the ds mitchell story - State Library of New South Wales - NSW ...

Foreword
David Scott Mitchell (1836–1907) was Australia’s greatest book
collector. he accumulated the world’s pre-eminent collection of books,
manuscripts, maps and pictures relating to Australia and the Pacific.
On his death in July 1907, his collection was bequeathed to the Public
(now State) Library of New South Wales, together with an endowment
of £70,000 to fund additions to his collection. The conditions of the
bequest were that his collection should be housed separately and
known as the Mitchell Library and should be freely available on
conditions similar to those in force in the British Museum library,
now the British Library.
The Mitchell Library, the first portion of the proposed new Public Library
building, opened to the public on 9 March 1910.
Mitchell’s bequest, though, was more than a very generous cultural gift.
It at once created a substantial public research collection in an area in
which there had been none. That area was one which was crucial to the
nation — the study of Australia itself. In this sense, it is no exaggeration
to say that Mitchell’s gift is the nation’s greatest cultural benefaction.
This monograph is published to coincide with the exhibition A Grand
Obsession: The DS Mitchell Story which is on show in the Picture
Gallery from 18 June to 30 September 2007. The essays in this volume,
written by the Mitchell Librarian, elizabeth ellis, and the Senior curator,
Mitchell Library, Paul Brunton, cast fresh light on the man and his
collection.
We are very grateful to the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts for
sponsoring this publication. This Library has benefited from the
School’s generosity for the past 20 years and values highly the
relationship. The School’s sponsorship is especially appropriate
because David Scott Mitchell was a member of the School, which
was founded in 1833 and has operated continuously since then.
Regina A Sutton
State Librarian & chief executive
A GrAND OBSeSSION: The DS MITcheLL STOry
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