The Governor of NSW, The Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, and the State Librarian, Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon, formally launched the RSNSW’s first history book at a ceremony held at the Library on 2 October 2024.

Titled Knowledge for a Nation: Origins of the Royal Society of New South Wales, the 320-page volume was written by Blue Mountains historian Dr Anne Coote and was produced by the Society’s Publishing Committee, supported by a Create NSW cultural grant managed by the Royal Australian Historical Society.

The launch was hosted by the RSNSW’s President, Dr Susan Pond AM FRSN, and Vice-President, Emeritus Professor Peter Shergold AC FRSN. After a video message of congratulations from Her Excellency, recorded at Government House, the event’s centrepiece was Dr Coote’s illustrated summary of the Society’s 19th-century evolution—from a short-lived philosophical group of five prominent colonial businessmen, meeting at each other’s homes, to assent from Queen Victoria in 1866 to use the term ‘royal’, to a globally influential, science-oriented, post-Federation organisation involving the founders and leaders of most of the State’s major cultural institutions.

From left to right in the image to the right are: Dr Caroline Butler-Bowden, Dr Anne Coote, Dr Susan Pond, Dr Davina Jackson (editor of the book and chair of the Society’s Publishing committee), and Emeritus Professor Peter Shergold.

A video of the launch speeches and Dr Coote’s lecture is now available on the RSNSW YouTube channel and may also be viewed inline below. A collection of photographs, including certificate presentations to the RSNSW’s new Members and Fellows, is also available for viewing and download.

Knowledge for a Nation is a limited-edition softcover publication is now available through the RSNSW online shop and will be distributed shorlty to specialist bookshops and online outlets by John Reed Book Distribution. While the recommended retail price is $60 (incl. GST), the book is available to Society members through the online shop at $50 (incl. GST).