The National Library has recently acquired a rare portrait miniature of Sir Thomas Brisbane, the sixth Governor of New South Wales.

This is one of the unexpected stories of Fred Ward aka Captain Thunderbolt, who was known as the ‘gentleman bushranger’.

Sport is a storytelling machine. And for Australians that machine is prolific. Our popular imagination is crowded with stories drawn from sporting contests.

The Margarita Philosophica (Pearl of Philosophy) (1517) of German Carthusian monk and prior Gregor Reisch (c. 1467-1525).

Every weekend sporting contests around the country generate stories that we tell and retell.

During his time at the Library, Yahia’s research examined the Chinese ‘homosexual’ men’s lived experience as represented in the Australian-Chinese language newspapers, magazines, and digital media.

A few years ago, I began scouring the National Library’s collections for pictures of dogs. I was researching aspects of Australian art history, and at first my aim was to explore what the Library held in the way of paintings of dogs. And then, well…

The National Library of Australia is calling on all Australians to help collect campaign material from the 2023 Referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

See some new photographs in our collection, taken at 2022 Pride events held in Adelaide and Perth.

Dr Annisa Beta is a recipient of the 2022 Asia Study Grant. We spoke to Annisa on her time at the Library and research topic, ‘A genealogy of modern Indonesian girls’. 

Madeleine Pugin was a recipient of one of the National Library of Australia Scholarships in 2022. Her Nangaypa Rirraliny Scholarship was funded by Emeritus Professor Janice Reid AC. 

Phonobet is a fun literacy teaching tool from National Library of Australia Publishing, that takes an onomatopoeic romp through the sounds of Australian English.