9

H.—22

illustrated catalogues; Mrs. Blyth, folio edition of J. Dryden's " Fables " ; Mrs. Porter, three manuscript notebooks kept by the late Colonel Porter during the South African War. and Robley's plan of Gate Pa; G. Mair, twenty-two notebooks, diaries, and miscellaneous papers of the late Captain G. Mair; Rev. F. R. Isom, twelve volumes in New Hebrides dialects ; Mr. Scott, nine volumes of works by Cicero ; Mrs. Bradney Williams, four volumes of the Poetry Review, and odd volumes of the. Little Review, the Musical Times, the British Music Bulletin, &c.; H. M. Prins, odd philatelic publications ; E. G. Pilcher, Coghlan's " Wealth and Progress of New South Wales," New South Wales Railway Reports, and miscellaneous publications ; anonymous, eleven numbers of the rare Maori newspaper Te Paid o Matariki ; W. F. Gordon, manuscript and notes of events during 1868, &e., and two large sheets of photographs of veterans and other early settlers. Besides the above, donations of various volumes and pamphlets have been made by J. C. Neill; Burns, Philp, and Co. ; A. P. Harper; J. McLean ; Hon. W. H. Triggs ; New Zealand University; Messrs. Lord and Scott, R. G. Collins ; Dr. C. Chilton, and Mr. B. C. Aston ; and the thanks of the Government are due to all these donors. Special attention should be drawn to the following :—• The late S. Percy Smith's papers : These included, among many other things, the manuscript report and field-book of Mr. Smith on the disastrous Tarawera eruption of 1886, together with about sixty photographs taken of the country immediately afterwards ; also a copy of Maunsell's " New Zealand Grammar" of 1842, interleaved and very fully annotated, and with inserted songs and invocations in Maori and English, printed and in manuscript; also letters from many eminent scientists. The Wedgewood medallion presented by Lady Leigh-Wood : This is a fine medallion, lOJin. by 7J in., in black oval frame and under convex glass ; and Lady Wood wrote saying that whilst the medallion was willed to her by her brother, Robert Turnbull, she thought its proper place was the Alexander Turnbull Library, and sent it out to New Zealand accordingly. It adds to the number of valuable Cook relics already in the library. Notebooks and diaries by G. Mair : These are apart from a mass of manuscripts and printed papers for the purchase of which negotiations were entered into during the previous year, as mentioned in last annual report. These are documents which G. Mair would not sell, but presented them to the library. Among them were many Maori letters relating to the eruption of Tarawera ; and it was strange that these should come to hand very soon after the papers on the same subject by the late S. Percy Smith. Etchings by W. F. Barraud : Mr. Barraud presented forty-six original etchings, which it is hoped will form a nucleus for a collection of work by New Zealand artists. There are in the library nearly two hundred examples of the work of Australian artists, including Ashton, Lindsay, Shirlow, Hopkins, Mather, Robertson, and others; besides over six hundred by European artists —Rembrandt, Claude Lorraine, Poussin, Cuyp, Duerer, Van Dyck, and others —these latter being part of the Bishop Monrad collection formerly in the Parliamentary Library. Copies have been allowed to be taken of valuable letters : those of one writer, dating from 1791 to 1838, were written from Australia, Norfolk Island, East Indies, &c., one letter giving an account of the taking of Cape Town from the Dutch ; those of another writer are dated from 1843 to 1848, and contain a great deal of matter regarding early colonial life. These run from four hundred to five hundred typed foolscap pages. Copy was also made of notes by Lieutenant Mcßae on his visit to New Zealand on the " Dromedary "in 1819. Other documents and books have also been placed on deposit. Acquisitions by Purchase.—lt was noted last year that negotiations were in progress for the acquisition of the papers of the late Captain Mair. This matter was completed during the year, and a large amount of manuscript and printed matter secured. The former includes a long list of Maori proverbs, many not published ; the start of a Maori dictionary; Maori notes and letters regarding the moa and its extinction, forming the basis of an unpublished essay on the subject by Captain Mair ; the essay of the moa referred to ; notes on Maori musical instruments ; words of songs, tales, and invocations ; account-books relating to Maori wars, &c. Included among the printed matter were a good many Maori periodicals and newspapers, some of great rarity. The purchase also included the fine oil portrait by Mrs. Sperry of Sir W. Fitzherbert, now hanging in the Dominion Museum. Sixtythree coloured drawings of New Zealand flowers by Miss Harris were acquired. Exhibits. —During the year there were deposited, among other things, the Frits Holm medal, commemorating the scientific and other work of His Excellency Frits Holm, who with great difficulty .secured a replica of the Nestorian Tablet and transported it from China ; the large silk-bound album of Japanese signatures, numbering some thousands, collected by the " League for collecting Signatures as a Mark of Gratitude " in connection with the Japanese earthquake. Correspondence. —More than seven hundred letters were received and answered during the year. These letters are from correspondents wishing to know the value of books (New Zealand and otherwise), pictures, prints; from students and others, regarding historical data ; from book and book-plate collectors —and through the latter the collection of book-plates is being augmented. Correspondents also want Maori names for children, houses, and roads. Historical Collection. —Some publications and manuscripts are received by the library for this collection, which was formerly lodged in the Dominion Museum. As the whole Alexander Turnbull collection is historical, however, at any rate as regards Pacific material, the publications and manuscripts referred to are incorporated in the collection when they refer to the Pacific : such are the photographed copy of instructions of Lord John Russell, dated 9th December, 1840, to the first Governor of New Zealand ; a private letter from Sir Robert McClure, dated|loth April, 1853, dealing with his voyage to the Arctic Ocean ; presentation'copies of books, printed or in manuscript,Jdealing with New Zealand. Apart from these are the histories of the part taken in the Great War by the various British regiments

2—H. 22.