Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, People & professions, Such was life:
With winter well upon us, these images from our photographic collections evoke some of the seasonal experience of snow, ice, and shadows; as senses are sharpened by a chill in the air, the brightness and contrast of snow and subject, or the blanketing fogs.
People & professions, Such was life:
Printer Elizabeth Mallet has her place in the ‘hall of fame’ of women who tried something new and changed the world; women who had a vision and went for it!
State Library Victoria was saddened to learn this week of the death of prominent Australian writer Frank Moorhouse. Des Cowley and Maxine McKew reflect on his life and works.
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
Moomba, the Royal Melbourne Show, New Years Eve…Victorians love to celebrate major events with fireworks. While we might have an idea of what a typical firework display looks like (such as the regular ones held each New Years Eve), the displays of the nineteenth century were completely unlike like what we see today.
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories, Victorian history:
The Library’s Cowen Gallery features some magnificent paintings by Australian artists, whose work sheds light on how the Australian Impressionist movement inspired Australian painters around the turn of the century.
Social life & customs, Such was life:
Maybe you received a Victorian Certificate of Education? Or a Higher School Certificate? A School Tertiary Certificate? Leaving? School graduation requirements have come a long way from having to be ‘sufficiently educated’, as was the case in the 1870s.
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.
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:
It’s International Archives Day and what better way to celebrate than to check out our database Archives Unbound! Explore women’s history, LGBTIQ+ activism and even Shakespeare’s plays. You’ll discover a renewed appreciation for archives and their role in history.
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Reference desk:
We take a look at a concert poster from our collection and explore the meaning it holds for one of our Library members
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
Join us on a journey from the 1920s to now. See what women were wearing across the decades and which trends mark each changing era.
A recent donation to the Library gives us insight into the last wills and testaments of Victorians of the 19th and 20th Century, from what they were bequeathing to who they held dear.
Agatha Christie was a leading author of the golden age of detective fiction whose books continue to excite, delight and intrigue readers. To celebrate her outstanding legacy, State Library Victoria recently acquired first editions of some of Christie’s most popular titles.
