The Baillieu Library of the University of Melbourne has been fortunate to secure a major collection of Australian material, in the personal library of Mr Ian McLaren, O.B.E., the Member for Bennettswood in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

The collection totals some 34,000 books, pamphlets and papers mainly relating to Australasia and the Pacific, and represents the fruits of more than thirty years active collecting in some 120 subject fields. It reflects the interests of its owner in the active world of politics and business. Mr McLaren completed a Diploma of Commerce at the University of Melbourne as a wartime and postwar student, and the need for ready access to information first led him into acquiring the necessary printed material for his work. This interest grew over the years to create a collection with major strengths in the historical, economic, political and social literature of our country.

An author in his own right, Mr McLaren has written on the history of Victoria; historical buildings, areas and personalities; Australian aviation, Burke and Wills; and the life and work of C.J. Dennis. Two additional works on Dennis are now with the publisher. McLaren is a Fellow and former president of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, a past president of the Book Collectors' Society, a member of the Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand, and a friend of the Baillieu Library.

According to the University Librarian, Mr W.D. Richardson, the relatively short print runs of many earlier Australian publications, combined with the growing interest in our earlier history make it difficult, but more than ever necessary for libraries to collect and conserve the record of our early years. "The library of Ian McLaren represents a significant addition to the resources of the Baillieu Library" Mr Richardson said.

It is the library of a working bibliographer. Mr McLaren has produced various bibliographic listings of major authors and subjects represented in his collection. Australian literature is another area of major strength; in the field of verse alone there are more than two thousand items. There are major holdings of authors such as Henry Lawson, C.J. Dennis and Adam Lindsay Gordon and many items signed by authors.

At a later stage it is expected that Mr McLaren will continue his bibliographic work in the Baillieu Library using the combined resources of his own collection and the existing Australian collections in the Baillieu Library.

DAVID P. DERHAM, VICE-CHANCELLOR.

[The above article is from a publicity release by the Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne.]

Biblionews Issue 234, December 1976