ALA Curator's tours: Down the Rabbit Hole

The Australian Library of Art Showcase displays rare items curated from State Library's collections.

Our current display, Down the Rabbit Hole, focuses on fantasy literature, nonsense and fairytales.

There was a curious preoccupation with fairies in the Victorian era.  Amidst an upsurge in fantasy literature, the Victorians also produced some of the best nonsense verse in the English language and one of the greatest fantasy novels, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

This display showcases works such as In Fairyland, with Richard Doyle’s colour-drenched illustrations of the elfin world, Andrew Sibley’s luminous handmade book The Owl and the Pussycat, and the spectacular Pennyroyal Press edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  The Pennyroyal Alice, published in 1982, is accompanied by a set of Barry Moser’s rather menacing wood engravings.

Free Curator's Tours are held monthly. Join one of our specialist librarians to discover the hidden gems of the Australian Library of Art collections.