Cities & towns, Exhibitions, People & professions:
Opened in 1853 on the banks of the Yarra River, the Cremorne Gardens was Melbourne’s first amusement park. Featuring fireworks displays, tightrope dancers and Australia’s first hot air balloon ascent, the gardens brought theatre and spectacle to the newly established British colony.
People & professions, Such was life:
Melbourne in the 1850s had a small but ambitious scientific community. One particularly idiosyncratic member of that community was William Blandowski, a man often at odds with the scientific establishment. He found himself embroiled in controversy with his choice of names for newly described Murray River fish.
Charles Pratt was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1891 and was cadet with the First Wellington Rifle Company. When war broke out he quickly enlisted and saw action in… Read More ›
We have well over 110,000 maps in our collection— enough to carpet metropolitan Melbourne. Here are five highlights.
News:
During the nine-day music extravaganza, the Library will delve deep into the vaults to reveal some extraordinary items in its collection including never-before-displayed, rare vinyl records from the 1940s to today, and specialist fanzines inspired by the Melbourne music scene – the largest public collection of its kind in Australia.
Buildings & streets, Such was life:
In the 1840s a burgeoning Melbourne needed a robust wharf, one to replace the current bog built over swamps.
People & professions, Social life & customs, Such was life, Tips and tricks:
Criminals, crime and justice in colonial Victoria!
News:
774 ABC Melbourne is packing up its Southbank headquarters to take up residence at the State Library from Friday 26 to Monday 29 February.
News:
The Library was flooded with bright lights and sweeping soundscapes on Saturday 20 February for White Night Melbourne, a dusk ‘til dawn celebration of culture and creativity across the city.
Melbourne’s Maid of Orléans arrived at Port Melbourne from Marseilles on 28 January 1907. Here, Pictures Librarian Gerard Hayes traces Joan’s history from a Francophile rallying point to the mysterious case of a missing crown.
