The A to Z of World of the book 2022
Exhibitions, Rare Books & Arts:
A is for Alhambra On display for the very first time is a magnificent work by English designer Owen Jones and French architect Jules Goury about one of the world’s… Read More ›
Rare Books & Arts
The Damian Smith Archive
A healthy art community relies on figures that move quickly between commissions, code-switch through high and colloquial cultures, and translate between foreign lands. The record of Damian Smith’s career is the archive of one such figure.
Journey through the collection: Georgia Metaxas
Collection spotlights, Photography:
Journey through the evocative early works of Greek-Australian photographer Georgia Metaxas, and be drawn into the world of community and performance.
Melba, Queen of Song
opera, Our stories, Victorian history:
Dame Nellie Melba was a legend in every possible way: her voice of an angelic purity and perfect pitch, her fame never equaled by another Australian singer, a fame which extended worldwide from the time of her international debut in Brussels in 1887 until the late 1920s when she staged her final performances.
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.
Vali Myers: Australian artist
Vali Myers (1930-2003) was known as a free-thinking artist and dancer who lived a unique bohemian life that was true to herself. Her archive held by the Library spans her life overseas and her return to Australia.
A close look at the Michael Abbott Collection
Exhibitions, Rare Books & Arts:
The internationally significant Michael Abbott Collection of South-East Asian manuscripts is now on display as part of the World of the book 2022 exhibition.
It’s alive! The first illustrated representation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Collection spotlights, New books, Our stories, Rare Books & Arts:
State Library Victoria recently acquired an 1832 printing of the third edition of Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein for its Rare Book Collection.
Journey through the collection: Ashton’s 19th century sketchbook
Collection spotlights, Victorian history, Visual arts:
A little sketchbook with a lot of stories. How did the newsworthy events of the 1880s go from pocket sketches to newspaper illustrations?
Dante 700: an Australian story
Collection, Rare Books & Arts:
To mark the 700th anniversary of the death of italian poet Dante Alighieri, we’re taking a look at the illustrative interpretations of his work by Australian artists.
