New Gold Mountain

New Gold Mountain

January 29, 2019

Our stories, People & professions:

For the Chinese immigrants who flocked to Victorian goldfields in the 1850s, the journey began in Canton or Hong Kong and included several months at sea before arriving in Victoria, or ‘New Gold Mountain’.

What about the women? – Part 2

What about the women? – Part 2

January 22, 2019

Our stories, People & professions, Social life & customs:

Piece together the stories of Mary Ann and Eliza Henty and their role in Victoria’s first European settlement.

2018 in ebooks

2018 in ebooks

January 18, 2019

Our stories:

Our Ebook collection is growing each month. We currently have over 16,000 ebooks available, including autobiographies, literary fiction, travel guides, young adult non-fiction, health and medicine, home and garden and much more. Explore the titles that were most popular in 2018.

Mrs Stephen Henty, c 1870-80

What about the women? – Part 1

January 10, 2019

Our stories, People & professions, Social life & customs:

Uprooted to join your husband of no more than a couple of years to settle in an unknown place. This is the story of the wives of the Henty brothers, early settlers credited with establishing Victoria’s first European settlement.

Group of men playing volleyball, tents in the Bonegilla Migrant Hostel

A nation of immigrants

January 2, 2019

Our stories:

Learn about the history of immigration in Australia, from the First Fleet and the Gold Rush to WWI and the White Australia policy.

Fighting Jack: Melbourne’s first boxing kangaroo

Fighting Jack: Melbourne’s first boxing kangaroo

December 31, 2018

Social life & customs, Such was life:

What are the origins of our national sporting symbol, the boxing kangaroo?

John Marsden awarded Dromkeen Medal for children’s literature

John Marsden awarded Dromkeen Medal for children’s literature

December 27, 2018

Announcements, News:

John Marsden has received the 2018 Dromkeen medal for his enduring passion for and contribution to Australian children’s literature and children’s education. Find out which books were important to him as a child.

Lyric, [2017]

New listening in Arts: holiday selections

December 20, 2018

Film, Music, Popular music, Rare Books & Arts:

Find out what’s new on the listening post in the Arts reading room. We’re featuring a holiday season selection of festive, popular, opera and film music on CD.

The Myer Christmas windows

The Myer Christmas windows

December 19, 2018

Social life & customs, Such was life:

The Myer Christmas windows hold a special place in the heart of most Melburnians. The brainchild of Fred Asmussen (1913-1974), who began his career at the Myer emporium in 1928 as a ‘wheeler’ boy, moving products from one place to another in wicker cart, the much-loved tradition is now in its 67th year.

Illustrated children’s books: Willy Pogany (1882-1955)

Illustrated children’s books: Willy Pogany (1882-1955)

December 18, 2018

Our stories:

Willy Pogany (born Vilmos Andras Pogany) was a prolific contributor during the Golden Age of children’s book illustration, whose career broadened from children’s book illustration to portraiture and set designs for opera and ballet.

Such was life

Mary Fortune: pioneer of Australian detective stories

Mary Fortune: pioneer of Australian detective stories

October 15, 2024 2 comments

Mary Fortune was the author of the longest running 19th-century crime fiction series published in a periodical and one of the earliest female crime writers in the world.

Arts

Portrait of Ken Pound for the Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants oral history project, 2010. Photo by Gwenda Davey. This work is in copyright. National Library of Australia; nla.obj-228944556

‘It really belongs to you people anyway…’: The story of Ken Pound

August 19, 2024 6 comments

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.