State Library

Hello :) 

Today I actually did something! I took my camera and went back to the State Library

This library is really old, full of old books (duh) and has this sweet giant dome above the reading room 

But the best thing about this Library is as it doubles as an art gallery/museum and has this awesome exhibition on at the moment - AN EXHIBITION OF BOOKS!

OMG I actually "squee'd" so many times - I was in heaven! :D
It started at the beginning of writing, with this tiny cuniform tablet - soo cute! :P This is no bigger than your index finger (or if you have tiny hands like me - middle finger). The tiny markings on it is actually the first ever known written language - cuniform.

There were also these glass cases with the first ever widespead stories - like the Odyssey and the first ever printed books. Firstly the painstakingly handprinted books by the monks of the middle ages then the first printing press books. This meant a lot of old bibles behind glass :) They were very pretty though. There was even a real leaf of one of the Gutenburg Bibles -ZOMG!
On the Left there is the case of the 10 most influential books ever printed (though as the blurb says this varies from person to person). Unfortunately I can only remember 9 of the books they had displayed there:

1. The works of Ptolemy - a copy which survived the burning of the Alexandrian Library

2. Works of Martin Luther - the revolutionary monk

3. Origin of the Species - by good old Charles Darwin

4. Das Kapital - Karl Marx

5. Everyones favourite Sigmund "you want to have sex with your mother/ferns" Freud

6. Where Do We Go From Here - Martin Luther King Jr.

7. Le Deuxieme Sexe (the Second Sex) - Simone De Beauvoir

8. The Female Eunuch - Germaine Greer

9. The Little Red Book - Mao Tse-Tung   
This was the view from the exhibition space down on the reading room - the exhibition circled around on a level higher a sort of enclosed veranda - the dome is directly above :) pretty amazing really 
Then we got to the modern era of books - a display case of modernism - James Joyces (massive) Ulysses, works of Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf. The Allan Ginsberg quote comes from above the "Beat" display case: 
I remember him from "I'm Not There" :P Also Jack Kerouac and on the left my favourite book title: "Unfair Arguments With Existence "
The Pulp Fiction Wall was pretty cool - I forgot to get a picture of the whole wall :c A display case of Pulp Fiction covers all with sexy femme fatales in the foreground and some mystery happening in the background:
One of my favourites: Counterfeit Doll - look at that hair and those earrings! And look her beauty has caused a mystery of FLYING EYEBALLS ATTACKING A BUTCHER!! NOES!!1!!1! (shes a vegetarian - obviously)
This display case was full of Penguins - The original paperback!

 The next display case was full of Children's Books! So pretty :D There was a "Babes Aesop Fables" and a Gold covered "Aladdin in Rhyme" and a flapper-esque style "Alice in Wonderland" :DThen we got to my favourite part XD
Graphic novels! From the Felix the Cat and Batman Comic books to the modern colour and image rich Graphic novels. There was Manga at the back, including that closest one which is open - Buddha vol. 7 written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka thought to be the father of Manga - I recommend it - it help cement my own buddhist beliefs :)
Here we have a comparison shot between the old style comics (so much wording - yuk!) and the impressive 'filmic' style of the graphic novels that came out in the 80's (so much more effective)

Another reason I'm glad I live now and not in, say, the 50s  . . .  
Upstairs the Exhibit on the State of Victoria was a bit meh (I was tired by that point and in no mood to trawl through the history of farmers and emigrated prisoners :P) I wanted to get back to the books! But I had to see the Ned Kelly part again - his real armour! And through the armpit you can see the bust of his 'Deathmask' his face as they laid him to rest - Did you know Mick Jagger played Kelly in the 196something film - wtf  . . XP

Right at the top of the level of 'verandas' was a good view of the reading room below and a lovely stained glass of Good Ole Will :D
The next part of the exhibit was the role of books in discovering our world. Books of maps, many which seem ludicrously mis-proportioned by todays standard (a world map with a massive land mass all along the bottom -the mysterious undiscovered antipodes). Many large books open to amazing pictures, fantasy sketches of wild people half human, half animal, as well as real sketches by scholars who saw the world from boats in the age of discovery, such as Aztec drawings, Japanese peddlers, a picnic of English sailors under the Easter Island heads, even a detailed drawing of a Maori chieftain from a log of a scholar on Captain Cooks boat :D

Giant books one showing a painting of a Greek vase and one HUGE one from Napoleon's expedition to Egypt

There were also many amazing books showing the importance of books and science - with amazing detailed drawings of flora and fauna anatomy

Then we got to the section of Art and Illustration in Books - this from the cold war, an underground revolutionary magazine featuring Mao Tse-Tung, Uncle 'Ho' (Chi Minh) and of course Che Guavara  
 More Art and Books :D

Then it was time to leave :C coz by this time I had wasted many hours looking at books behind glass and not sitting down once D: But its ok - Its free and I can go back any time!

Outside the library to large figures stand either side of the large columned library and I had to get pictures of them too - after all their stories are the reason they're there St George slaying the Dragon

And Jean D'Arc :D

BAI GUYS

till next time 

Alice
Went to the State Library today - HOMG