An impeccably researched and well-written history of the Mitchell Library, this is also the fascinating story of the man whose personal collection of Australiana became, in effect, Australia's memory bank.
The Mitchell Library is based on the collection of David Scott Mitchell, Australia's first and greatest collector of Australiana. The Library was opened in 1910 with the exceedingly generous endowment of 70,000 pounds from David Mitchell, and many thousands of items have been added to the Library since it opened. The collection continues to grow and now contains over 800,000 objects, documents, and books. The Library is a major centre for research into Australian history and culture, and this book, detailing the Mitchell's history and the significance of its collection, documents an important though unsung Australian institution.
