The Gutenberg Bible on Exhibit in Melbourne

Next week sees the launch of the third annual Melbourne Rare Book Week (17 to 27 July). Bibliophiles from across Australasia and beyond will descend upon the city and enjoy an array of talks, demonstrations and exhibitions, ending with the Melbourne Rare Book Fair (25 to 27 July). Visitors to this year’s Rare Book Week will also be able to attend a range of events in the university’s biennial Cultural Treasures Festival (26 and 27 July).

The university will once again host the fair in Wilson Hall, but also add something very special to the 2014 Rare Book Week programme: A 10-day exhibition of the Gutenberg Bible.

The Bible, on loan courtesy of The University of Manchester’s John Rylands Library, will be displayed from 18 to 27 July in the Dulcie Hollyock Room located on the ground floor of the Baillieu Library.

Like all Rare Book Week events, the exhibition is free and open to the public. Viewing hours are 11.00am to 5.00pm daily. Bookings not required.

A series of floor talks connected with the exhibition are also taking place. Details and how to book can be found on the Gutenberg Bible exhibition and Cultural Treasures Festival webpages.

A selection of incunabula and later religious texts from Baillieu Special Collections is also on display on the ground floor of the library in support of the Gutenberg Bible exhibit.

Whether you are local to Melbourne or just visiting, a chance to see a copy of the first substantial book printed in the Western world is not to be missed!

ANZAAB Conference and Melbourne Rare Book Week

The following was posted on the ANZAAB website.

Conference in May
'The most agreeable servants of civilization' Booksellers and Librarians in a Changing World

A Joint Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers (ANZAAB) and the National Library of Australia.

Discussions and presentations on how the rare book trade operates, how libraries and booksellers can work together more effectively, a 'pop up' rare book fair, a display of some National Library of Australia treasures and tailored behind the scenes tours make for two unmissable days for anyone working with and with an interest in rare books, manuscripts and photographs.

This is the first time a conference such as this has been held in Australia. This conference will give participants the chance to meet others working with or interested in rare materials on paper while at the same time hearing from some foremost scholars, librarians and antiquarian booksellers. Not to be missed!

Monday 19 May, 8.30 am - 5.30 pm & Tuesday 20 May, 9 am - 4.30 pm
Conference Room, Level 4
National Library of Australia

Complete Programme

Bookings now open


For more information contact Sally Burdon at Asia Bookroom.

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Third Annual Melbourne Rare Book Week

ANZAAB has also recently announced the 2014 Melbourne Rare Book Week from 17 to 27 July, incorporating the 42nd ANZAAB Australian Antiquarian Book Fair from 25 to 27 July at Wilson Hall, University of Melbourne.

The following was posted on the ILAB website:

The Melbourne Rare Book Week is now well established in the City of Melbourne’s event calendar. It is a major attraction for book collectors, librarians and all who have a love of words, print on paper and heritage, and the 2014 programme promises another outstanding event.

Kay Craddock on behalf of the Melbourne Rare Book Week Committee:

"To date, we have attracted six new event partners from Melbourne’s literary community and all of the 2013 partners have rejoined the programme, making a total of 25. New partners are: The Library at the Dock (due to open in Docklands in May), Grainger Museum, The Johnson Society of Australia, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (Cowlishaw Library), Royal United Services Institute of Victoria Library and the Victorian College of the Arts.

The City of Melbourne has pledged increased sponsorship funding and will work with us to promote our events at its new Docklands Library. We have been extraordinarily fortunate to engage the support of leading Consumer, Industry and Market Research company, Roy Morgan Research. In addition to hosting several individual events, Roy Morgan Research will be promoting the entire programme through its extensive network of marketing, media, corporate, institutional and government customers. On Monday March 17, Gary Morgan and his CEO, Michele Levine, are hosting a media/sponsorship launch of Melbourne Rare Book Week. This will be an opportunity for event partners to promote the programme and to network with prospective sponsors and journalists."

As part of the Melbourne Rare Book Week, the 42nd ANZAAB Australian Antiquarian Book Fair will be held at the University of Melbourne's historic Wilson Hall, with free admission to all visitors. The 2014 Book Fair will again be held in partnership with the biennial University of Melbourne Cultural Treasures Festival — a programme of free exhibitions, thematic walks, talks, seminars, demonstrations, displays and guided tours which showcase the University's rich array of museums and collections.

[I will post this year's events when announced. Needless to say, I cannot wait!]

Panel Discussion on 'Beautiful Books'

The Wheeler Centre has uploaded video of the 2013 Melbourne Rare Book Week opening night panel discussion 'Beautiful Books':

http://wheelercentre.com/videos/video/beautiful-books/

'Passionate bibliophiles – including a collector, a designer and a twenty-first-century book-maker – will explore changing perspectives on what makes a book beautiful … and what makes us treasure it long after its shelf life.

With Des Cowley, Rare Printed Collections Manager at the State Library of Victoria, designer W. H. Chong, and booki.sh founder Virginia Murdoch. Hosted by Steve Grimwade.

In the midst of the e-revolution, where we’re as likely to download as to leaf through a book, the idea of the book as an object of beauty is being lost. Or is it?'

Melbourne Rare Book Week ran from 18 to 28 July.

Upcoming Rare Book/ Bibliographical Events in Australia

I'm back with a few announcements. Still settling in and finding my way in Melbourne, but I hope to return to a normal blogging schedule in a few weeks' time. Until then...

The Melbourne Rare Book Week kicks off on 18 July and culminates with the three-day Rare Book Fair (26‒28 July). Over twenty events and exhibitions are scheduled across the city, from book culture in nineteenth-century Melbourne and private press printing, to six centuries of Italian books and collectors/ collecting. Among the many highlights is a public lecture by Travis McDade, curator of Law Rare Books at the University of Illinois, called 'The Book Theft Century: A Lament', hosted by the Melbourne Law School (McDade's latest book Thieves of Book Row was published last month. Review in the Los Angeles Times).

The 2012 Melbourne Rare Book Fair, Wilson Hall, University of Melbourne
Photo from the ANZAAB Rare Book Fair Facebook page

And if that was not exciting enough, on Sunday, 21 July, renowned scholar Professor Ian Donaldson will conduct a two-hour masterclass on the creation and history of the Shakespeare Folios, hosted by the University of Melbourne Faculty of Arts and Baillieu Library. On display will be a copy of the Second Folio (1632), courtesy of the University of Melbourne special collections. The registration fee is $80.00 AUD. Spaces are limited and will surely fill up quickly.

Coming up in November...

The annual conference of the Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand (20‒22 November). Hosted by the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, the theme of this year's conference is 'Bibliography in the Digital Age'. Abstracts of 250 words for 20-minute presentations are now being accepted.

State Library of New South Wales
Photo from Wikipedia

Rare Book Week in Melbourne

Kay Craddock's Bookshop
156 Collins St.

Next month sees the launch of the inaugural Melbourne Rare Book Week in conjunction with the biennial University of Melbourne Cultural Treasures Festival and the 39th ANZAAB Antiquarian Book Fair.

Being held from 19 to 29 July, Rare Book Week includes 'a series of informative and entertaining lectures, events and exhibitions celebrating the book and the joy of collecting.... If you are curious about books and what makes them collectable, and fascinated by ephemeral items that capture the spirit of a time, or you are drawn to prints that illustrate our history and maps that reflect the peaks and perils of travel and adventure, then Melbourne is the place to be in July'.

A full list of events, all but one of which are free to attend, is available on the Rare Book Week programme page.