Media Release
Treasures on Tour!
27 July 2005
A cuneiform clay tablet dating back to 2050 B.C, Melbourne’s first newspaper The Melbourne Advertiser, and the Nuremburg Chronicle, a superb 15th-century German book with woodcut illustrations of the history of the world since creation are some of the State Library of Victoria’s collection treasures touring regional Victoria during August 2005.
Travelling Treasures takes Library collection experts on the road with selected treasures, visiting regional public libraries and schools and providing first hand access to rare manuscripts, books and artefacts.
Travelling Treasures will visit a host school each day and a library at night. Between 9 and 11 August, the State Library’s Manuscripts Librarian, Jock Murphy and other library experts will visit Stawell, Ararat and Lismore. At some sessions, material relating to early pastoralists in the Western District will also be displayed. Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions and view the treasures. All sessions are free of charge.
This selection of items from the State Library of Victoria demonstrates the depth and breadth of the Library’s Heritage Collections, which includes some of the earliest printed books and other unique documents and objects. Some of the treasures will feature in the State Library’s new permanent exhibition Mirror of the World: books and ideas which opens in late 2005.
Cuneiform clay tablet
Dating from the reign of Mesopotamian King Shulgi this ancient clay tablet records the delivery of sheep and goats in 2050 B.C. The Sumerian method of writing required scribes to press wedge shaped marks into wet clay and the technique is one of the earliest known forms of writing.
The Melbourne Advertiser
Melbourne’s first newspaper records the establishment and development of the fledging township. This copy has been handwritten by John Pascoe Fawkner and provides excellent examples of commerce, transportation and entertainment in 1838.
The Nuremberg Chronicle
This Book of Chronicles from the beginning of the world is the most famous of German picture books from the 15th–century. Printed in the free city of Nuremburg in 1493, the book is a pictorial history of the earth from creation to the 1490s.
Peron (Baudin) Expedition Papers
This amazing set of printed maps, illustrations and diagrams records the observations of French explorer Nicholas Baudin during his celebrated scientific voyages along the Australian coastline, in 1801 – 03. A contemporary of Matthew Flinders, Baudin charted the southern Australian coastline in the period just prior to the Napoleonic Wars between England and France.
Travelling Treasures will visit:
Tuesday 9 August
School sessions:
Stawell Secondary College, 79-97 Patrick Street, Stawell
Evening session, 6 - 7pm:
Stawell Library, Sloane Street, Stawell
Library bookings: 03 5358 1274
Wednesday 10 August
School sessions:
Ararat Community College, Barkly Street, Ararat
Evening session, 6 - 7pm:
Ararat Library, Barkly Street, Ararat
Library bookings: 03 5352 1722
Thursday 11 August
School sessions:
Derrinallum P-12 College, Campbell Street, Derrinallum
Evening session:
Lismore Community Centre, Lismore
4 – 6pm: Conservation Clinic (see below)
7.30 – 8.30pm: Travelling Treasures
Bookings: (c/o The Wooltrack Store) 03 5596 2012
In Lismore only, the State Library’s Senior Paintings Conservator will hold a conservation clinic. Bring your treasured old books, papers and paintings for expert advice on how to preserve and care for them. Library evening session times: 6–7pm. Sessions are free of charge but bookings are essential.
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