Melbourne Rare Book Week has officially started, with the first event on Friday 5 July . Professor Wallace Kirsop’s “Readers and Books in La Trobe’s Melbourne” set the scene for book retailing and collection in early Melbourne,

I will be sketching at many of the varied and fascinating events over the coming week and posting on facebook at Alissa Duke Art and instagram alissaduke1. I always sketch on location using my watercolour pencils and Lamy Sarafi Joy ink pen in 13 x 19 cm Moleskine watercolour sketchbook. I only add final touches at home and the wording.

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Blue skies and sunshine on Saturday for the next Melbourne Rare Book Week event. “A Walk on the Mean Streets : An exploration of the 1880s Melbourne of Fergus Hume” This walk was led by Lucy Sussex,and Chris Browne, both in costume. We visited sites of Melbourne featured in the books of Fergus Hume, the author of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886). The walk featured readings from the works of Fergus Hume at places that were mentioned in the book. When they stopped I sketched. I knew where some stops were and could drew the background in advance on the day. Thanks Melbourne Library Service for this event .

Melbourne Rare Book Week Bulls, Booze & Books: 
Reliving Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, a politically incorrect adventure.
Johnson Society
John Byrne a world-renowned collector of the works of Samuel Johnson, John also collects books on Hemingway and bullfighting. Inspired by a book examining the real-life events behind The Sun Also Rises, John travelled to Spain in 2018 to visit bullrings, bars, restaurants and bookshops. We heard about his adventures and saw rare books from his collection. watercolour pencil and ink pen

Browsing the shelves: Books in an exhibition
Old Treasury Building
Shane Carmody told the story behind the books from the exhibition The Invention of Melbourne: A Baroque Archbishop and a Neo-Gothic Architect to be launched on 31 July. Drawn from the library of James Goold, first Catholic Bishop of Melbourne, the books are just a sample of one of the finest libraries assembled in colonial Melbourne. Shane told the story of Goold and his fabulous library through the books, their authors and publishers.

I will be posting on instagram and facebook daily and every few days to my blog. Then I will return to my regular weekly art blog.