Hordern House

Since 1985, Anne McCormick and Derek McDonnell have built one of the most internationally respected dealerships in rare books and manuscripts, from a base that has moved from Potts Point, which gave the business its name, to a former warehouse in Surry Hills. The specialism is exact: voyages and travel narratives, with particular depth in the Pacific and the early European record of Australia, alongside natural history works, colour-plate books, historical maps, manuscripts and voyage art. Stock currently draws on the Whitmont Collection, a private library documenting early European contact with Australia and the Pacific, offered across four parts. Visitors are welcome by appointment rather than passing trade, which suits the material: these are often significant items bought by libraries, museums and serious private collectors, and the staff's knowledge of provenance and edition is the whole point of buying here rather than at auction. For anyone interested in the paper record of Australia's discovery and settlement, it is difficult to find a more knowledgeable address in the country.