Melbourne Rare Book Week

In State Library Victoria there sits a formidable collection of parliamentary speeches and ephemera from the English Civil Wars, Revolution and Republic (1642–1660). These pamphlets tell the history of the emergence of a democratic model of Freedom of Speech in the English – speaking world and were massed by Melbourne collector John Emmerson QC (1938–2014). Dr Ruby Lowe will trace the 17th – century debates over who had the right to Freedom of Speech and propose that we should understand Emmerson’s practice of collecting cheap print as based in a 17th century model of purchasing and experiencing the news.

Presented by: Rare Books Melbourne and Merri – Bek Libraries at Brunswick Library, Brunswick Town Hall, 233 Sydney Road, Brunswick