1970s photos of Fitzroy and Castlemaine now online
News:
Thanks to the many generous supporters of our 2014 public appeal, we have recently made hundreds of never-before-seen historic photographs of Fitzroy and Castlemaine available online.
Life behind the stacks
11 kilometres of books, papers and ephemera are hidden beneath the streets of Melbourne. Anyone can access them, but they’ll need a State Library card.
Just inside the cover: the miniature art of the bookplate
Rare Books & Arts, Visual arts:
Guest blogger and library volunteer Christine Bell shares her passion for bookplates and throws some light on the work she’s doing behind the scenes on some of our own collections.
The other side of Shackleton’s Antarctic adventure
When Ernest Shackleton’s 1915 Antarctic expedition ran into trouble, the Ross Sea party that was laying out stores for his team continued unawares, facing harrowing challenges of their own.
The map that changed the world
People & professions, Such was life:
This year marks the bicentenary of the publication of the first geological map of England and Wales, laying the foundations for geological surveys across the world.
New Listening: Broadway to La Scala, Brandenburg to Oz.
Some great new CD arrivals in pop, rock, rhythm & blues, film soundtracks, musical theatre, classical music and opera; something for just about everyone.
Well may we say, God save the Queen…
Forty years ago this week saw the climax of one of the most dramatic events in Australian political history when the Whitlam government was dismissed by the Governor-General Sir John Kerr.
Richard Flanagan appointed Australia’s inaugural Chair of Literature
News:
Internationally acclaimed Australian author Richard Flanagan has been appointed as the Boisbouvier Founding Chair of Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne, the first chair of its kind in Australia.
A little history of the humble lamp post
The humble lamp posts on either side of Redmond Barry’s statue might tend to be overlooked, but at 124 years, they are hardy survivors. This week our Pictures team take a closer look at some of Melbourne’s oldest working street fixtures.
New books: revolutions in England, Scotland at war and Mr Nolan transforms the Australian landscape
Painting, Rare Books & Arts, Visual arts:
A clutch of new books explore Turner’s “born again” vision, the back-to-the-future philosophy of William Morris, Scotland’s artists at war, and the remarkable life and art of Sidney Nolan (shown here in a photograph by Albert Tucker, c.1940s).
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.
