Curio

Friends Room

1910

When the Mitchell Library opened in 1910, these were the original Reading Rooms, a place ‘intended for the student and not for the individual who desires to idle his time away’ [1]. The main room contained a selection of books on Australia. The smaller adjoining room held larger volumes, many on roller shelves specially designed ‘to save wear and tear in handling’ [2].

One of the wishes of the benefactor David Scott Mitchell was that the library built to house his collection should reflect a modern aesthetic. The room was lined with steel and leadlight bookcases, and filled with state-of-the-art tables in teak and high-backed swivel chairs made of oak. The soft light created by the large arched stained-glass window bearing Mitchell’s coat of arms was complemented by the latest electric lights and reading lamps placed on the tables. The tranquil yet contemporary ambience was not altered for another two decades.

With the construction of the new Macquarie Wing in 1988, the Mitchell Library Reading Room was moved to its current location, and this room was used to accommodate staff. In 2000 it was refurbished as a dedicated space for the Friends of the Library and to recapture some of its original ambience. The Friend’s Room now showcases a number of highlights from the Library’s collection, including works by some of Australia’s most distinguished colonial artists. The original bookcases still border the walls, today holding editions of Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote from the extensive collection of the late Sydney physician Dr Ben Haneman. The tables and chairs are part of the original furniture from the 1910 reading room.

Footnotes

1. B H Fletcher, Magnificent Obsession, 2007 p 204

2. D J Jones, A Source of Inspiration and Delight, 1988, p 57

A passionate obsession

Sydney physician Dr Ben Hanemanhad a passion for Spanish culture and was close to obsessed with the story of Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 1600s. Over 30 years Haneman compiled a collection of more than 1100 English translations of the novel, the earliest dating back to 1620. Other notable editions include illustrated versions by Salvador Dali, William Hogarth and Gustave Dore.

The novel tells the story of a middle-aged man who becomes obsessed with tales of the chivalrous deeds and ideals of the old knights, and sets off to defend the poor and destroy the wicked. It became the world's first bestseller, and was translated into more than 60 languages. Dr Haneman described his ‘fevered’ passion for Cervante’s classic as: ‘Don Quixote is central to Spanish literature, to world literature, to writing, production and reading of books and, in my fevered belief, is central to living and being’.^*

Dr Ben Haneman became the first Life Member of the Friend’s Group in 2001.

Maggie Patton discusses The Cervantes collection

_Footnotes

_{* Dr Ben
Haneman information sheet, State Library NSW}

Not for the idle and frivolous

The first trustees saw the Library as a place of serious study and research. Even before it opened to the public the trustees withdrew about 2000 volumes of fiction from the founding collection, reporting in 1869 that in doing so the Library now ‘presented but few temptations to the idle and frivolous’.^* But less than a decade later in response to public demand, a Lending Branch was established in the basement of the Bent Street building despite fears that the more popular works would distract readers from the more serious works in the Reference Library. In 1909 the Lending Library was transferred to Sydney Council to become the Sydney Municipal Library.

_Footnotes

_{* D J Jones, A
Source of Inspiration and Delight, 1988, p 26}

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