National Library of Australia - Gateways>

ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 53| October 2001


100th Birthday BookSearch

{short description of image} The 1952 edition of the Ginger Meggs Annual

From left to right: a menu for a dinner in honour of the Prime Minister of Malaysia (then Malaya),
a menu from the official farewell function for Sir Robert Menzies, and the sheet music cover for ‘Valse Poco
à Poco for Piano'

The 1952 edition of the Ginger Meggs Annual

As part of the celebrations for the National Library of Australia’s 100th Anniversary, the Library is conducting a 100th Birthday BookSearch, in association with The Australian, to identify the whereabouts of key items not yet held in the Library’s Collection.

There has also been a feature article on BookSearch material in each month’s issue of the National Library of Australia News. Some of the topics covered so far are music, maps, serials, menus, children’s books and pictorial materials. Further topics include Rosa Praed, multiculturalism and overseas rarities.

The response to the BookSearch articles has been very encouraging. The Library has received a wide range of material as a result of the BookSearch articles.

Sheet music is an area generating much interest, with a number of offers of material. One item of interest received by the Library is ‘Australia: Grand March in Commemoration of the Federation 1901’ by Ezra Read, London, London Music Publishing Stores, 1901. Another donation included a number of pieces of Australian sheet music. Included in this donation was ‘Valse Poco à Poco for Piano’ by G. Franchetti. Sydney, W.H. Paling, 1897. There have been a number of further offers to donate sheet music to the Collection—much of this material should be received over the next few months.

The Library has also received missing issues of the following journals, Better Homes and Gardens; Australian Good Taste; Village Voice; Shares; The Australian Way (Qantas in-flight magazine); Film News.

There has been an extraordinary response to the request for menus. Menus seem to have struck a chord with many people, resulting in the Library obtaining many menus covering a wide range of occasions including a number of menus relating to various shipping lines (Orient Line, Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line, Cogedar Line and the Blue Funnel Line—a merchant shipping line). Most of these menus cover periods from 1939 to 1963. There have been a number of menus for official functions which have been received. Two of some interest are a menu for Dinner in honour of the Honourable Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya given by the Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable R.G. Menzies, Kuala Lumpur, 1959; Dinner in honour of the Right Honourable Sir Robert Menzies and Dame Pattie Menzies, Parliament House, Canberra, Thursday, 17 March 1966. This was the official farewell function for Sir Robert Menzies.

Airline menus featuring Qantas and Japan Air Lines have been received along with some interesting menus from Queensland Rail. A substantial donation of menus was received from Western Australia which included a wide range of interesting menus from various locations throughout the State. These menus are a valuable addition to our Collection, as the Library does not have a wide selection of menus from Western Australia. Another interesting donation was that of nine Christmas menus from the Royal Canberra Hospital. These Christmas menus were only commenced in the 1980s and the Library has received an almost complete set.

Children’s books have also created quite a deal of interest. The Library has been very fortunate to receive a 1952 edition of the Ginger Meggs series of annuals. These annuals are very difficult to locate and holdings across Australia are very sparse. The Library now holds the 1952, 1953 and 1956 annuals. Robert Holden donated a copy of Happy Ever After by P.L. Travers, published in New York by Reynal & Hitchcock in 1940 to the Library. This particular volume was published privately as a New Year greeting for friends of the author. Another donation is that of The Whirlwind and the Frogs—one of the Science Research Associates readers with an Australiana theme. The Library is also hopeful of obtaining Tasmanian Tales for Tinies by Vera Fisher, published in Ilfracombe, Devon in 1956.

Lamond, Henry G. Horns & Hooves: Handling Stock in Australia by Henry G. Lamond published in London by Country Life Ltd in 1931 has also been donated to the Library.
—Ros McDonald

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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au

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