks' journal was part of his collection. Took 'em three years, but they built a grand book house. And now there is the adjoining State Reference Library which is 13 floors below ground as well as the delightfully bright bit above ground.

Main: Marble version of Tasman's map in main foyer; Left: Joseph Banks' journal, 1770; Right: Letter from Mary Reiby, 1792

Paul Brunton, the Curator must have gone bonkers trying to choose just 100 items from their vaults for this exhibition. And great stuff it is too, ranging from the 1600s to last year. And they have some excellent audio/visual offerings. There is one screen that displays the Mary Reiby letter a word at a time, as though she is penning it in front of you. She had just arrived in Sydney, convicted of stealing a horse. She was 15 and wrote this letter back to her aunt. By the time she was 32 she was a widow with 7 children. She died in 1855, a VERY prosperous businesswoman.

Main: Vietnam Moritorium poster, 1970; Left: upstairs corridor with panoramic 1907 photographs of Sydney by Melvin Vaniman; Right: Henry Lawson's journal

This exhibition was a bit confoosing for moi, 'cause a curator showed me where to go to get good photographs, yet a security guy rapped me over the knuckles and told me to put it away. It's not as though I was using flash or anything, just that my camera is a bit on the obvious side.

So much to read and think about. I shall have to go back lots of times. I can only do about a dozen at a time. Great fun for this little history-holic. Thank you, Mr Mitchell.

Gallery space upstairs for "One Hundred" which is 100 items from their vaults in an exhibition that is open for 100 days

Trim, his master's faithful servant

Trim travelled with Matthew Flinders as he circumnavigated and mapped the coastline of Australia between 1801 and 1803 in HMS Investigator . When Flinders was imprisoned by the French in Mauritius during his return voyage to England, Trim shared his captivity.

Trim was black, with white paws, chin and chest. He was named after the butler in Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, because Flinders considered him to be a faithful and affectionate friend whom he described as 'one of the finest animals I ever saw … a clear jet black, with the exception of his four feet, which seemed to have been dipped in snow and his under lip, which rivaled them in whiteness. He had also a white star on his breast.' The popularity of the statue has led to the library's cafe also being named after the cat.


There are a number of explorers important to the City of Sydney and the state of New South Wales, for example Captain Arthur Philip, Watkin Tench, Charles Sturt, John Oxley, Hamilton Hume, Blaxland&Wentworth&Lawson, George Evans, and Thomas Mitchell. I will not be able to locate statues of them all, but will keep my eyes peeled.

Today is the 100th anniversary of the Mitchell Wing of the State Library of NSW, named after its generous benefactor, David Scott Mitchell. I will see what I am able to report back tomorrow of the festivities. It seems to be my second home at the moment.

A Sydney Christmas - Tenth Day

Hyde Park Barracks, Macquarie Street

Carol of the Birds (Verse 3 of 3) Friar-birds sip the nectar of flowers, Currawongs chant in wattle-tree bowers, In the blue ranges Lorikeets calling, Carols of bushlands are rising and falling, Orana! Orana! Orana to Christmas Day.

Mitchell Wing, State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street

Australian Christmas stamps: 1960, 1962 & 1963