2002: A space oddity
With the help of the Women Writers Fund, the Library recently acquired Laura Dayton Fessenden’s most fascinating work of speculative fiction, 2002: Childlife One Hundred Years From Now.
Archive for March, 2022
The Gerritsen Collection & Dr Aletta H. Jacobs: a pioneer of women’s history & visionary
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:
There are many names in the history of feminism and women’s rights but, unlike Mary Wollstonecraft, Vida Goldstein or Emmeline Pankhurst, the name Dr. Aletta. H. Jacobs (1854-1929) is little known, even though many of her papers have been collected by UNESCO in their Memory of the World archive.
Émilie Du Châtelet: a pioneer in the Age of Enlightenment
“To be happy, one must rid oneself of prejudice, be virtuous, healthy, and have a capacity for enjoyment and for passion“ – Émilie du Châtelet, Discours sur le bonheur. Le siècle… Read More ›
A culinary archive: discovering Stephanie’s
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
The 1970s and 80s saw a dramatic change in Melbourne’s restaurant scene. One of the most influential restaurants of this period was Stephanie Alexander’s restaurant, Stephanie’s. Through menus, photographs, recipes, notebooks and more, the Stephanie Alexander collection provides a taste of what it was like to eat at Stephanie’s in its heyday.
Victorian CEDT Index : a new family history resource for Chinese Victorians
Family matters, Research tips & tricks:
In 2021 the Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria Inc. (CAFHOV) launched a fascinating new resource, the Victorian CEDT index. This online resource indexes three registers of applications for Certificates Exempting from Dictation Test (CEDT), covering the years 1904-1959. Over 90% of the people listed were Chinese, however people with Indian, Japanese or Syrian ancestry are also included.
World Poetry Day
Collection, Collection spotlights, Events, Exhibitions:
If you listen to a poem, in any language, you understand it. Why?! Because it speaks the universal language of human emotion.
Elizabeth Gould (1804-1841): Artist, traveller, wife and mother
Collection spotlights, Our stories:
This year in our World of the book exhibition, we celebrate the life and work of the artist Elizabeth Gould with a display including one of three rare original watercolours by Elizabeth from the Library’s collection.
![Family group, ca. 1870 to 1880. Families of five or more children were common in the Victorian era. [H2005.34/2086]](https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Groupconsistinhofmanwomanandfivechildrencrop-120x120.jpg)
Online Collection Spotlight: The Malthusian, a collection in the Women’s Studies Archive
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories:
Overpopulation was a huge social problem in 19th century Britain. Trailblazers like Annie Besant were tireless campaigners for the improvement of living conditions, birth control, and women’s rights. The Malthusian gives us a vivid lens into the living conditions of the poor, and a fascinating insight into the population issues from 1879 to 1921, which laid the groundwork for social reform in the twentieth century.
Lina Bryans & Melbourne’s modernist art scene
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
Discover the work of artist Lina Bryans and the modernist art scene in Melbourne.
Goodbye to Shirley Hughes
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories:
Farewell to Shirley Hughes, English author and illustrator of beloved children’s books Dogger and the Alfie series.
