The status of scrapbooks as legitimate historical material has been found to be ambiguous and problematic by those who have made the attempt to analyse and interpret them. However, the popular Victorian pastime of collecting scraps of materials in albums has played a much greater and more personal role then has been previously assumed. Scrapbooks have been previously studied in America and Britain, and many Australian libraries, museums and archives contain these wonderful cultural artefacts in their collections. Yet they have been previously given very little attention.

Using Australian scrapbook examples, including those made by the artist Georgiana McCrae and her granddaughter, the poetess Dorothy Frances McCrae (later Perry) I will introduce the Australian 19^th century scrapbook material and inquire into the nature of interpretations that can be made of this fascinating practice. I will examine the variety of scrapbooks and the variety of people who made them to understand how each individual used and altered the scrapbooking method to fit their own needs and purposes. I will also examine scrapbooks as a communal and collective practice, and understand what things these objects can tell us about how groups of people communicated and engaged with each other through scrapbooking.