Migration Tales

This image, from a pamphlet by Isaac Thomas, held in Special Collections, is about the fictional Morgan Bach who wishes to leave Wales to seek his fortune in Australia, much to the despair of his mother. In ballad form, the verses are a conversation between mother and son, in which she tries to talk him out of his plans. As much as it pains him, however, he will not be moved. A subsequent ballad by Thomas details Morgan Bach’s later return to Wales as a rich man, but his mother does not recognise him (this pamphlet is held by the National Library of Australia).

The performing and selling of ballads was very popular entertainment in 18th and 19th-century Wales. In the latter, many ballads written in the industrial south of Wales related to Australia, suggesting a preoccupation with emigrating to escape poverty and start afresh in a new country. The Thomas ballads about Morgan and his mother were two of the most popular and were printed in many editions, many of which survive to this day.

Above: Isaac Thomas, of Aberdare, Morgan Bach a’i fam yn ymddiddan yn nghylch myned i Australia, [Publisher] Caernarfon: argraffwyd gan H. Humphreys, 184-?, Special Collections, University of Melbourne.

A translation of this ballad is also available in Special Collections: Isaac Thomas, of Aberdare, Morgan Bach in Australia: Reproductions of two Welsh migration ballads from the 1850s, with translations and introduction by Geraint Evans, Melbourne: Ancora Press, 2010.

Rare Rocks

The Earth Sciences Rare Book Collection is an important research collection of rare and early geological and palaeontological books, including strong holdings of early palaeontological works in English, French and German. About 65 per cent of the items are the only known copy in Australia. The collection is socially and historically significant as it represents the development of the discipline of earth sciences at the University of Melbourne, and it is connected to significant geologists such as Frederick McCoy and Ernest Skeats, early and eminent professors in their field at the University. Many of the books are beautiful items in themselves with embossed leather covers and fine illustrations. This engraving is ‘Volcanic crater near Frankenhousen in Lower Hesse’, in Rudolph Erich Raspe, An account of some German volcanos, and their productions: With a new hypothesis of the prismatical basaltes, established upon facts: Being an essay of physical geography for philosophers and miners, London: Printed for Lockyer Davis, Holborn, printer to the Royal Society, 1776, plate II, facing p. 38. Earth Sciences Library Rare Books Collection, Special Collections, University of Melbourne.

Books from the collection may be viewed in the Special Collections Reading Room in the Baillieu Library. For more information see www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/earth/rarebooks

‘Appeals to a Child’s Imagination’

Exhibit: ‘Appeals to a Child’s Imagination’: The Morgan Collection of Children’s Books, Special Collections, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, ground floor, Baillieu Library, until Wednesday 1 February 2012

A display highlighting the Morgan Collection of Children’s Books from the Library’s Special Collections is now showing on the ground floor of the Baillieu Library. This collection is based upon a generous donation to the Library in 1954 by the British antiquarian Frederick Charles (F.C.) Morgan (1878-1978). As a result of his generosity, the University acquired one of Australia’s foremost collections of children’s books and a significant collection in world terms. Since then, the collection has been actively enlarged and today it consists of approximately 4,000 items, four times the size of its original 1,086 volumes in 1954.

One of the many highlights of the Morgan Collection is its wealth of lavishly-illustrated books. The present display celebrates the colour illustrations by the prominent 19th-century children’s book illustrators Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway. The collection contains not only books, but also various toys and games enjoyed by children of the Victorian era, including a mid-19th-century cube block puzzle, a portable folding globe, c.1866, paper doll story books and a child’s magic set. Through its rich array of items, the Morgan Collection offers staff, students and the wider community the opportunity to engage with the social milieu of a past age through treasured childhood stories and playthings, some of which are still familiar today.

Above: Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886), ‘Hey diddle-diddle and Baby Bunting’, London: Routledge, 1882, gift of F.C. Morgan, 1954, Special Collections, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne.

Building Rural Success

Exhibition: Building Rural Success: The early years of Dookie Agricultural College, Leigh Scott Gallery, first floor, Baillieu Library, until Saturday 11 February 2012

This exhibition commemorates the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Dookie Agriculture College, today known as the Dookie Campus of the Melbourne School of Land and Environment at the University of Melbourne. Through a rich array of historical material, including an illuminated address, early farm diaries, stock registers, sporting medals and many photographs, the display celebrates the culture and history of Dookie, its personalities and its role as an educational facility and operational farm. The exhibition explores the broader historical contexts and social histories of the period, such as the impacts of the first and second world wars and the Soldier Settlement Scheme, the changing role of women, Dookie’s sporting prowess and its identity within the regional community.

The experiences of those who lived and studied at Dookie dominate the collection’s subject matter. The items displayed in this exhibition provide an insight into what everyday life was like for the students, staff and families who called Dookie Agricultural College home. Today the site also plays host to the Dookie Campus Historical Collection, which traces the development of agricultural industry, education, farming methods and land use at Dookie since its early days.

Above: ‘Breaking up virgin country for the first sowing of a new wheat’, Photograph by H.D. Simpson, published in ‘Dookie Collegian’, 1918, p. 2. Dookie Campus Historical Collection, University of Melbourne.

A Fine Press

The University of Melbourne Library’s Special Collections holds some wonderful collections of private presses known for their fine printing. The Library began collecting titles from the Kelmscott Press in the 1970s, largely with help from the Friends of the Baillieu Library. The Kelmscott was founded in 1891 by William Morris, the English textile designer artist, writer and socialist associated with the English Arts and Crafts Movement, and by the time the Press closed in 1898, it had produced 53 titles. The complete collection of Kelmscott works was finally attained by the Library in 2005 when, with the help of the Library Endowment Fund as well as contributions from the Ivy May Pendlebury Bequest, the final work, The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, considered one of the Press’s finest, was acquired.

Above: Illustration for ‘The knyghtes tale’ by Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898) with decorative borders and initial letters by William Morris (1834–1896). From Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The works of Geoffrey Chaucer now newly imprinted’, Hammersmith: Printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, 8 May 1896. From an edition of 425 copies. Purchased by the University of Melbourne with contributions from the Library Endowment Fund, the Ivy May Pendlebury Estate and the Friends of the Baillieu Library, 2005.

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