2008

Tuesday 11 November 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library members' night

Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 6.00pm

Baillieu Library Print Collection

The members' night is the annual occasion when we focus on the Baillieu Library and its collections.  This year, 2008, we look at the rich and wide-ranging collection of prints held by the Baillieu Library.  Our speaker will be Kerrianne Stone, Curator of the Print Collection.  
The Print Collection was founded by Dr Orde Poynton in 1959, when he gave his collection of Old Master prints to the University of Melbourne Library along with the bulk of his collection of rare books.  In 1964 the collection was enlarged by Mrs L Wright, who bequeathed the print collection of her late husband, the renowned London dealer and connoisseur Harold Wright, to the University. In the years since, the Print Collection has been strengthened by other donations, bequests and purchases, until it now numbers about 8,000 items, making it similar in size to the Old Master collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of South Australia.

There are many treasures in the collection, which focuses mainly on European art of the 16th to the 18th century. Artists represented in the collection include Albrecht Dürer, Lucas van Leyden, Marcantonio Raimondi, Guido Reni, Rembrandt van Rijn, William Hogarth, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Francisco Goya, James McNeill Whistler and Lionel Lindsay.

There is a set of bound volumes of engravings by the Sadelers, an important family of printmakers who worked across Europe in the 17th century. These volumes formerly belonged to the Duke of Northumberland and were kept at Syon House near London. They constitute one of the most significant collections of work by the Sadelers in the world.
Not only the size of the Print Collection, but the strength and depth of its holdings, make it one of the most significant cultural assets in Australia and a collection of world importance. The University Library is one of only a very few libraries in the world, such as the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris and the Library of Congress in Washington, to hold print collections. The collection is an invaluable teaching and research resource, and is active not only in the University, but also in the community, through travelling exhibitions and loans to other institutions.

Tuesday 21 October
Friends of the Baillieu Library MUP author's talk

Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 6.00pm

Professor Ken Inglis: Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape

Memorials to Australian participation in wars abound in our landscape, from the majestic Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne to modest statues or small halls in country towns.  In his award winning book, Professor Ken Inglis argues that the imagery, rituals and rhetoric generated around memorials constitute a civic religion, a cult of Anzac. 

Sacred Places, recently released in its third edition, traces three elements which converged to create the cult: the special place of war in the European mind when nationalism was at its zenith; the colonial condition; and the death of so many young men in distant battle.  These factors impelled the bereaved to make substitutes for the graves of which history had deprived them. In this moving and beautifully written book, Ken Inglis looks at the development of the Anzac cult, as well as looking at those who rejected it. Sacred Places also examines a paradox: why, as Australia's wars recede in memory, have these memorials and what they stand for become more cherished than ever?

When it was first published in 1998, Sacred Places won several major awards, including The Age Book of the Year, NSW Premier's Literary Awards, History Prize, and the Ernest Scott History Prize. Ken Inglis is Emeritus Professor of History at ANU. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Papua New Guinea from 1972 to 1975 and in 1982 he was Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University. His previous work includes The Australian Colonists, The Stuart Case, Hospital and Community, Churches and the Working Classes in Victorian England and Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape, winner of The AgeBook of the Year and The NSW Premier's Prize for Australian History in 1999. He also edited the 10 volume, bicentennial history Australians: A historical library. Whose ABC? is the long-awaited follow up to his history, This is the ABC: The Australian Broadcasting Commission 1932–1983, which was re-released in August 2006.

Thursday 18 September 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library Annual Dinner and guest speaker

University House, University of Melbourne, 7.00pm

Dr Peter Yule: Researching the biographies of the Baillieu Family

Saturday 23 August 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library Saturday seminar

Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 2.00-4.30pm

Politicians' Private Libraries

Have you ever wondered what books politicians collect and read?  Did you realise that the Leigh Scott Room where the Friends meet houses the private library of Sir Robert Menzies, our longest serving Prime Minister?  Our 2008 Saturday Seminar looks at the libraries and collections of three important politicians: Prime Ministers Sir Robert Menzies and Hon Malcolm Fraser and Lord Casey, a former Governor General of Australia, Governor of Bengal and Foreign Minister. The University houses the Menzies and Fraser collections; the Casey collection is held by the Berwick Mechanics' Institute.  We are fortunate in having three outstanding speakers on these collections.

Prof Judith Brett (Latrobe University) on Sir Robert Menzies. Prof Brett is Head of the School of Social Sciences at La Trobe University.  She has written a number of important books on Sir Robert Menzies and on the Liberal Party, including Robert Menzies' Forgotten People, Macmillan, Melbourne. This won the 1993 Ernest Scott prize, the 1993 Victorian Premier's Prize for Australian Studies and shared the 1993 NSW Premier's prize for non-fiction.

Dr Caitlin Stone (University of Melbourne) on Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser. Dr Stone is the Curator of the Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne. This Collection currently consists of one hundred metres of family and personal records relating to the former Prime Minister of Australia, the Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser.

Judith Dwyer (Berwick Mechanics' Institute) on Lord Casey. Judith Dwyer has had a distinguished career in public library management in Victoria and is a volunteer at the Berwick Mechanics' Institute where she is cataloguing the Casey Collection, which includes art works and photographs as well as books and other printed material.  

Tuesday 24 June 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library MUP author's talk
Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 6.00pm

Katie Holmes, Sue Martin and Kylie Mirmohamadi: Reading the Garden

Whether a small plot in the backyard of an inner-urban home or a capital city's sprawling botanic garden, Australians have long desired a patch of dirt to plough or enjoy.  Our second 2008 author's evening for members and friends focusses on the garden in Australia. Reading the Garden explores our deep affection for gardens and gardening and illuminates their numerous meanings and uses.  As the authors write 'Planting a garden is ... an act of memory and settlement: those who make a garden look back to recollected forms and forward to new growth that will become a special kind of place.' 

Reading the Garden explores our deep affection for gardens and gardening and illuminates their numerous meanings and uses from European settlement to the late twentieth century. More than just a pastime, the act of garden making has helped migrants create 'home' and an identity in a new place, and we continue to use our outdoor landscapes to preserve the memory of a loved one, feed the family or beautify our surrounds.

The Friends have always had a special interest in gardens and horticulture and have purchased a number of significant titles in this area over the years. 

Katie Holmes is an Associate Professor of History at La Trobe University. She has published widely on gardening in Australia. Her book Spaces in Her Day was shortlisted for the NSW and Victorian Premiers' Awards and she has co-edited other anthologies, including Freedom Bound. Susan K. Martin is an Associate Professor in English at La Trobe University. Her writing on Australian literature, culture and garden history has been featured in many books, including The Oxford Literary History of Australia and Imagining Australia, and journals such as Postcolonial Studies and Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes. Kylie Mirmohamadi is an historian who writes on Australian garden history, and Australian history and culture. With the other writers of this book, she co-edited Green Pens, a volume of Australian garden writing.

Wednesday 21 May 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library visit
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 6.00pm

Twilight visit to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in the City, including a tour of its libraries and museum

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons was founded in 1927.  In 1935 the College building was opened and soon won a prestigious award for its architecture. The Curator of Collections, Mr Geoff Down, will take us on a tour of the main building and its collections.  These include:

  • The Cowlishaw Collection is a large collection of books on medicine and related subjects, containing many early, classic and rare editions and the Leonard Murphy Collection of rare works focussing on urology.
  • An impressive collection of portraits, dating from the 18th century onwards. In the main, those represented have been closely associated with the College, especially the Presidents. But there are many other portraits of those who have earned a place in the history of medicine. Many are by well-known artists, including Judy Cassab, Ivor Hele, George Lambert, Sir John Longstaff and Joshua Smith. Among the portraits is that of Farquhar McCrae, the first surgeon in Victoria, painted by Georgiana McCrae.
  • A rich variety of material which the College has acquired through gift, donation and bequest, and especially by presentation. This includes furniture, sculpture, ceramics, glass, silverware and pewter, as well as photographs and works of art on paper.
  • The College has built up a substantial collection of surgical instruments, dating mainly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of these carry important associations, such as a set of scalpels used by Lord Lister. The collection contains both general and specialized sets of instruments. In addition, there are tools and apparatus associated with surgery, such as a Lister Carbolic Spray.

Wednesday 7 May 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library joint function with the Australian Friends of St George's Chapel and Heraldry Australia  

Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 6.00pm

Professor Stephanie Trigg: The Vulgar History of the Order of the Garter

Professor Trigg's talk will present some recent research on the origins of the Order of the Garter, with particular attention to the medieval origins of the Order. It will consider some popular and literary traditions of the Order's founding, dismissed as a "vain and idle romance" by Peter Heylyn, and as a "vulgar error" by Elias Ashmole in the seventeenth century, and yet lovingly told and re-told throughout the centuries. Even if we cannot be sure of Edward III's motives in choosing a garter as his emblem, the story of the king, the lady and the garter opens up a series of powerful symbolic and cultural references and allusions that are symptomatic of the ongoing fascination with royalty and medieval tradition.

Stephanie Trigg is a Professor of English in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. Her current projects include a cultural history of the Order of the Garter (funded by a Discovery Grant from the Australian Research Council).

Tuesday 22 April 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library MUP author's talk

Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 6.00pm

Professor Harriet Edquist: Pioneers of Modernism: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Australia

Whether a small plot in the backyard of an inner-urban home or a capital city's sprawling botanic garden, Australians have long desired a patch of dirt to plough or enjoy.  Our second 2008 author's evening for members and friends focusses on the garden in Australia. Reading the Garden explores our deep affection for gardens and gardening and illuminates their numerous meanings and uses.  As the authors write 'Planting a garden is ... an act of memory and settlement: those who make a garden look back to recollected forms and forward to new growth that will become a special kind of place.' 

Reading the Garden explores our deep affection for gardens and gardening and illuminates their numerous meanings and uses from European settlement to the late twentieth century. More than just a pastime, the act of garden making has helped migrants create 'home' and an identity in a new place, and we continue to use our outdoor landscapes to preserve the memory of a loved one, feed the family or beautify our surrounds.

The Friends have always had a special interest in gardens and horticulture and have purchased a number of significant titles in this area over the years.

Katie Holmes is an Associate Professor of History at La Trobe University. She has published widely on gardening in Australia. Her book Spaces in Her Day was shortlisted for the NSW and Victorian Premiers' Awards and she has co-edited other anthologies, including Freedom Bound. Susan K. Martin is an Associate Professor in English at La Trobe University. Her writing on Australian literature, culture and garden history has been featured in many books, including The Oxford Literary History of Australia and Imagining Australia, and journals such as Postcolonial Studies and Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes. Kylie Mirmohamadi is an historian who writes on Australian garden history, and Australian history and culture. With the other writers of this book, she co-edited Green Pens, a volume of Australian garden writing.

Wednesday 21 May 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library visit
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 6.00pm

Twilight visit to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in the City, including a tour of its libraries and museum

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons was founded in 1927.  In 1935 the College building was opened and soon won a prestigious award for its architecture. The Curator of Collections, Mr Geoff Down, will take us on a tour of the main building and its collections.  These include:

  • The Cowlishaw Collection is a large collection of books on medicine and related subjects, containing many early, classic and rare editions and the Leonard Murphy Collection of rare works focussing on urology.
  • An impressive collection of portraits, dating from the 18th century onwards. In the main, those represented have been closely associated with the College, especially the Presidents. But there are many other portraits of those who have earned a place in the history of medicine. Many are by well-known artists, including Judy Cassab, Ivor Hele, George Lambert, Sir John Longstaff and Joshua Smith. Among the portraits is that of Farquhar McCrae, the first surgeon in Victoria, painted by Georgiana McCrae.
  • A rich variety of material which the College has acquired through gift, donation and bequest, and especially by presentation. This includes furniture, sculpture, ceramics, glass, silverware and pewter, as well as photographs and works of art on paper.
  • The College has built up a substantial collection of surgical instruments, dating mainly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of these carry important associations, such as a set of scalpels used by Lord Lister. The collection contains both general and specialized sets of instruments. In addition, there are tools and apparatus associated with surgery, such as a Lister Carbolic Spray.

Wednesday 7 May 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library joint function with the Australian Friends of St George's Chapel and Heraldry Australia  
Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 6.00pm

Professor Trigg's talk will present some recent research on the origins of the Order of the Garter, with particular attention to the medieval origins of the Order. It will consider some popular and literary traditions of the Order's founding, dismissed as a "vain and idle romance" by Peter Heylyn, and as a "vulgar error" by Elias Ashmole in the seventeenth century, and yet lovingly told and re-told throughout the centuries. Even if we cannot be sure of Edward III's motives in choosing a garter as his emblem, the story of the king, the lady and the garter opens up a series of powerful symbolic and cultural references and allusions that are symptomatic of the ongoing fascination with royalty and medieval tradition.

Stephanie Trigg is a Professor of English in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. Her current projects include a cultural history of the Order of the Garter (funded by a Discovery Grant from the Australian Research Council).

Tuesday 22 April 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library MUP author's talk
Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 6.00pm

Professor Harriet Edquist: Pioneers of Modernism: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Australia

The Arts and Crafts architects created some of the most thoughtful, beautifully crafted and inspired architecture in Australia's history. The Arts and Crafts movement - emerging in the 1880s and 1890s - brought a breath of fresh air to Australian design. A sense of innovation and understanding of the values of simplicity, harmony and unity permeated both architecture and the allied arts and crafts.

Professor Harriet Edquist traces the development of the movement from its origins, including key architects who introduced the theories and idioms of the British Arts and Crafts movement and transposed them to Australia. From remote government buildings to homesteads for the landed gentry, from the quintessentially Australian bungalow style to religious architecture, from garden design to furniture integral to its environment, and finally to a vision for the 'new city', we see the innovation and influence of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Pioneers of Modernism is a richly illustrated and visually impressive book but it is Edquist's thorough research and perceptive eye that make this original and scholarly account of major significance in acknowledging the importance of the Arts and Crafts movement in Australian design history.

Harriet Edquist is Professor of Architectural History in the School of Architecture and Design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. She has published widely on Australian architecture and art and was editor of Transition: Discourse on Architecture from 1987 to 1992. She is the author and editor of a number of books, including The Culture of Landscape Architectureand Frederick Romberg: The Architecture of Migration 1938–1975.

Wednesday 19 March 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library book and exhibition launch

Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 6.15pm

Launch of Cambridge Collected: The Pierre Gorman Story Catalogue and Exhibition by
Dr David McKitterick, Cambridge University

Tuesday 18 March 2008
Friends of the Baillieu Library Annual General Meeting and guest speaker

Leigh Scott Room, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, 6.00pm