The Library will be closed on Tuesday 1 November due to the Melbourne Cup public holiday. Readings bookshop and Mr Tulk cafe will also be closed.

An extensive range of resources will remain available through our website.

To use the following materials on Wednesday 2 November, please order them in advance:

  • Heritage Collections (rare books, maps, pictures and manuscripts) – order by 3pm, Monday 31 October
  • Books, newspapers and journals from the offsite store – order by 5.30pm, Monday 31 October

Before the big race, you may like to visit the Library’s special Melbourne Cup display celebrating the running of the 150th Melbourne Cup.

The display in The changing face of Victoria exhibition, features material from the State Library’s collections as well as significant items on loan from the Victoria Racing Club. Objects on display include paintings of Cup winners Carbine and Toryboy, the trophy won by Toryboy in 1865, and the Victoria Turf Club’s ledger for 1854–63, which records the running of the first Melbourne Cup.

Also featured is a display of photographs by the renowned Melbourne photographer Rennie Ellis, highlighting Cup fashions and celebrations from the 1960s to the 1990s.

We wish you a safe and happy Melbourne Cup holiday.

Toryboy, Winner of the Melbourne Cup 1865

'Toryboy, Winner of the Melbourne Cup 1865'. Samuel Salkeld Knights. 1865

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