Maps Collection  

Bird's eye maps of Sydney 

A selection of maps showing bird's eye views of Sydney has recently been digitised. See our Maps of Sydney page for more.

The City of Sydney [a bird's-eye view] / by M. S. Hill
Sydney : [s.n.] 1888
Z/M3 811.17S/1888/1A

• Maps newly acquired by the Library
• Maps new online catalogue records created

The State Library holds one of the most significant collections of maps and charts in Australia. The estimated size of the collection is over 200,000 maps which includes over 40,000 subdivision plans. The current collection covers Australia, in particular NSW, the Pacific region, Antarctica and extends to the rest of the world.

The collections have developed over the past 150 years with additions being made through acquisitions by the Public Library of New South Wales, the David Scott Mitchell Bequest and the Sir William Dixson Bequest.

Read our Collection Development Policy for the Maps Collection.

Joseph Da Costa E Miranda's world map, 1706  ZML 857

Van Keulen Atlas preservation

Through the Mitchell Library Centenary Appeal: Preserving the future, an anonymous benefactor supported the conservation and repair of Gerard van Keulen’s beautiful and rare three-volume atlas De nieuwe groote lichtende zee-fakkel, published in Amsterdam between 1717 and 1753. Library conservators repaired, re-sewed and rebound the volumes in their original cream vellum covers, as well as cleaning each map and building custom 'clamshell' boxes to house each volume. This work was done as part of the State Library of NSW Foundation's appeal supporting ten major preservation projects that needed urgent restoration, which raised about $300,000 from various benefactors in 2010/2011. One of the restored volumes will be exhibited in the Dalgety Walkway display cases from 25 May to 25 June 2012.

Dixson map collection digitised

With thanks to the collaborative support of our many generous benefactors, we have been able to scan over 1 000 rare and beautiful maps from the Dixson map collection. Selected maps are now available on our Discover Collections page.

We are tweeting!

Follow us on Twitter at #slnswmaps

New Online Access

Historical Land Title Records of New South Wales from the Land & Property Management Authority accessible via our Electronic Resources page. Click on browse to connect (only within the Library).

Information on viewing Historical Land Title Records (PDF 815 KB)

You can contact us online, by phone, post or fax at our Ask a Librarian page.

Visit us at:

State Library of New South Wales
Macquarie Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
Tel: +61 2 9273 1414