Natural world

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Historical discoveries from the Library's collections.

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.

Caergwrle (pronounced Ka-girlie) is situated on the Allyn River, in one of the most beautiful rural areas of the Hunter Valley.

Although European navigators visited and explored the Papua New Guinea islands for 170 years, little was known of the Papua New Guinea inhabitants until the late 19th century.

Images of the changing face of Australia’s rural landscape.

Thoroughly modern Miss Emily Chambers of Burwood, NSW, was always eager to try the latest fad.

Discover the original journals, logbooks, letters, paintings and drawings covering the voyage of the First Fleet, the mutiny on the Bounty and Matthew Flinders' journeys.

The discovery and acquisition of a fascinating album compiled by Captain James Wallis reveals the artistic collaborations between a commandant and a convict.

This extraordinary collection of natural history illustrations contains 745 watercolours in six volumes, the collection conveys Europe’s naïve yet genuine sense of wonder at Australia’s unique natural history.

Nothing captures the Australian imagination quite like the thought of striking it lucky. So it’s no surprise one of our greatest legends involves a search for a mysterious vein of gold.

The story of the Tasman Map is a tale of mystery, discovery and a chance finding on the Nullarbor Plain.

As the official photographer on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, Frank Hurley provided a remarkable record of the dangers and heroism of Antarctic exploration in the early twentieth century.

None of the settlers in Sydney knew what lay west of the Blue Mountains in the early 1800s. This vast natural barrier that stretched north and south beyond sight had thwarted all attempts to cross or go around it.