State Library of New South Wales

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John Tebbutt (1834–1916)

“Australia’s most distinguished nineteenth century astronomer was John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales…”*

Tebbutt observed his first comet at the age of nineteen and for the next 60 years devoted his life to the study of astronomy.

Tebbutt died in 1916 and his family had no interest in astronomy or his archive of astronomical records, his library or telescopes, even so his son arranged in memory of his father, for the volumes of inward letters, the library and original observing books, journals, notebooks, diaries and other astronomical and meteorological records to be donated to the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.

The Mitchell Library holds “The John Tebbutt” collection: John Tebbutt astronomical and meteorological papers, ca. 1847-1915

Hear more about the fascinating subject of astronomy and view some beautiful books from the State Library of New South Wales’ rare book collection in the upcoming rare books astronomy talk.

Date: 19th September Time: 10:30am - 12:30pm Venue: Meet in the Macquarie Street foyer Cost: $15 + booking fee
Bookings essential: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/rare-books-astronomy

References:

*John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales: A pioneer Southern Hemisphere variable star observer / W. Orchiston. (Irish Astronomical Journal ; v. 27 (1)).

statelibrarynsw:
“ On this day….25th May On this day, fans openly carry a towel with them, as described in Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to celebrate the books and the author.
From the Illustrated Hitch hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:...

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statelibrarynsw:

On this day….25^th May
On this day, fans openly carry a towel with them, as described in Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to celebrate the books and the author.
From the Illustrated Hitch hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: this is a special illustrated edition published by BCA by arrangement with George Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994. This is from our Rare Book Collection.
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value – you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redily on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindbogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you – daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

Work continues on the new public lifts by State Library of New South Wales

We have just passed 46 million views of our images on Flickr Commons

Thank you to everyone who has viewed, used, commented on, tagged and enjoyed our photographs. This is the one of the latest photographs added showing renovation work at the State Library of NSW.

You can find some of our best-loved images on iphone cases, cups and cushions, available to buy in our Redbubble store ‪#‎madewithslnsw‬. We are gradually releasing more great images from our collections so be sure to check in regularly. Visit #madewithslnsw at Red Bubble here

From the collection of the State Library of New South Wales www.sl.nsw.gov.au

Source: Flickr / statelibraryofnsw

Today, Friday March 23, marks the first day of the Sydney institution the Royal Easter Show. The Easter show has been held since 1823 and is organised by the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales. Part agricultural show, fair and amusement...

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Today, Friday March 23, marks the first day of the Sydney institution the Royal Easter Show. The Easter show has been held since 1823 and is organised by the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales. Part agricultural show, fair and amusement park, it has been a popular event for many generations of Australians.

These photographs were taken by noted photographer Sam Hood in 1938 and are held by the Library as part of the collection of negatives known as the Home and Away collection. The photographs depict show goers with their sample bags of treats which were at the time were free. Today sample bags have mostly given way to a commercial version of treat and toy bags called show bags, which are for sale. The Royal Easter show closes for the year on April 3rd.

On this day, 19th March 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was officially opened.Construction of the bridge began in 1924, and took 1400 men eight years to build at a cost of £4.2 million. Sixteen lives were lost during its construction, while up to 800...

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On this day, 19th March 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was officially opened.

Construction of the bridge began in 1924, and took 1400 men eight years to build at a cost of £4.2 million. Sixteen lives were lost during its construction, while up to 800 families living in the path of the proposed Bridge path were relocated and their homes demolished when construction started.

The arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built in two halves cantilevering from each shore and tying each half back by steel cables that were anchored into U-shaped tunnels excavated into the sandstone rock. Construction of the two halves of the arch began late in 1928, and the two halves were properly joined on 19 August 1930.

The official opening of the bridge occurred on 19 March 1932.

Despite the bridge opening in the midst of the Great Depression, the festivities included an array of decorated floats, a procession of passenger ships sailing below the bridge, and a Venetian Carnival. After the official ceremonies, the public was allowed to walk across the bridge on the deck, something that would not be repeated until the 50th anniversary celebrations in 1982. Estimates suggest that between 300,000 and one million people took part in the opening festivities, a phenomenal number given that the entire population of Sydney at the time was estimated to be 1,256,000.

As the crowd waited for Premier Jack Lang to officially open the bridge, Francis de Groot, a member of the New Guard militia group, charged forward on a horse, slashed the ribbon and declared the bridge open.

De Groot was dragged from the horse and later charged with offensive behaviour, the ribbon was retied and the bridge was then officially opened.

The State Library of New South Wales holds a collection of material pertaining to Francis de Groot, including photographs, letters and his autobiography

The State Library of New South Wales has digitised a large collection of photographs from the collection, which depict the opening festivities.

Photographs of opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge [picture] / N.S.W. Govt. Printer State Library of New South Wales Catalogue F981.1/N

The moon : considered as a planet, a world, and a satellite by James Nasmyth and James Carpenter. Published by John Murray, London, 1874.
James Nasmyth the inventor of steam hammer developed an interest in astronomy and photograph in later life....

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The moon : considered as a planet, a world, and a satellite by James Nasmyth and James Carpenter. Published by John Murray, London, 1874.

James Nasmyth the inventor of steam hammer developed an interest in astronomy and photograph in later life. Photography had not yet advanced to the point where actual photographs of the Moon where possible, Nasmyth made plaster mold models based on the observations he made with his reflecting telescope. The models where photographed by astronomer James Carpenter using lighting from various angles to achieve a realistic result.

Both Nasmyth and Carpenter were proponents of the idea that craters on the Moon were of volcanic origin, an idea later proven incorrect. Nevertheless, both authors are honoured by craters on the Moon having been named after them. This 1874 work is an early example of a photobook, a book where photographs make up a prominent component of the overall content. This copy is held by the Library in our Rare Books collection. We also hold a copy once owned by the noted Australian astronomer John Tebbutt. The Moon along with some of the Library’s other astronomical treasures will be on display as part of upcoming Rare Books: Astronomy talk. Bookings are essential.

Australia’s first newspaper, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, was first printed, on this day, 5th March 1803 .George Howe, one of the early convicts to arrive in New South Wales, was responsible for creating the colony’s first...

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Australia’s first newspaper, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, was first printed, on this day, 5th March 1803 .

George Howe, one of the early convicts to arrive in New South Wales, was responsible for creating the colony’s first newspaper. George Howe was born in the West Indies but was well-educated and he had extensive printing experience. His original death sentence for shoplifting in England was commuted to transportation to New South Wales. His skills in printing were immediately put to use for the publication of government documents. In 1802 he issued the first book printed in Australia, “New South Wales General Standing Orders”, which listed Government and General Orders issued between 1791 and 1802. Copies are held in the State Library of NSW.

Howe was also permitted to commence Australia’s first newspaper, which he printed from a shed at the back of Government House. On 5 March 1803, publication commenced of “The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser”. Initially it was printed weekly, and held four portfolio pages of official material, with a small number of private notices. Early editions comprised shipping news, auction results, crime reports and agricultural notices, poems, literature and religious advice.
The Sydney Gazette.. remained the only newspaper in Sydney until the appearance of explorer William Wentworth’s “The Australian” in 1824.

Australia’s first newspaper is celebrated in this stained glass window in the Mitchell Library Reading Room at the State Library of New South Wales.

It portrays George Howe presenting a copy of the first issue to Governor Philip Gidley King. Next to Governor King is his son Phillip Parker King, and standing behind the printing press is his wife, Mrs King. The small boy partially obscured on the left of the scene is George Howe’s son Robert.

Originals of the Sydney Gazette.. newspaper are held in the State Library of New South Wales and have been digitised and are all available on Trove.

Happy Valentine’s day and Library Lover’s DayThe Romance of Tristram of Lyones & la Beale Isoude. Drawn out of the Latin into romance by Robert de Borron and Luces de Gast … set forth in the English tongue … by Evelyn Paul.
Held by the State Library...

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Happy Valentine’s day and Library Lover’s Day

The Romance of Tristram of Lyones & la Beale Isoude.

Drawn out of the Latin into romance by Robert de Borron and Luces de Gast … set forth in the English tongue … by Evelyn Paul.

Held by the State Library of NSW in the Rare Books Collection. Location number: RB/DS841.19/T838/3

Tristan, or Tristram in Old English, was a contemporary of King Arthur and a Knight of the Round Table. He was the nephew and champion of King Mark of Cornwall and the son of Meliodas, King of Lyoness.

Tristam and Isoude are the characters of a famous medieval love-romance, based on a Celtic legend.

The legend of Tristan and Isoulde, with its emphasis on a love that cannot be denied even when it leads to tragedy, has continued to appeal to artists since medieval times. It inspired three English poets of the 1800s: Matthew Arnold (Tristram and Iseult), Algernon Swinburne (Tristram of Lyonesse), and Alfred, Lord Tennyson (part of the Arthurian poem Idylls of the King). American poet E. A. Robinson based his Tristram on the legend.

One of the most influential works to draw on the story was the opera Tristan und Isolde, by German composer Richard Wagner. There is also a movie called Tristan + Isolde made in 2006 and filmed in Ireland.

The Rare Books and Special Collections isn’t all books. We are using the Lunar New Year to take a closer look at some Chinese treasures and a retro gadget. The four volume work, Chinese Art in three-dimensional colour, comes with a View-Master and...

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The Rare Books and Special Collections isn’t all books. We are using the Lunar New Year to take a closer look at some Chinese treasures and a retro gadget. The four volume work, Chinese Art in three-dimensional colour, comes with a View-Master and reels with 1200 images. The art works captured on the reels are from both public and private collections and have examples of art works from the Neolithic period to the twentieth century. The photographs were taken by William Gruber, with Rupert Leach taking over after Gruber’s death in 1965.

The View Master is probably best known to most people as a children’s toy, but was originally intended as an educational tool. In addition to reels with images of popular film characters for children, reels were released with scenes of tourist attractions, an atlas of human anatomy and even training materials for US military personnel in WWII.

The Library’s collection of eresources have some interesting articles about the invention and re-invention of the View Master. Use your library card to access these articles.

Fattig, P. (2013, Aug 22). Oregon caves meeting led to invention of the view-master. McClatchy - Tribune Business News

Walker, R. (2007, May 13). Toy story. New York Times (1923-Current File)

Hochfelder, B. (2007). Viewing excellence in all dimensions: No rose-colored glasses required. Advanced Imaging, 22(5), 6.

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State Library of New South Wales

State Library NSW Tumblr is moving

John Tebbutt (1834–1916)

On this day….25^th May

On this day, 19th March 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was officially opened.

Australia’s first newspaper, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, was first printed, on this day, 5th March 1803 .

Happy Valentine’s day and Library Lover’s Day

The Romance of Tristram of Lyones & la Beale Isoude.

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Connect with us

State Library of New South Wales

State Library NSW Tumblr is moving

John Tebbutt (1834–1916)

On this day….25th May

On this day, 19th March 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was officially opened.

Australia’s first newspaper, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, was first printed, on this day, 5th March 1803 .

Happy Valentine’s day and Library Lover’s Day

The Romance of Tristram of Lyones & la Beale Isoude.

About

Connect with us

On this day….25^th May