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Notable collections

The Caroline Simpson Library holds many collections relating to the history of houses, interiors and gardens. Explore a selection of some of our favourites

Collection of pencil, ink and watercolour sketches, 1940-1953 / by Richard Clough [pictorial material]

Richard Clough Collection

In 2004, Professor Richard Clough AM – architect, landscape architect and educator, presented his collection of garden books to the Caroline Simpson Library, comprising more than 2,000 items

Archive of design drawings, sketches and photographs associated with Emmerich Révész later known as Emery Thomas Reeves / Emmerich Révész [personal papers]

Emmerich Révész [Emery Thomas Reeves] papers

Archive of design drawings, sketches and photographs associated with Emmerich Révész later known as Emery Thomas Reeves / Emmerich Révész. Designs reflect Révész’s career in Austria and Australia

Women collectors outside the Bon Marche department store in George Street, Sydney during World War 1, fundraising for the British Red Cross 'Our Day' appeal, 30 November 1917 / W. Payne Fulton, Oakleigh Studio

Bridgwater Collection of World War I Ephemera

Bridgwater Collection of World War I ephemera, 1914-1930, particularly related to fund-raising campaigns for the war effort and in support of returned soldiers and their families

Helen Jean Burgess : arts and crafts teacher

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

Set of 16 architectural drawings relating to the proposed restoration and adaption to headquarters for the Australian College of Private Practitioners, 43 Lower Fort Street, Dawes Point, Sydney / Morton Herman F.R.A.I.A. [architectural drawing]

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

Hugo Stossel collection : comprising photographs, photo albums, scrapbook and items of ephemera.

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

Richard Rouse and Rouse family papers 

Collection of early documents - memoranda, notebooks, receipts, legal papers - relating to Richard Rouse (1774-1852), builder of Rouse Hill House

Archive of design drawings for ecclesiastical furniture : fonts, font covers, lecterns, honour rolls, chancel chairs, clergy seats, Glastonbury chairs, Presbyterian chairs, elders chairs, sanctuary or minister's chairs, clergy stalls, Bishop's stalls, memorial stalls, altar candlesticks / F. W. Tod & Co., designers & ecclesiastical craftsmen

F. W. Tod & Co., Sydney: Design drawings for ecclesiastical furniture 

Archive of design drawings for ecclesiastical furniture: fonts, font covers, lecterns, honour rolls, chancel chairs, clergy seats, Glastonbury chairs, Presbyterian chairs, elders chairs, sanctuary or minister's chairs, clergy stalls, Bishop's stalls, memorial stalls, altar candlesticks made by F. W. Tod & Co., designers & ecclesiastical craftsmen

First minute book of Vaucluse Park Trust 1911-25, on display in orientation room, Vaucluse House

Minute books and correspondence of Vaucluse Park Trust, Nielsen-Vaucluse Park Trust and Trustees of the Vaucluse House Historic Site, 1911-1980 

A complete set minute books kept by the Trusts associated with Vaucluse House detailing the creation and management of the Vaucluse House museum, its grounds and collections over a period of 70 years

Joseph Sainty (1863-1953) : builder and landlord

Joseph Sainty (1863-1953): builder and landlord

Architectural drawings, plans and photographs relating to building projects of Joseph Sainty (1863-1953), orchardist, builder and landlord of Warrawee

Walford, 7 Knox Street, Double Bay, December 1967 [photographer unknown]

Leslie Walford archive 

For nearly 50 years, Leslie Walford AM (1927–2012) was one of Sydney’s most successful interior designers – the decorator of choice for the city’s social elite, and a leading figure in the Society of Interior Designers of Australia (SIDA)

Design for a cabinet

The Paul Kafka (Vienna) Archive

The collection consists of over 700 furniture design drawings by various Central European designers dating from between about 1920 and 1939. It originates from Vienna, Austria, where Paul Kafka worked for his father’s furniture business before emigrating to Australia

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Woodgraining tools, rollers, stamps, combs

Caroline Simpson Collection

Home and garden design, history and life