Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection
Latest at the CSL&RC
Library Display
New Library DisplaysTuesday 9 April 2019
New displays in the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection showcase styles of embroidery used to decorate and beautify everyday objects in the 19th and early 20th century home.
Primary Source Studies
Architecture MasterclassFriday 25 January 2019
The CSL&RC has welcomed UTS Architecture Masterclass students in a stimulating series of study days. Together we have delved into the library's rare architectural pattern books, archival material and trade catalogue literature to...
Library Display
New Library DisplaysMonday 19 November 2018
A new display at the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection showcases 19th century penmanship, and the popular pastime of 'poonah' painting.
Collections
Wallpaper recreated for 'The Harp of the South'Friday 14 September 2018
For anyone attending the new Sydney Theatre Company (STC) play, The Harp in the South, adapted from Ruth Park’s well-known novels, you might spy wallpapers running up the back wall of the set.
Library Display
New Library DisplaysFriday 14 September 2018
Two new displays in the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection showcase the Rouse Hill magic lantern, and the work of textile designer Ronaele Jones.
Library Catalogue
Search the Library Catalogue for printed books, periodicals and other documentary material, including reports relating to Sydney Living Museums’ properties as well as pictures, manuscripts and personal papers.
Pictures catalogue
Search the Pictures Catalogue for paintings, drawings and photographs from the collections of all Sydney Living Museums’ properties, including the forensic photography archive at the Justice & Police Museum.
Collections catalogue
Four material formats can currently be searched through the Collections Catalogue: Floor coverings including carpets, felt, matting, oilcloth, linoleum, felt base and vinyl; Garden Ornament including fountains, urns, planters, sundials and edging tiles; Hardware, also known as builders hardware or ironmongery, including door knobs and knockers, locks, fingerplates and escutcheons; Wall coverings including wallpaper in various formats such as sample books, rolls and fragments. The items in the catalogue come primarily from the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection with a selection of items from the house museums within the portfolio of Sydney Living Museums.
Colonial plants database
The Colonial Plants Database includes more than 11,000 listings of plants known to be available in the colony of NSW prior to the 1870s. The database is compiled from several sources, including Botanic Gardens records, nursery catalogues and manuscript plant lists created by early colonists such as colonial secretary Alexander Macleay.
Digital trade catalogues
A number of trade catalogues related to architectural ironwork, architectural papier-mâche, art metalwork, furniture and furnishings, hardware, household goods, joinery, lighting, linoleum, stained glass, terracotta, tiles and wallpaper have been digitised and can be accessed via our Digital Trade Catalogues page on Internet Archive.
Domestic sheet music and manuscripts
A selection of domestic sheet music and music manuscripts from the collections of Sydney Living Museums’ historic house museums and Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection have been digitised and are now available through our page on Internet Archive.
Alan Spearman Evans Collection
Alan Spearman Evans (1902-1963) was a Sydney-based amateur photographer who spent much of his life recording his houses, gardens and workplaces as well as those of his family and friends. Many of the houses photographed by Evans have survived and a number have been heritage listed. The collection includes over 2000 photographic images taken by Evans between 1924 and 1957.
Marion Hall Best Collection
Marion Hall Best was one of Australia's most important and influential 20th-century interior designers. She was an outstanding figure in the dissemination of the ideas of international modernism in relation to interiors in Australia. The Marion Hall Best collection includes papers, plans, photographs, wallpapers, fabrics and other furnishings related to her career.
Post-war Sydney Home Plans, 1945 - 1959
For architects and prospective homeowners alike, the most seductive promise of the immediate postwar years was the prospect of a clean slate, an opportunity to build new, light-filled, houses appropriate to Australian conditions.
Recorded for the future: documenting NSW homes
How do we better understand the history of the homes we live in?
The Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection (CSL&RC) has answered this question by commissioning photographs of present-day houses and gardens in New South Wales. Since 1989, a wide range of homes have been recorded - from those designed by well-known architects to simple suburban cottages. Click on the link to see some of these homes.
Current displays
New
The Ladies' Table
Modern Baroque
Past
Work in Hand
Past
The Magic Lantern at Rouse Hill House
Past