Scenes from goldfield country

The State Library holds an extensive collection of working sketchbooks by Eugene von Guerard, as well as larger drawings and paintings. The sketchbooks cover regions as diverse as Italy and Germany as well as Tasmania, New South Wales, and of course, Victoria. The drawings below are all of the Victorian goldfield regions around Ballarat, Castlemaine, Daylesford and Geelong.

The only known copy of Von Guerard's 1852-1854 diary of his time on the diggings is a typescript translation made from the original German (whereabouts unknown). The translation may have been made by his daughter, Victoria, who was born in Australia and married an English man. Bound with the typescript copy are ten sketches which give a fascinating visual insight into camp life.

> View more material by Eugene von Guerard on the Library's catalogue