Special collections
| Collection name | Description | Collection contents available in |
Brennan Collection |
Private library of Christopher Brennan (1870-1932), the Australian poet, author and scholar. Brennan was Associate Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Sydney from 1920 to 1925. The collection is on permanent loan from St John's College, University of Sydney. Some of Brennan's papers and correspondence are also held in the Rare Books and Special Collections Library's Manuscript Collections. | Special Collections Database |
Chadwick Collection |
Research collection of Norse and Celtic studies material from the library of Professor Nora Chadwick (1891-1972), University of Cambridge, a leading mid-twentieth century scholar in the field of Celtic Studies. The collection is particularly strong in scholarly monographs and facsimiles of medieval manuscripts. | Card catalogue |
Comics Collection |
Part of the Science Fiction Collection. It contains over 1500 titles from the 1930s to the present and includes publications from the United States, Australia, Canada and England as well as a limited number of French publications. | Printed guide in the Rare Books office |
Dalley Scarlett Collection |
Private library of Robert Dalley-Scarlett (1887-1959), the Australian composer and scholar of music. It contains more than 24,800 items and includes early editions of Handel operas and oratorios, early editions of works by Lully and Anne, Henry Purcell's collection, Orpheus Britannicus, and wartime Russian editions of works by Khachaturian, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Along with the Edward Richardson collection of early editions of Handel the Rare Books and Special Collections Library's Handel collection is the largest outside the United Kingdom. | Card catalogue and online catalogue. Some material is still uncatalogued. |
De La Mare Collection |
Collection of materials by and about Walter De La Mare (1873-1953), the English poet and author. Originally formed by De La Mare's bibliographer, Leonard Clark, the collection also includes 31 letters to the poet Clive Sansom covering the period 1938-1955. | Special Collections Database |
Deane Collection |
Collection of William H. Deane, the Rare Books and Special Collection Library's largest benefactor. The collection comprises the remainder of Deane's private library after part of the original collection was destroyed by fire, and materials purchased from the Deane funds to supplement the collection. Its strengths are material on the history and philosophy of science, witchcraft, demonology and significant Australiana. The Deane collection also includes a large collection of erotica as well as the Deane business archives. | Card catalogue and online catalogue Deane Erotica Collection is listed separately in the Special Collections Database |
Detective Fiction Collection |
Collection of crime fiction, literary criticism, material on the history of Detective Fiction, reference works, bibliographies, indexes, biographies, autobiographies and journals. It is the third or fourth largest Detective Fiction collection in the world, containing around 40,000 items. The collection was begun in the 1960s and is being added to continuously. | Card catalogue and online catalogue Some material acquired before 1992 is still uncatalogued |
Elkin Collection |
Private reference library of A.P. Elkin (1891-1979), the noted Australian anthropologist and ethnographer and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sydney from 1934 to 1956. Elkin's original typed list of the contents of the collection is available. Elkin's personal archives are held in the University of Sydney Archives. | Special Collections Database |
Heymanson Collection |
Collection of Sir Randolph Heymanson (1903-1984), journalist and editor of the Australian Newspapers Service, New York, from 1940 to 1969. The collection consists of erotica, including novels and illustrated books, mostly published prior to 1980. | Special Collections Database |
Jacobs Collection |
Research material relating to the Pacific Islands up to 1914 from the British Foreign Office and the Deutsches Zentralarchiv, Potsdam, donated by Emeritus Professor Marjorie Jacobs. | Printed guide in the Rare Books office |
Kipling Collection |
Collection of the works of Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), the English novelist, short story writer and poet, compiled by the collector Frederick Storch and donated to the Rare Books and Special Collections Library. It includes many first editions, American copyright editions and other limited issues of Kipling's works. | Online catalogue |
Lawson Collection |
Collection of printed first editions and manuscripts of the works of Henry Lawson (1867-1922), the Australian short story writer and poet, compiled by the collector Harry Chaplin. | Special Collections Database |
Leaver Collection |
Harry Leaver Memorial Collection of Celtic Studies research material, compiled by Dr Harry Leaver and donated to the Rare Books and Special Collections Library. It includes some major journal runs. Leaver's original list of the contents of the collection is available. | Special Collections Database Some material is still uncatalogued |
Lindsay Collection |
Printed editions and manuscripts of the work of the Lindsay Family, particularly Norman Lindsay (1879-1969), from the collection of Harry Chaplin. It is possibly the largest collection of Lindsay manuscript material in Australia. | Card catalogue |
Macdonald Collection |
Private collection of Hugh Macdonald, the English scholar and bibliographer of Dryden, Hobbes and Locke. It contains 10,000 items and is the most important collection of sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century English and European literature in Australia. It forms the basis of published bibliographies and of the Haslewood imprints series. It is one of the two or three most important collections of Dryden material in the world. The collection also has substantial holdings in romantic poetry, especially Byron, Shelley and Wordsworth, major twentieth century bibliographical works, eighteenth century French drama and seventeenth century English political history. | Card catalogue and online catalogue |
Moore Collection |
Collection on the history of science, particularly physics and chemistry, donated by Emeritus Professor Walter Moore. It also contains some literary material. | Online catalogue |
Phrenology Collection |
Formed collection of 101 titles on phrenology purchased in 1994 through the Edwards bequest. | Special Collections Database |
Richardson Collection |
Collection of Handel material, mainly reference works as well as some early printings and fragments of manuscripts. It was donated by Edward Richardson to complement the Dalley-Scarlett Collection, held by the Rare Books and Special Collections Library. | Card catalogue |
Science Fiction and Fantasy Collections |
Collection of over 80,000 titles which was begun in 1974 and enlarged by the acquisition in 1979 of the Ron Graham Science Fiction Collection, a private collection assembled by Ron Graham over 45 years before his death in 1979. The collection is being added to continuously and is now one of the largest institutional collections of Science Fiction and Fantasy in the world. It contains hardcovers and paperbacks, reference works, indexes, journals, fan material, art work, film posters and stills, manuscripts, memorabilia and a large collection of comics. The Ron Graham Collection is largely uncatalogued, although the Rare Books and Special Collections Library holds the original card index compiled by Ron Graham. The Ron Graham Collection contains complete or near-complete runs of famous early magazines such as Amazing, Astounding and Weird Tales. In 2004-2005 Colin Steele donated his significant private collection of science fiction, fantasy, horror books and periodicals to the University Library. Built up over many years in England and Australia, this comprehensive collection includes complete works of leading overseas and Australian authors, anthologies, rare early journals and fanzines. The Steele Collection complements the Ron Graham Collection and extends and reaffirms the importance and strength of the Library's nationally and internationally recognised Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection - the best in Australian libraries and a prime resource for teaching and research. |
Card catalogue and online catalogue Ron Graham Collection card index: ask at Rare Books & Special Collections office Early journals in the Ron Graham Collection Colin Steele Collection |
Slessor Collection |
Books from the private library of the Australian poet, author and journalist, Kenneth Slessor (1901-1971). The collection of over 800 titles was donated to the Rare Books and Special Collections Library by the Journalists' Club in 1996. | Special Collections Database |
Tomkeieff Collection |
Personal collection of research material on geology, petrology and geosciences, acquired from Professor Sergei Tomkeieff of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1970. The collection is noteworthy for its historical material and Russian language material both of which are now virtually unobtainable. | Card catalogue |
Three Decker Novel Collection |
Collection of 1597 titles of fiction published in more than one volume between 1800 and 1900 in their first English edition. Most titles were published in three volumes and are therefore known as "three decker novels". Most of the collection is formed by minor and lesser known authors, although some major authors are included such as Wilkie Collins, Benjamin Disraeli, George Eliot, Sir Walter Scott, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Anthony Trollope. | Online catalogue |