The Smith Trams and Trains Collection
Buildings & streets, Photography, Such was life:
The Library has recently digitised hundreds of images of Victorian trams and trains captured by a visiting enthusiast in the 1960s.
The changing face of Victoria: behind-the-scenes with Conservation
Collection Care, Conservation, Registration and loans:
The Conservation department play a major role in the development of exhibitions at the Library. We recently completed work on the installation of the Changing Face of Victoria exhibition, which this year involved preparing over 150 items for display.
Fireworks in Little Bourke street
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories, Victorian history:
There’s an air of intrigue around these deserted Chinese shopfronts, captured by artist Eric Thake in Melbourne during World War II
Victorian patents: a window on the past
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories:
From the world’s first commercial ice-making machine to a cycling skirt made especially for women, the Library’s collection of Victorian patents is a fascinating window into the lives of our forebears
The Crossley Building: past, present and future
Buildings & streets, People & professions, Such was life:
The Crossley Building on Bourke Street holds the history of one of Melbourne’s earliest, pre gold-rush retail and residential developments. For 60 years it was home to the iconic haberdashery business, Job Warehouse, which closed in 2012. Untenanted ever since and significantly run-down, where to next for this important piece of Melbourne’s built heritage?
The grandstand in Beech Forest
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Reference desk, Victorian history:
A grandstand made out of a tree stump? A racecourse in a forest? Join us as we ponder our question of the week.
Cigarette cards: preservation of a small, but unique collection
Collection Care, Our stories, Preservation, Social life & customs:
Collectible cards as we know them today have a very long tradition, dating back to the mid-late nineteenth century with the production of cigarette cards. A small, but unique collection of these wonderful items were recently rehoused by our Preservation team.
Joan Lindsay’s mysterious ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
‘Everyone agreed the day was just right for the picnic to Hanging Rock…’
Education in Colonial Victoria: a new collection for Trove
By Paul Dee, Senior Librarian Victorian and Australian Collections Trove is the National Library’s online portal to more than 6 billion artefacts, curiosities and stories from Australia’s cultural, community and research institutions.… Read More ›
Discovering Diener’s Ice Works: part two
Buildings & streets, People & professions, Research guides, Research tips & tricks, Social life & customs, Such was life, War:
The second and final part of a blog about flâneurs and research in the time of covid-19 As you can read in part one, this blog was inspired by daily… Read More ›
Such was life
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.
