HUNT FOR BOOKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 239, 10 October 1939, Page 6

HUNT FOR BOOKS.

AUCKLANDER'S QUEST.

MANY BARGAINS ACQUIRED.

THREE TEAKS IK ENOIAHD.

(Books, paintings and ethnographical specimens relating to Xew Zealand are the hobby of Mr. A. T. Pycroft, former chairman of the Museum Council, who has spent the past three years, in England in search of fresh specimens for his collections. Well known in Auckland as an enthusiastic student of Dominion flora and literature, Mr. Pycroft, who 'brought with him 100 books either by New Zealanders Or relating to New Zealand, returned to Auckland this week.

During the three ettmmers Mr. Pycroft spent in England, he and his wife toured the country by motor car. Thus he had ample opportunity to add to his collections and to search the bookshops and private collections in the province®. Mr. Pycroft found that the books he sought were not as easy to Acquire as he had Values #ere well known, not just to specialists -in works of that nature. Despite this he picked up many unexpected prizes. He found a keen interest taken in New Zealand books by some English collectors, a number of whom had never visited the Dominion.

Two of the most valuable books Mr. Pycroft bought were discovered by accident and acquired for an absurdly small price. One of these, entitled "The Story of a Happy Life," was written by a Miss Marion North, an English

artist and collector, who visited New Zealand about 70 years ago. Another book, worth about £2 10/ in New Zealand, and fairly difficult to acquire, contained the observations of Hoohstetter, an Austrian geologist, who travelled in New Zealand in the 'sixties. Mr. Pycroft bought his copy for a few shillings^ Though some of the museums had good collections of New Zealand ethnographical specimens, Mr. Pycroft found the most interesting exhibits in the possession of private collectors. Two enthusiasts he found had collections of Polynesian and Melanesian specimens worth many thousands of pounds. These collections contained articles not contained in the best Dominion displays. These same collectors were also possessors of fine libraries. One had a large collection of New Zealand paintings and several cases of native birds.

In his search for paintings, Mr. Pycroft was lucky to get «ome for ridiculously small prices, but he realised- that their value existed only for people really interested in the type of art lie sought. One of his bargains was a set of paintings by the Australian bird artist, Calev, which he bought for Gd each. Also for a small sum he bought some of the work of John Gully, a New Zealander who painted in the Dominion about 1885. He also had the privilege of visiting and inspecting the collection of a man who had essembled 40,000 bookplates. Mr. Pycroft was accompanied on hie travels by his wife who, during their sojourn in England, was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Horticultural Society for her paintings of New Zealand flora. I