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State Library of Western AustraliaKNOWIT magazine OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2005 NO.274 In this edition National Treasures from Australias Great Libraries NEWS From the CEO FromF thre oCEmO the CEO In a unique collaboration, the national, (another collaborative venture with our state and territory libraries have state and national library colleagues) developed the National Treasures from recently celebrated it 100,000th enquiry. Australia's Great Libraries exhibition. I hope you enjoy this issue of Knowit. For the first and perhaps only time, many original iconic treasures of Australian history have been brought together in a fascinating exhibition which will tour every capital city in Australia over the next two years. In this issue of Knowit we highlight this wonderful exhibition which will open in Perth on 30 June 2007. From the old to the new, in our State Librarian Margaret Allen. increasingly digital world the Library continues to be proactive in providing a ustralia's national, state and range of information services via the territory libraries are the custodians internet. Our ASK NOW! Service Aof immense amounts of Australia's social and documentary heritage. These collections are preserved, stored and managed on behalf of future generations and together tell the story of Australia's rich and incredible history. The collections of the State Library of Western Australia represent and highlight the contribution of Western Australia to this national story. Goethe Institute Tour page 9 L-R: Grazyna Tydda, State Library of New South Wales; Cathy Pilgrem, National Library of Australia; Sue Lewis, State Library of South Australia; Kylie Smith, State Library of Western Australia; Des Cowley, State Library of Victoria and Marilyn Hawthorne, Northern Territory of Library and Informayion Service. 2 KNOWIT. OCT - DEC 2005 Oct - Dec 2005 No. 274 KNOWIT Cover image: National Treasures advertising poster The State Library of Western Australia 4 Alexander Library Building, Perth Cultural Centre, Perth WA 6000 Tel: (08) 9427 3111 Fax: (08) 9427 3256 Web: www.slwa.wa.gov.au 8 FROM THE CEO 2 NATIONAL TREASURES FROM AUSTRALIA’S GREAT LIBRARIES 4 ILLUSTRATIONS LTD 8 GOETHE INSTUTUTE TOUR OF GERMAN LIBRARIES 9 ASK NOW! CELEBRATES 100,000TH ENQUIRY 12 COMMUNITY OUTREACH 14 9 Design, Art Production Public Programs 12 Editorial Enquiries Patrick Moore ph: (08) 9427 3421 fax: (08) 9427 3336 email: [email protected] Layout / Graphics Adam Peterson ph: (08) 9427 3153 fax: (08) 9427 3152 email: [email protected] © 2005 State Library of Western Australia Editorial published may only be reproduced with permission. KNOWIT is a quarterly magazine published in April, July, October and January. 14 Deadline for issue no. 275 (Jan - Mar 06) 11 Mar 2006 KNOWIT reserves the right to edit all articles. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of KNOWIT or the State Library of Western Australia. ISSN 1328-7176 KNOWIT. OCT - DEC 2005 3 NEWS National Treasures Story National Library of Australia National Background: Jorn Utzon (b.1918), Side elevation showing glazing highlighted in yellow c.1960. pencil and crayon on paper; Mitchell Library, Treasures State Library of New South Wales, Presented by Bill Wheatland, for Jorn Utzon, 1972. National Treasures from Australia's Opposite: Don Bradman - How I Play Cricket 1932, Great Libraries, an exhibition which colour screenprint poster; Bradman Collection, tells the great Australian story, opened State Library of South Australia. Below: Helmet worn by Ned Kelly at the siege of at the National Library of Australia on Glenrowan on 28 June 1880, steel with iron bolts; 3 December 2005. Pictures Collection, H20171, State Library of Victoria. he exhibition, four years in development, will tour 175 iconic objects drawn from the magnificent collections Tof Australia’s national, state and territory libraries to every capital city over the next two years. Director-General Jan Fullerton said this is the most ambitious exhibition ever undertaken by an Australian library. National Treasures is unparalleled for its scale, significance of content and for the scope of its touring schedule. After the huge success of Treasures from the World's Great Libraries, the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) wanted to show the superb collections held in the nation’s major public research libraries which reflect our past as well as contemporary Australia. It is a joint venture between the National Library as manager and the state and territory libraries in lending their treasured items and providing curatorial and conservation assistance. We are also most grateful for the unprecedented support of our corporate sponsors and the Australian Government. 4 KNOWIT. OCT - DEC 2005 The exhibition includes manuscripts, maps, books, paintings and objects which have been brought together for the first time. Each item has been carefully chosen for its narrative power and how it relates to the people, places and events that have made the nation what it is today. Divided into eight themes, National Treasures spans the earliest European depiction of the Southern Cross drawn in the 16th century, through our convict and colonial era, two world wars, recent innovations, our cultural life and our obsessions with sport, food and wine. Exhibition curator Margaret Dent said the exhibition's strength is about seeing the real thing. ‘Original material is enormously powerful because it links you to the actual event. National Treasures presents personal accounts of perseverance, good and bad luck, and success and failure, which are at times awe-inspiring, at other times saddening, but always illuminating. Some stories we know well but knowledge of others has diminished over time. Through National Treasures, Australians will see their history with new eyes.’ Every object describes a moment of significance in our changing society. • Captain Cook's handwritten Endeavour Journal (1768- 1771) records the voyage of the Endeavour to the South Seas to observe the transit of Venus and to search for a southern continent. Also on board was the botanist Joseph Banks. Cook and Banks each kept a personal journal. This exhibition brings them together for the first time since that voyage ended. Cook's Endeavour Journal was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register in 2001 together with Eddie Mabo's papers, also in the exhibition. • Donald Bradman's favourite bat which he used to make the world record test cricket score of 334 against England at Leeds in July 1930. • The helmet worn by Ned Kelly at the siege of Glenrowan on 28 June 1880. The siege was the Kelly Gang's last stand. • Azaria Chamberlain's hospital identification bracelet and birth details record, as well as Lindy Chamberlain's strike statement written while in gaol in Darwin. • P.L. Travers, the Australian creator of the well-known nanny Mary Poppins, documents her strong dislike of the proposed Walt Disney version of the character and her story. • A game, ‘Dugouts and Trenches’, celebrating Australia's role fighting in World War I sits alongside a tally book from Gallipoli showing the horrendous casualties. • Olympic swimmer, Shane Gould's travel diary kept during the 1972 Munich Olympics which would be marred by a terrorist attack. Gould describes her first gold medal and the aftermath of the attack. KNOWIT. OCT - DEC 2005 5 • Henry Lawson, one of Australia 's The State Library of Western Australia most-loved but tragic literary has 8 items on loan in the exhibition. figures, is reconstructed through items from several libraries National Treasures from Australia's including his pen (1916-1917), his Great Libraries will be seen in Perth shirt and collar, a from 30 June - 30 August 2007. cast of his hand and death mask, and an The exhibition is complemented by an illuminated version extensive catalogue for sale in the of The Lights of State Library Bookshop and priced at Cobb and Co. only $34.95. Online exhibition and an education kit is available at nationaltreasures.nla.gov.au. National Treasures from Australia's Great Libraries is travelling to every capital city until late 2007. See the website above for full tour details. Above: Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing The exhibition was made possible by Company, Colt revolver owned by William John Art Indemnity Australia, an Australian Wills 1850s, metal with wooden handle; Pictures Collection, H15352 State Library of Victoria. Government program through which Bottom: Dug Outs and Trenches, Ballarat: the Commonwealth acts as insurer in National Games, c.1915. coloured board game • Other items featured relate to case of any loss or damage to an printed on card; Children’s Literature Research Burke and Wills, the first Hills Hoist, indemnified exhibition. Without Art Collection, State Library of South Australia. The Magic Pudding, aviators Indemnity Australia, the high cost of Opposite Bottom: Wyatt Morro (b.1922) Orlando Barossa Pearl, pp. 112-113, colour print on paper, Kingsford Smith and Ulm, ‘Waltzing insuring significant cultural items South Australiana Collections, State Library of Matilda’, Harold Lasseter and serial would prohibit the touring of this major South Australia. killer Frederick Deeming. exhibition. On this occasion the 6 KNOWIT. OCT - DEC 2005 managing organisation for indemnity is the National Gallery of Australia. The exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government Program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of cultural material across Australia. The Principal Sponsor of the exhibition is AAMI with Major Sponsors Qantas, The Australian, Hoyts Cinemas, Animal Logic, Sofitel, SBS and ABC Radio. K Centre: Raymond Stanley Stewart (1914-2001), Diary 1942, pencil on toilet paper on original card roll; in Papers of Raymond Stanley Stewart (1939- 1998) J S Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. TopRight: John Septimus Roe (1797-1878), Logbook VI 1817, bound manuscript with watercolour illustrations; J S Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia.