The Mandeville Centre, Loreto, Toorak

Architectus takes home win in architecture awards

July 15, 2016

News:

Architectus, one of the design firms involved in our Vision 2020 redevelopment, are celebrating wins for two of their educational projects.

St. Martin's Press, 2011

The interwebs are singing with some musical ebooks

July 15, 2016

Music, Rare Books & Arts:

Some familiar musical names, and maybe some not so familiar, but all of them well worth getting to know; not to mention a clip of Judy Garland that will take your breath away!

Glorious news! Separation at last!

Glorious news! Separation at last!

July 5, 2016

Cities & towns, Such was life:

Victoria is celebrating the 165th anniversary of its own Brexit, the day colonists won independence from the British colony of NSW. To mark the occasion, an exhibition of rare historical artwork and records has gone on display at the Library.

The first day of the Battle of the Somme

The first day of the Battle of the Somme

June 30, 2016

Our stories:

This day saw the British Army experience the single bloodiest day in its entire history, with close to 60,000 casualties, as Lord Kitchener’s inexperienced new recruits came face to face with the brutal realities of modern warfare’s industrialised killing.

Marvel Worldwide Inc, 2015

The art of the comic book, or the comic book as art?

June 23, 2016

Comic books, Rare Books & Arts:

Comic books have come a long way since their first appearance in America in the 1930s. You can start exploring our growing collection with these beautiful artist’s editions of some iconic titles.

Settlement at Sullivan Bay

Settlement at Sullivan Bay

June 22, 2016

Cities & towns, Such was life:

Was the British settlement of Sorrento in 1803 Victoria’s first attempt at a desalinisation plant?

Ballarat Star, 10 July 1920

Post war play creates furore in Bendigo

June 21, 2016

Our stories:

On Saturday 3 July 1920, the play Advance Australia was staged at the Princess Theatre in Bendigo. Written by a local Catholic priest, John Joseph Kennedy, it would create a national furore.

Warner Music Australia, 2014

New Listening: Prince & Alice, Cleo & Callas, & much more

June 3, 2016

Film, Music, Rare Books & Arts:

Some great new music in Arts from pop to classical, and quite a few points in between.

Black Thursday, February 6th, 1851  
1864
oil on canvas; 106.5 x 343 cm
State Library of Victoria

Major retrospective of colonial artist William Strutt on show at State Library Victoria

June 2, 2016

News:

State Library Victoria will host Heroes and Villains: Strutt’s Australia, a major retrospective dedicated to the work of celebrated mid-nineteenth century artist, William Strutt (1825–1915). The exhibition opens to the public on 14 July 2016.

An ambrotype portrait of cadet Dabney Scales in US Naval Academy uniform, Maryland, c 1859-60, housed in its original hinge-split case, on top of Scales' Shenandoah diary, 1865

State Library seeks help to secure unique diary revealing Australia’s link to the American Civil War

May 29, 2016

News:

State Library Victoria is asking for the public’s help to purchase an extraordinary document that chronicles Australia’s involvement in the last year of the American Civil War – the ship diary of Lieutenant Dabney M Scales of the Confederate Steam Ship Shenandoah.

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.