State Library’s collection comes out of lockdown!
While many things came to a halt due to lockdowns this year, the State Library has been busier than ever adding to its collection of more than six million items. Some of these amazing new additions will go on public display for the first time from this Saturday 28 November 2020.
The New to the Collection exhibition features over 20 newly acquired items, spanning centuries and collected from all over the world.
These include:
- One of the newest chapters in history from one of the oldest contributors: COVID-19 isolation notebooks by artist Guy Warren. As he turned 99 in April 2020, Guy Warren began to create daily drawings of his time in lockdown in Sydney. These volumes detail his observations as he moved into his 100th year
- The first European record of southern skies (see attached), created by Albrecht Dürer, cartographer Johannes Stabius and astronomer Conrad Heinfogel in 1515. There are only 10 known examples of the first printed European star chart of the southern hemisphere. The Library’s copy is equally rare as it was printed from the original
- The most famous ‘who’s who in the zoo’: Historia Animalium, 1551–58. Considered the start of modern zoology, this Renaissance encyclopedia by Conrad Gessner was one of the most popular scientific books at the time. Alongside extinct and ‘newly discovered’ animals, you find fantastic creatures like unicorns and mermaid-like beasts.
- A surprising rare map of post war Sydney (1945-1955) (see attached). It provides a record of places long disappeared, like the Sydney Glaciarium at Ultimo and the Sydney Stadium at Rushcutters Bay.
According to head curator Maggie Patton: “What many people may not realise is that we are always collecting (even during a pandemic). We are acquiring everything we can that’s published in NSW, we are documenting history as it happens in our cities and regions, and we are going back in time to fill in the gaps, ensuring we develop a collection which provides a rich and balanced view of our history.
New to the Collection is on show until 3 January 2021.
