The sketches in this post were completed at home from photographs that I took at Melbourne Rare Book Fair.
Kay Craddock Antiquarian Books
A family business established in 1965, Kay Craddock – Antiquarian Bookseller has become a Collins Street landmark in the impressive Neo-Gothic Assembly Hall building located in the heart of Melbourne’s premier street, We buy and sell fine and rare books from the 15th to the 21st centuries.As a general bookseller we offer a large and diverse range of stock. Specialist catalogues and electronic lists are issued regularly. All stock is listed on our website, which is updated daily.
A permanent collection of owls is scattered throughout the bookshop. The first of these, two small wax candles in the shape of an owl, were made for Kay by her nieces, Marilla and Kylie, in the 1970s. Since then, their number is now in the thousands, mostly given by customers and friends. The bookshop has a policy that it neither buys nor sells the owls-nor does it ask for them! There are many stories attached to the way in which they have been given to the business, and the collection has become a draw-card for visitors to the bookshop.
The Melbourne Rare Book Fair is the major annual book fair of ANZAAB and one of only a few rare book fairs in the Southern hemisphere.
ANZAAB is the trade body for dealers in antiquarian and rare books, manuscripts and related materials in Australia and New Zealand. Affiliated with the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), ANZAAB was formed in 1977 with the object of promoting the standing, welfare, and growth of the local antiquarian book trade.
Now in its 57th Edition, the Melbourne Rare Book Fair features rare and wonderful books, manuscripts, ephemera, prints (and much more) from the best rare book and antiquarian dealers across Australia and New Zealand and from overseas.
It is a gathering of buyers, sellers and lovers of books not to be missed.bWhatever your tastes may be, you are sure to find a rare and interesting book, print or piece of ephemera to add to your collection. I always buy some ephemera.
It opens in Thursday night and goes for two days at Wlison Hall, Melbourne UNiversity. I sketched over the three days. Today are sketches of people. They were all completed on location with Lamy Safari Ink Pen and watercolour pencil in a Moleskin waterclour sketchbook. 13x 19 cm
A panel of sports writers, historians, and librarians convene for this sports history discussion led by MCC Library’s own Trevor Ruddell. Which collections have our panellists encountered, and which collections have they used in the course of their work? What forgotten stories have been unearthed through these documents, and what have been the outcomes of such research? Where are the hidden gems of sports history? What rare treasures have been uncovered since we last met, and what projects are people working on this year? Our panel will reveal all.
Kasey Symons on the 1970 South African Netball tour of Australia
IN the back row , I happily settled behind a man with a Big Freeze beanie. The Big Freeze is an iconic Australian annual charity event started by Neale Daniher and FightMND to raise funds and awareness to find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease (MND). It features high-profile personalities sliding into icy water at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) during the annual King’s Birthday AFL match.
One of the best parts of sketching at MRBW events is meeting the speakers and the attendees. After a few events there are a few regulars! I am also known to many of the organisers after many years of sketching. As a Librarian, I also have a lot in common with these wonderful people.
Storytime: Growing up with books
Many of us will remember favourite books from our childhood, but do we know what we would think of them now? Join us to hear how a leading Melbourne journalist recollected her favourite childhood books to create her own wonderful book Storytime: growing up with books. Jane will discuss how the books that she loved as a child appeal to her today. The conversation will be illustrated by readings, and copies of some of Jane’s favourite children’s books will be on display. The amazing actor Ryan Heath read etracts form various books.
Cartes de visite were the earliest photographs to be widely produced and sold affordably, becoming very popular in the 1860s. Toward the end of that decade larger photographs, known as cabinet cards, also became common. Cartes de visite were collected and exchanged with family and friends, and often placed into albums specially manufactured to hold them. Intended to be sumptuous, these albums were generally bound in leather, and adorned with decorative features such as gold tooling, or brass clasps. Join Debra Parry as she looks at the early beginnings of popular photography, followed by a viewing of some of these beautiful albums used to hold cartes de visite and cabinet cards.
I was delighted to meet Dr Steven Cooke FRHistS Executive DirectorRoyal Historical Society of Victoria.
He stood behind me and sent me an email with photos and a short video and a message.
“Lovely to meet you today. I was transfixed watching you sketch!”
Thank you Steve!
Book Arts from the Medieval to the Contemporary
This collection-viewing experience will introduce audiences to the materiality, aesthetics, techniques and history of handmade books, from illuminated medieval manuscripts to cutting-edge contemporary Victorian artist books. In an increasingly digital world, opportunities to engage in person with physical cultural heritage material are ever more valuable. Celebrating the world’s ongoing love of the book in all its forms, this talk will illuminate the joyfully human nature of book arts and the way in which books hold memories of individuals and communities.
Somewhere a bear…A celebration of the centenary of Winnie-the-Pooh
A century ago, A.A. Milne and Ernest Shepard collaborated in the creation of the much-loved world of a boy, his bear and the bear’s friends. Step back into childhood with us to celebrate the world of Winnie-the-Pooh. Hear the story of how the adventures of the bear of little brain captivated generations of children, and how it affected the life of the real Christopher Robin. Hum along with Jane Sullivan as she takes us back to the innocent world of 100 Aker Wood, Poohsticks, Hunting for Heffalumps and the glorious melancholy of Eeyore. Win the prize for the best bear at the event.
Held in Meeting Room, Level 1, East Melbourne Library.
Adventures through The Medical Pickwick 1917 – 1920
The RACS’s Cowlishaw Collection is a library of rare books acquired by physician and bibliophile Leslie Cowlishaw in the early 20th century. Nestled within the collection is a set of bound journals titled The Medical Pickwick: A Monthly Literary Magazine for and by Physicians, published in New York in the early 20th century. RACS holds copies from 1917 to 1920. Its aim was to entertain its readers by placing emphasis on the humorous side of medical life. Join curator Helen Laffin as she delves into the light-hearted side of the medical profession, exploring the magazine’s content that includes stories, cartoons, illustrations, and even poetry and jokes.
All in the golden afternoon… when three little girls were rowed upstream on the Thames in Oxford by two timid clergymen, a legendary story was born which became Alice in Wonderland. Since that golden afternoon, the book has continued to fire the imaginations of readers young and old; of artists and illustrators; of actors and filmmakers; of copyists, plagiarists and satirists.
Chris Browne will show us how the stories of Lewis Carroll’s Alice have enriched our lives ever since. See how different artists, writers, propagandists and satirists have added to the evolving dream worlds of Alice.
The National Book Collecting Prize for Young Australian Collectors
Presenting the Young Australian Book Collector for 2026
Are you a budding book collector? The National Book Collecting Prize for young Australian collectors to the age of 35 is an annual prize awarded for an outstanding book collection conceived of and built by a young Australian collector. Launched in Queensland in 2020 by Archives Fine Books, in 2023 it became a national competition. Learn more about the prize from its founder Dawn Albinger and hear from this year’s winner Michael Alexandratos about his collection of Greek Weird Books. We’re also delighted to welcome back Nadeem Toodayan with Broodings of Brisbane Bibliophile, Part II. He will share how his collection of Osleriana, medical biographies, and other historical medical publications has continued to take shape since winning the prize in 2024.
Hosted by Dawn Albinger, Archives Fine BooksHeld in the First Floor Meeting Room, East Melbourne Library.
An exploration of the life and cookery books of Federation hotelier and cookery book author, Mrs Hannah Maclurcan
A popular and important Federation cookery book author, Hannah Maclurcan was a highly successful Australian hotelier and businesswoman. The event will explore her often overlooked contributions to Federation cookery with several tastes from her popular cookery book, Mrs Maclurcan’s Cookery Book: a Collection of Practical Recipes Specially Suitable for Australia, which ran to a number of editions.
This lecture introduces the Library’s pioneering Women Writers Fund, established in 2021 with founding donations from Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Helen Sykes, and subsequently also supported by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust. The Fund enables the library to collect the voices of women who have been under-represented in the State Collection for historical reasons. After a brief exploration of the library’s collecting practice in its early decades, Dr Welch will introduce 10 highlights from the Women Writers Fund that bring its purpose alive and encourages engagement with this important collecting enterprise.
The Paper Argonaut: Adventures in art, science and rare books
Spanning art, science and rare books, this panel discussion will highlight some important marine science books in Museums Victoria’s Rare Book Collection. Discover how rare books have informed scientific research, inspired artistic practice within museums, and documented ocean voyages and observation. The discussion will also highlight women’s contributions to science and the history of the Museums Victoria Library. This event will be followed by Treasures from the Sea, a rare book display.
Join Museums Victoria’s expert librarians and curators as they delve into the Museum’s fascinating and quirky collection of rare marine books and scientific artwork. This session, which is being held in conjunction with The Paper Argonaut: adventures in art, science and rare books panel at the Museum, will provide a rare opportunity to view these beautifully illustrated books and accompanying artworks.
Books That Defined Language: A journey through the Supreme Court Library’s rare and historic dictionaries
Explore the rich history of dictionaries held in the Supreme Court Library and discover fascinating insights into the evolving craft of defining words. Among the Library’s treasures is one of the oldest dictionaries in the collection, dating back to 1541, as well as an early legal dictionary from 1607, offering a glimpse into how legal terminology was once understood. The Library’s significant collection was established by Sir Redmond Barry, then Acting Chief Justice and founder of the Library, and added to by later Supreme Court librarians.
Extra Bonus
A display of books from the library’s collection that relate to this topic will be on display in the Supreme Court Library until 21 August 2026. The display can be visited during the normal opening hours of the library. Entry is free and no bookings are required.The Supreme Court Library (Law Library of Victoria) is at 210 William Street, Melbourne. The opening hours are Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm.
I didn’t sketch at my own event, so here are some photos. Yes, this is the magnificent LIbrary I work in.
When Wrong Becomes Right in the English Language
For centuries, English has been polished, prodded and policed. But it was the late 18th and early 19th centuries that mark the true golden age of linguistic control, when the urge to perfect and protect the language reached its height. It was also the time when English began to be written about in earnest and complained about in earnest as well. This talk explores the lively industry of late modern grammarians and commentators who identified “errors” in words and sounds that had long been part of everyday speech. Professor Kate Burridge will reveal how these shifting judgements point to a persistent tension: attempts to fix the language are continually undercut by the very dynamism they seek to contain.
The Poet Who Never Was and (Perhaps) Always Will Be: Ern Malley
In 1943, two bored but talented soldiers in wartime Victoria Barracks Melbourne – James McAuley and Harold Stewart – decided to strike a blow against modernist poetry by submitting a series of poems, purportedly penned by Ern Malley, to literary editors Max Harris and John Reed. The Ern Malley saga links the literary journal Angry Penguins, the Adelaide literary establishment, General Blamey and a future governor-general. Join Michael O’Brien as he unravels the complex story and colourful characters involved in Australia’s greatest literary hoax.
There are over 45 events between 23 July and 1 August in the 12th year of the Melbourne Rare Book Week, culminating in the Melbourne Rare Book Fair, in its 52nd year. All events are free. I have been the official sketcher on location since 2016. Each year I take the week off work and sketch at as many events as I can, sharing my sketches with the MRBW and MRBR Teams and the organisations that I sketch at for them to use in any social media.
I will be posting everyday this week as I share them with everyone as well as keepimg my own personal record of the events. On my sketchbook pages I sketch on location, and write the event name, place, organisation etc. I will also add the information about the session from the MRBW program descriptions.
I sketched at 18 events. There are often four events spread over the day, but sometimes three at the same time. They are all generally within Melbourne CBD, but not always easy to get from one to another . Tough decisions must be made !
Each event is at a different venue, with different rooms,surrounds an attendees. This often inspires the sketch!
I began with …
Sketches of Early Melbourne
Victoria’s Parliamentary Library is the second oldest library in Victoria. The highlight of the Library’s rare book collection is William Strutt’s illustrated album Victoria the Golden. Strutt arrived in Melbourne in 1850 and captured key events in the embryonic colony, from the goldrush to the departure of the Burke and Wills expedition. In later years in England, he compiled his skilful sketches into albums, aware of their historical importance. Join Alisa Bunbury, art historian and curator, to learn about Strutt and his years in Victoria, followed by a rare viewing of the album, alongside other Strutt material held in the Library’s collection.
Suppression of Australian Literature in the Nineteenth Century
The nineteenth century in Australia is particularly interesting from the literary suppression point of view. In this talk, Dr Cains addresses suppression – items of literature withdrawn from the market and not available to the general reader – rather than censorship, a State based activity often invoked to protect the morals of the population. During this period, the Port Phillip colony moved with increasing confidence to self-government and federation, and there were tentative shoots of a domestic literature. But as a young boisterous colony, the excesses of expression and behaviour were curbed, often by legal means and occasionally by literary suppression: some of these instances are the subject of this lecture.
I carry my watercolour pencills, ink pen and sketchbook with me everywhere!
I now have a new sketchwrap. As you can see, it was very overdue as the state of my previous one was very sad.
I have them made at an alternations shop
Read my previous blogpost on my new sketchwtap in 2013. I Think that I have had one other made since then.
I had two made up as I plan to take a spare with me when I travel overseas later this year. If I lost my sketchwrap I will be able to replace it straightway.
