Australian Manuscripts

Manuscripts are defined as handwritten, typescript, electronic and other forms of unpublished textual records.

In 1872, the State Library of Victoria acquired its first significant Australian manuscripts when letters written by early European settlers in Victoria were deposited by Charles Joseph La Trobe, Victoria's first Lieutenant-Governor. This acquisition made this collection one of the earliest of its type in Australia. Subsequently, in 1874, the records of the Burke and Wills Expedition were donated by the Royal Society of Victoria. Other important acquisitions made during the 19th century included the Batman deeds and the journals kept by Batman, Wedge and Todd.

The Australian Manuscripts Collection, which fills over 6000 linear metres of shelving, includes Australian documents, papers and records, with a particular emphasis on Victoria and its inhabitants. It seeks to gather private papers which record and reflect the full range of human endeavour. The Collection, therefore, plays a critical part in helping the Library to fulfil its role as the guardian and source of Victoria's documentary heritage. It preserves and provides access to unique collections which form part of the State and national heritage.

Although the scope of the Collection is broad, a number of specific strengths have developed, including:

• the discovery, exploration and settlement of Victoria by Europeans, which includes records relating to the first contact of Europeans with the Aboriginal people
• records of immigrants and travellers to Victoria
• the labour movement and Labor parties
• church records, especially of the Congregational Union of Victoria
• service by Victorians in the Australian defence forces
• social welfare, especially relating to children in non-government institutional care
• the records of individuals and associations active in literature and in the fine and performing arts
• life on the Victorian goldfields
• the archives of Coles Myer, the most significant retail archive in Australia.

In deciding whether to acquire material for the Collection various criteria are applied, including:

• whether the acquisition will build usefully on an existing strength or address an existing weakness
• the significance of an item or collection as a source of information
• the significance of an item as an original document in its own right, that is, its historical, literary or cultural significance
• the nature of any restrictions which the owner may wish to impose as a condition of its acquisition by the Library
• whether the acquisition includes obtaining copyright, and/or the right to make further copies
• the extent to which an item will support the Library’s exhibition program
• the Library's capacity to catalogue, conserve and accommodate a collection to appropriate standards.

In those cases where an archive is of such a size as to present a resource problem for the Library, a key factor in determining whether to accept it is the willingness of the donor to also contribute to the financial costs associated with the Library acquiring the material.

Original material is acquired for the Collection by various means, including gift and bequest, donation under the Cultural Gifts Program, and purchase. In some cases where material is privately owned, the Library acquires a copy rather than the original item. 

The Library acquires manuscript documents in handwritten, typed and digital formats, and will also acquire copies of documents produced in digital, photocopy and microform formats. Where appropriate, non-manuscript material is kept with the documents to which it relates; otherwise, it is transferred to other appropriate Library collections.

The Library does not collect government archives, which are appropriately the responsibility of the Public Record Office Victoria, or the National Archives of Australia. 

Whenever possible the Library works cooperatively with other archival institutions (for example, the National Library of Australia and the University of Melbourne Archives) to ensure that material is placed in the most appropriate repository, and that collections are not unnecessarily split between institutions.

As a general rule the Library does not collect secondary material, such as press clippings or research notes.

There are a number of fields in which the Library collects representative examples of papers, and does not aim to collect comprehensively. Some examples of this type are:

• records of sporting clubs
• records of pharmacies.