The buzz
word this month is still ‘exploration’. Tim Bonyhady will give us an enthusiastic explanation of the exhibition before afternoon tea and a tour of the gallery. Bookings are essential so please consult the calendar for details. §§§
Who can forget the beautiful, fragile illustrations by Ferdinand Bauer that graced the travelling exhibition The Exquisite Eye in 1998? On 24 April the Friends of the National Library, in conjunction with the Austrian Embassy and the Australian Systematic Botany Society will present a lecture by Professor David Mabberley, co-author of the book The Exquisite Eye and sole author of Jupiter Botanicus about the father of Australian Botany, Robert Brown. Both Bauer and Brown sailed with Matthew Flinders on the Investigator and the time has come to celebrate and acknowledge their part in the historic voyage. An entertaining speaker, Professor Mabberley is the Director of the Sir Joseph Banks Archive Project in London and the Leids Universiteits Fonds Professor at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He is currently on an Australia-wide lecture tour to celebrate the bicentenary of the first circumnavigation of Australia, by Matthew Flinders, so we are fortunate indeed that he has been able to include Canberra in his itinerary. The lecture is free and will be held in either the Fourth Floor Conference Room or the Theatre. No tickets will be issued but we ask you to register your name by 21 April on (02) 6262 1698. §§§ Finally, details that some of you have been waiting for! In the true spirit of adventure, the Friends cultural weekend away from Canberra this year has turned into a fortnight. It will be a tour (in a comfortable coach) to Burke and Wills country—Innamincka, Menindee, Tibooburra, Birdsville, Maree, Wilpena Pound and more. The total cost (which includes dinner, bed, breakfast and morning and afternoon teas) is $2000 per person. Accommodation, according to tour leader Warwick Bradney, is ‘clean and amusing but not 5 star’! Unpack your sense of history and adventure and sign up soon because that accommodation is limited. A deposit of $250 per person will secure your place, with the balance due five weeks before the departure date of 11 June. Please make out cheques to the Friends of the National Library of Australia Inc. For more information please see the flyer or call Warwick on (02) 6232 4372 or me (02) 6262 1551. Lee Kirwan |
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