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Central Library Exhibitions


Detail: Salita al vesuvio. Sauvenirs de Naples. [Naples : s.n., 18--?]

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Current exhibition

The Gentleman's Magazine The 18th century answer to Google

In 1750, an unknown contributor wrote to Edward Cave, publisher and printer of the Gentleman's Magazine, proclaiming '…your magazines are now become oraculous, and discuss questions in divinity, philosophy, morality, mathematicks, and through the whole chain of science, even down to manage and farriery'.

Praise was certainly due to Edward Cave's Gentleman's Magazine, which he began in January 1731. Printed at St. John's Gate in London, it was a 'repository of all things worth mentioning'. It was the first 'magazine' in the modern sense. It was also the most important periodical in 18th century England, reflecting in its pages the diversity of Georgian life, politics and culture. Writers such as Dr Johnson, John Hawkesworth, Richard Savage, and Anna Seward were just a few of the thousands who contributed to it. At 6d per issue, it was an outstanding bargain.

Dealing with almost every imaginable fact and fantasy, it was the first source to refer to. This fact truly makes the Gentleman's Magazine the 18th century answer to Google. Every page is a surprise in this early searchable hard-copy database.

Special Collections, University of Otago Library, is fortunate to have an entire run of the Gentleman's Magazine from 1731 to 1866. It remains an inexhaustible mine of information for scholars of eighteenth century life, and because of the wealth of genealogical information and records, it has become an important resource for family historians. Please enjoy this exhibition.

Exhibition poster (434K in PDF format)

Handlist (363K in PDF format)

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Past exhibitions

In Search of Scotland	30 September - to 16 December 2011
Experimental Philosophy: old and new	1 July - 23 September 2011
Forging a Magical Landscape: The Works of Robert Graves, Poet	1 April - 17 June 2011
Faces of Authorship: Constructing the Author in Medieval and Early Modern Books	17 December 2010 - 25 March 2011
Pulp Fiction	27 August to 10 December 2010
ALL ABOARD! The Ernie Webber Railway Collection	14 May - 20 August
Footnotes on Official History: Celebrating Dr Hocken's Pamphlet Collection	8 February - 7 May
Heresy, Sedition, Obscenity: The Book Challenged	30 October 2009 - 29 January 2010
'I sat down in the evening to read...' Books from the Library of Charles Brasch, Poet, 1909-1973	13 July - 23 October 2009
Beetles, Barnacles, Orchids, and the Origin of Species: Charles Darwin and His Legacy	8 April - 3 July 2009
A Record of Achievement: The 50th Birthday of the Otago University Press	19 December 2008 - 27 March 2009
Nourishing the Roots: an exhibition celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago	29 August - 12 December 2008
Éire á Móradh: Singing the Praises of Ireland	5 May - 22 August 2008
Rare Delights II: Recent Additions to Special Collections	25 February - 25 April 2008
RETROSPECTIVE: A look back at the last 21 Special Collections exhibitions	20 December 2007 - 1 February 2008
Initials: In the Beginning...	17 October to 14 December 2007
Linnaeus, Prince of Botanists: His Works and Legacy	6 July to 28 September 2007
A Quick Stab at the Eighteenth Century	11 April to 29 June 2007
Master of the Burin: the book illustrations of John Buckland Wright, 1897-1954	12 December 2006 - 30 March 2007
In the Flesh. The Monro Dynasty 1720-1846.	4 September - 1 December 2006
The Black Art: Hand-printing in the Bibliography Room, 1961-2005	1 June - 25 August 2006
West Meets East: Images of China and Japan, 1570 to 1920	10 February - 26 May 2006
Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass	17 October 2005 - 27 January 2006
The Word on Modernism: How Books Aided a Revolution in Design	11 July - 23 September 2005
"£100 & a butt of sack yearly" The office of the poet laureate	11 April - 24 June 2005
Straight Jackets: the Art of the Book Jacket	20 December 2004 - 31 March 2005
'A Civilising Mission' : New Zealanders and the Rhodes Scholarship 1904 - 2004	20 September - 10 December 2004
41 Stunning Books: A selection of modern private press books	24 June - 10 September 2004
Glimpses of London's Past	23 March - 11 June 2004
He tirohanga ki muri ~ A view of the past	25 November 2003 - 12 March 2004
Harmonizing my starting place: Charles Brasch, patron, poet and collector	4 July - 17 November 2003
Cultivating Gardens: Practical garden advice through the ages	21 March - 27 June 2003
Rare Delights: recent additions to Special Collections	13 December 2002 - 13 March 2003
Unpacking Ruins: architecture from antiquity	12 September - 28 November 2002
Enlarging the prospects of happiness: European travel writing through the ages	21 June - 1 September 2002
Portrait of a gentleman scholar: celebrating the life and legacy of Esmond de Beer	21 March - 13 June 2002

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Exhibition gallery location

Exhibitions are mounted in:

The de Beer Gallery
First Floor
Central Library
65 Albany Street
Dunedin

Open 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Monday to Friday

Contact the Special Collections Librarian for enquiries and consultations.

Last revised: 17 January, 2012