Photograph of the facade of the Victorian Asylum and School for the Blind in Melbourne. The architectural style comprises High Gothic. The centre of the building consists of three storeys, flanked by two storey wings of six bays. A tower stands in the centre of the building. The  

In January 1868, The Honourable George Harker laid the foundation stone to the Victorian Asylum and School for the Blind. Built to a design by Wilson and crouch, the building was formally opened on the 21 August 1868. It was the first institution in Australia to offer assistance to people who were vision impaired or blind. In 1891, the building was re-named The Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind.

This is a photograph from one of the nine albums compiled following Prince Albert Victor (1864-92) and Prince George of Wales' (1865-1936) world tour aboard HMS Bacchante from 1879 to 1882. The photographs were collected by their chaperon and tutor, John Neale Dalton.

The majority of the images in these albums are topographical views and architectural studies, loosely arranged according to the group’s itinerary. They include photographs of artefacts, local people and public figures, as well as portraits of the princes taken during the tour. The attempt to recreate the experience of a journey through such an assortment of images is common to many amateur travelling albums of this period. In 1886, some of the photographs in the albums were reproduced as engravings in the published accounts of the voyage, The Cruise of Her Majesty's Ship Bacchante, 1879-1882.