FUNCTION AND CONTENT

This series consists of material relating to Queensland Colonial Fine Arts Copyright.

The series is small, numbered 1 - 150, and it consists of the registration forms (excluding no 58 for which no material is present), and in all but a few cases, the exhibits, indexed in Series BP5/12, and to which the Item Numbers on the forms and exhibits correspond. It is available for viewing as a single roll of microfilm in the National Office Reading room.

The original items are also held - in the cold storage vault - but conservation approval is necessary to view them. If granted, ordering of items needs to be done in advance, as the vault is opened only once a week on Tuesday mornings, and items recovered from it require 48hrs to return to room temperature before they can be provided to researchers.

Each item on the microfilm has two identical, handwritten cover sheets, identifying the title of the work which follows. The registration forms - which are either printed or handmade - detail: title of work; short description of nature and subject of work ; name and place of abode of author; name and place of abode of proprietor of copyright. Then follow the exhibit copies, usually several - sometimes as many as 6 - in various stages of clarity.

Some records also have additional correspondence, and some have stamped certificates confirming receipt of copies by the Parliamentary Library and the Queensland Museum Library. These can repay more than a cursory glance, as the descriptions given on them can sometimes reveal a little more information than the original form. The descriptions on these certificates are also occasionally the ones used to describe individual items in the Name Index BP5/12.

Each registration form has an inward correspondence stamp and a copyright registration stamp on it. The registration number may be useful for researchers to confirm they have located copyright material in collections of other institutions.

The series consists almost entirely of registrations and exhibits for photographs, many in sets.

FINDING AIDS

As part of a project, by the Arrangement and Description Sub-section, all material extant was entered onto the item level database.