27 January 2006
'Black' Valentines, the first pictures of the moon's dark side and Lucky comics from the 1930s are some of the rare items on show at the Sir Louis Matheson Library at the university's Clayton campus until 31 March.
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| Black Valentines (London, c.1850) |
The exhibition, Recent Acquisitions 4, features more than 100 items acquired by the Monash University Library Rare Books Collection since 2001.
Monash Rare Books librarian Mr Richard Overell has curated the exhibition.
Among the acquisitions are two hand-coloured 'Black Valentines' published in London around 1850.
"Commercially printed 'Valentines' were being produced from the late eighteenth century and became especially popular from the mid-nineteenth century," Mr Overell said. "Black Valentines - featuring an image and verse - were a kind of anti-Valentine, which went through a craze around the mid 1850s."
Other rarities on display are two 1960s Yoko Ono exhibition catalogues - including one signed by Yoko - as well as science fiction books from World War 1, the first pictures of the dark side of the moon as taken by a Russian satellite in 1960; plus early copies of the Australian Women's Weekly.
Monash has one of the largest collections of Australian comics in the world. New acquisitions on display include Lucky comics published in Sydney in the 1930s, Kevin the Bold published in the 1950s, and Martin/Molloy: radio's favourite nutbags published 1997-1998.
The items acquired since 2001 include books, magazines, comics, posters, manuscripts, photos, drawings and pamphlets covering Australian Aborigines, history and literature; detective, science and pulp fiction; travel, art, women's studies, communism, social issues and war.
"Monash has a formidable collection comprising more than 100,000 rare works," Mr Overell said. "This exhibition shows a slice of Monash's holdings, cut to reveal the many fields in which we collect."
For further information visit the Library website.
Exhibition notes:
What:
Recent Acquisitions 4 exhibition, Monash University Library Rare Books Collection
When: Until 31 March. Viewing hours: Monday to Friday 9am-5pm. Sunday 1pm--5pm
Where: Exhibition Room, Sir Louis Matheson Library, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton.
For information and images contact: Mr Richard Overell, Rare Books Librarian on +61 3 9905 2689, or Ms Karen Stichtenoth, Media Communications on +61 3 9905 1253.
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