The Rare materials collection is composed of works of European history, literature and theology of the medieval and early modern periods, philosophy, voyage and settlement works, early 16 and 17th century maps, and facsimile publications of religious and early manuscripts. A significant number of the books in the collection were donated by the Friends of the Library.

Special Collections holds a range of manuscript material, items from the pre-printing era, printed works in their original manuscript form, and personal papers. Included in the Manuscript Collection are Australian literary works, correspondence and medieval manuscripts.

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• Book of Hours leaf

The Australian Literature Collection is comprised of literary works published in Australia or by Australian authors up to 1980.

Titles published from 1980 can be found in the Library's main collection in the reading wall on Reid Library Level 1.

The Peter Cowan Collection is especially strong in literary works of the later nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries. It also includes material on Australian history, exploration, art and natural history.

The William Grono Collection of Western Australian Poetry is comprised of poetry by WA authors published from the 19th century onwards.

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• Lone Hand cover, 1907

The Indian Ocean is an integral part of the history and contemporary life of Western Australia. Shipping and trade, colonial and imperial histories are the themes of this collection which include materials collected by Indian shipping executive David Solomon Erulkar and UWA Professor Frank Broeze.

The Erulkar Collection focuses on the history of the Eastern Indian Ocean region, especially the maritime history of India and includes rare books, manuscripts and journals.

The Broeze collection focusses on maritime history and shipping. It includes a considerable amount of Dutch and German material and more general books on modern political and economic history.

The strengths of the collection are early mapping of the region, Indian politics, ship-building and ethnography. It is well represented with many of the best known authors on the subject, particularly those of the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centuries – Dalrymple, Forbes, Marsden, Raffles, Sonnerat, Elphinstone and Valentia.

In the Manuscript collection the Marchant Papers and the Melville Papers relate to the Indian Ocean region.

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• Indiarum Orientalium map by Frederik de. Wit, 1680

In addition to the Australian Literature Collection are several named collections in the field of literature and theatre.

The Somerset Maugham Collection includes copies of all Maugham’s major works including first and limited editions, proof copies, books from Maugham’s own library and ephemera.

The King Collection is comprised of twentieth-century English literature, primarily poetry including first editions of Auden, Eliot, Joyce and C. Day Lewis.

The UWA Centenary Theatre Collection assembled by UWATCH (UWA Theatres on Campus History) was presented to the Library as a centenary gift in 2013. The collection comprises programmes, posters, photographs, reviews and costume designs for UWA thetare productions by students and graduates.

The Playhouse Collection includes copies of plays, programmes, playbills, posters and reviews from the mid 1950s – 1982.

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• The Physicists, the Playhouse Theatre

These collections include published material by the University and publications about the University. Unpublished administrative records and selected personal papers from UWA academics are held by the University Archives.

The Thesis Collection is not available for loan and theses can be viewed only in the Reid Library or Special Collections. There are various access options are available through OneSearch. Check our Request and recommend page for more information.

UWA Publishing, copies of all publications dating from 1935 from UWA Press, now known as UWA Publishing are held in Special Collections.

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• Hunsley, The Rivals

The Friends of the Library from 1963-2020 supported the UWA Library and Special Collections with the generous donation of rare books and maps to the collection. The Friends through membership and a monthly lecture series raised funds to purchase rare objects for the Library.

Over 50 years the Friends have donated approximately 100 objects to Special Collections. Some examples of significant purchases made by Friends of the Library and donated to Special Collections include:

Maps

• the Polus Antarcticus by Jan Jansson 1650, displaying Australia and Dutch discoveries,
• the Mare Del Sud by Vincenzo Coronelli 1696 showing New Zealand, Southern Tasmania and part of mainland Australia and
• a decorative  map showing voyages of Cook and other 18^th Century explorers in the Pacific.

A facsimile edition of the Parma Psalter and the Luttrell Psalter were beautiful items purchased for the collection. The Luttrell Psalter is one of the finest treasures of the British Library. Sir Geoffrey Luttrell commissioned this manuscript in the first half of the 14th century. It contains the text of the Psalms and is famous for the vitality and inventiveness of its decoration.

Other unique items include the drawings of the progress of building the replica of the Duyfken and the manuscript papers of author Arthur W Upfield.

In the centenary year of 2013, the Friends commissioned a painting as a gift to the Library. The Friends contributed to the Reid Library's Ground Floor Renovation in 2019 with the purchase of a new exhibition cabinet, used to display items from the collection, many of which have been donated by the Friends of the Library.

In 2019 David Tunley presented his copy of the Cantates françoises a I. et II. voix. Avec simphonie, et sans simphonie - Livre premier by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault published in 1710 to Special Collections.

In 2020 the Friends of the Library agreed to dissolve the Group due to declining membership.

The speaker program informed and entertained members over many years and long friendships were formed. The Friends of the Library has been very successful and made a significant contribution to the UWA Library and Special Collections.

The University Library is very appreciative of the support from the Friends of the Library and thanks them for their significant contribution to the Library.