Chance Encounter: French influence in South Australia

Discover how the chance encounter of English and French explorers at the place they named Encounter Bay in 1802 influenced South Australia's culture. The French party, under Capitaine Nicolas Baudin, had already charted much of the Australian coastline, marking their charts with French names. While only a few of the names remain, the influence of the French on the culture of South Australia is significant - seen in fashion, winemaking, cookery and sport.

This exhibition is an opportunity to see items from the State Library collections that are rarely on display. Highlights include an exquisite 16th century French Book of Hours, the memoir of an English cabin boy who as a prisoner of war met Napoleon, beautiful modern versions of the 17th century French fairy tales of Perrault, a French children's game with a leaping tin kangaroo and the recently acquired photograph album and French souvenirs of an Adelaide man stationed in France during the First World War.