Voyages of the Mind: Don Dunstan's Library. Reflections on the collection of a refined, cultivated and astute reader

Abstract

Flinders University Library's Special Collections section is home to the archives and personal library of the late Don Dunstan (1926-1999), Premier of South Australia and one of Australia's most innovative and influential statesmen. Don Dunstan's spheres of influence included the cultural, the social and the legal, as well as the strictly political. Jane Southwood is currently engaged on a scoping study to begin locating recorded material on the private and public life of Don Dunstan, in collaboration with Professor Christina Slade, Dean of Humanities, Macquarie University. A preliminary examination of Don Dunstan's personal library convinced Jane Southwood of the richness of the collection and of its potential as a key to understanding the man. This paper proposes an examination of some of the material in Don Dunstan's personal library and reflections on its place in the agenda of this visionary figure.