George Baxter
New Baxter Society recognizes
the Starr Collection of Baxter Prints
& Illustrated Books
Victoria University Library has been awarded the Denis Knight Memorial Cup by the New Baxter Society (UK) - the first time that the cup has been awarded to an overseas organization. The award to the Library is for its custodianship of the Starr Collection of Baxter Prints and Illustrated Books, its policy of acquiring further prints to increase the collection and for encouraging interest in Baxter prints by public displays and exhibitions.
George Baxter (1804-1867) developed a process to produce colour prints from blocks and plates using oil-based inks. He was the first printer to use oil-based inks successfully and was the first printer to make colour prints available to ordinary people.
The Starr Collection of Baxter Prints and Illustrated Books was presented to Victoria University Library in 1945 by Anne Callander MacKay Starr in memory of her husband Frederic Newton Gisborne Starr - a graduate of Vic's medical program and member of the Board of Regents from 1915 until his death in 1934.
The Denis Knight Memorial Cup presented annually for service to Baxter print collecting by Phillips, Son & Neale fine art auctioneers