Nona Rutherford Reviews Valmai Hankel’s Seminar
The State Library of South Australia’s Wine Literature Collection
The State Library of South Australia has a collection of over 8000 wine labels
Valmai Hankel's witty introduction to the collection of material on wine at the
State Library of South Australia provided glimpses of the material held.
These ranged from a eleventh-century depiction of the drunkenness of Noah to the advice
given by a Mr. Shand in 1929 that in his view the best use for Australian wine was for
christening warships!
The collection includes everything from diaries and letters to electronic databases with
much else in between.
The purposes of the collection are to collect this information
before it is lost and to play a role in educating people.
The earliest mention of wine in this collection occurs in the early Bibles,
such as an eleventh-century vellum Bible from Germany, and the Halcombe Bible of 1320.
Miniatures from various Books of Hours also show wine production and use.
Valmai kept us laughing with various reported thoughts on
the use and effects of wine through the centuries.
Many authors detailed the effects of wine as medicine, while other gave advice for the producer.
One book published in 1662, The Mystery of Vintners, included the opinion that
wine "was very necessary for all sorts of people;" it also suggested to wine makers that
if their brew was a little too pale they add some beetroot!
In his book The Juice of the Grape, published in 1724, a doctor named Peter Shaw
claimed that wine cures everything, including gout!
One poor misguided Englishman named Cyrus Redding, writing in 1851, declared Australian wine
to be "poor, flavourless and thin" and that Australians were better off buying European wines.
The wine collections in the State Library are divided between the Thomas Hardy Wine Library
and the Mortlock Library, with many books scattered though the Reference Section.
The Cellarmaster collection consists of much non-English and early material.
Eight thousand wine labels have been arranged in alphabetical order by winery, and
archival records of wine companies are in storage.
Valmai encouraged us to visit the library to view material, perhaps to take part in one of
her "white glove treasure tours" that she could tailor to specific requirements for a group.
If Valmai's enthusiasm is any indication the staff of the collection are happy to be of assistance.
|
