–Magazine for members Winter 2011 SL Message Rob Thomas The Mitchell Galleries have reopened with a new parquetry floor, so we welcome you back here with a feast of photography. The finalists and winners of the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and the Moran ontents Contemporary Photographic Prize have been announced and you can see Winter 2011 them at the Library until 26 June. And don’t miss out on seeing Carved Trees: Aboriginal cultures of western NSW. These rare images of nEWs fEaturE Aboriginal carved trees from the Clifton Cappie Towle collection are 6 24 Book prizes A balletomane’s only on display until 26 June. moment in the These exhibitions will be followed by another stunning array of images Feast of photography! spotlight in the World Press Photo 2011 and Sydney Morning Herald Photos 1440 Libraryhack exhibitions, which will run until 24 July. competition 28 nEW acQuisitions In August the State Library will be On Sale — an exciting exhibition Rare vellum chart in all five galleries.On Sale: Shops and Shopping provides a fascinating 7 vaLE Ray King and entertaining look at the transformation of shops and shopping from 30 buiLding a strong the early days of the colony to the present. What was once necessity has foundation 8 on this day now become a leisure pastime, and for some, a source of entertainment. SL voLuntEErs We give you a preview in SL on page 10. c EXhibition 33 The magazine for WinTer 2011 10 In this issue we also feature the remarkable talent of Nanette Kuehn, foundaTion members, Vol. 4 no. 2 Market to mall: friends and VolunTeers issn 1835-9787 34 for our friEnds is published quarTerly a young German immigrant who arrived in Australia in 1937 and only a p&d-3566-6/2011 Shops & shopping by The library CounCil rEcEnt highLights year later was photographing the Ballets Russes tour of Australia. Find of nsW. prinT run 2500 36 out more about this mystery woman on page 24. 14 a Living coLLEction 39 Q&a We look at folklore surrounding the suburb of Redfern; show you a Editor statE Library of nsW Reminiscences elaine sTeWarT maCquarie sTreeT Tony Robinson new map purchase; explain how we are preserving one of our treasures, [email protected] sydney nsW 2000 of Redfern the HMS Rattlesnake album; turn the clock back to the late nineteenth phone (02) 9273 1414 dEsign & Production PrEsErving fax (02) 9273 1255 18 century to see how our collection was being classified before the rosie handley [email protected] thE futurE introduction of the Dewey Decimal system; and, in our Q&A, find out PhotograPhy WWW.sl.nsW.goV.au Captain Owen what Tony Robinson discovered at the Library last year when he came unless oTherWise sTaTed refreshing our spaces all phoTographiC Work oPEning hours Stanley’s album is by digiTal and imaging to film his documentary on Australia. monday To Thursday serViCes sTaTe library 9 am To 8 pm We’re refreshing our Macquarie Finally, I would like to congratulate our own Ellen Forsyth who was of nsW. 20 fEaturE friday 9 am To 5 pm Street building to help make recently named as a 2011 Library Journal ‘Mover and Shaker’ (in the Tech sustainabiLity Weekends 10 am To 5 pm Every book has prinTed in ausTralia by the Library more welcoming Leaders category) — a prestigious international title in the library world. The miTChell library its place pegasus using raleigh reading room is Closed and accessible. eCosTar paper. The paper Ellen works as part of the Library team which manages the State funding on sundays. is Carbon neuTral and There will be refurbishment for NSW public libraries and provides a wide range of services which help 100% reCyCled from front covEr posT-Consumer WasTe. work between July and the 374 public libraries across the State better serve their local GettinG the Most out of RetailinG, CoVer, C. 1925, September 2011 in the communities. Well done Ellen! The naTional Cash Reference Library in the And, sadly, I want to acknowledge the passing of one of our volunteers, regisTer Co., sydney, nsW ml 658.87/8 Macquarie Street building. Ray King. Ray loved the Library and gave his time generously to helping back covEr Later in the year we will be us in many ways. His family has continued that tradition by donating Michael Reid adam Cullen, finalisT refurbishing the Macquarie items of their family history, the Governor and Mrs King portraits doug moran naTional porTraiT prize 2011 Street foyer area. (page 7), which will be a lasting legacy to Ray and a wonderful addition For more up-to-date to our collection. information please speak I hope to see you in the Library soon. to Library staff or go to: The sTaTe library of nsW is a rob thomas sTaTuTory auThoriTy of, and
Book prizes Four titles have been short-listed for the annual $30,000 Blake Dawson Business Feast of Literature prize: • Who Wants to be a Billionaire? photography! The James Packer Story, Paul Barry (NSW), There’s a feast of photography to be Allen & Unwin enjoyed at the Library over the next two • Under Corporate Skies: A Struggle Between months with three major photographic People, Place and Profit,Martin Brueckner exhibitions in the Galleries. & Dyann Ross (WA), Fremantle Press The annual Moran Prizes exhibition • Changing Stations: The Story of Australian Vale Ray King featuring the finalists and winner in the Commercial Radio, Bridget Griffen-Foley The portraits were presented to the world’s richest portrait prize — the (NSW), UNSW Press The Library has been given a wonderful legacy Library early last year and a small celebration $150,000 Doug Moran National Portrait • Salt & Suits, Phil Jarratt (Vic.), to commemorate the passing of one of its most was subsequently held, hosted by Richard Prize — and the Moran Contemporary Hardie Grant Books. dedicated volunteers, Ray King, with the Neville, Mitchell Librarian, and attended Photographic Prize are on exhibition The winners of this prize, the National donation by his sons of family portraits of by Ray, Philip and David. until 26 June. Biography Award, and the Kibble and Dobbie Governor Philip Gidley King (1758–1808) ‘It was a very generous donation by Philip These are quickly followed by more Awards were announced in May. To view the and Anna Josepha King (1765–1844). and David and provides a wonderful legacy astonishing images in Canon’s EOS winners visit:
6 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 7 8 June 1856 One hundred and ninety-four people, mostly descended from the Bounty mutineers, are resettled from Pitcairn Island to Norfolk Island. Norfolk had been abandoned as a penal settlement the on this year before and the British government offered the island to the Pitcairn people, whose population had grown too large for Pitcairn Island.
chaPel and school house, PitcaiRn island, 1848 , ConWay shipley, WaTerColour draWing pxa 935/2
17 June 1867 c o m P i L E d b y Emma Gray, Discover Collections Iconic Australian writer Henry Lawson is born in Grenfell, NSW. He is probably best remembered for his verse and short stories, but he was also a novelist and day journalist. Lawson died in Sydney in 1922.
henRy laWson, 1915, William Johnson, phoTograph Taken WiTh a mulTiplying Camera’ WiTh a repeaTing baCk (WhiCh moVed The glass plaTe negaTiVe beTWeen exposures) p1/952
6 August 1699 William Dampier (1651 1715) and 20 August 1857 the crew of HMS Roebuck land at Shark Bay in Western Australia. The passenger ship Dunbar is wrecked Dampier’s account of the journey, in bad weather on the rocks at the foot A voyage to New-Holland, which of South Head, Sydney. The crew and 121 appeared in 1703, contains the passengers perish. The only survivor of first published illustrations of the wreck is able seaman James Johnson. Australian flora. The wreck of the Dunbar remains one 15 July 1924 of Australia’s worst maritime disasters. a voyaGe to neW holland, &c. in the yeaR 169[?] …, William dampier, london, prinTed Australian diver Richmond Cavill ‘Dick’ Eve (1901 1970) WRecK of the dunBaR’ off sydney heads, 20th sePtR by W boTham for James knapTon, 1703 1857 [one monTh afTer The disasTer], unknoWn arTisT, executes a perfect swallow dive to win gold in the men’s plain 29 July 1957 dixson library WaTerColour draWing 70/9 high diving event at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. ssV/91 Danish architect Jørn Utzon (1918–2008) He later took over management of the Manly Baths and makes his first visit to Sydney after winning Pavilion from his father. Eve’s maternal grandfather was the competition to design the Sydney Opera Frederick Cavill, ‘Professor of Swimming’. House in January. This is the first time dicK eve fRoM davis sPoRtinG collection PaRt ii: sWiMMinG, Utzon sees the site on Bennelong Point n.d., unknoWn phoTographer pxe 653 (V.58) /78 where the Opera House is to be built.
sydney oPeRa house: aRchitect JøRn utzon [also KnoWn as the yelloW BooK], 1962, arChiTeCTural reporT, pxd 644 (V.2)
8 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 9 exhibitioN
Words Margot Riley * Market to Mall: s h o p s & s h o p p i N g
... many people would go to New South Wales if they were sure of not coming to want the necessaries of life ... William Richard Jnr to Sir Joseph Banks, 5 June 1792
White settlers arriving in Port Jackson were shocked ... merchandise of every description can generally be to find there was nothing to buy! Beyond locally- bought at one and the self same shop (or store, as we, harvested perishables, all provisioning was initially like the Americans, call it); the wants of the colony … provided by the government’s Commissariat Stores. not admitting such a division of retail trade as would On ration day, traders gathering at the Sydney wharf enable a person to clear a sufficient profit by confining his attention to one single branch ... 1 soon became the social and economic hub of the settlement. As there was no refrigeration, shoppers walked With the arrival of the Second and Third Fleets, or rode to buy their provisions each day from the and the expansion in merchant shipping to Sydney, marketplace, shops or street sellers. Itinerant carters more trade goods became available. Then, as the brought water to urban households, and vendors number of free settlers grew, small shops began to canvassed door-to-door selling their own produce (e.g. eggs or bread) as well as fruit and vegetables appear near the harbour and in the vicinity of purchased at the market that day. The Rocks. These were usually at street level, in the Wealthy colonists wrote to friends and family front rooms of private homes, with the proprietor back home to order goods directly, or increased and family occupying rooms above or behind the shop. their affluence through speculation on cargos tailored By the early 1800s, purpose-built shops had spread to local demand. Settlers who couldn’t afford to along George Street and into the streets surrounding import articles, obtained furniture and household the Sydney Market. As the city expanded, the items from auction sales. Most imported goods were marketplace moved further west. Twenty years later, auctioned off publicly, at the wharves or in the home Peter Cunningham advised potential emigrants that: of the importer, who also purchased staple foods and
opposiTe: ‘VieW in The norThern porTion of The george sTreeT markeT’ (deTail), engraVing, illustRated sydney 1 Peter Cunningham, Two Years in NSW (1827), vol. 1, pp. 47–48 neWs, 16 sepTember 1876, p. 4., dl f8/32
10 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales Market t o M a l l
non-perishable items in bulk from visiting or chartered ships for wholesaling to local dealers and warehousemen. Clearing sales were also common, as people arrived or departed the colony, or died, thus ensuring a steady supply of recycled furniture, clothing and household goods. By 1840, the Sydney Markets settled on the site of the present-day Queen Victoria Building — still Sydney’s retail hub — and specialist storekeepers like Mary Hordern (1825), David Jones (1838) and Joseph Farmer (1839) had begun their retailing dynasties. The introduction of gas lighting (1841) allowed extended trading hours, while the installation of plate glass (1854) created elegant shopfronts housing lavish displays of merchandise, encouraging browsing by ‘window shopping’ pedestrians. As the colony prospered, the so called ‘carriage trade’, predominantly middle class women, had more leisure time to spend shopping. One long street traverses whole length [of town] … full of good shops exhibiting every variety of merchandise; and in the afternoon, when the ladies of the place drive out, whole strings of carriages may be seen rolling about or waiting near the more “fashionable emporiums” … the term in which Australian shopkeepers especially delight ... 2 Grand ‘department’ stores, such as Anthony Hordern & Sons, David Jones and Farmer & Co., were like huge residences and became landmarks in their own right. aboVe: david Jones’ sale: coMMences July 3Rd, ends We ... paid a visit to Farmer’s ... a most convenient place. the Victoria (1887) and today’s still popular Opening in 1957, with parking for over 400 cars, it July 15th, CoVer, illusTraTion by smiTh & It is an immense establishment divided into departments Strand Arcade (1892). offered the suburban housewife convenience. Today, Julius, C. 1920, sydney: William brooks for everything; you can choose a dress, have the material In the 1890s the Sydney Market site was huge indoor shopping malls house entertainment f381.141/ 1 sent to the dressmaking department, where it is made for redeveloped into a palatial arcade and renamed the lefT: man WiTh ChrisTmas centres, department stores, supermarkets and you in the best fashion; go to another for a mantle, another presenTs, 2 noV. 1957, Queen Victoria Market, before being permanently specialty shops. phoTograph by JaCk for a bonnet, another for underclothes, another large hiCkson, ausTralian relocated outside the CBD, first to Haymarket (1910) Contemporary shoppers demand enriching phoTographiC agenCy room is for carpets and upholstery, and all the very best apa – 46303 and then to Flemington (1975). Rural and suburban experiences that go beyond the merely transactional. opposiTe page: inTerior, that can be had in Sydney. It is a wonderful save of time consumers continued to shop in general stores, with self serViCe groCery and trouble ... 3 As shopping becomes an anywhere, anytime sTore, broadhead & their Aladdin’s cave inventories, and from hawkers barCham pTy lTd, sydney, experience, bricks and mortar stores need to compete C. 1957, phoTograph by These ‘palace emporiums’ attracted hordes of female who touted their myriad wares from backpacks, The ausTralian with the power of the online environment. Today’s phoTographiC agenCy shoppers intent on ‘doing the block’, bounded by George, horsedrawn caravans and motorised trucks. apa – 45940 consumers expect retail offerings that seamlessly Market, Pitt & King Streets, enticing browsers with their In the 1920s, the chain store concept arrived, glamorous displays, vast arrays of merchandise, luxurious bringing self-service and simplified merchandise cross all spheres of their lives. in-house attractions and customer services. Paddy’s display. Woolworths Bargain Basement (1924) took While the shopping mall is now part of our culture, Market had existed in the Haymarket from the 1840s, up residence in the Imperial Arcade, and GJ Coles there is still something special about the time and late trading on Saturday nights encouraged shoppers (1928) opened its first Sydney store in George Street, honoured ritual of ‘a day in town’. Many people recall to stroll between the two market sites. quickly proliferating around the country. the excitement of the arrival of a mail order catalogue Arcades provided a secluded place to shop and The transition from horsedrawn trolley bus or dressing in one’s best for a day of shopping: promenade, away from the dust and grime of public and tram, to motorised bus and rail prompted new whether meeting friends for lunch and a matinee, streets. Tenanted by specialty shops and exclusive shopping clusters in and around the Sydney CBD. buying school clothes, or paying a visit to Santa. retailers, they catered for well-to-do families. Sydney’s 2 Louisa Ann Meredith, Notes But perhaps the greatest shopping revolution of all & Sketches in NSW, 1844, p. 38 first arcade was the suitably named Sydney Arcade (1881), 3 Rachel Henning to Henrietta was heralded by the arrival of the car. Sydney’s first the exhibition ON SALE! Shops & Shopping Boyce, 17/2/1875 followed in quick succession by the Royal (1882), regional shopping centre was built at Top Ryde. is open from 8 august until 30 october 2011.
12 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 13 a liviNg collectioN
Reminiscences o f redferN
Words Lisa Murray *
As part of my research for a book on the history The memoir offers an intriguing insight into of the inner Sydney suburbs of Redfern, some persistent local folklore about the Alexandria and Waterloo, I came upon an connection of Dr William Redfern with the unassuming memoir, held as part of the suburb that was named for him. Mitchell Library’s manuscripts collection, Governor Macquarie granted the convict which has provided a refreshing viewpoint surgeon Dr William Redfern 100 acres of land on the settlement of the Redfern Estate in the in 1817. The Redfern Estate, as it became nineteenth century. known, was located amongst the sand hills and John Lusby (1837–1933) wrote his memoirs swamps behind the Brickfields on the western in 1922–23, when he was in his eighties. His daughter Miss EP Lusby donated the fringe of Sydney. Redfern never lived on the manuscript to the Mitchell Library in 1946. estate, preferring instead his much larger Although a resident of Stanmore for over farming estate Campbell Fields in the Airds 60 years, Lusby’s memoirs focus entirely upon district. Following his death in 1833, portions his associations with Redfern, where he spent of the Redfern Estate were leased for orchards his childhood in the 1840s and 1850s. and then subdivided and sold off in 1842.
aboVe: John lusby, phoTograph reproduCed in sydney MoRninG heRald, 25 deCember 1920 opposiTe: plan of parT of The souTh end and suburbs of sydney, shoWing The subdiVision of The redfern esTaTe [CarTographiC maTerial]/pl bemi surVeyor
14 / s L m a g a z i n E Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 15 a liviNg collectioN
Lusby went on record twice to debunk reminiscences, and the folklore resurfaced the myth: first in 1921 in response to again as recently as 2008. It attests to correspondents in the Sydney Morning the power of local collective memory Herald (a stance supported by CT Burfit, in perpetuating foundation stories. a former president of the Royal Australian The Mitchell Library’s manuscript Historical Society) and then again specifically collection is a valuable resource for in his memoirs. historians keen to write engaging urban So how can we explain this mistaken and regional histories. John Lusby’s modest connection? My research has revealed that 40-page manuscript is an evocative series the earliest mention of an association is in of ruminations on Redfern’s growth. the Redfern Municipal Council’s Jubilee His descriptions of the landscape, people Lisa murray is the city History, published in 1909. This official historian for the city and places are amongst the earliest council history erroneously suggests that of sydney reminiscences of this suburb and add a Redfern did live in the suburb and that Redfern Lodge (although not Redfern’s personal viewpoint of the development John Lusby emigrated with his family to Sydney commemorated when the estate was first subdivided house) was connected with his estate. of this once isolated, but now densely when he was nearly four-years-old. After a harrowing in 1842. The narrow thoroughfare now known as Wells This myth was repeated in the Sydney populated inner-city area. Lusby’s incisive beloW: memoirs of John lusby, p. 23, 1840–1923 voyage that claimed the life of his elder sister, the Street, running parallel to Redfern Street, was Morning Herald in 1914 and by the early comments on the evolution of local names ml mss b1015 family arrived in April 1841. originally named Wills Street. (Lusby’s recollection and lore give an added dimension to our opposiTe lefT: ‘ThurloW’s 1920s, it was generally accepted that Redfern TerraCe, and end of bourke Lusby’s father was among the early purchasers of the original name is confirmed by some of the early Lodge had been Redfern’s own house. It’s a understanding of the historiography of the sT sydney, WiTh sand hill in disTanCe’, samuel elyard, of the Redfern Estate in 1842. He acquired a block Redfern Estate subdivision plans and Woolcott & case of historical Chinese whispers. By the district — and will have an impact on how penCil draWing on Redfern Street where he built the family’s first Clarke’s 1854 Map of Sydney.) According to Lusby, dg*d15/f 21 1970s, local histories were repeating the I write my history of Redfern, Alexandria opposiTe righT: ‘house aT residence, a two-room slab hut with a kitchen, a slip of the draftsman’s pen led to Wills Street story, probably inspired by the newspaper and Waterloo. redfern’, (redfern lodge), sepTember 1937, sam hood which enjoyed unrestricted views down to the becoming Wells Street in the first official plan of the nCy38/411 Cleveland Paddocks. district, created by Redfern Municipal Council. Lusby The subdivision and sale of the 100-acre Redfern felt this historical slight and pointed out the error to Estate in the 1840s forever connected the name of officials on several occasions, but to not avail. He the famed medico with the suburb that soon evolved. corrected the name to Wills Street in his memoirs. But, as outlined by Lusby in his memoir, the origins John Lusby was also keen to correct the historical of the estate were much more complex and record about another matter — an old house called interesting. He could claim some authority on this Redfern Lodge located in Pitt Street, Redfern subject, having inherited the certified deeds and (demolished in 1938 to make way for Rachel Forster documents of title to the family’s Redfern property. Hospital). He declared that: His memoirs neatly summarise the chain of land The fabrication of the groundless assertion that grants and sales that led to the creation of the Dr Redfern built this house and lived there for some Redfern Estate — such a boon for the historian! years is of comparably recent date, and has created Lusby attests that the area was earlier known as an altogether erroneous impression. How it originated Robert’s Farm after the first grantee, who received is a complete mystery. 30 acres. The estate was destined to receive its name of Redfern when Mrs Sarah Wills gifted the 30 acres There were no indications the estate had been of Robert’s Farm upon her daughter Sarah’s marriage developed when he moved there in 1842 (indeed the to Dr William Redfern in 1811. The grant of 1817 Lusby family’s modest hut was amongst the first built confirmed the dowry of Robert’s Farm and expanded on the estate), the historical record suggested that Redfern’s holding to 100 acres. Redfern never lived on the estate, and Lusby Lusby claims the association of Mrs Sarah Wills recollected the house was built while he lived there and her daughter with the Redfern Estate was and occupied by Archie Thompson for many years.
16 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales s L m a g a z i n E Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 17 p r e s e r v i N g the future
Captain Owen Stanley’s a l b u M Captain Owen Stanley’s album of sketches is one of the Library’s most popular items — frequently in demand for exhibition. aboVe: the WaRatau [i.e. Like a contemporary scrapbook, it provides Stanley’s album contains 125 drawings — WaRatah], Bush floWeR at sydney, WaTerColour a picturesque record of the countries, scenery a mix of charming watercolour, pencil, and ink signed ‘oWen sTanley’, from album of oWen and the people Stanley encountered, from the and wash sketches. Pencilled notes alongside sTanley Voyage of hms RattlesnaKe 1846–1849, time of his departure on the HMS Rattlesnake the sketches provide brief descriptions of the Vol. 1, pxC 281 f. 96 from Plymouth, England in December 1846 scenes, landscapes and people they depict. opposiTe Top: dance, BRuMi island, neW Guinea, bound for Port Jackson, to the final leg of his A couple of his drawings feature Edmund 1849, WaTerColour signed ‘oWen sTanley’, from journey around the islands of the south-east Kennedy, the explorer he encountered at album of oWen sTanley coast of New Guinea in 1849. Rockingham Bay, on the far north coast Voyage ... CenTral images from Stanley was born in 1811 in Shropshire, of Australia. Kennedy subsequently led lefT: ConserVaTor CaTh England and from the age of fifteen years joined an ill-fated expedition to Cape York. Thomson remoVes The in the paper, glued at the corners and hung animal glue which bound it to the pages has Japanese paper hinges the navy, sailing aboard vessels sent to survey On occasions the notes provide intriguing If you are interested and sTarCh pasTe with hinges. Some of the drawings have been been cleaned away. South America, the Greek islands, the East insights, such as the one accompanying in supporting key emblem of hms removed and reinstated using a different Work is also under way to remove the RattlesnaKe, WaTerColour, Indies, Australasia and even the Arctic. a drawing of the Bramble, a tender which preservation projects unsigned, unTiTled, like this, please technique. accumulations of dust and dirt from the pages. pasTed inside fronT He was made a captain in 1844, and in 1846 accompanied the Rattlesnake on its journey endpaper of album, contact Susan Hunt, A comprehensive assessment of the state Old hinges, affixed with starch paste, have oWen sTanley Voyage ... given the command of the HMS Rattlesnake north to the Great Barrier Reef: ‘Preparations Executive Director, of the album has been made and the decision been removed. Every effort will be made to The spine is separaTing with instructions to survey the waters off New for raising the Bramble after she had been sunk from The album from State Library taken to repair each page in situ, which, while restore each drawing to its page in the way it oVeruse Guinea and the north-east coast of Australia to for a week to destroy the cockroaches’. Foundation of NSW separaTing The CoVer slowing down the preservation process, will was first intended. Drawings which need to be and firsT seCTion find a safe passage for trade. Accompanying him Most of the sketches are unsigned, except on (02) 9273 1529 to ensure the item’s integrity. Repairs to the reattached will be affixed with hinges, but Cleaning aCCumulaTed on the voyage was naturalist Thomas Huxley for one signed ‘Oswald W, Brierly’ in ink and learn more about the dusT and dirT from Mitchell Library spine have been made and the first section in such a way that the hinges will be invisible. The pages — later to become one of Charles Darwin’s most several others signed ‘Owen Stanley’. phoTos by sarah herman Centenary Appeal of the album, damaged by many years of use This project was generously supported by powerful advocates — and artist Oswald Brierly. Stanley assembled the drawings in a leather 2010 ‘Preserving our — the leather cover has been removed and the the Graham and Charlene Bradley Foundation. Sadly, Stanley died suddenly not long after he bound album with 254 pages. They have been future’. completed his mission, early in 1850. affixed in a variety of ways — slotted into slits
18 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 19 feature
The system categorised the library collection into 10 large subject fields with each item being ‘fixed’ on a specific shelf. The 10 subject fields were: A Natural Philosophy, Science, Mathematics, Fine Arts, Industrial Arts and Trades B History, Chronology, Antiquities and Mythology C Biography and Correspondence D Geography, Topography, Ethnography, Voyages, Travels and Atlases E Periodical and Serial literature, Reports and Newspapers F Jurisprudence, Politics, Commerce, Political Economy and Social Economy G Theology, Ecclesiastical History, Moral and Mental Philosophy and Education H Drama and Poetry e v e r y J General Literature, Philology and Collected works K Works of reference – Cyclopaedias, book has its place Dictionaries and Lexicons. A typical fixed-shelf location would be G 12 S 14. This meant the 14th book on Shelf S of Press 12 in Class G. (A ‘Press’ would have been a wooden or metal ‘I have trained a number of the more bookcase or shelving unit.) intelligent officers in the Library in the Excursions along the banks of the Rhine, 1843, by Victor Hugo, originally from the Australian main principles of the system and I am Subscription Library, is located at D 8 P 16, in the Geography and Topography section in Press 8, confident that they can re-classify the Shelf P, the sixteenth book from the left. books in a most satisfactory way.’ Top: excuRsions alonG the BanKs of the Rhine, 1843, ViCTor hugo, london : Words Maggie Patton It is 1901 and Henry Anderson, the Principal Librarian of the Public henry Colburn, 1843, d 8 p 16 beloW: Plan to aMelioRate Library of NSW, is advising his Board via memo of the imminent the condition of the aBoRiGinal inhaBitants and adoption of the Dewey Decimal System in the soon to be opened PRevent theiR exteRMination, Mitchell Library. sydney, 1839, mJ 2 s 2 He continued ‘ … our present system is too narrow and antiquarian to be of any use to the staff or to students’. The system he referred to was the ‘fixed location system’, used at the time by such august institutions as the British Museum and aboVe: old ClassifiCaTion books in The maCquarie building sTaCks many of the finest libraries in the world.
20 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 21 every book has i ts place
aboVe: of action taKen uPon eveRy BooK ‘Australasian’ books were organised into Since 1901 and the adoption of the Dewey PuRchased and Placed similar divisions with an additional ‘M’ prefix. system, the old classification books in the in the fRee PuBlic liBRaRy, 1870S inTernal The Letter ‘M’ did not refer to the Mitchell Library’s nineteenth century collections have memo from The library’s arChiVes Library, as it pre-dated any notion of David remained in the Macquarie building stacks, opposiTe: 1901 inTernal Scott Mitchell’s bequest. quietly waiting for their re-emergence in the memo from henry anderson To The board Plan to ameliorate the condition of the twenty-first century. of The publiC library of nsW Aboriginal inhabitants and prevent their In 2010, an expert team of cataloguers from extermination is a pamphlet, published in the eRecords Project created online records for Sydney in 1839. The Library’s is the only known approximately 10,269 titles from this fixed copy held in Australia. The pamphlet is located classification collection. Over 3500 books are at MJ 2 S 2, in the Australasian section of not held in any other library. Cherished within General Literature and Collected works, in this collection are many of the original volumes Press 2, Shelf S, the second book from the left. from the Australian Subscription Library Another memo held in the Library’s archives opened in 1826 and a few remnants from the provides an explanation for the frustrating subsequent Australian Library and Literary frequency of ink stamps on every plate in older Association. The majority of volumes are books in the collections. The memo dating from stamped and listed as part of the Free Public the 1870s — Of Action taken upon every book Library of Sydney Collection, opened in 1869. purchased and placed in the Free Public Library In recognition of their unique heritage, the — lists as one of the 18 actions to be books from this collection can now be found implemented when processing new items: online but they have kept their original fixed- shelf location number and are still shelved within Step 14. The Book is stamped with an ink their 10 broad subject fields. They are a fascinating stamp in about 12 places, and every plate reminder of the way that librarians have stamped. endeavoured to classify knowledge in the past.
22 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 23 feature
Words Valerie Lawson a baLLEtomanE’s m o mEnt in the spotlight
Nanette Kuehn is the mystery woman of Australian of Anton Dolin, the charismatic star of the 1938/39 photography. The young German immigrant sailed *Covent Garden Russian Ballet tour of Australia. into Sydney two years before the outbreak of World Her best known photograph is of a heavily made-up War II, fell in love with ballet and theatre, took her Dolin in David Lichine’s The Prodigal Son, a ballet camera, a Rolleiflex, into darkened auditoriums over that had its world premiere at the Theatre Royal, a period of only five years, then disappeared from Sydney, in December 1938. public life. She was so modest, so unassuming, that The following month, Kuehn’s first photographic even close family members knew nothing of her exhibition opened in Sydney with a speech by the passion for dance and drama. Ballets Russes’ Polish dancer, Marian Ladre (his Nanette’s brief life as a professional photographer anglicised name). ‘When we are dancing we often hear began in Sydney at the Theatre Royal, where she cameras clicking’, he said, ‘but we do not mind if the photographed performances of the Ballets Russes results are always as good as these’. The photographs companies that excited Australian audiences in the of the Covent Garden Russian Ballet were exhibited late 1930s. By the end of the war, her career was over. at the Independent Theatre clubrooms. Her legacy remains in one book, the large-format ‘All the photographs were taken by Miss Nanette Balletomanes’ Art Book, in numerous performance Kuehn, a Continental photographer, who recently photographs in the Mitchell Library and in three arrived in Australia’, reported The Sydney Morning Herald. photographic collections donated to the National National Archives of Australia records show that Library of Australia. ‘Nanette Anni Kuehn – Nationality: German – Kuehn also took studio portraits, most notably Arrived Sydney per Esquilino on 23 Feb 1937’.
aboVe: naneTTe kuehn, phoTo by max dupain, C. 1940, on 249 box 19, no. 21 opposiTe: BalletoMane’s aRt BooK: PictoRial PaRade of Russian Ballet 1940, f792.80994/2, fronT CoVer feaTuring TaTiana riabouChinska and paul peTroff in PaGanini
24 / s L m a g a z i n E Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 25 a balletoMaNe ’s MoMeNt
This was contrary to contemporary trends, when Records at the State Library of NSW show that studio portraiture of dancers was widely practised by Kuehn went on to photograph two productions such well-known photographers as Maurice Seymour by JC Williamson: the revue Funny Side Up in 1941, in Chicago, Baron and Gordon Anthony in Britain, and the play The Man Who Came to Dinner the Barbara Morgan in the United States, and Max following year. Then Kuehn vanished from public Dupain and Athol Shmith in Australia. The Ballets view, except for a portrait in The Argus on 20 March Russes’ visits, however, did attract a new group of 1946 of Toni Jacoby, the young daughter of Ian Australian enthusiasts who took photos of live Jacoby and his wife, Elsa Stenning, a former singer performances, among them the talented amateur, and musical comedy star. By then, Kuehn was Mrs Walter Stringer. Kassel, having married Franz Solomon Kassel at the Kuehn’s work attracted favourable reviews, such as Great Synagogue in Sydney on 16 November 1944. this one in The Sydney Morning Herald of 11 January Kassel, also a German refugee, arrived in Adelaide on 1939, for the way in which she: the Ormande in May 1937, the same month that Kuehn arrived in Sydney. He began his new life by … enshrined many lovely moments in Les Sylphides, making and marketing fruit juices in South Australia, Cendrillon, Cent Baisers, and other productions ... but later, in Sydney, launched Kassel Wines. Kuehn She has aimed above all, at an effect of motion. Some worked with him in the business. The couple had of the results are very striking indeed. Riabouchinska no children and made their home in Chatswood. (Later references to her marriage and advancing towards the footlights in the Les Sylphides’ Kassel’s nephew, Steve Center of Sydney, said death give her middle name as Cecile. The prelude; the same dancer doing a pirouette and an that Kuehn gave up her career as a photographer Esquilino was an Italian passenger ship). arabesque in Aurora’s Wedding; the wild leaps of the and ‘never spoke of it’ in family gatherings. She died In May 1939, the Herald reported the Cockerel in Le Coq d’Or, Baronova swirling round of breast cancer in June 1980 aged 69. (Her widower arrival of another Italian ship, Remo, in Les Femmes de Bonne Humeur — these are typical died eight years later.) carrying passengers from Germany, subjects. Poland, Hungary, Britain, Greece, Estonia, Nanette Kuehn’s death is recorded at the Great In 1939, Kuehn had two more exhibitions, one Finland, Yugoslavia, Romania and Albania. Synagogue but perhaps her soul lies elsewhere, opened in March by Anton Dolin at the Riddell Many were Jewish, and desperate to in the safe hands of the Mitchell Library and the Galleries in Little Collins Street, Melbourne, and the escape Europe in the months before the National Library of Australia. next in April at the Australian Art Gallery in Rundle war. Among them was an 82-year-old who claimed to Street, Adelaide. be the oldest refugee to come to Australia. He was The best 14 images of her ballet portfolio were Sigmund Rau of Nuremberg, who, the Herald collected in her Balletomanes’ Art Book, published by reported, was accompanied by his daughter, Helen, the London Book Company in 1940, which retailed and met at the dock, ‘by his granddaughter, Nanette for 10 shillings. The Argus described the book as: Kuhn [sic] who has been in Sydney for some time’, and by his sister-in-law, Mrs Rosa Rau, whom he had … an attractive souvenir and a useful reference book never seen before. ‘I have nothing left but my family, … studio portraits of dancers have little of the and I shall spend the rest of my days with them,’ atmosphere of ballet, and these action studies are Mr Rau said. much more evocative. The studies were taken during At this time Nanette lived in Bellevue Hill, but in performances in Sydney by Nanette Kuehn and her 1940 gave her address as 242 Pitt Street in Sydney. eye for effective grouping and lighting is infallible. She may have rented an office rather than a studio at that address, as Kuehn preferred the immediacy of live performance photography.
aboVe: geneVieVe moulin (lefT) and alexandra denisoVa in GRaduation Ball, sydney, C. 1940, pxd 1063, box 3, no. 103 inseT: anTon dolin in PRodiGal son, phoTo by naneTTe kuehn, 1939 naTional library of ausTralia, an11030051-26-V valerie Lawson was the opposiTe Top: daVid liChine, phoTo by naneTTe kuehn, C. 1938–40 pxd 1063 box 5, no. 17 2010 nancy keesing CenTre: hilde (sisTer of franz kassel), franz and naneTTe, fellow at the state aT The Wedding of hilde’s son, 2 June 1959, CourTesy kuehn family Library of nsW beloW: naneTTe kuehn and franz kassel (CenTre) on Their Wedding day, 16 noVember, 1944, CourTesy kuehn family photo by gavin Jowitt
26 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 27 New acquisitioNs
Rare vellum chart
The recent purchase of a rare vellum chart from 1677 produced for the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or Dutch East India Company) has filled a void in the Library’s collection. Until this purchase, the Library did not hold a working chart used for shipboard navigation on a VOC ship and there are no other working charts from this period held in Australia. The chart, obtained from a private collection, covers the Indian Ocean from the coasts of east Africa and the Persian Gulf across to South-East Asia and western Java. Pencil marks on the chart, indicating the course set by the navigator during the voyage across the Indian Ocean, provide evidence of its use. The chart seems to owe its survival to recycling — it has been used as a binding for a set of papers. A strip of the lower margin and corners of the chart have been trimmed at some stage for this purpose. The shadow of the book’s spine is visible on the reverse side of the chart and four pinpricks indicate where the vellum was sown for the binding. Hand-drawn navigational charts were used on the VOC ships crossing the Indian Ocean to Batavia. They were produced on vellum as they were supple and easily rolled and stored in a metal container. Made from calfskin, vellum is much stronger than paper and was more likely to withstand the often From the Cape, ships had to steer south until The only decoration on this chart is a Blaeu was responsible for controlling and damp and rough conditions on board a sailing vessel. about 40 degrees southern latitude, and then secondary compass rose, located in Northern authorising the production and issuing Between 1602 and 1795 over 4800 voyages were steer east, using the strong westerly winds and Africa, out of the way of the shipping routes. of maps to the VOC fleet. made by VOC ships to the East Indies. A set of official the westerly currents. After approximately The design of the compass rose can be used charts was issued for each voyage and over 20,000 3500 nautical miles, they headed north to the to identify particular chartmakers’ workshops. maggiE Patton charts would have been produced over this period. Sunda Straits. Although latitude could be This compass rose, with a light blue Head of Maps According to current research only about 350 charts calculated quite accurately, the measurement fleur-de-lis and outer circles of red and blue, are extant today. of longitude was not so easy. The charts were indicates the workshop of Joan Blaeu II. CharT of The indian oCean, Joan blaeu ii, 1677 Voyages to the East Indies started from an essential tool for navigating an easterly The chartmaker Joan Blaeu II was chief manusCripT on Vellum Amsterdam and progressed down the west coast course if involuntary encounters and shipwrecks cartographer of the VOC from 1673 to 1705. safe/m3 990/1677/1 of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope. on the West Australian coast were to be avoided.
28 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 29 HoltermannCollectionnow digitised 30 30 house andmineinthesurveyed areas. by the wet-plate negatives records every shop, between 1871and1876. Therichdetail captured of streets and buildingsinSydneyandMelbourne boom,andimages during theheightofgold townsof goldfield inNewSouth Wales andVictoria abroad andencouragingimmigration. for thepurposeofpromoting the Australian colonies to documenttowns inNewSouth Wales andVictoria & Australasian Photographic Company (AAPC) Beaufoy Merlin andCharlesBayliss oftheAmerican andmerchant,commissioned a successfulgoldminer From 1872to1875, BernardOtto Holtermann, background to thEcoLLEction public. website andavailable tothegeneral willbe showcaseddigitised images ontheLibrary’s Collection PreservationandStorage. Imaging ServicesandLangNgo, SeniorConservator, and EmmaBjorndahl,Digitisation Officers, Digital& Manager, Digital&ImagingServices;LaurenO’Brien Curator ofPhotographs; Scott Wajon, Acting of key Librarystaff, particularly: AlanDavies, now beencompleted thankstothededicatedwork Holtermann Photographic Collection. glass platenegatives ofthehistorically significant funding theenormoustaskofdigitising3500 benefactors andsupporters, theFoundation hasbeen andforesightofnumerous Through thegenerosity The result is a wonderful collection of images The resultisawonderfulcollectionofimages Over thenext coupleof monthsaselectionofthe We aredelightedtoreportthattheprojecthas / sL magazinE partners www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections moreofitscollections to theworld. benefactorstheLibrary isableto showcase Through the generosity and support of many itr21 StateLibraryof NewSouthWales Winter 2011 buildiNg astroNg fouNdatioN maT WiThCoVer aboVe righT: brokenplaTe insink four-flap folders aboVe lefT: neWboxes and poCkeTs Top righT: originalbox andglassine Top lefT: CleaningTheglass plaTe
to housethetwo1.6x0.9 mwet plate negatives. A museum-qualitycratehasbeenconstructed sink mats constructed of museum mount board. Some broken plateswerecleanedandplacedin enclosures toprotect thefragileglass plates. in acid-freeboardboxes andfour-flap folder surface-cleaned andrehousedeachnegative branch.Conservators haveand Storage examined by staff fromCollectionPreservation every negativeof eachimage, hasbeenclosely yet rewarding. To hugely achieve thebest scan complete thisworkhave beenchallenging The preservationtechniquesneededto PrEsErvation yethugelyrewarding. completethiswork have beenchallenging Thepreservation techniques neededto a single,high-resolution,digitalmaster file. stitched together, inPhotoshop, toobtain the desiredresolutionandfilesizethen The negatives werephotographed toobtain mounted above acustom-built lighttable. Hasselblad 50megapixel digitalcamera been captured usingaFoundation funded master filesfromtheseglassplates. has beenusedtocreatehigh-qualityarchival transparencies andnegatives. Thisscanner glass plates, aswellmorecommonfilm scanners thathave beendesignedtoscan iQsmart3 scanner, which isoneofthefew have beendigitisedusingaKodak™Creo Images from the larger formatplateshave fromthelarger Images The Holtermann quarterandhalfplates sL magazinE itr21 StateLibraryofNewSouthWales / Winter2011 smaller formaT plaTes offiCer sCanning righT: digiTisaTion a reCenTneWsCan. shoWs anexample of The image onTherighT of ThepreVioussCan, lefT shoWs anexample lefT: Theimage onThe 31 31 f o u N d a t i o N voluNteers
rEtouchEd PLatEs During this work some retouched and The decision was taken to capture masked plates were encountered. In some the information in the negative more cases, masks of very thin paper had been accurately by removing the mask. wo rkiNg glued to the glass plate side of the The original retouching was documented negative to whiten large areas of sky. and then the mask was removed. We now In rare cases these thin paper masks have an interesting comparison between online had been used to filter the level of the two scans, with and without the contrast in a negative during printing. retouching mask. Distance is no impediment to lending a Entries like this one from the 1917 diary: One extreme example of this is the helping hand to the Library — from as far afield ‘when will this appalling waste end’ make portrait below of Mrs O’Connell in her kay PaynE as Germany, Queensland and various parts it ‘emotionally hard’ she says, but she is Partnerships Manager wedding dress. Mrs O’Connell’s face was of Sydney, volunteers are working remotely determined to continue. Even a severe bout masked, which originally would have on research and/or transcriptions of the of sciatica didn’t’ stop this 25-year veteran the story of the preservation and digitisation helped to bring the contrast and of this project is being continually updated Library’s original materials. of volunteering! brightness of her shadowed face in line on the Library’s website blog. Ellie Brasch (Artarmon) and Gary Cook Queensland resident Terry Walker is with that of her white dress. Over the last
32 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 33 34 34 phoTo by bruCeyork miChael rosenThal and susan hunT helena poropaT, emeriTus professor / sL magazinE friends
contributeto theLibrary’s exciting future. acloserinvolvement withourwork and perspectiveontheLibrary. You’ll enjoy BeingaFriend gives you adifferent itr21 State LibraryofNewSouthWales Winter 2011 for for email: [email protected] Shop phone:(02)9273 1611 gripping taletolife. notebook, authorJennifer Gallbringsthis fromthis Using selectedfacsimilepages was recordedby Blighinanotebook. journey ofthe19menin23-foot boat Christian, on28April1789. Theappalling mutiny ontheship, ledby Fletcher Tofua toTimor, following adramatic 47-day voyage intheBounty’s launchfrom Lieutenant WilliamBligh’s accountofthe my Handsbehindmy back.’ Sobegins seized mewhileasleepinmy Cabbintied ‘Just beforeSunRisethe People Mutinied (Usually $34.95) Special Friends onlyprice$28 on theBounty,Jennifer Gall In Bligh’s Hand:SurvivingtheMutiny Exclusive book offer of thenewcolony. place, tothedevelopment andexploration from theearliest depictionsofnatureand Mitchell Librarycollections. Theyranged drawn mainlyfromtheDixsonand which werethesubjectofhistalk, The many drawings andwatercolours, passion forearlycolonialAustralian art. Michael Rosenthalspeakabouthis opportunity tohearEmeritusProfessor In lateMarch,200Friends enjoyed the Lecture Michael Rosenthal The offeris available attheLibrary our our friends Email: [email protected]: 92731593(02) Phone: sydney2000 nsW streetmacquarie foundationnsW of Librarystate contactor atus towww.sl.nsw.gov.au/supportgo PLEasE EnQuiriEs friEnds nEW for when younext visittheFriends Room. the year. Ilookforward towelcomingyou on specialoffersandnotices throughout your emailaddresssoyoudon’t missout have membershipqueries, andsendin door entrance in the Mitchellvestibule. press theintercombutton atthedouble For easy accesstotheFriends Room, 1000 editions of quirkiest collectionsintheLibrary—over Did youknow thattheyhouseoneofthe lead-lined, glass-frontedbookcabinets. space,linedwith theoriginal heritage Mitchell ReadingRoom,itisawonderful Astheoriginal cuppa withafriend. papers, accesstheinternet, orsharea haven whereyoucanreadtheday’s Library (Monday toFriday). Itisaquiet Friends Roomwhileyouarevisitingthe Don’t forgettocallinourbeautiful Friends Room in in the back of your Library Friends office, orseeourregistration page for auniquegiftthatlasts. Contactthe Give aone-year subscription in yourlife? Stuck ongiftideasforsomeonespecial membership as a gift Give aFriends Memberships Coordinator PoroPat hELEna Please contactmeatany timeifyou Don Quixote Don Quixote What’s On. by by Cervantes? shop bondi, 1939 Jean WiThWiremesh,max dupain, 1937 andDavid Moore prints. andlimited editionMaxDupain ofgiftware, Lomocameras booksaswell asawiderange OurshopspecialisesinAustralian the library m a g a z i n E s L itr21 StateLibraryofNewSouthWales / Winter2011 www.sl.nsw.gov.au/shop [email protected] (o2)9273 1611 days 7 Open 35 35 highlights
/01 /02 /08 recent highlights recent
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/01 marian saWyer, /04 CuraTor sandra speaking aT The byron speaking aT eVenT ‘fighTers ‘The life and legaCy feminisTs and of Jeff CarTer’ philanThropisTs’ phoTo by sarah phoTo by sarah herman herman /05 roberT maCfarlane /02 VolunTeer gaenor aT ‘The life and VallaCk and sandra legaCy of Jeff faulkner, VieW the CarTer’ WishinG tRee by phoTo by sarah edWin Wilson, herman from The miTChell /06 Jeff CarTer’s ColleCTion WhiCh Children (l To r) inspired The searCh Thor CarTer, for The missing karen CarTer sTaTue of Charles and Van CarTer diCkens in phoTo by sarah CenTennial park /12 herman phoTo by sarah herman /07 riChard neVille in disCussion aT /06 /11 /03 (l To r) alison ‘sCholarly musings’ /08 a panel of experTs /11 heaTher mansell o’sulliVan and phoTo by belinda aT The kahlil gibran (CenTre) speaks WiTh gail gormley ChrisTie disCussion in arabiC guesTs abouT Works WiTh VolunTeer phoTo by sarah by marTin sharp CoordinaTor helen herman phoTo by sarah Clark aT The herman /09 Jonah nadar WiTh VolunTeers’ Wine guesTs aT his Talk /12 miChael rosenThal and nibbles eVenT ‘hoW To lose friends WiTh guesTs aT his phoTo by sarah and infuriaTe gibran’ Talk herman phoTo by bruCe york /13 auThor larry WriTer /10 sTephen marTin aT The bumper aCCepTs a gifT from farrell eVenT, WiTh Jonah nadar for The bumper farrell’s library’s supporT of daughTers susan The kahlil gibran gilligan (l) and exhibiTion maureen elsgood (r). phoTo by bruCe york
/07 /13 36 / sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 37 Q&A Tony Robinson
UK actor, comedian and television host Tony Robinson recently visited the Library as part of his research for a documentary on Australia for the History Channel. Here he reveals the highlights of his visit.
hoW did thE idEa for What’s thE most form was one of the most Tony robinson phoTo by bruCe york thE sEriEs comE about? intErEsting story you dramatic parts of my visit The History Channel managEd to dig uP? to Australia. Australia wanted me It seems I may have a to make a specifically relative who was a convict. What WErE your Australian show. A He came from Shoreditch imPrEssions of thE Melbourne TV production in London (which is where mitchELL Library company called WTFN virtually all my relatives rEading room? The perfect location came up with the idea of were brought up) and was The Mitchell couldn’t have me ‘discovering’ transported to NSW. His been more helpful. The staff were friendly, the history of Australia name was William Parrott The Library is a unique heritage venue concerned and seemed with a fresh pair of eyes, and I didn’t know anything genuinely interested able to host everything from meetings rather like I discover the about him until we started in what I was doing. and conferences to cocktails and gala archaeology of a specific looking into the records. dinners. The Laissez-faire team believes place on Time Team. I can’t absolutely prove we What itEm from thE are related, but finding out Library’s coLLEction What WErE thE passionately in food and service and about him was absolutely fascinatEd you most? highLights of your fascinating. There’s an early we are committed to delivering an thrEE months in nineteenth century austraLia? outstanding event every time you book. What Was it LikE sEEing Tasmanian proclamation Visiting Tasmania for the thE originaL Parrott which explains to the first time, holding a baby documEnts? Aboriginal peoples wombat, going to Alice I love old documents — how even-handed the Springs and discovering not just their contents, Colonialists would be. it was all green because of but their feel and their It’s just a painted piece of the rain, getting a fantastic smell too. They’re the wood to be hung on a tree, interview from Kevin Rudd, thinking man’s porn aren’t and it shows a white man Phone: (02) 9273 1744 spending Christmas on the they? But old documents being hung for killing a fax: (02) 9273 1272 Barrier Reef in a cyclone! that have got references black man, and a black man [email protected] to your potential ancestors being hung for killing a www.sl.nsw.gov.au/using/venuehire are really something! white man. With hindsight, Seeing William Parrott’s the bitter irony made me story laid out in document shudder.
sL magazinE Winter 2011 State Library of New South Wales / 39 www.sl.nsw.gov.au