By Christine Yunn-Yu Sun
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Melbourne Rare Book Week, which will start on 18 July and culminate with the Melbourne Rare Book Fair (25-27 July) at the University of Melbourne’s Wilson Hall.
A major festival focusing on the printed page, the Melbourne Rare Book Week features a dazzling range of talks, conversations, displays and exhibitions that celebrate the importance of books, literacy and literature in our lives.
Most events are free, but bookings are essential.
Below are some of the highlights that have caught this reviewer’s eye.
Readers can discover other interesting events via the official website, rarebooksmelbourne.com
First and foremost is an interview with legendary Melbourne bookseller Mark Rubbo, who retired as Readings managing director in 2023 after nearly half a century in the business.
Rubbo will discuss the past 50 years of Australian writing, how he nurtured Australian writers and worked to extend Melbourne’s cultural influence.
Next, the Old Treasury Building will present an online event on the Australian Women’s Weekly cookbooks and their influence on Australian food culture.
In addition, the Books for Cooks Bookshop in Queen Victoria Market will offer a talk on Elizabeth David, the British cookery writer who strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in the mid-20th century.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court Library will draw attention to the oldest book in its collection, Statham’s Abridgement of the Law (1491).
Concurrently, Hellenic Museum at the Former Royal Mint Building will host an exhibition on Byzantine manuscripts, illustrating how the Byzantine Empire was the medieval threshold between East and West.
Meanwhile, State Library Victoria has prepared a series of awesome events, starting with an exploration of the first book ever printed with moveable type in English, by William Caxton.
A separate talk on the Women Writers Fund will feature first editions by Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Ursula Le Guin, Toni Morrison, and many more.
Another session at the library will delve into the life and exploits of E.W. Cole, bookseller and founder of the famous Cole’s Book Arcade.
Then there is the World of the Book exhibition from 27 May 2024 to 18 May 2025, with more than 300 rare and remarkable items showcasing books as objects of beauty and craft.
Particularly worth mentioning is the Hoping Against Hope exhibition at Monash University, which celebrates 500 years of Ukrainian print culture.
The display gives emphasis to Ukrainian perspectives that have historically been suppressed, silenced and diminished while affirming the connected values of resilience, resistance and hope across generations of Ukrainians.
Finally, a special event titled Now We Are Ten will reflect on the evolution of the Melbourne Rare Book Week from the original concept to its tenth iteration.
Equally interesting is the presentation titled A Young Person’s Guide to Book Collecting, with practical advice on what, where, how, why, when and from whom to buy.
Not to mention the Archives Fine Book Collecting Prize, which will be awarded for an outstanding book collection conceived of and built by a young Australian collector.
Further reading, blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/our-stories/ask-a-librarian/e-w-cole-and-his-famous-book-arcade/
