Make your own 19th-century paper puppy
Today we paws to celebrate the work of 19th-century Australian artist ST Gill, the subject of our new exhibition Australian sketchbook: Colonial life and the art of ST Gill.
On the ‘shick’ in Little Lon
Buildings & streets, Social life & customs, Such was life:
Of all the slums in inner Melbourne, ‘Little Lon’, was the most notorious. But there was more to the precinct than met the eye…
New Sights and Sounds in Arts
classical music, Dance, Film, jazz, Music, Musicals, opera, Popular music, Rare Books & Arts, rock:
Some great new arrivals include recent releases and acquisitions in popular, rock, musical theatre and film music, classical, jazz, chamber, ballet and opera on CD and Blu-Ray. All CDs listed… Read More ›
Blondin and his imitators
People & professions, Such was life:
In the 1870s, a visiting French tightrope walker inspired others to try the same- often with disastrous results.
The marvellous and macabre Waxworks, part one: ‘…the more murderers, the more it thrives.’
Social life & customs, Such was life:
Before true crime podcasts and books on serial killers, where did Melburnians go for their taste of the macabre? To the waxworks of course.
EBooks for Family Historians
Did you know that the State Library provides access to over 16,000 eBooks on a wide range of topics? Our eBooks can be accessed by anyone within the Library and,… Read More ›
A lesser known story of the Syme family
Collection Care, People & professions, Preservation, Such was life:
Found within the family papers of The Age editor-in-chief David Syme, are a set of letters that give a small insight into the women of the Syme family.
Back to the future in Rare Books
State Library Victoria’s Rare Books Cataloguer Derrick Moors uncovered a fascinating item recently while working on the Wallace Kirsop Collection, a generous gift by one of this library’s greatest supporters.… Read More ›
Albert Ullin OAM (1930-2018)
In 1960 Albert Ullin founded the first children’s bookshop in Melbourne and named it the Little Bookroom. This tiny shop in the Metropole Arcade, followed by later expansions into other… Read More ›
The collar king
People & professions, Such was life, War:
A chance find in an opportunity shop sets the finder on the trail of Melbourne’s former ‘Collar King’.
Such was life
Melbourne’s Marvelous Madame Weigel
Madame Weigel’s Journal of Fashion became a staple of Australian life for those interested in being well dressed, well presented, and well informed. This treasure trove has recently be digitised and made available online.
Arts
‘It really belongs to you people anyway…’: The story of Ken Pound
To celebrate the Children’s Book Council of Australia Week, we pay tribute to the life of children’s literature collector, Ken Pound, and the collection he has left for us all.
