World of the Book

Jane Austen. Octavia Butler. Agatha Christie. Toni Morrison. Virginia Woolf.

World of the Book returns in 2026 with State Library Victoria's largest ever tribute to women writers, alongside hundreds of extraordinary Australian and international works from the State Collection.

Now in its 21st year, Australia’s longest running and most-loved book exhibition brings together more than 400 rare, remarkable and historically significant items from c. 2000 BCE to today, many on public display for the first time.

Travel through the history of the book and marvel at items such as a nearly 4000-year old cuneiform tablet; an example of the Hyakumantō Darani, the oldest dateable printed texts in the world; a newly acquired first edition of Jane Austen's Emma, originally owned by the Austen family and exhibited for the first time; first wave punk zines from the 1970s and 1980s; one of the first detective bestsellers, Melbourne-based The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, published in 1886; and more.