BOOKS OF THE EMPIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 54, 1 September 1934, Page 24

BOOKS OF THE EMPIRE

A NOVEL COLLECTION

At the back of a well-known booksellers' shop in Oxford Street, London, there is a largo octagonal room with gallerios, which was once the Courthouse- of the district, writes our London correspondent. It is being put to a very different use today, however. Through the enterpriso of Messrs. J.. and E. Bunrpus, the walls of the old Courthouse are lined with the literature of the Dominions and colonies. Such collections are seen in the libraries of learned societies or in tho libraries connected with High Commissioners' Offices, but not previously on the shelves of a commercial house.

The new departure has been brought about in this way. Since the development of pleasure cruises to Empire countries people have mado a practice of applying to High' Commissioners' Offices for the titles of books and for information on the countries they propose to visit. The booksellers in question have risen to the occasion and have seen in this demand, brought about by travel, the opportunity for new business. They have, therefore, gone to a great deal of trouble to stage an exhibition of books, maps, and manuscripts relating to the overseas Empire. The exhibition is an attempt to show what is going on in all parts of the Empire, and above all, what kind of literature is growing up in its borders.

Detective storiea and collections of verse appear side by side with technical treatises on farming or mining, with reports of the archaeological, geological, and other surveys carried out by the Governments of the various coun-1 trie's concerned, with descriptions of their laws and institutions and accounts of the lives of their eminent citizens. In short, it is a comprehensive collection. The books are flanked with photographs, maps, and pictures of the scenes in which they are set, and of-, the birds, flowers, and animals of the countries to which they belong. All the High Commissioners or their librarians have assisted in getting together the collection.. There are on the ono hand the volumes of early writers, most of which are out of print, and on the other hand the volumes which can be bought of publishers today. The one type is for exhibitions and education; the other for definite sale.

Two New Zealand volumes are under a glass case, both being somewhat rare. These are "New Zealand," by Hochstetter, and "New Zealand and its Colonisation," by Swainson. For the rest, few authors seem, to have been omitted—not even those New Zealanders who have come to London and have ceased to •write bn New Zealand themes. ' , ■ ■ .

Some of the older colonies and India are represented by a number of valuable old manuscripts or books. The West India Committee, for instance, has supplied a fine collection of old books; and the Hudson's Bay Company' and the Canadian Authors^ Association have also contributed valuable collections of old documents and books.

In. a general group thoro is a collection of the Bibles in the languages of the Empire. Theso include Bibles in Maori, in Malayan, Ganda (Uganda), Hindu, Zulu, Marata, Swahili, Xosa (South Africa), Urdu (Persia), Afrikaan, Hansa, Tamil, Chuana (South Africa), Burmese, Gajarati (India), and Crce (Hudson Bay). In several cases tho script is not in Eoman characters, and it is especially interesting to examine the writing of tho Eskimos and the Crees.

An observation, made by the official mainly responsible for getting tho collection together may be interesting to New Zealanders. "New Zealand literature," said my informant, "is greatly influenced by her landscapo, natural history, and by the native mythology. In no other part of the overseas Empire is there so much literature 'of such solid character." - •