Leading women writers take pride of place in World of the Book

Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Octavia Butler, Virginia Woolf and the Brontës will feature in the Library’s largest ever tribute to women writers, alongside hundreds of extraordinary Australian and international rare works from the State Collection, when World of the Book reopens on 4 July.

More than 120 titles by groundbreaking female authors, all acquired by the Library’s pioneering Women Writers Fund, will be on display, many for the first time. This includes a major new acquisition: a first edition of Emma (1816) by Jane Austen in its original Regency-period binding and featuring a dedication to the Prince Regent, rumoured to be Austen’s biggest fan. Emma will sit alongside other rare editions of Austen’s work including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion, in a display showcasing Austen’s evolution from anonymous author to one of the most celebrated English writers of all time.

The Women Writers Fund, now in its fifth year, was established to correct the historical gender imbalance in the State Collection and with the support of key donors, including the Helen MacPherson Smith Trust, has raised more than $750,000.

State Library Victoria Director of Collections and Chief Librarian Roxanne Missingham said,

'The Women Writers Fund has made an outstanding contribution to redress a serious imbalance in the Library’s collection. In 5 years the extensive and significant work by influential donors and Library staff has brought a world class collection of works by women writers to Victoria of which we are justly proud. This is a major step in transforming the collection to remedy the historical underrepresentation of women writers in the 19th- and 20th-century.'

'The Fund’s first ever purchase, A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf, will be displayed in a space intentionally designed to celebrate extraordinary women writers. Renowned authors such as Jane Austen, Octavia Butler and Charlotte and Emily Brontë will also be on show, alongside women in science, philosophy, politics, and literature. We are thrilled to be able to celebrate the contribution of women to knowledge and culture throughout history.'

World of the Book is Australia’s largest and longest-running rare book exhibition, welcoming close to 1 million visitors last year. With more than 400 treasures from the State Collection on display, other highlights include:

• incredible miniature books, moveable books and ‘blow’ books
• Melbourne’s first international blockbuster, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, published in 1886, which outsold Sherlock Holmes
• the archive of the Sugar and Snails press, the first publisher of non-sexist children’s books, established by a Melbourne feminist group in the 1970s
• 17th- and 18th-century printed and manuscript amulets and talismans from Europe and Mongolia
• 17th-century almanacs printed in England under the reign of King Charles I
• the discovery of dinosaurs in the Victorian era by Charles Darwin’s rival Richard Owen
• rare examples of punk music fanzines produced in Australia in the 70s and 80s
• early Australian comic book heroes and
• beautiful artists' books, newly acquired and on display for the first time.

Located on Level 4 of the Dome, and overlooking the world famous La Trobe Reading Room, World of the Book is a free and must-see exhibition for Melbourne this winter.

World of the Book: The rare, the sacred and the iconic opens 10am 4 July 2026 at State Library Victoria and runs until May 2027.