The State Library of NSW (and especially the Mitchell Library) has been an integral part of the writing of the history of NSW since 1869, when the NSW Government bought the private Australian Subscription Library. While the opening of the Mitchell Library in 1910 is often seen as the progenitor of the idea of a national repository of records and archives devoted to Australian and Pacific history. While this is in part true, the then Public Library of NSW had been actively involved in supporting historians and collecting archives since 1869: by the early 20^th century it began to describe itself as the National Library. This talk will look at the determined approach the Library undertook to present itself as the centre of Australian history.

Richard Neville is the Mitchell Librarian and Director of Learning, Outreach & Scholarship at the State Library of NSW. With a research background and expertise in nineteenth Australian art and culture, he has published widely on 19th century Australian art and society. He has also been extensively involved in the acquisition, arrangement, description and promotion of the Library’s renowned Australian research collections.

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