Hobart Then (1881) and Now (2012): The Historic Value of Ludwig Salvator's Drawings

The Austrian Archduke Ludwig Salvator (1847–1915) was a passionate supporter of World Exhibitions. The World Exhibition of 1880–1881 in Melbourne was therefore a must-see event for him. Journeying under the nom-de-plum, Ludwig Graf von Neudorf, he travelled with an entourage of four and arrived in Melbourne on 7 February1881.

Ludwig Salvator was born in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence on 4 August 1847. He was the twelfth child of the ruling Grand Duke of the Toscana, Leopold II of Habsburg- Lorraine, and the third son by his second wife Maria Antonietta of Sicily. A key element of education in the nineteenth century was learning through observation and so Ludwig Salvator was taught to draw what he saw. This encouraged him to believe that it was in the best interest of understanding a subject matter for the written word to be complemented with illustrations. Illustrations, which, at a glance, could transmit more information than a page of writing, therefore seemed indispensable to the prince. The much-travelled Archduke was a prolific writer of travel books, with a preference for islands. His monumental work on the Balearic Islands is well known and available in libraries around the world. The visit to Melbourne gave him a chance to visit Tasmania and to research for a book about the island....