Notes and Comments

Turnbull Library Record, Volume XIII, Issue 1, 1 May 1980, Page 39

Notes and Comments

J. R. TYE

Some recent acquisitions

The Library recently purchased three titles by William Prynne (1100-1669) the indefatigable puritan pamphleteer whose principles cost him his ears. From 1627 until his death in 1669 he produced some 200 books and pamphlets, prompting Wood, one of his biographers, to remark that if rightly computed he wrote a sheet for every day of his life. The items are The Unlovelinesse ofLove-lockes, 1628, an attack on unnatural hair lengths; A Soveraigne Antidote, to Prevent, Appease, and Determine our Unnaturall and Destructive Civill Wanes and Dissentions, 1642; and A Moderate Apology Against a Pretended Calumny: in Answer to Some Passages in The Preheminence of Parliment, 1644. The Turnbull now holds 23 items by Prynne.

The Library’s collection of work by William Mein Smith, the pioneer surveyor, has been significantly strengthened by a donation of seven ink drawings and two watercolours by Mrs F. Waghorn of Te Kuiti. The works, dating from the 1850 s and 1860 s, depict East Coast landscapes and Wairarapa scenes including Charles Hales’s sheep station, the Tauherenikau Hotel, and the Pakuratahi bridge. Ten sketchbooks of Archdeacon Philip Walsh (1843-1914) were purchased from Mrs J. Bradstreet of Hawthorne, Victoria, in August. Six of them include European and Irish scenes prior to Walsh’s arrival in New Zealand. The New Zealand drawings, dating from about 1870 to the late 1890 s, include copper mines on Kawau Island, bush clearing in Coromandel, logging and milling, and numerous scenes of Northland, especially the Waimate and Hokianga districts. Walsh was born in Ireland and educated in France, emigrating to New Zealand in 1866. He farmed in the Bay of Islands, then studied at St John’s College, Auckland, in 1872. In 1900 he became Archdeacon of Waimate North.

A sketchbook of Major-General Robert Henry Wynyard was purchased at McArthur’s auction in October. Dated January to March 1852, it contains 23 very fine ink and pencil drawings, covering Northland, Coromandel, Mt Egmont, Wanganui, Wellington district, including William Wakefield’s house, the Porirua Barracks, the stockade at Pauatahanui, and the Nelson and Akaroa districts. At this period Wynyard was Lieutenant Governor of New Zealand and had commanded the 58th Regiment in the 1845-46 wars.

Scrope family donates Weld watercolours The Library benefited from the donation, in March, of twenty-four watercolours by Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld, documenting the early period of settlement of the country. Weld came to New Zealand in 1844 and joined his relatives Petre, Clifford and Vavasour sheep-farming in the Wairarapa, then moved to Marlborough and finally settled at Brackenfield in Canterbury. Fie soon became involved in political life, as Member of The House of Representatives for Wairau in 1854, eventually becoming Premier in 1864-1865 until ill-health forced him to retire. Weld was a talented watercolourist, and this collection remained with his descendants until it was presented to the Library by Mrs Mary Scrope, a granddaughter of Sir Frederick, who has recently returned to New Zealand to live in Blenheim. Chiefly landscapes of Marlborough, Canterbury, Taranaki and the Thermal Areas, dating from the 1850 s and 1860 s, the paintings have been on long-term loan to the Library since 1976. From September to October an exhibition of these and other Weld paintings from the Canterbury Museum was mounted. Dr Jeanine Graham of the History Department, Waikato University, whose doctoral thesis was entitled Frederick Weld: a Political Biography, addressed a meeting of the Friends of the Turnbull Library on 18 October to launch the exhibition, ‘Weld: pastoralist, politician, painter’.

Grants for research The Board of the Turnbull Library Endowment Trust at its November meeting considered several applications for grants to assist scholars wishing to conduct research towards a publication based on the Library’s collections. From the Research Fund two grants were made, one of $5,000 to I. F. G. Milner towards the expenses of a visit to New Zealand to work on the Library’s collection of the papers of Frank Milner for a biography, and one of $2,000 to John Thomson for further research in the Library’s Archive of New Zealand Music for his history of music in New Zealand. An application from Vincent O’Sullivan for SISOO for assistance to travel to the University of Texas at Austin to consult documents essential to his work on the Oxford edition of Katherine Mansfield’s letters was met by a grant from the ordinary funds of the Endowment Trust.

Exhibition Over the Christmas period the Library mounted an exhibition of4o prints from the negatives of William James Harding. Harding, whose negatives form an important part of the Library’s photograph collection, practised as a commercial photographer in Wanganui from 1856 until 1889. His forte was landscape photography, both rural and urban, but he also turned his hand to portraiture. He achieved a reputation as a man who would not compromise his art for the sake of flattering a subject and his portraits have a simplicity and directness not normally associated with the Victorian period. The exhibition was printed from the original negatives by Jean Stanton, a Wellington photographer.

Distinguished visitors In recent months the Library has had three visitors with a particular interest in the Cook collections. Admiral of the Fleet Sir Terence Lewin, newly appointed British Chief of Defence Staff, was in New Zealand in the course of a world tour discussing Commonwealth defence requirements. A devoted admirer of Cook, the Admiral came to the Turnbull twice in one day, between official engagements, to inspect unique manuscripts and paintings. As he was being taken to Ship Cove the next day, Sir Terence was especially delighted with a passage which he read out to his aide. Written by Lieutenant James Burney of Cook’s consort vessel Adventure, on the Second Voyage, the manuscript dealt with hus investigation of the disappearance of a boat’s crew at Grass Cove (now Whareunga Bay) in the Marlborough Sounds. The missing men had been killed by the Maoris, and Burney, rather against his wish, found incontrovertible proof of cannibalism.

Her Excellency Mrs Ann Martindell, the American Ambassador, came to see a rare book written by an ancestor of hers, John Ledyard. Published and sold by Nathaniel Patten at Hartford in 1783, the small volume is entitled A Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, & in Quest of a North-West Passage, between Asia and Performed in the Years 1116, l 111, 1118 and 1119. It is one of the lesser known subsidiary accounts of Cook’s exploration, based largely on Rickman’s account. Ledyard had a most adventurous life. Although American by birth, he managed to join the Royal Marines and was a corporal on board Resolution. Subsequently he deserted rather than fight his compatriots; attempted to walk across Siberia; and died at Cairo on his way to look for the sources of the Niger River.

Another American, Professor L. S. Dutton, accompanied by his wife, was also interested to study our Cook material in the Manuscript Section. He is the retired Director of Libraries at the University of Miami—not, as he hastened to point out, in Florida; but at Oxford, Ohio, admittedly a little disconcerting. Founded in 1809 the university now has 17,000 students.

Two new issues of Turnbull Prints To meet growing demand and replenish depleted stocks of the annual series of colour prints, the Endowment Trust agreed to publish two series in 1979. Following the Aubrey Prints came a second set of New Zealand flowers and berries by Emily Cumming Harris (1837?-1925). The first, published in 1968, proved extremely popular in recent years and this artist’s work provides a contrast to the landscapes usually reproduced. The new prints, which were released early this year, have been chosen to show Miss Harris’s versatility in her watercolours. All four are in much brighter colouring and very different from the first three published. One recalls the charm of art nouveau, another is almost Chinese in its emphasis on form and texture, while a composite arrangement of four different tree berries is a glowing burst of colour that is quite modern in its feeling. The 1979 Harris Prints sell at $4 each or sl2 the set of four accompanied by an illustrated text-sheet, in a folder illustrated by a fifth print in colour.

Another new issue of Turnbull Library Prints breaks new ground in that it is the first from the Alexander Turnbull Library Research Endowment Trust and it is also the first to be sponsored by an outside body, in this case the New Zealand Wool Board, whose assistance is gratefully acknowledged. It is hoped that such sponsored prints from the Research Endowment Trust may also become an annual event. This first series reproduces, very appropriately, some of the few known watercolours relating to early sheep-farming in New Zealand. They are by Alfred John Cooper, an unknown but talented amateur who was farming at Mohaka with his friend J. M. P. Lavin from the eighteen-fifties until both men were killed by a Hauhau raiding party organized by Te Kooti in 1869. Fifteen paintings were sent to England by Lavin and descended to Mr and Mrs W. J. Mouton in South Africa, who most generously presented them to the Library in 1969. Six of the small watercolours have been published in facsimile size, two to each print, with a seventh on the folder, this issue being markedly smaller in size than previous prints. The text-sheet reproduces in black and white the eight other pictures that make up Cooper’s total oeuvre as we know it to this date. The Cooper Prints sell at $4 each or

$lO the set of 6 pictures (as three prints), again in a folder illustrated in colour by an extra print. This very attractive set gains interest from Lavin’s explanatory notes added to each of Cooper’s paintings.

Cook bicentenary exhibition To mark the bicentenary of Captain Cook’s death and to coincide with the Endowment Trust’s publication ofj. C. Beaglehole’s The Death of Cook , from June-August 1979 the Library mounted a commemorative Cook Exhibition. Many of the exhibits came from the Library’s own collections but the significance of the occasion lay in the fact that this was the first time that almost all the original Cook items in this country had been assembled for viewing in one exhibition by New Zealanders, although many had been shown overseas. The Endowment Trust published a 24-page catalogue, An Exhibition, Commemorative of Captain fames Cook, R.N., 1728-1779: Original Paintings, Drawings, Manuscripts and Memorabilia which are held in New Zealand. Many have been surprised to learn how much is owned by this country.

The heart of the Turnbull Pacific collections undoubtedly is the great Voyages Collection, with ancillary collections in British naval history and biography. The Cook Collection is among the most comprehensive in the world, including not only all significant and numerous peripheral publications but also photocopies of all known Cook-associated manuscripts, largely assembled by John Beaglehole, O.M. The Library also holds a small but notable collection of original manuscripts and works of art in this field. Three major purchases in recent years would have gladdened the heart of Alexander Turnbull —Webber’s portrait of Tu, the large collection of drawings made by Ellis on the Third Voyage and the Hodges portrait of a man of Tanna.

The exhibition was mounted by Anthony Murray-Oliver (who also compiled the catalogue), assisted by Jeavons Baillie. A highlight was the inclusion of the Webber portrait of Cook, the first time this had been shown outside the National Art Gallery since its acquisition in 1963. From Government Flouse came the Dance portrait of Captain Clerke donated by the Viscount Galway. The Hocken Library contributed a portrait of Molyneux, master of Endeavour , with two Pacific watercolours by Webber and a third by Ellis. Although included in the catalogue, the Auckland City Art Gallery’s Hodges oil of Dusky Sound was unfortunately not able to be shown; but the Bishop Suter Gallery’s Webber of Ship Cove was a notable exhibit. The generous assistance of these institutions is gratefully acknowledged. As well as original manuscript and

pictorial material, the Turnbull collections provided rare contemporary prints and varied memorabilia such as a silver knife and fork acquired from Maoris in the Marlborough Sounds about 1830 and Cook’s posthumous armorial bearings prepared at the College of Arms in 1968. Manuscripts on display included a selection of letters from the Sir George Grey collection in the Auckland Public Library and a number of documents acquired by Mr Turnbull: the catalogue also lists all the Turnbull Cook-associated manuscripts. Items shown included Cook’s log as Master’s Mate on HMS Eagle ; the Endeavour log of Zachary Hicks, first officer; ajournal and log kept by William Bayly, astronomer on the Second and Third Voyages; and a variety of letters by Cook, his wife Elizabeth, Captain King, Webber, Hodges, the Earl of Sandwich and others.

Extensive annotations add to the value of the catalogue as a record of Cook research resources in contemporary material available in New Zealand. Copies may be purchased from the Library at 50 cents, post free. By timing the exhibition for the launching of the new publication of Professor Beaglehole’s address on the death of his hero, tribute was paid to two great men. Victoria University of Wellington kindly lent W. A. Sutton’s fine portrait of John Beaglehole and this was complemented by the Turnbull’s two, an early study by Joan Fanning and a posthumous version by Evelyn Page, which were purchased in 1979 and 1977 respectively.

‘The death of this eminent and valuable man was a loss to mankind in general; and particularly to be deplored by every nation that respects useful accomplishments, that honours science, and loves the benevolent and amiable affections of the heart. . .If the arduous but exact researches of this extraordinary man have not discovered a new world, they have discovered seas unnavigated and unknown before ..." —Admiral the Hon. John Forbes, R.N., 1784.

Chief Librarian travels overseas The Chief Librarian, Mr J. E. Traue, left New Zealand on 18 April for an extended visit to national and research libraries in the United States, Britain and Europe. He will be studying, in particular, the administration of specialist research libraries within large general libraries; the services provided by research libraries to scholars and the general public; programmes for the encouragement of scholarly research through fellowships, grants and conferences; and the architecture, furnishings and security of research libraries. In

addition he will be visiting potential donors, specialist book dealers and charitable foundations, and discussing the exchange of duplicates with selected specialist libraries. Funds for his visit have been provided by the National Library from its overseas travel funds, the Trustees of the National Library, and the Turnbull Library Endowment Trust. To enable Mr Traue to see a wider range of libraries in the United States a supplementary grant has been made by the Council on Library Resources, Washington, D.C. In addition invitations have been received from the Netherlands Government to spend a week in Plolland, from the International Committee of the Library Associations of the Federal Republic of Germany to spend two weeks visiting libraries in Germany, and from the Swedish Government to spend a week in Sweden. The British Council has also made a small grant for travel within Britain.

Reginald George James Berry, 0.8. E., F.R.N.S.N.Z. The Friends of the Turnbull Library learned with deep regret of the death of one of its earliest Life Members on 6th November 1979. Born on 20th June 1906, James Berry early suffered the loss of his father, and was cared fgr by relatives until his entry to Dulwich College, long associated with the arts. From there, and from artistic members of his family, must have stemmed his abiding interest in painting and graphic art. At eighteen he emigrated to the Gisborne area as a prospective farmer; in 1928 he joined the Goldberg Advertising Agency in Wellington. The experience was invaluable, for it encouraged his innate ability, leading him successively to artistic journalism on the Dominion and the Radio Record, and to free lance graphic art and design.

Work on postage stamps began as a hobby which provided New Zealand and the South Pacific with some two hundred stamps during the period 1933-75. The quality of this work was recognised internationally when five of his designs were chosen out of a ranking twelve in the Stanley Gibbons competition of 1947, one for first prize. An account of his work in the production of coins and medals appears in his Sutherland Memorial Lecture (‘The Art Production of Coins and Medals’, N.Z. Numismatic Journal, October 1978, pp. 1-35), and gives some idea of his enormous attention to detail. Public recognition began with the acceptance of his reverse designs for the Waitangi Crown and the Bledisloe Medal in 1935. Th e annus mirabilis, however, was 1966, with the choice of his designs for decimal currency by public acclaim; at the age of sixty the years of

meticulous craftsmanship were rewarded, and acknowledged by an 0.8. E. in 1967. There followed a richly productive period, marked by increasing international travel. The constant threat of heart failure was accepted as a part of living, yet he gave the impression of profound personal happiness and fulfilment. His coin and medal designs, like his stamps, were marked by the same careful research: they number some two hundred, among the last being the 60 medals of The Medallic History of Australia and the medal commemorating the Pope’s historic visit to Eire.

To a quite extraordinary extent, memorials of James Berry remain with us in the currency we use. They also exist in museums and private collections the world over. The Turnbull Library possesses its own memorials: in 1962 he presented four rare medals commemorative of Captain Cook, and in 1968 a number of first-day covers and sets of the Cook Island Bicentenary stamps. Successive Librarians and the Friends remember him for his support of the Library, not least as a Committee member for 27 years; for his modesty; and for the quality of craftsmanship which comes only from the pursuit of perfection. We extend to Mrs Berry and to his family our deepest sympathy.