Members Hour: Caroline Simpson Library

Love in the Library: A Valentine’s Viewing at the Caroline Simpson Library.

Where could you buy a cupid-themed mirror in Sydney in 1914? What was considered an appropriate wedding gift for a couple in 1900? Where did couples find out about the rules and etiquette for courtship in the 1840s? And how many romantic postcards can you send without a reply before you realise she’s not the one?

Traces of love, in all its forms, can be found throughout the library collection. Members will have the chance to view rare books, sheet music collections, trade catalogues, photographs and personal archives that explore the themes of love, romance and courtship.

Celebrate all things amorous for Valentine’s Day with Collections Discovery Assistant Mel Flyte in a romantically themed Members Hour in the Caroline Simpson Library.

Members Hour provides members with exclusive access at our properties.

Bookings essential.

Not a member? Find out more here.

The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Caroline Simpson Library

The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
  • Cafe
  • Wheelchair accessible
Plan your visit
  • Thursday 13 February 10am–11am

Caroline Simpson Library stories

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Alexander Mackintosh Archive : 
architectural plans and specifications, 1901-ca.1921: Waterhouse & Lake : architectural plans and specifications, 1909-1924 / B.J. Waterhouse & J.W. Lake [architectural drawing]

The Alexander Mackintosh Archive: revealing records of a master builder

Forgotten for decades, the archive of building contractor Alexander Mackintosh was rediscovered in a roof space in the 1990s. It includes more than 270 architectural drawings and reveals information about the work of many of Sydney’s leading architects of the early 20th century

[Sydney from the north shore], Joseph Lycett, 1827.

Hearing the music of early New South Wales

A new website documents an exciting partnership between Museums of History NSW and the University of Sydney in an exploration of Indigenous song and European settler vocal and instrumental music in early colonial NSW

Designs for elegant cottages and small villas, calculated for the comfort and convenience of persons of moderate and of ample fortune carefully studied and thrown into perspective : to which is annexed, a general estimate of the probable expense attending the execution of each design / by E. Gyfford

The architectural pattern books of Elizabeth Macquarie

The architectural achievements of Governor Macquarie’s era are usually attributed to Macquarie’s architect Francis Greenway. Yet evidence collected during an inquiry into the state of the colony of NSW in the early 1820s includes references to the involvement of the governor’s wife, Elizabeth Macquarie, in matters architectural

Phyllis Murphy in her East Malvern apartment, Melbourne, c1950
Wallpaper

Beyond the wallpaper: the life and work of Phyllis and John Murphy

A significant donation of more than 3,000 wallpaper samples to the Caroline Simpson Library reflects just one facet of the remarkable careers of Phyllis and John Murphy, partners in life, architecture and heritage conservation