RABE BOOKS SOLD

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30512, 6 August 1964, Page 23

RABE BOOKS SOLD

Many Gather At Kaiapoi

The sum of £lBO was paid for a set of the “History of the Birds of New Zealand,” by Sir W. L. Buller (second edition, 1888), with the 1905 supplements, at an auction sale of rare and valuable books held at the premises of R. G. Bell and Company, Kaiapoi. The same private buyer also obtained the first volume of the 1873 edition for £4O. The 800 books offered included novels, political works, scientific works, works of- art, history, folklore, travel, Polynesia, Australia and New Zealand. Buyers came from both the North and South Islands, the Turnbull Library, the Otago University, and other important libraries. At the sale, two slim volumes of the “Canterbury Papers," incorporating the principles and objects of the founders of Canterbury, were sold to a private buyer for £25. Bidding was brisk for an illustrated set of six volumes of the “Ancient History of the Maori,” by J. W. White (1887-1891), which was finally sold for £5O. The sum of £25 was paid for “The Voyages of Captain James Cook Around the World," dated 1834. Later in the afternoon, antiques were sold on the same premises. A mahogany Chippendale -*otyle bureau bookcase was purchased for £l7O.

Other lots erf special interest included a Victorian sleeping doll, 24in tall and dressed in hand-made Victorian clothes, which was sold for £l5; an old Victorian musical box clock, with six tunes, was purchased for £35; and a Chippendale wall mirror was bought for £2O.