St Mark’s National Memorial Library is home to four very precious and rare collections. Together, we have approximately 100,000 items of rare biblical, theological and missiological works — the largest collection in Australia’s National Capital, covering biblical studies, theology, history, counselling and psychology, liturgy and worship, preaching, philosophy, church management, and pastoral theology.
Special collections are not available for loan but may be viewed in the Library. To view our special collections, just submit a request online.
The Bible Society of Australia’s Collection is held at St Mark’s under custodial agreement. The Collection includes Bibles printed before 1500 AD, rare editions, first translations, a wide variety of translation tools, and many bibles of great historical importance — both nationally and globally.
This Collection is comprised of several archive boxes of papers, pamphlet boxes of papers, correspondence, photographs, reel film, slides etc. There are newspaper articles, magazines with articles referring to Burgmann, and his tenure as Bishop of the Canberra Goulburn Diocese.
The Library of Bishop Thomas, an English scholar and the first Bishop of Goulburn, forms the nucleus of the Rare Books collection. The collection was then enriched by Bishop Burgmann’s library, and items from the personal libraries of Bishops Barlow, Chalmers, Chynoweth and Garnsey and Archdeacon Murchison. Prominent Australians have also contributed to this collection.
Methodist minister and missionary, anthropologist and missiologist of international repute, fellow of the Linnaean Society, an esteemed philatelist, a visionary Christian scholar, and an inspiring teacher, Dr Alan Tippett presented his library and manuscript collection to St Mark’s National Theological Centre in 1984.
