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Anderson, Christchurch —volumes of English literature, including works of Burns, Cowper, Keats, Milton, Spenser, Wordsworth, and others. Miss Bender, Wellington—" Arts and Industry of All Nations," two finely illustrated volumes. Sir Frederick R. Chapman—" Thiers Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire " (twenty-one volumes), " Thiers Histoire de la Revolution franfaise " (ten volumes), and other volumes. Messrs. Maggs Bros. —six morocco-bound volumes of their illustrated catalogues. M. Crompton Smith and other members of the family of the late S. Percy Smith —150 volumes of topographical history and antiquities of Lincolnshire, and many volumes relating to New Zealand and the Pacific. Mrs. E. M. Story—" Our Fathers Have Told Us," being a volume of seven hundred pages of typed interviews with early settlers, detailing their early reminiscences. R. W. de Montalk—" (Euvres de Voltaire, Theatre " (seven volumes), Capefigue, " L'Europe pendant le Consulat et l'Empire "de Napoleon " (twelve volumes), Dante, "La Vita Nuova," and others. Clyde Carr—" History of English Wallpaper," finely illustrated in colour, &c. Miss U. Tewsley— collected works of P. H. Pearse ; Synge, " Poems and Translations," &c. New Zealand Federation of Painters —" The Decorator " (five volumes). New Zealand University—" Bihar Peasant Life," by Sir George A. Grierson, and "Ku Chou Pien " (thirteen volumes). Rev. C. E. Fox —Grammar, Dictionary, &c., of Arosi Dialect, San Cristoval (MS.). Besides these were J. W. Dafoe, " Under Southern Skies " ; Dr. W. Little, " Les Fables de Pilpay " ; Professor J. Park, " Maori and Early European Exploration," &c. ; A. Philpott, watercolour of ship off Terawhiti, by W. Foster; H. Baillie, " Life of Captain James Cook" (two volumes) ; J. H. Haslam, " Scenes in Southland " ; Professor R. Lawson, " Poems," &c. ; L. 0. H. Tripp, " Lecture by the Late C. G. Tripp, 1862 " ; H. R. Butcher, " Biographical Anecdotes of the Founders of the French Republic " ; E. W. Kane, " New Zealand Parliamentary Record" ; J. H. L. Waterhouse, " Roviana Phrase Book " ; and others. Special attention should be drawn to the donation of the Barraud water-colour drawings, which are of all parts of New Zealand, and are historically very valuable, as they include drawings of towns and country districts in the sixties, seventies, and eighties. Barraud was one of the leading water-colour artists of New Zealand, and in 1877 published a large volume of views of New Zealand in colour ; the originals of some of the pictures included are in this number donated. The donation by the family of the late S. Percy Smith is also very good, forming a fine nucleus for a topographical, collection of English county history should such ever be contemplated. Mrs. Story presented one copy of " Our Fathers Have Told Us " to the British Museum, and she has a copy herself ; these, with the copy presented to the Alexander Turnbull Library, are the only known records of the reminiscences included. The MS. donation by the Rev. C. E. Fox, which runs to nearly one thousand pages foolscap, is good, and is a valuable contribution to anthropology. Mr. Fox is the author of one of the recent interesting books on the Pacific region, " The Threshold of the Pacific," 1924. The historically valuable Mantell collection, which was received after the 31st March, 1927, will be referred to in next year's report. A few donations to the War Section of the library still come to hand. There were received during the year, " History of the Black Watch " (three volumes), by Major-General A. G. Wauchope ; " V.C.s of the Air," by Lieutenant G. Barnett; " Work of the Royal Engineers, 1914-18," compiled by Colonel G. H. Addison. Thanks are due to the above donors, whose liberality is doing much to further enrich the library. Incunabula. —The printing of the great list of the world's incunabula (books printed before the year 1500) was begun last year, and the second volume, " Gesamkatalon der Wiegendrucke," a large quarto of 786 pages (authors A 1 to Ar), printed in Leipzig, has been received. Library Conference. —A conference of public libraries, at which the Librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library attended, was held in Wanganui on the 9th and 10th February, 1927, when matters concerning the general working of public libraries were discussed. Readers and Students. —Forty-five new readers' permits were issued during the year, and students have been working in the library regularly through the year, day and evening. The principal subjects studied were journalism in New Zealand, Maori land laws, Maori religion before contact with the European, history of particular districts and particular people, &c. Visits were paid to the library by classes from public primary and secondary schools, and Kelburn Training College. Visitors. —There were about nine hundred visitors during the year, in addition to the classes from various schools, primary and secondary. Bulletins Nos. 7 and 2. —As noted in last year's report, the library possesses a copy of the rare Zimmermann's account of Cook's third voyage, published in Germany in 1791, and during the year a translation of the book was made in the library, and published by the Government Printer as Alexander Turnbull Library, Bulletin No. 2. A thousand copies were printed, of which about three hundred and fifty have already been sold. It is also satisfactory to note that Bulletin No. 1, a list of one hundred representative New Zealand books, is still in demand. About six hundred were distributed, free, to the chief libraries of Great Britain, Australia, and America, and requests are continually being received from various libraries for copies. Correspondence. —A great many letters are received regarding books and their values, historical inquiries, and so on, and during the year over two thousand letters were received and despatched. Census and Statistics Office. Census of 1926.—The principal activities of the Census and Statistics Office during the past twelve months have been associated with the quinquennial population census, which was successfully

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