OF NEW ZEALAND INTEREST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26033, 22 December 1945, Page 5

OF NEW ZEALAND INTEREST

Literature

A PRE-CHRISTMAS SELECTION Southland’s History Mr F. G. Hall-Jones does much less than justice to his own part in the making of Historical Southland (H. and J. Smith, for the Southland Historical Committee,. 10s 6d) when he describes the book as a “ string of other men’s pearls.” It can be said of Southland, as of the larger Otago Province which encompasses it, that the historical background is recorded with reasonable completeness, and, as Mr Hall-Jones points out, the story of the south has been admirably written by McNab. The present work, however, while it may be mainly a collation of information compiled by earlier writers, gleaned from, many newspaper files and old papers, owes much to the author’s original research, as a glance through its pages soon convinces. In any case, the collection and, as it were, the pre-digestion for the ordinary reader of historical writings that are difficult of access and, possibly, dry as dust in their first form, is a task worthy of the deep appreciation of the community which is so served as Mr Hall-Jones and the Historical Committee are serving Invercargill and Southland. The volume is very fully illustrated. Travelling In Central A man who knows the Otago hinterland “like the back of his hand,” and who must be known to most, if not nearly all, Central Otago residents of a good age, J. B. Hislop, has written a lively book about this district. It is called Pure Gold and Bough Diamonds (Whitcombe and Tombs, 7s 6d), with the sub-title, “Gems from the Scrapbook of a Travelling Watchmaker and Jeweller in Otago and Southland." This sub-title provides a fair index to the nature of the book. Mr Hislop’s reminiscences of Central and other parts of Otago and Southland are set down in an informal, discursive style, without literary pretensions, but with great good humour and a wealth of knowledge of people and places from which the author has drawn almost prodigally. There should be much to interest Otago readers in this book, with its wide anecdotal range and the unfailing gusto with which it is presented. There are several pages of illustration in half-tone. Art and Architecture The parish church of St. Mary’s, Timaru, is, in the opinion of many, says the Rev. Harold W. Monaghan, Archdeacon of Timaru, the most beautiful specimen of finished Gothic in New Zealand. Amplifying this statement later in A Joy For Ever (Harry H. Tombs, Ltd., £1 Is), he remarks that while there are many fine examples reproducing Gothic—as in the Dunedin Cathedral —as nearly as local conditions allow, the Christchurch Cathedral and St. Mary’s were built "not to produce substitutes for EnglishGothic, but real examples of it.” In a finely-produced book Archdeacon Monaghan provides a view of this interesting and handsome building, relating its design and craftsmanship to the Early English Gothic style of its conception. The illustrations, many in colour, round off a work that is as unusual to the New Zealand scene as, in its uniform planning, is the church it celebrates. Arts Year-book, 1945, is the title of a new publication from H. H. Tombs, Ltd., which essays a review of painting, print-making, drama, and poetry in New Zealand. The purposes of this well-produced book are stated in somewhat obscure terms in a preliminary dialogue, but become clear in the series of reviews of various manifestations of the artistic impulse, in a handful of poems, including those of J. K. Baxter, of Dunedin, and in a good eighty pages of reproductions of paintings and sculpture exhibited by New Zealanders. Thus we obtain an interesting close-up of approximately the range of representation and merit of a typical New Zealand art exhibition. With the exception of a couple of bright linocuts, the reproductions are in black and white. It must be said that this lack of colour detracts from the interest and value of the publication, especially as a certain number of the pictures have been reproduced poorly. The book remains, however, a sufficiently handsome and praiseworthy introduction to New Zealand art, for which few should begrudge the guinea that is asked for it. For Children

Such phenomena as the housing shortage and the edicts of the manpower authorities find their place in Margaret Dunningham’s Three Brown Bears and the Manpower Man (Paul’s Book Arcade, Hamilton, 2s 9d). The book is made for younger children, with illustrations by Anne McCahan which catch its spirited portrayal *of an essentially New Zealand theme and setting. But there is more than a chance that others beside the younger members of the family will find in this topical tale both amusement and cause for reflection. The author and illustrator are both of Dunedin.