Stranger than fiction | State Library of New South Wales

Stranger than fiction

The Library isn’t just about books. It is also about bones and baubles, old boxes and buttons. The Library didn’t plan to collect these strange objects but they arrived along with the cartons of corporate records, family papers, literary manuscripts, pictures, photographs and books that have accumulated in the Mitchell Library over the last 100 years.

This display is just a small selection of the hundreds of objects that form the Mitchell Library realia collection. Realia is a curious library term. It describes those real and tangible objects that speak of past lives and historic events. These objects add an unexpected richness and intimacy to the collections.

Open: 28 November 2009 – 17 December 2010
Macquarie Cases, Macquarie Wing
State Library opening hours
Admission: Free