National Library reveals rare handwritten treasures

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This weekend the new Handwritten: Ten Centuries of Manuscript – Treasures from Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin exhibition opens at the National Library of Australia.

Canberra is the only Australian city where this major international exhibition will be seen and the ACT Labor Government has provided $200,000 from its new Special Event Fund to support the promotion and marketing of the Handwritten exhibition.

The Special Event Fund supports major tourism events aimed at increasing visitors to the ACT and enhancing the overall tourism experience in the region.

This event forms an important part of the ACT’s calendar of quality events, giving visitors from interstate even more reasons to come to Canberra. Exhibitions like Handwritten help support our local tourism industry which contributes about $1.5 billion each year to our economy and provides jobs for around 15,000 Canberrans.

The Handwritten: Ten Centuries of Manuscript – Treasures from Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin exhibition will feature manuscripts, letters, sketches and musical scores handwritten by major figures in history. Included are writings by Machiavelli, Galileo and Goethe, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, and a rare manuscript by Albert Einstein.

Funding for the Handwritten exhibition is in addition to $500,000 previously provided for interstate marketing of the National Gallery of Australia’s Renaissance summer blockbuster exhibition.

The Handwritten exhibition comes from the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Berlin State Library) and will run from 26 November 2011 to 18 March 2012. Entry to the exhibition is free.

For more information on the Handwritten exhibition go to www.visitcanberra.com.au.