Pictures

The Library’s collection of visual material began in 1859 with a commission to a local photographer, Barnett Johnstone, to photograph the interior of the newly completed Queen’s Hall, the original Library building.

In 1860, the Trustees set aside £500 sterling to include the purchase of photographs from Europe. Both European and Australian images in many forms were subsequently collected. In 1869 the Library commissioned a set of watercolours of the Victorian goldfields from local artist ST Gill.

In 1901, a miscellaneous register of non-book material was established, and in 1929 the Pictures Collection began to acquire a separate identity when an accessioning system was introduced for pictorial material.

The Pictures Collection is the oldest and largest collection in Australia of images relating to Victoria.

The Pictures Collection contains in excess of 680,000 items, and formats include paintings, drawings, prints, cartoons, photographs, sculptures, architectural drawings, posters, postcards and some printed ephemera and realia, or objects. The primary emphasis of the Collection is on visual material which provides information about the cultural, geographical, historical and sociological development of Victoria. Material created in a digital format is collected.

The Library acquires images by purchase, bequest, gift, commission, and donation under the Cultural Gifts Program and legal deposit. The Collection & Resources Development Policy applies to all items acquired, regardless of the method of acquisition.

The Library seeks to acquire material which illustrates:

• images of Victorian people, including indigenous and other ethnic groups
• the built environment, including housing, transport and industry
• urban and local development, including topographical features and changing land use
• portraits of significant Victorian figures
• contemporary events portrayed through the eyes of cartoonists
• ephemeral items relating to the social and cultural history of Victoria.

Images of a particular subject might be collected in various formats. The Collection includes artistic works because it is recognised that historical evidence may be contained and expressed in many forms, such as works which depict landscape, the built environment, figures, faces, events and costumes. These may actively interpret aspects of past or contemporary life through the evocation of emotion or atmosphere, selective portraiture or visual fictions.

In deciding to acquire materials various criteria are applied:

• development of existing strengths and filling gaps in current holdings
• relationship of the items to other State Library collections
• physical condition and extent of conservation required
• conservation, preservation and storage costs.

• the Melbourne University Architectural Collection, which contains many important drawings of 19th- and early 20th-century architecture by some of Victoria’s greatest architects, including Nathaniel Billing, William Pitt, Joseph Read and Walter Butler
• photography by Victorian commercial and private photographers active in 19th-and early 20th-century Victoria, including Richard Daintree, Antoine Fauchery, Frederick Kruger, Charles Nettleton and JW Lindt
• prints and drawings showing the development of the Victorian Colony by prominent early Victorian artists like ST Gill, WFE Liardet, Charles Norton and Eugene von Guérard
• the poster collection which includes the printing archive of the firm of Charles Troedel, travel posters from the 1930s, and contemporary material in the RedPlanet and Red Letter Press printing archives
• documentary photographs showing life in Victoria during the 20th century, including many important collections such as the Victorian Railways, Wolfgang Sievers and  Harold Paynting collections, and works by contemporary photographers.

Copyright and reproduction rights

The Library seeks clarification of copyright ownership as part of the acquisition process. Permission to publish in print or digital mediums is required at the time of acquisition.

Material not generally collected

The Library does not collect material specifically relating to other states and countries. Exceptions may be made if the material is by a Victorian, relates to existing collections, adds significantly to collections formed in the past or contributes to an understanding of formative influences on Victorians.

Material presented to the Library from a large collection, such as an artist’s or firm’s records, may be weeded to remove duplicate or non-essential material.