Today there were five Melbourne Rare Books Week events on. I attended three and sketched at two . Ii was a BIG day for me as the last event of the day was my talk and through my exhibition “You Can’t Draw in Books?”
700 YEARS OF DANTE
State Library Victoria Dr Anna Welch
Italian poet Dante Alighieri wrote one of the medieval world’s most famous poems, La commedia divina between 1308 and 1320. Seven hundred years on, readers and artists continue to draw inspiration from it. This talk explored Dante’s masterpiece using the State Library of Victoria collection, from early 16th-century printed editions to 21st-century artist’s books. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to view some amazing books.
‘MARVELLOUS MELBOURNE’ AND ITS PUBLISHERS
Dr Lucy Sussex
In the 1880s Melbourne was termed ‘Marvellous’, a boom-town. It was one of the wealthiest andlargest cities, world-wide and was the book trade centre of Australasia, supporting outposts of Imperial English publishing, But the great majority of publishing in Melbourne was what we would call independent, usually around a nexus of bookselling, imports, with associated printing plants, leading to local publishing. A fascinating insight !
YOU CAN’T DRAW IN BOOKS?
Melbourne Library Service
Alissa Duke and Chris Browne
The talk explored aspects of drawing in books, from early manuscript illustrations and the presentation of pictures on the printed page to some examples of formal and informal book illustrations in more modern times. We then walked through the four library spaces displaying the books drawn in by me. It was a one hour talk and tour for 25 people through the exhibition. They all seem interested and asked questions during and after.
The exhibition will be open for viewing from 14 July until 24 July in the City library during its normal opening hours.
Very exciting to see some red stickers on your work! I hope you did enjoy your talk, it must have been a big thing to do it after such a busy day.
Hi Leonie – It was an exciting whirlwind week for Melbourne Rare Book Wek. I am glad that my talk was early in the week ! There were so many events that I could have attended and sketched during the week and my days were full from start to finish . I loved every moment. I hope my Exhibition “You Can’t Draw in Book’s” will be held at another venue later this year!
If your exhibition travels to Queensland, please let me know! Thanks
I was in Toowoomba at Christmas and would love my exhibition to travel there. Unfortunately the logistics (and expense) of moving four cartons of books interstate is a little overwhelming. Maybe one day ….