National Library of Victoria

Sir George & the Dragon.

On Thursday I had the pleasure of going to the

 State Library of Victoria 

with the T Family.  I am so pleased that I did.  

The library has some wonderful things on offer

• Outside-in cinema
• Guided Tours
• Browse Newspapers, journals etc
• Listen to music & watch films
• Visit a gallery.
• Play Games
• School Holiday Programs

We started on level six the Dome Balcony and worked our way down.  The architecture was simply beautiful.

Click on any of the pictures to view them in full screen.

Beautiful stain glass window of William Shakespeare.

We visited the Dome Gallery and had a look around the two permanent exhibitions.

The Changing Face of Victoria (Level 5)
The changing face of Victoria exhibition brings together historical artifact's, photographs, drawings, maps, letters and diaries to tell the stories of the people, places and events that have shaped life in Victoria over the past 200 years. (Source State Library Website)

Sir N standing with Ned Kelly's armour.

Mirror of the World (Level 4)

The exhibition is divided into five major themes
(Source: State Library website)

1.  'Books and ideas', which outlines the early history of books and printing
2. 'The book and the imagination', which looks at the way books and texts are imaginatively created, while at the same time acting imaginatively upon us
3.  'Exploring the world', which investigates how books have been used to explore and document the world including, its landscape, topography, inhabitants, flora and fauna
4. 'Art and nature', which looks at how botanical illustrations unite the scientific and artistic worlds
5. 'The artist and the book', which highlights the art of the book and the role of the artist in its production

Exploring the World & Art and nature

It was rather amazing in this section seeing the detailed drawings and sheer size of some of the books on display. I have never seen such large books before.

The Artist and the book section.

This is the fifth theme. It highlights the art of the book and the role of the artist in it's production. These books had actual gold leaf on the covers and pages.  They were in one word: extraordinary.

There was so much more to see and do but alas when one is seven only a couple of hours of exploring will do.  So I think another trip here is in order.  (I am considering this one: Making the Ned Kelly Armour Workshop)

So from here we went and sat at the entrance and had a rest before we took the tram back to our car.

We had a wonderful day together exploring this free resource to the people of Victoria.

My favourite quote of the day was by Aristotle
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

Have you visited any old building lately ?
Blessings
Chareen