Caroline Simpson Library Collection
Houses | Interiors | Gardens
From lampshade designs to linoleum samples, seed catalogues to soap recipes, the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection is a rich and eclectic source of information and inspiration on the history of Australian homes, gardens and domestic life from the late 1700s to the present.
Online catalogues
Library catalogue
Search our full library catalogue for printed books, sample books, periodicals, pictures, manuscripts, personal papers and other documentary materials.
![[Wingate album] : pencil drawings, watercolour sketches, photographs / Thomas Wingate [pictorial material]](https://api.mhnsw.au/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.slm.com.au%2Ffotoweb%2Fembed%2F2022%2F11%2F8d8fb0467f284b47b7642721362a80df.jpg&w=1920&h=400&fit=inside&format=webp)
Colonial plants
This database includes more than 11,000 listings of plants known to be available in the colony of NSW prior to the 1870s.
Objects catalogue
Search here for collection objects such as wallpapers, floorcoverings, soft furnishings, textiles, furniture, light-fittings, window and door hardware, garden ornament, and architectural remnants held in the Caroline Simpson Library
Music
Browse or search this extensive selection of sheet music and music manuscripts from our collection.
Trade catalogues
Browse or search this selection of digitised trade catalogues for hardware, household goods, joinery, lighting, linoleum, stained glass, terracotta, tiles, ironwork, furniture and furnishings, wallpaper, ironwork and more.
About us
How to use the Caroline Simpson Library
You will find items from the Caroline Simpson Library in both our library catalogue and objects catalogue
Collection strengths
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Documenting NSW Homes
Recorded for the future: documenting NSW homes
The Caroline Simpson Library has photographically recorded homes since 1989
Post-war Sydney home plans 1945 to 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
![The home beautiful / by Mark Foys Ltd. [trade catalogue]](https://api.mhnsw.au/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.mhnsw.au%2Ffotoweb%2Fembed%2F2026%2F02%2Fd1b3ac7a5c21413ca3ee1dc5b35c88d2.jpg&w=1920&h=400&fit=inside&format=webp)
Department stores
Sydney’s department stores and furniture emporia, 1890-1960
This online exhibition has been inspired by the trade literature from Sydney’s furniture and furnishing retailers, with all the illustrations sourced from the Caroline Simpson Library
Notable collections and archives
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Hugo Stossel collection
Trained as an architect in Rome and Vienna, Hugo Stossel arrived in Sydney as a refugee from Nazism in 1939. After the war, he designed several small modernist houses for fellow émigrés, as well as notable apartment blocks and commercial buildings.
Helen Jean Burgess collection
Arts and crafts teacher Helen Jean Burgess undertook a diploma in design and crafts at Sydney Technical College, East Sydney, from 1943 to 1947. This collection of design, drawings, workbooks and photographs relates to her work during the five-year course.
Morton Herman drawings and sketches
This collection of sketches and drawings by architect, historian and author Morton Herman dates from 1952 to 1978. It includes drawings and sketches of colonial buildings, churches and residences, and restoration work to historic bridges
Alan Spearman Evans collection
Alan Spearman Evans was a Sydney-based amateur photographer who recorded his houses, gardens and workplaces, and those of his family and friends. This collection includes more than 2000 of his photographs taken between 1924 and 1957.
Marion Hall Best collection
Marion Hall Best was one of Australia’s most influential 20th-century interior designers, and a founding member of the Society of Interior Designers of Australia. This collection includes papers, plans, photographs, wallpapers, fabrics and furnishings relating to her illustrious career.
SIDA collection
The Society of Interior Designers of Australia was founded in 1951 to represent the interests of interior designers in Australia. The SIDA collection comprises committee minutes, membership lists and correspondence, newsletters, photographs and oral histories.
Ikon Studio archive
Ikon Studio operated from the late 1940s to the late 1950s, selling prints from Her Majesty’s Arcade on Market Street, Sydney. This archive of nearly 5000 images of candid street photography taken in Martin Place in 1950 documents everyday life in compelling detail.
Stories
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The mysterious O.S.B.
One item in the Caroline Simpson Library Collection has been capturing our attention recently: a beautifully illustrated catalogue of electric light fittings, identified only by a mysterious insignia on the cover – the initials ‘O.S.B.’
Rustic adornment: design imitating nature
Rustic design style evokes nature by imitating organic forms such as tree branches, flowers and animals, and incorporates natural textures like wood and stone
Creatives selected for inaugural Caroline Simpson Library Creative Residency
Two creatives selected for the inaugural Caroline Simpson Library Creative Residency program
‘A creature of incredible taste’: Winnafreda, Countess of Portarlington
Australian by birth, Winnafreda Portarlington was one of the most glamorous and well-connected women in British society in the first half of the 20th century. Find out more about this fascinating woman, her social connections, and her collections
Talks & webinars
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Murphy Wallpaper Collection
The recent donation to the Caroline Simpson Library of thousands of wallpapers in the John and Phyllis Murphy Collection means that Museums of History NSW now has the largest holding of historical wallpapers in Australia
Creating Imagined Interiors
Join industry experts at the Caroline Simpson Library as they discuss different approaches to creating interiors for house museums and film and television productions
Unlocking Past Lives
Join Matthew Stephens, research librarian at the Caroline Simpson Library, as he uses the library’s specialist collection to explore the contexts of a selection of historic family photographs
![Vivienne Chaffer : Colour [interior design student workbook]](https://api.mhnsw.au/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.mhnsw.au%2Ffotoweb%2Fembed%2F2024%2F03%2Fb09f1f0c5831414a9ae3b0baf97b548d.jpg&w=1920&h=400&fit=inside&format=webp)
Phyllis Shillito and her colour curriculum 1945–1979
This event focused on the colour curriculum of pioneering Sydney-based colour designer and educator Phyllis Shillito (1895–1980) of the 1940s to the 1970s
Library displays
The Caroline Simpson Library hosts a number of semi-permanent and temporary displays. The displays focus on and highlight aspects of the Library's collection, which broadly covers the history of house and garden design and interior furnishing in New South Wales.
Featured display
A Century of Paint Colour Charts: 1880–1980
Contemporary interiors seem to reject colour in favour of ‘greige’, off-whites, and neutrals. Yet for many centuries the choice and concentration of colour for the decoration of interiors reflected wealth, status, and fashion
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Monday 2 March 4.30pm–invalid datetime
Past displays
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Past exhibition
Rustic Adornment
Design imitating nature
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Monday 3 November
Past exhibition
Scientific Splendour: The art of botanical illustration
Our current display explores the development of botanical illustration from the end of the 18th century to the turn of the 20th century. Initially employed to support scientific discourse, botanical illustration evolved as an art form that increasingly prioritised aesthetic style over scientific exactitude
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tuesday 1 July
![Tapis linoleum : saisons 1893-94 / John Barry, Ostlere & Co. Ltd., fabricants a Kirkcaldy (Ecosse) [trade catalogue]](https://api.mhnsw.au/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.mhnsw.au%2Ffotoweb%2Fembed%2F2025%2F03%2F8165e4349beb43d798932be0abf711f6.jpg&w=1920&h=400&fit=inside&format=webp)
Past exhibition
Repurposed: Creative reuse in the library collection
Our current library display explores the unique and sometimes surprising ways in which items from the library collection have been repurposed
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tuesday 11 March
Past exhibition
A Generous Gift: The John and Phyllis Murphy Collection
Our current library display features an array of colourful and evocative historical wallpapers from the John and Phyllis Murphy Collection
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tuesday 29 October
Past exhibition
A Passion for Postcards: The Postcard Collection of Miss Vera Bell
Our current library display draws from the postcard collection of Miss Vera Bell, a young Sydney woman, and provides a snapshot of an era: the golden age of postcards
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tuesday 16 July
Past exhibition
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Caroline Simpson Library
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Caroline Simpson Library, which was created through an extraordinary cultural gift donated by the children of Caroline Simpson OAM (1930–2003).
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tuesday 27 February
Past exhibition
Celebrating the centenary of The Astor, 1923–2023
An exploration of the concept, design and construction of this iconic Sydney landmark
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tuesday 24 October
Past exhibition
Home in the Hunter
A look at the changing fortunes of pastoral estates of the Hunter Region
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tuesday 1 August
Past exhibition
Queering the interior: London, New York, Sydney, 1882–1929
An exploration of the creative worlds and design practices of figures from queer history
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tuesday 21 February
Past exhibition
Ronaele Jones: an 'invisible designer'
Ronaele Jones (1945–2010) was an Australian designer and colourist of commercially produced printed furnishing textiles and wall coverings
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Thursday 16 August
In the news
Latest News
The Astor letter box on loan
Our latest Caroline Simpson Library display celebrates the centenary of The Astor, Australia’s first company title apartment block
Latest News
Wallpaper in the spotlight
Work has begun on documenting this valuable collection to ensure each design is preserved against the effects of time for future generations to enjoy
![Spring and summer fashions : season 1897-1898 / Farmer & Company [trade catalogue]](https://api.mhnsw.au/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.slm.com.au%2Ffotoweb%2Fembed%2F2023%2F05%2Fdec29eeb0e694b8d8b29ca9210bbeebe.jpg&w=1920&h=400&fit=inside&format=webp)