Our publications

Long views and short vistas: Victoria’s nineteenth-century public botanic gardens

Explores the stories of botanic gardens established in Victoria in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Melbourne by menu: the story of Melbourne's restaurant revolution

Serves up an irregular history of people, restaurants and menus in the '80s that defined the direction of eating out in Melbourne today.

Front cover of 'Ned Kelly's last stand' book

The true story of Ned Kelly's last stand

This book uses science, history and family lore to unearth a new understanding of the making of a legend.

Detective Piggott's casebook: true tales of murder, madness and the rise of forensic science

For the first time, this book reveals the inside facts on nine of the most important Victoria Police investigations of the early 20th century.

Sunday's garden: growing Heide

This book explores John and Sunday Reed's inspired conversion of Heide into a personal Eden for the artists they championed.

JJ Clark: architect of the Australian Renaissance

This fascinating biography reveals the drama and inspiration behind the career of noted colonial architect, John James Clark.

Love and devotion: from Persia and beyond

Drawing on art, literature and philosophy, this beautiful volume includes over 130 reproductions of illustrated Persian manuscripts.

Burke and Wills: the scientific legacy of the Victorian Exploring Expedition

Reveals for the first time the true extent and limits of the scientific achievements of the Burke and Wills expedition.

Characters: cultural stories revealed through typography

A selection of stories about the signs we see around Melbourne that reveal the city's character and history.

The matrix

Bruno Leti's matrices reveal themselves in the play of light and shadow, illuminating his practice as artist and printmaker.

The garden of ideas: four centuries of Australian style

An inspiring and engaging story of Australian garden design, with an array of paintings, drawings, prints, plans and photographs.

The West & the map of the world

Inspired by antique maps, this book presents the past as a single narrative with European history as an offshoot of Asian history.

When we think about Melbourne: the imagination of a city

A wry and whimsical survey of Melbourne’s collective imagination, through the city's music, art, literature, film, maps and transport.

Cover of Imagination, books and community in Medieval Europe

Imagination, books & community in medieval Europe

This lavish publication of papers by 17 scholars presents a rich range of studies on medieval books.

Sunday's kitchen: food & living at Heide

Drawing on recollections, writings and recipes, Sunday's kitchen tells the story of daily life at Heide, the home of John and Sunday Reed.

A future in flames

A personal look at what history teaches us about bushfires, and what we have yet to learn about them.

Beyond reasonable drought: photographs of a changing land & its people

Memorable photographs about change, resilience, ingenuity, despair, hope and living with drought.

Cover of Capital: Melbourne when it was the capital city of Australia

Capital: Melbourne when it was the capital city of Australia, 1901–1927

In the extraordinary first quarter of the twentieth century, Melbourne oversaw the birth of modern Australia.

The world of the book

This superbly illustrated volume pays homage to our love of books, tracing its rich traditions and contributions to modern life.

Miss D & Miss N: an extraordinary partnership

The story of two extraordinary Victorian women pioneers is published here for the first time.

Bottersnikes & other lost things

This wonderful collection will delight those who are passionate about children's books.

Mark Strizic, Melbourne: marvellous to modern

This celebration of one of Australia's iconic photographers includes over 140 fine pictures full of atmosphere and light.

Literary Melbourne: a celebration of writing & ideas

An anthology of extracts from books of all sorts – from crime to migrant stories – highlighting Melbourne's rich literary heritage.

Cyril Hopkins' Marcus Clarke

A hitherto unpublished biography of Marcus Clarke written a century ago by his friend Cyril Hopkins.

Voyages to the South Seas: in search of Terres Australes

A swashbuckling adventure of ambition and discovery of beautiful, mystifying continent – an Australia few Englishmen ever saw.

Strangers in a foreign land

A colonial journal gives a rare insight into the hardships, dangers and potential rewards of early settlement in Victoria.

Running the show: BA Santamaria

A selection of documents written by BA Santamaria sheds new light on historical controversies.

Botanical riches: stories of botanical exploration

With illustrations of extraordinary splendour and beauty, Botanical riches is a colourful history and enthralling tale of botanical exploration.

Australia through women's eyes

A glimpse into colonial Australia, as observed by women writers of the day.

The Chinawoman

How a police-hunt for the murderers of an English prostitute fanned anti-Chinese hysteria in colonial Melbourne.

The art of the collection

Illustrations from the State Library of Victoria's Pictures Collection document the history of Victoria and its people.

Your most obedient servant: BA Santamaria letters

Bob Santamaria's letters span six decades and reveal a subtle side to a controversial public figure.

Perils of the studio

Perils of the studio reveals how the mythology of the artist's studio shaped the character of the Australian artist.

Bert & Ned

Albert Tucker and Sidney Nolan were friends and rivals but never in their lives as artists were they antagonists.

The Cowen Gallery

This beautifully illustrated catalogue provides a comprehensive guide to the Library's Cowen Gallery.

Gardenesque: a celebration of Australian gardening

A visual tour of two centuries of gardening and garden making, from the State Library of Victoria's collections.

Treasures of the State Library of Victoria

This book showcases rarely seen photographs, prints, publications, letters, maps and memorabilia from the Library's world-class collections.

La Trobe Journal

State Library of Victoria News

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