CHRISTMAS GIFT WORRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 249, 20 October 1924, Page 9

CHRISTMAS GIFT WORRY.

SOLVED BY BRETT'S ANNUAL." PUBLISHED TO-DAY. A BEAUTIFUL PRODUCTION. WITH TIIKKK COLOURED I'LATES. Sj often lias Hie Dominion Wμ combed through and through, and so many have tlic i hriftmus illustrated publn-a-limis. lliiH "i"' might have expected a {iillinfr nil tin* year. Inn "Brett's (liri- , mas Animal" for I'.fl-i is singularly bright, mid gives one a refreshingly true idea of life in this wonderful little country nf our?, which. as has been «aid, inmbines the 'best nf most countries ill the world. In tin , past there was a tendency to over-emphasise the old-time jlaciri, which pave quite a wrong impression to people overseas. •• Brett's Annual" this year treats this interesting people jn its true perspective. A presentation jilatc. for instance, a startlingly ]ifc-liko reproduction of one of Ooldic's famous painting. 5 , deals with n clear old ArnWa chieftainrss, and is just, the sort of thine you would wish to keep and frame. It ie a memory of a 'by-gone ag n and a people, but there is nothing unreal nbont. it —you have probably seen (he old lady herself. Then the modern Jlaori" at I'otnrua—so great an attraction for the tourist—are dealt with in pome capital photographs of naked kiddies, with bodies like little bronze gods and goddesses. This presentation plate in colour is only one of three which alone make the "Annual" a most desirable possession. Goldie's picture is called "The Weariness of the Aged," and the other two are '•Hie Lake Among the Hills,"' a very praceful painting by C. D. Barraud, and "In the Clinton Valley," a vigorous rendering by W. (";. Baker of one of the p-andest canyons of the South Island. These three 'beautifully-reproduced plates put the seal of success on what would even without them be a delightful souvenir to keep by one or to send to friends abroad. If your friends have never been in New Zealand, -Brett's"' will be a revelation to them both for its printing and its photographs; and if they have ever lieen in the Dominion, it will be all the mi>re acceptable and hotter understood. Toil ennnot go wrong in posting "Brett's"; every year the office gets dozens of letters saying how highly it 38 thought of. Turning over the pages or tliui years "Brett's ,, one does not know which to admire most, the perfect photography. the lwautiful printing, or the art and ingenuity shown in turning out something that would bear comparison with its predecessors anil yet be sufficiently new to appeal to the public. No matter how many "Annuals" you have bought before, and no matter how well you know your Xew Zealand, you will want this year's "Brett's' , as soon as you see it in the shop windows. One of its greatest charms Is its variety. The photographers seem to Lave found a new point of view even where dealing with familiar scenes and the result is something that even the most blase New Zealander will peruse with interest. New Zealand's wonderful scenery is charmingly treated from one end of the Dominion to the other, from sunny Auckland, of which there is a noble view from the Waitakere hills, away down to the snow-crowned j»lorie3 of tho Southern Alps, and tha majestic fiords. The singular charm of the New Zealand bush is suggested in views that interest you no matter how familiar you may he with this class of scenery. The pictures of the lions at the Auckland Zoo are amazingly good; it seems impossible that such photography of wild animals could be achieved. One in particular, called "The Monarch of the Zoo," is as full of detail as a studio "close-up -, of a human being, and you are left puzzling your brains to know i how such a picture could be secured. ( Xature lovers will also be much interested in a splendidly illustrated article on stalking in the red deer country. There is such a splf-nCTu variety of pictures without a bint of "scrappiness" that variety often means, that the issue is bound to go off like hot cakes. It will appeal to so many varieties of taste. For instance, some of the places and phases of life dealt with are yachting on the Waitemata and Auckland's euminer pilgrimmage to the beaches, bullock teams fording a bush stream, studies of queer things in nature, gems from Westland and the fiord country, glimpses of Christchurch and Dunedin, New Zealand farming, and so on. The humorous clement is not forgotten, and the children will be delighted with such a page as "Work and Play in Tabby Land." The issue is altogether n most desirable one, and certainly marks the high-water line of photography and | reproduction even for a firm with a reputation like that of the Brett Printing Company.