Melbourne
Melbourne in the 1880s was a boom city with a taste for sensation, and it produced both the first Australian detective bestseller and a poetry of working-class speech. Fergus Hume's The Mystery of a Hansom Cab was published in 1886 and sold enormously; C. J. Dennis wrote Songs of a Sentimental Bloke in a dialect that was meant to be heard.
State Library Victoria holds the colonial newspaper and manuscript collections, including the diaries and letters that document the gold-rush city. Its reading rooms are also a good place to see how the books were printed and sold, which for this period is part of the literary history.
A library to check
- State Library Victoria — catalogues and digital collections, open to readers online
Books connected to Melbourne
- The Mystery of a Hansom Cab — Fergus Hume, 1886. One of the first international detective bestsellers, and a snapshot of colonial Melbourne.
- Songs of a Sentimental Bloke — C. J. Dennis, 1915. Vernacular poetry that is funny, tender and much better than its novelty reputation.
A note on accuracy
We describe literary connections and public collections, not street addresses, opening hours or ticket prices. Those change and we cannot verify them for every reader. Follow the institution's own site for current visiting information.