Last night, Minister for Slovenes Abroad Dr Bostjan Zeks presented the Victorian Arts Minister Peter Batchelor with a valuable gift for the Australian nation from the people of Slovenia.

The gift, which is a facsimile limited edition of the magnificent 17-volume Iconotheca Valvasoriana, will become part of the Library’s collection.

The Iconotheca Valvasoriana represents the personal library collection of Janez Vajkard Valvasor, scholar, scientist, soldier, historian, cartographer and publisher. It contains more than 7700 maps, images of copperplate and wood carving art of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the works of masters such as Rembrandt, Durer and Cranach.

Valvasor created the collection during his travels in Europe between 1659 and 1672. The original collection is part of the Croatian State Archives.

Only 100 facsimile editions of the work exist and the edition donated to the Library is the only one in Australia. Earlier this year a copy was been given to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Society of London.

The facsimlie edition, which took ten years to complete,  has been described as a printing masterpiece. Each set is valued at A$43,400.

Find out more about the Iconotheca Valavasoriana

View the gallery of images from the presentation

The Hon Peter Batchelor MP, Victorian Minister for the Arts,  and Minister for Slovenes Abroad, Dr Bostjian Zeks

The Hon Peter Batchelor MP, Victorian Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Slovenes Abroad, Dr Bostjian Zeks


This article has 3 comments

  1. Thank you, that is very interesting. I will go to see it.

  2. Michael Shirrefs, a former Library Creative Fellow and ABC radio presenter, did a great interview with the President of Slovenia about this wonderful collection of books.

    The interview was broadcast on Sunday 3 October for Radio National’s Artworks program. You can listen to the interview via their webpage:

    http://www.abc.net.au/rn/artworks

  3. The State Library of Victoria is screening a Valvasor multimedia presentation (43 mins) daily until 8 November 2010, launched with a new website http://www.valvasor.org at the official ceremony on 27 September. The Valvasor display is online at http://www.scribd.com/doc/37771119/Presentation-State-Library-of-Victoria
    Both were produced by a Melbourne’s Institute for Slovenian Studies Inc. see http://www.thezaurus.com

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