MATTER FOR HISTORY

Evening Post, Volume xciv, Issue 73, 24 September 1917, Page 7

MATTER FOR HISTORY

THE NATIONAL COLLECTION

PAST AND PEE SENT.

It-is- now; all a question of safe-cw-tody, but the collection' of historical New Zealand documents in print and handwriting is fast growing. The Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. G. !W. Eussell) has just had the pleasure of receiving the letter book of Mr. John Busby, first British Resident in New, Zealand. The dates of the letters *begin in 1833, and the originals are addressed to the Colonial Secretary, New, South Wales. .There were-no copying-' books-or presses in those days, and copies had to be made in a -fair hand. Then tire copiers of old- Paris—the- Paris .of' Balzac—flourished, and Chancery Lane-.and the Inns of Court in London were peopled mainly by scrroeneEs,. -whose ghosts yet haunt the close-narrow ■■way; of surviving Inns. So the tetters -ofBusby were copied, in fair boH hapd- | writing, and on hand-made, sized paper of an official btae.-torfc. Tba ink was good in .these dajs, fos-wriinig is as black as it is clean 1. Diy- matter, this correspondence^.but Jieait-irewealing, because Busby, as history shows, bad a hard row to hoe.andJfioi'"TJig>,aSck^'*o enforce his authority. Be 1 begans -to -write a. history of New Zeahcud. also, and this was mainfyidonewxu'&erocryage Home. The MS. ia.mow in possession of the Minister,' and' in<M3raigj& ■^of.i Dr. Thompson, as~custodiaD.-o£"9»>99SsraciDa} Historical Collection. iThe-gift^cif Hbhese extremely interesting andj. Iristarically speaking, highly vataabJe jpaoers, is that-of Mr. WilHamißasby^of'tlioKDßiai'u Bay. The history was neccr finiahflri, however, but, rmuch^-ol^ite materi*!-waa made pußlic 'by itssrecordeKin- iflradbrm of lectures deliseraL-..and cpapgEgfccead at-various, times. ART" OF THE EKGR&TSEBi! Miss M*CHashan, of "Dunedin,, daogS' ter of. one of the .founders of- theKJtago Settlement, has ako sent to th-e-^Minktei' a copy "Pictorial ITluetration of Hevr Zealand," by S. C. Bieen, engineer to the Now 'Zealand- Company, pubEshedlin 1847. It is remarkable for the .great beauty of its steel engraving. The influence of J. M. W. Turnei' is*to-.»be traced ia the treatment-of-both sky and sea of scenes in a, land that Turner never knew. Speaking generally, topographical accuracy has not been sacrificed to piccorial effect. There aTeeomo slight variations, in things as the engraver makes them appear, and as they actually were; but in the main the representations, especially of early Wellington and "Pitoni" (as.it is sometimes called), and places in "Teranaki" are vouched for by those who remember some of the architectural features of thoso days. Miss M'Glashan's gift % is appreciated no less than that of Mr. Busby's. CONTEMPORARY HISTORY. A lot of printed matter connected with the camps and the war as it-directly concerns New Zealand is in the nature of it ephemeral, but steps are being taken to preserve it. Dr.' Thompson has been highly gratified by the receipt through . the Department of Internal Affairs of Sortraite of soldiers and sailors who have istinguished themselves in the war, decorated or otherwise. All ranks are represented. The portrait of the late, Major Bauchop—he fell in (Jallipoli— is among the portraits; so too is that of a gallant young New Zealander who was in H.M.S. Broke when she recently showed that the magic of "the Nelson touch" is with the Navy yet. To the war section it is desired to add uniforms, medals, decorations, souvenirs, printed and written documents, not only relating to the .great war now in progress but to the South African war and the Maori'wars also. Mrs. Turton, daughter of the late William Swainson, whose drawings of f^'ly New Zealand are such a great acquisition to the National Ai"t Collection, is arranging and classifying the documents and other national records in the collection under Dr. Thompson's direction. ;