Provisional Programme
ANZAAB/State Library of NSW Conference
Gallery Room, State Library of NSW
April 21 – 22, 2016
Rare Books: Still So Much to Learn and Discover
Day 1
Thursday 21st April
9.00 – 9.10 am : Welcome. ANZAAB President, Dr Jonathan Burdon AM
Session 1 : Creative Collecting – Enduring Collections
Chair: Jonathan Burdon
Jonathan Burdon comes from a family of booksellers and over the last 10 years has been closely involved with his
wife's business, Kay Craddock Antiquarian Bookseller, in Collins Street, Melbourne. He has a particular interest in
militaria and is the present ANZAAB President.
9.10 – 10.15 am : Collecting ephemera: the Monash experience - Richard Overell
Richard Overell was Rare Books Librarian at Monash University for 26 years until 2014. During his career at
Monash he added over 150,000 items to the collection, of which a large proportion was ephemera. His appreciation
of all of these items from the small or quirky to major works means that Monash now has a unique and important
collection of ephemera. Richard will talk about his experience of actively seeking and incorporating ephemera into
the Rare Books Collection at Monash University.
10.15 – 10.45 am - Morning Tea
10.45 – 11. 40 am : Book Collecting and DSM-5* – The Hon David Levine AO RFD QC
David Levine is a book collector in the finest tradition; knowledgeable, scholarly and with the greatest appreciation
of all things related to the book. Well known in legal circles, David Levine was a judge in the Supreme Court of New
South Wales for 13 years, and continues to hold significant appointments within the justice system in NSW. He has
built an important book collection over many years and will share stories of the joys and “madness” of building a
private library. *Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition
11.40 – 12.30 am : Keepers of the Flame - Some Antarctic collections – Stephen Martin
Stephen Martin is a writer, Antarctic historian and collection builder. Since 1998, Stephen has travelled to the
Antarctic and its islands as a history lecturer, tourist and sailor. He has published several books on the south. He
worked for many years with the Antarctic collections of the State Library of New South Wales. During his career he
has visited and worked in many other Antarctic collections, including the collections of Australian Capital Equity in
Perth and Sydney and small museums and collections on the continent and sub-Antarctic islands.
12.30 – 1.30 pm : Lunch
Session 2: Outsider Research
Chair: Michael Treloar
‘The broad theme of this afternoon session is research, and I was interested in exploring this activity outside the
traditional model of salaried academic or grant-awarded student/scholar. In essence, I would like to impress upon
the intended audience - rare book dealers and working librarians - the real contributions we can make from our
respective vocations, in spite of the obvious constraints (but with arguably more positive things going for us)’ (M.
Treloar).
13:30-13:35 pm : Introduction - Michael Treloar, Session Co-ordinator
Michael Treloar is an experienced antiquarian bookseller, based in Adelaide since 1976.
13:35-14:15 pm : Only Amateurs, Hobbyists and Dilettantes? A Brief History of Private Scholarship - Jörn Harbeck
Jörn Harbeck is an antiquarian bookseller in Brisbane with a recently developed interest in modernist Australian
book design from the 1930s and 1940s. He is also a keen free-diver.
14:15-15:00 pm : For Pleasure, not Profit: Researching and Writing Introductions to the Friends of the State
Library of South Australia's Publications - Valmai Hankel AM PSM
Valmai Hankel has worked for nearly 60 years for the State Library of South Australia, most recently as a volunteer,
but for much of the time as the Rare Books Librarian. Her interest in Australia's inland explorers goes back to her
school days. She has driven many times, usually alone, through much of the country crossed by the four lesser
known explorers (Allan A Davidson, Charles Chewings, John McKinlay, and Ted Colson) discussed in her talk, and has
discovered how easy it is to find conflicting and inaccurate information about historical figures, and how a piece of
serendipity can save hours of research work.
15:00-15:30 pm : Afternoon Tea
15:30-16:15 pm : The Making of an Explorer - Ralph Grandison
Ralph Grandison has done extraordinary work on relocating original sites of paintings by the likes of George French
Angas and S.T. Gill. He has done this using a unique combination of knowledge from a broad and diverse range of
disciplines - history, geography, anthropology, botany, meteorology, geology - harnessed by what can only be called
an obsessive attention to detail.
16:15-17:00 pm : Taking it personally - Earl Grey's Irish Female Orphan Emigration Scheme, 1848-50 - Dr Neisha
Wratten
Dr Neisha Wratten is an Adelaide obstetrician and gynaecologist, with an engaging passion for genealogy.
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Day 2
Friday 22nd April
Session 3: On Paper
9.00 – 10.00 am: - On Paper - Nicholas Basbanes (via Skype)
Nicholas A. Basbanes is the author of nine critically acclaimed works of cultural history, with a particular emphasis on
various aspects of books and book culture. His first, A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal
Passion for Books, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction, and was named a New York
Times Notable Book. His most recent, On Paper: The Everything of Its Two Thousand Year History (Alfred A. Knopf,
2013, Vintage, 2014) – which he will discuss in this lecture – was the recipient of a National Endowment for the
Humanities research fellowship, and was one of three finalists selected by the American Library Association for the
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. In July 2015, Basbanes was awarded a Public Scholar research
grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities in support of his work-in-progress for Knopf, Cross of Snow:
The Love Story and Lasting Legacy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He also writes the “Gently Mad” column for Fine
Books & Collections magazine, lectures widely on book related subjects, and is a frequent contributor to Humanities
magazine. This past November, the Cushing Memorial Library at Texas A&M University acquired his literary archive
and significant components of his library. He and his wife Constance live in North Grafton, Massachusetts.
Session 4: Protecting the Collections
Chair: Jonathan Burdon
10.00 – 10.05 am : Introduction – Jonathan Burdon
10.05 -10.25 am : Rare Book Theft - An International Perspective - Norbert Donhofer. (Video)
Norbert Donhofer is the Principal of Antiquariat Norbert Donhofer, Vienna, Austria and is the current President of
the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.
10.20 – 10.50 am : Morning Tea
10.50am - 12.30 pm : Theft of Rare Books and Associated Materials in Australia - Panel Discussion
Chair: Jonathan Burdon
Theft of books in Australia has been an ever-present problem but with few exceptions it has not reached the
significant levels experienced in Europe and the USA. In this session, this topic will be discussed as a significant
emerging risk by an antiquarian bookseller, a librarian, a book collector, other interested stake holders, and the
audience, with the aim of creating interest in developing a network capable of promptly responding to reports of
significant losses.
Panel members to be announced
12.30 – 1.30 pm : Lunch
Session 5: State Library of NSW Programme
1.30 - 2.10 pm : Artist Colony: Drawing Sydney's Nature - Louise Anemaat, Manager, Collection Care
2.10 - 2.30 pm : Maggie Patton, Manager, Research & Discovery - Digitising the David Scott Mitchell collection
2.30 - 3.00 pm Richard Neville : Mitchell Librarian - Fellows and scholar program at the State Library of New South
Wales
3.00 pm Afternoon tea
3.30 - 5.00 pm Tour of the Collection and Care and Imaging Services Laboratories: State Library of New South Wales.
Register Now!
Full Registration: 2 days includes morning tea, lunch and afternoon teas $365
Single Day Registration: 1 day includes morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea $200
Conference Dinner: Castlereagh Boutique Hotel Dining Room: 7pm Thursday April 21st
$110 per head (includes drinks)