An album containing mounted prints, most measuring approximately 205 x 150 mm. The prints show buildings and rooms in various parts of the university. The photographs are captioned on the prints.

The University of Sydney was the first university to be founded in Australasia. It came into being from an Act in 1850 which provided for the Sydney College to become a university with a senate of 16 fellows and a statutory annual grant of £5,000. Three chairs were founded in 1851: Classics, Mathematics, and Chemistry and experimental Physics. The University was inaugurated in 1852 and in 1858 was empowered by Royal Charter to grant degrees in Art, Law and Medicine which would have parity with degrees from English universities. At intervals after 1852 various denominational colleges were founded: St Paul's (Church of England) in 1854, St. John's (Roman Catholic) in 1857, and St. Andrew's (Presbyterian) in 1867. The first women's college (non-sectarian) was established in 1892.