Archives and Special Collections

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Archives and Special Collections

Held deep in the library and in our archives are the treasures of the University.

Our collections include rare books, music, maps, and prints, and we hold original items from musical scores to manuscripts from Australia, East Asia and the world. Our 20 kilometres of archives hold records of the activism, politics, business, social movements and significant individuals that have shaped our society. It is one of the most varied, richest, and largest university archives in Austral

ia. Our collections are available to students, staff and the general public for their own research, accessible via the Baillieu Reading Room, as well as being embedded in a number of our online and face to face classes.

31/08/2026

The Hidden History of Melbourne’s Musical Life: What Digital Tools Can do for an Archive

Join Macgeorge Fellow Richard Freedman (John C. Whitehead '43 Professor of Humanities at Haverford College) for a workshop examining an important archive of concert programs and memorabilia that document concert life in twentieth-century Melbourne, now part of our Rare Music Collection.

Book your place:

https://events.humanitix.com/a-plaine-and-easie-introduction-to-digital-music-scholarship-in-five-simple-sessions

27/08/2026

We're excited to share that Associate Professor Michelle Smith is our new Redmond Barry Fellow, a fellowship we share with and an incredible opportunity for writers and scholars to create new research inspired by our collections.

Michelle's project, Fantasising Australia: Children’s Literature, People, and Place, 1870-2020, will draw on rare Australian children's fantasy fiction in our collection and within the State Library of Victoria, investigating how Australians have used imagined worlds in stories for young people to structure ideas about belonging and relationships to place and with people.

Through examination of the most beloved and iconic examples of Australian children’s literature alongside long-forgotten stories of fairies and mermaids in the bush, Michelle's project will show how Australian children’s literature has influenced our understanding of the environment, Australian people, and the country's past and future.

We look forward to sharing more of Michelle's project throughout her fellowship.

Photo supplied.

23/08/2026

Have you been coming to our public programs this year? We run a calendar of wide-ranging events from artist-run workshops, to curator and archivist talks to interactive, experiential programs.

Check our What's On page for details 🔗https://go.unimelb.edu.au/7gqi

21/08/2026

Melbourne's Metro Tunnel has added 18km of new rail network for the city loop, building on a fascinating history of underground development in the city.

A new display in the Melbourne School of Design building celebrates this history, using records from the University of Melbourne Archives. Librarians in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning worked with our archivists to select records, including official records relating to the first Melbourne city loop. The exhibition continues inside, and presents influential student theses, including one that advocated for the original city loop and its funding through a city levy on land values.

Visit the display on now on the University's campus. Melbourne School of Design

12/08/2026

We're thrilled to have works from our collections on display in the new Ian Potter Museum of Art exhibition, Ngarn Wa’ngal: Art of the gum tree.

Translating as 'breathing for us' in Woi Wurrung, Ngarn Wa'ngal celebrates the deep cultural and ecological significance of the eucalypt.

You can view works from our Rare Books Collection and University of Melbourne Archives, as part of the exhibition.

📸 Photography by Christian Capurro

06/08/2026

Discover the intaglio prints of prolific Berlin-born Melbourne printmaker Hertha Kluge-Pott in this special Spotlight program with critic and art historian Dr Victoria Perin, showcasing works from the Prints and Drawings Collection.

Book your place 🔗 go.unimelb.edu.au/4xjh

30/07/2026

"Eastern Rosellas, Eastern Rosellas, look at the beautiful colours!" 🤘

We couldn't have said it better ourselves Miles. What a bop! In honour of this instant Australian classic celebrating our feathered friends we're bringing out our Eastern Rosellas from our copy of John Gould's Birds of Australia (1848) full of stunning, hand-colored lithographic illustrations by Elizabeth Gould.

Image: The birds of Australia: in seven volumes, John Gould, London: Published by the author, 1848, Rare Books Collection.

29/07/2026

We have great news - we've scheduled a new public program in which the Malleus Maleficarum will be on display, with Dr Charlotte Millar and Associate Professor Jenny Spinks providing insights into the impact of the way harmful stereotypes of women in print culture in early modern Europe had often deadly consequences.

Don't miss out - book your place for this special, repeat Spotlight program https://go.unimelb.edu.au/v5ah

23/07/2026

Calling all board game enthusiasts!

Join Monique Grbec, the 2025 Joyce Thorpe Nicholson Creative Fellow, on Wednesday 12 August for an afternoon of gaming featuring The Gift of Life, an original board game inspired by the Joyce Thorpe Nicholson collection.

Monique's game takes inspiration from Joyce, an author and activist in the Women’s Movement and Australian publishing industry, and her significant collection of books by and about Australian women.

Monique Grbec is a neurodiverse writer working across genre and form. Their interdisciplinary practice is characterised by personal narrative, research, truth-telling, and experimentation. A child of the Stolen Generations they work to restore, reframe, and amplify positive First Nations stories and perspectives.

Learn more 🔗 go.unimelb.edu.au/t7nh

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15/07/2026

How do you move a 1.8 tonnes printing press? Watch your toes 😬

Recently, specialist art handlers moved the Alexandra Printing Press on the Baillieu Library's ground floor, as part of works for the Baillieu Library Special Collections Project.

The Library's Alexandra Printing Press was manufactured in Australia by F.T. Wimble and Co. in 1888.

This particular press is a rare Australian-manufactured version of famous British Albion steel hand printing press. It was restored working order after being found in a neglected condition in a small printing shop in Footscray. This version of the Albion press was named in honour of Princess Alexandra of Denmark, married to Queen Victoria's eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales.

The press is decorated with classical motifs and is capped with the Prince's crest of crown and ostrich feathers.

Address

3rd Floor, Baillieu Library
Melbourne, VIC
3010

Website

https://library.unimelb.edu.au/asc

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