Caroline Simpson Library

A wallpaper frieze
On display
Featured display

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

Tuesday 29 October
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

Caroline Simpson Library, The Mint.
Reading Room

Caroline Simpson Library

A specialised resource centre on home and garden design, history and life

Close-up of a wallpaper from the John and Phyllis Murphy collection, Museums Discovery Centre

Wall to wallpaper

A vast and invaluable collection in the Caroline Simpson Library

The fountains of Machattie Park, Bathurst

Several of the postcards featured in our current library display depict Machattie Park in Bathurst. Postcard collector Vera Bell lived in Bathurst between 1905 and 1908 while her father, John, acted as the police superintendent

Back of postcard with short text address to Miss Vera Bell

Tea and scandal

‘Come to afternoon “Tea and Scandal” tomorrow’ is the wonderfully enticing offer made via postcard by Viley and Olive, young friends of Vera Bell

Painting of various animals riding bicycles

Bicycle race

'Bicycle race' is just one of many postcards from the collection of Vera Bell as part of the Bell family papers, now housed in the Caroline Simpson Library

Cartoon drawing of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright

The Wasmuth Portfolio

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wasmuth Portfolio, is regarded as one of the most influential architectural treatises of the 20th century

Design for frieze / by Ethel Atkinson

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