The Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney

Daniel Solander Library

Learn about Australia’s oldest botanical research library.

 

Librarian with an old book, bookshelves behind

The Daniel Solander Library was established in 1852 and is Australia's oldest botanical research library.

Its world-class collections contain over 250,000 items, including books, journals, botanical illustrations, historic photographs, manuscripts, maps, archives, archaeological artefacts, and memorabilia.

Fern collection inside the South Pacific Fern Album

Why does a garden need a library?

Learn about this unique repository of horticultural and botanical knowledge, which began in 1852.
About the Daniel Solander Library
Fern collection inside the South Pacific Fern Album

Medieval herbals for botanical bookworms

Unearthing the medieval herbals, some of the Daniel Solander Library's most intriguing books about medicinal plants.
Read about medieval herbals
  • An historically significant botanical book. Book open showing illustration of a flowering gum branch
  • Two rare books with green and red hard covers and gold trims
Botanical books

Search the library catalogue

Search the Daniel Solander Library's catalogue - a unique repository of horticultural and botanical knowledge.

Search the catalogue
A botanical drawing of an Agapanthus africanus 'Blue Triumphator'

Botanical illustration

Botanical illustrations – drawings that make science visual – have a history thousands of years old.
Find out more
A botanical drawing of an Agapanthus africanus 'Blue Triumphator'

Scientific publications

Cunninghamia and Telopea are fully open-access online scientific journals.
Access our scientific journals
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  • A view of Garden Palace from across Farm Cove, circa 1880
Unearthing the Botanic Gardens' past

Horticulture and history

Dig into the fascinating history of the Gardens and the First Nations lands they are situated on.

Learn about the Gardens' history