Curator's Tours: A is for ox

Curator's tours: A is for ox

The Australian Library of Art Showcase displays rare items curated from State Library's collections.

Our current display, A is for Ox, focuses on the art and history of typography.

Did you know that the capital letter A, from our modern Latin alphabet, started as a picture of an ox head? If you turn it upside-down you can still see its horns.The Ancient Greeks adopted it for their phonetic alphabet, turned it onto its head, and there it has remained.

Generations of typographers and book artists have since exercised their skills on the letters of the alphabet, turning those symbols representing sounds back into art again.

This display roams through the collections of the Australian Library of Art – from the typewriter art of Henry Greenhow’s Ziggurats and the word art of Richard Tipping to the glorious typographic books of Alan Loney.

Free Curator's Tours are held monthly. Join one of our specialist librarians to discover the hidden gems of the Australian Library of Art collections.

Book your space now!

Where: Australian Library of Art Showcase, level 4, State Library of Queensland

Please Note: There is no need to bring a printed ticket, instead when you arrive your name will be checked off on a registration list.

Image Attribution: Script folios, 1985. Dianne Longley. Call no. ALAAB LON. Artists' Books Collection, State Library of Queensland.

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Host or Publisher State Library of Queensland