South Australian Literary and Scientific Association Minute Book

Item held by State Records of South Australia, GRG 44/83.

Loan courtesy State Records of South Australia and the South Australian Auditor-General's Department for exhibition in the State Library's Treasures Wall.

The State Library of South Australia celebrated its 171st 'birthday' on 29 August 2005. This date marks the anniversary of the foundation in London of the South Australian Literary Association, shortly after the passage of the South Australia Act on 15 August 1834.

The South Australia Act, based on Edward Gibbon Wakefield's colonisation theories, had been promoted by leading campaigner Robert Gouger, one of the most influential founders of the colony.

Part of Wakefield's vision was to encourage the development of the planned province as a cultured society.

The Association's specified objects, as detailed in its 1834-35 minute book, were: The cultivation and diffusion of useful knowledge throughout the Colony. The specified means for obtaining these objects included a Library of reference and circulation..., lectures ..., and periodical meetings for conversation . On 16 November 1834, the Association amended its name to the South Australian Literary and Scientific Association.

The library assembled by the Association for the colony comprised selected works covering practical topics such as exploration, emigration, colonies and colonisation. Many of these titles were donated by Robert Gouger.

The books were shipped to the new colony in the Tam O' Shanter . On arrival in 1836, the ship ran aground entering the Port River, and the books sustained water damage. Surviving volumes are now held as the State Library's Gouger Collection. Tracing its origins to the South Australian Literary Association, the State Library is one of the oldest cultural institutions in the state.

This item is reproduced courtesy of State Records of South Australia and the South Australian Auditor-General's Department. It may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires written permission from State Records of South Australia and the South Australian Auditor-General's Department. To request approval, complete the Quote for Copy/Permission form.