People, exhibits and prizewinners at key intercolonial and international exhibitions 1854-1889, and the buildings that housed Victorian exhibitions.
As the title of the exhibition implies, exhibits were from within Victoria only. This exhibition opened on 6 November 1872 and closed on 16 January 1873.
The Victorian Exhibition, opened 6th November 1872: official catalogue of exhibits
There are 1682 exhibits listed within the 4 main divisions: Fine Arts, Manufacturers, Scientific Inventions and New Discoveries, and Raw Produce. Each division, and section within the division, is prefaced by a general essay about the progress of Victoria in that area of endeavour. This listing is also incorporated in the Official record.
Official record: containing introduction, catalogues, reports and recommendations of the experts, official awards of the commissioners and essays and statistics on the social and economic resources of the colony of Victoria
Exhibitor lists in each category, pages 1-136. Reports and recommendations of experts, pages 137-206. Offical list of awards in each category, pages [207]-224.
A number of essays were published to accompany the exhibition, on topics as varied as Victoria's wine industry, climate, and mining and mineral statistics. Most of these essays are available online.
Opening of the Exhibition, The Argus, 7 November 1872, pages 5 and 6. Includes some brief detail about exhibits and the inaugural concert.
Introduction and description of the exhibits from a four page supplement to The Argus, 6 November 1872.
International Exhibition Melbourne 1872-3, H96.160/2481
This exhibition opened on 14 April 1873 and closed on 31 October 1873.
[The London International Exhibition of 1873 : the Victorian Exhibition, opened 6th November 1872 : official catalogue of exhibits]
This begins with a single page 'Index of sections', followed by an 8 page 'Index of exhibitors', then the official catalogue of exhibits from Victoria.
Reports of the Vienna Universal Exhibition 1873
Part 1 includes exhibits from Queensland, South Australia, and Victoria, listed under 'British Colonies'. When you are viewing this item online you will notice that the image number includes unnumbered pages and so doesn't exactly correlate to the page number. An overview of Victoria is on pages 249-271 (image number 256 is page 249), exhibitors from Victoria are on pages 347-361 (image number 354 is page 347), and awards for Victoria on pages 366-368. This online resource is available through our U.K. Parliamentary Papers database. It can be viewed outside the Library by any registered Victorian user of the State Library.
Official record: containing introduction, catalogues, reports and recommendations of the experts, official awards of the commissioners and essays and statistics on the social and economic resources of the colony of Victoria.
The first 224 pages of this volume, which relate to the exhibits and awards at the Victorian exhibition, are available online. After this section there is a separately paginated catalogue of exhibits forwarded to the London Exhibition, followed by a catalogue of exhibits forwarded to the Vienna Exhibition titled The Vienna Universal Exhibition of 1873. Victoria, Australia. Official catalogue of exhibits. The Viennese catalogue begins with a general index to the divisions and sections, followed by the catalogue. There is no index to exhibitors. Order RARELT copy of the Official record to view this catalogue.
The Victorian Court, Vienna Exhibition, IAN07/11/73/180
