BOOK COMES HOME

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 22, 21 October 1937, Page 13

BOOK COMES HOME

Strange Wanganui Happening COLLECTOR’S SURPRISE Dominion Special Service. Wanganui, October 20. The remarkable story of how an old book came home was told to “The Dominion’’ to-day by Mr. F. I. Jones, a Wanganui collector who specialises in New Zealand historical works and fiction. His father, the late Mr. H. I. Jones, established a business in 1860, and eight years later sold a copy of the Rev. Richard Taylor’s “New Zealand Past and Present” to Mr. Henry Lyon, of Tutaenui, or Marton as the town is now called. Recently, Mr. Jones received a parcel of second-hand books from a dealer in Scotland and was astonished to find in it the copy of “New Zealand Past and Present” that had been sold by his father in 1868. The book is in an excellent state of preservation, but even more remarkable is the original receipt, dated September 1, 1868, and handed to Mr. Lyon by Mr. Jones’s father. This slip of paper, slightly yellow with age but otherwise well-preserved, was still in the book and had evidently been used to mark the pages. What happened to the volume after it left Mr. Lyon’s possession, and how it came to be in Scotland is unknown. In 1931 Mr. Jones took over a. small stock of New Zealand books which he has been gradually increasing, making many of his purchases in Great Britain. His father, Henry Ireson Jones, was a well-known Wanganui resident and a personal friend of the Rev. Richard Taylor, one of the pioneer Anglican missionaries in the district. In April, 1843, Mr. Taylor arrived at Wanganui from the Bay of Islands, to succeed the Rev. Mr. Mason at the Putlki mission station. For many years Mr. Taylor lived in the Wanganui' district, and some of his descendants are still living in the city. Link With Missionary'. “New Zealand Past and Present” was published by William Mackintosh, London, in 1868, and as a gesture of appreciation Mr. Taylor included the name of Henry Ireson Jones on the title page. Henry Lyon was the father of the late Mr. Alfred Lyon, who for many years practised as a barrister and solicitor at Marton. He died about two years ago. Mr. Henry Lyon was a chemist at Marton. The town’s Maori name was later changed through Sir William Fox, a former Prime Minister, to Marton, the birthplace of Captain Cook. Mr. H. I. Jones was evidently in the Rangitikei district selling advance copies of Mr. Taylor’s book, for the receipt reads: “1 September, 1868. Received from Mr. Lyon, Tutaenui, 12/6 for a copy of Mr. Taylor’s ‘Past and Present of New Zealand.’ H. Ireson Jones. In advance.”

Mr. Taylor was also the author of “Te Ika a Maui,” or “New Zealand and Its Inhabitants,” another old volume ■which collectors value to-day. His “New Zealand Past and Present,” however, dealt with colonial life at the time and earlier incidents in the young country’s history, particularly those associated with Wanganui. He described also how he took a Maori chief named Hipango to England and presented him to Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert. Hipango, by the way, was known as John Williams. He was chief of the Ngati-tua mango hapu, and one of the most influential Maoris in the district. His son, in later years, presented Hipango Park to the citizens of Wanganui for use as a picnic ground.