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XXVI. ADVERTISING BRANCH. The work of this Branch is summarized as follows :— Accounts. —The number of claims recorded, checked, and certified was 9,280, as compared with 12,742 the previous year. The reduction in number is due to claims being rendered monthly instead of day by day. Expenditure.—The total recorded expenditure for Government newspaper advertising is £38,812 12s. Iod., an increase of £2,709 15s. 7d., attributable to war-time advertising. Press Clippings. —Ministers of the Crown and Departments were furnished with an average of approximately 2,500 press cuttings weekly. XXVII. EXPLOSIVES AND DANGEROUS GOODS. During the year the following licenses were issued : —• Explosives. —Importation, 26 ; conveyance, 224 ; sale, 616 ; storage, 439. Dangerous Goods. —Storage, 2,400. XXVIII. THE ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY. Holdings and Acquisitions. Despite the difficult times, the production of books has been little affected, and this is reflected in the steady growth of the library in the year past. The total number, of books catalogued is now just over 60,000. New books catalogued numbered 2,300 and, in accordance with our policy of revising the cataloguing of earlier years, about 2,500 volumes have been recatalogued. These latter include sections on colonization, Pacific botany and zoology, English and French history, and non-Pacific anthropology. In the acquisition of books, a certain attention has been directed to the classes of modern poetry, drama, art, and Miltonic studies. A few items otherwise have been of interest in the literature shelves. A second edition of Richardson's " Pamela," 1740, in four volumes (Volumes 3 and 4 first edition), acknowledged to be the first English novel, was a good addition to the history of the novel. In the same category were first editions of Charlotte Bronte's " Shirley," 1849, and " The Professor," 1857. Several of Byron's poems in first and contemporary editions were also added, together with Cosmo Gordon's " Life " and other Byroniana. A set. of " The Adventurer," 1752-54, in original issues, edited by Dr. John Hawkesworth, the famous first editor of Cook's voyages, was of interest not only for this reason, but also for its literary significance, for contributors such as Dr. Johnson and Joseph Wharton appeared frequently in its pages. The excellent series of the Malone Society was brought up to date, providing additional material for the study of early English drama. One of the early English historians was John Stow, whose monumental " Survey of London " is a classic. His " Annals of England " is an important chronicle which hitherto we had lacked. A copy of the 1606 edition was therefore a gratifying addition to the early histories. Use of the Library. The number of readers has been about three thousand, which is a decline approaching pre-Centennial figures. The principal subjects studied have been as follows : Land endowments for education ; Maori medical lore ; history of Samoa ; history of administration in New Zealand ; evolution of culture in New Zealand; Masonic history in New Zealand; history of teacher-training in New Zealand; gold-mining in Westland. As usual, the art books and the fine collections of English literature have been used considerably, and many readers pay almost daily visits to the library to keep in touch with the new books and periodicals. It is especially pleasing to record the researches of Professor I. A. Gordon, of the English department of Victoria College, whose investigations into the manuscripts are proving illuminating, and disclosing some to be of importance. Results of certain studies have been made known through the Turnbull Library Record, and have provoked some interest overseas. Photostats and photographs have been in steady demand. Exhibitions. The celebration during 1940 of the five-hundredth anniversary of the invention of printing gave an opportunity for the library to display some of its treasures of early printing and fine modern printing. Nowhere else in this country could such a varied demonstration have been made, ranging from our earliest and finest example, a splendid copy of the Constitutions of Clement V (1471) printed on vellum by Peter Schoeffer, the son-in-law of Gutenberg's partner, Johann Fust. Much other material was shown, and an exhibit was also placed in the public library at Wellington. On another occasion an exhibition of modern fine printing was arranged for a meeting of the Wellington Club of Printing House Craftsmen. Anzac Day was noticed by a show of books and pictures illustrating New Zealand's part in the Great War of 1914-18. Other exhibitions included one on literary anniversaries of 1940, another on London. A special display on " Colonization of New Zealand " was arranged for a meeting of New Zealand Founders' Society, and a " Pageant of English Literature " for library assistants in Wellington.

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