The South Australian Institute (SAI) had its origins in the South Australian Literary and Scientific Association (1834) and the Adelaide Mechanics Institute (1838). After various institutional amalgamations, a government bill was passed to establish the Institute in 1856. The Institute building opened in 1861. The Institute library was a public library in the sense that there was a reference section and reading room open to the general public, but borrowing rights were conferred by subscription. Reference books, state papers, and bound newspapers did not circulate except on special application.
Printed by the South Australian government printer William Caddy Cox, this catalogue is the original of an 1863 re-issue of the same catalogue. A gloss and full copy of the 1863 re-issue can be found here.
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