NEW ZEALAND IN PRINT.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13979, 14 August 1909, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND IN PRINT.

DR lIOCKEN'S BIBLIOGRAPHY. A book-lover finds pleasure of a kind reading books ''from cover to cover 011 the outside" —looking at the titles and names of authors as the book stand ranged on a library or bookseller's shelves. A very much greater pleaure is gained by a perusal of title pages, which takes more time, but gives much more inforrijiation. And if some one stood by, t<i> make a fewbrief explanatory remarks on the nature of the contents of each book whose title page was read, one could learn a great deal without reading another page. It might be a necessary preliminary training to have read some other books dealing with similar subjects. or the foundation course of interest would be lacking. Such a course of title page reading, with the explanatory remark has been provided for New Zealanders and others who take an interest in New Zealand, by the "Bibliography of New Zealand", compiled by Dr T. 31. Hocken, of Dunedin, and iust published by the Government, well printed and bound in cloth boards, at 10s. 'Fortunately for the help of those who wish to "read" in such an easy and rapid fashion the early history of New Zealand, it was customary fifty to a hundred years and more ago to put a good deal more information in the titlepage than is the case to-day, and in a few important cases, Dr Hocken. has added the list of contents. Tins '".bibliography" then is as it were a cabinet museum of specimens of all the books that have been published dealing in whole or in part with New Zealand, and in itself adds a respectable volume of over (500 pages. In an introduction Dr Hocken stated that fifty years ago, when the colony was but twenty years old, there liad been printed 'concerning it no .less than ninety volumes, 200 pamphlets, and a hundred-weight cf Parliamentary papers. And throughout the fifty years the printing press has been busy with tlie production of more books. No hint is given of the number of publications mentioned in the Bibliography but probably they average half a dozen per page,—between there and four thousand in all. 'l'fiev begin with the journal of Abel Tasinan 1643, and arc brought down to some published this year, and even mention some in preparation. One wonders how a medical man busied in the pursuit of his profession, managed to find time to obtain from all over the world —foreign, works and foreign .translations are also given—the minute information he has here gathered into a convenient form of. reference. A separate section is given to works priiiLcd in the Maori language, beginning with the missionary primers and books of devotion from 1851, the earliest ot which were printed for the missionaries in Sydney. Finally there is a copious and'skilfully designed index of subjects as well as of authors. Altogether Dr Hoclcen's "Bibliography" is a book of reference that no of the history and literature of New Zealand can ,do without now that it has been made available.