Tony Murray-Oliver: a bibliographical salute

Turnbull Library Record, Volume XIV, Issue 1, 1 May 1981, Page 35

Tony Murray-Oliver: a bibliographical salute

Tony Murray-Oliver retired in 1980 from the position of Education Officer, Alexander Turnbull Library, 42 years after he first began working in the Library in 1938. To mark the occasion this selective list of his published works illustrating his varied output, literary, gastronomic, descriptive, historical and critical, and his contribution to the scholarly publications of the Library, has been compiled for the Record. Grateful acknowledgement is made to Diana Meads, a former staff member, who compiled a comprehensive list of his writings as a bibliographical exercise at the New Zealand Library School in 1979. Her list takes full account of his many contributions to literary periodicals in the 1930 s and 1940 s such as the Christchurch Boys’ High School Magazine, New Zealand Mercury, Salient, Spike, and Broadsheet; of contributions to the Herb in the 19605; to various catalogues of exhibitions of New Zealand art from the 1950 s onwards; to the Newsletter of the Friends of Old St. Paul’s; the text sheets of the Turnbull Library Endowment Trust’s series of prints since 1963 and the illustrated catalogue of the prints; the typescript compilations on various historical and pictorial subjects prepared as a member of staff and duly recorded in the Library’s public catalogues; and records his nine months (1949-50) as editor ofth e Newsletter of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Library Association.

1933-1942 Splinters from Shooting Stars. [Christchurch, 1933], [l3]p. Hand-made, limited edition, privately circulated. Verse. Young Age. [Christchurch, 1934]. [l3]p. Mimeographed, privately printed and circulated. Verse. The Review. Grecian’s Discussion Club. Christchurch, [5 October 1934?-13 November 1935?]. Edited and published by A. Murray-Oliver. Wastepaper. [Christchurch, 1935]. Literary magazine edited and published by A. Murray-Oliver. An Anthology of High School Verse: A Decade of Verse by Boys of the Christchurch Boys’ High School . . . 1926-1935 [edited by] A. MurrayOliver. Christchurch, 1936. 106 p.

Verse, by Anthony St. Clair and K. Christchurch, 1936. [B]p. Soft Flames. [Christchurch] 1937. [7]p. Hand-made, privately circulated in 10 copies. Verse. Tapestry. Christchurch, 1938. [lo]p. ‘For private circulation only. Handset in multigraph type . . . Printed at 13 Bowen Street, Wellington . . .’ . Verse. Oriflamme: a Literary Journal of Youth and the Fine Arts. Wellington, 13 November 1939-13 March 1942. Edited and published by A. MurrayOliver and printed on the Turnbull Library’s multigrapher. ‘Art Treasures of the Alexander Turnbull Library’ [with Alice Woodhouse], Art in New Zealand 13 (March 1941) 117-19.

1945-1965 ‘Soviet Youth Parade 1945’ (film review), Hilltop 1 (April 1949) 37-39. An Exhibition of the Robes Worn at Her Coronation ... by Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second . . . New Zealand 1954-55. Wellington, 1953. 9p. The Rex Nan Kivell Collection of New Zealand Pictures. [Wellington, 1953]. 26p. Catalogue of an exhibition. Epicure. Wine and Food Society of Wellington. Wellington, October 1955-April 1958. Edited by A. Murray-Oliver. A Catalogue of Pictures and Prints from the Alexander Turnbull Library Exhibited at the Architectural Centre Gallery 25 June to 6 July 1956. Wellington, 1956. 12p. An Exhibition of Italian Art Books Presented to the People of New Zealand . . . on Behalf of the Government of Italy, December 2nd 1958. Wellington, 1958. [34]p.

New Caledonia: the Island of Light. Wellington, 1958. lOp. Oil Paintings by William Hodges, r. a. . . . Exhibited in New Zealand . . . June-September 1959. Wellington, 1959. 14, [l]p. An Exhibition of Oil Paintings by William Hodges, R. a. . . . Catalogue of Additional Material Shown in the Alexander Turnbull Library June-July 1959. Wellington, 1959. 9p. ‘An Historic Century-Old Albion Press’, Printers’ News 19 (July 1961) 9, 11, 13, 23. ‘A Taste of France: French Cuisine for New Zealanders’ (book review), New Zealand Listener 49 (13 December 1963) 19. Charles Heaphy v. c. 1821?-1881. Artist and Draughtsman to the New Zealand Company. An Exhibition . . . to Mark the Publication of the Heaphy Prints 1964. Wellington, 1964. [s]p.

A Selection of Early New Zealand Paintings 1840-1900 from the Collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library. Wellington, 1965. [l7]p. Catalogue of an exhibition.

1965-1969 ‘Some Notes on New Zealand Geologists and Artists’, New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 9 (July 1966) 133-145. Also issued as Alexander Turnbull Library Occasional Publications no. 1, 1966. The Dr F. A. Bett Historical Collection: a Selection of Pictures Exhibited at the Suter Art Gallery Nelson, March 1966 . . . [Nelson, 1966]. [7]p. Katherine Mansfield: Exhibition of Manuscripts, Published Works and Photographs Lent by the Alexander Turnbull Library . . . Tour of Australia 1967. Wellington, 1967. 7, [l]p. Augustus Earle in New Zealand. (Christchurch, 1968). 167 p. Winner of the James Wattie Book of the Year Award, 1969. ‘Brees as an Artist’, Turnbull Library Record 1 (November 1968) 45-47; ‘Bibliographical and Descriptive Note’ (with Heather M. Curnow), 48-53. Some Notes on Old Thorndon. Wellington, 1968. 7p. ‘Captain Cook: Master of the Pacific’, Evening Post 13 September 1969-10 January 1970. Captain Cook’s Artists in the Pacific 1769-1779. [Christchurch], 1969. xxiv, 168 p. ‘Captainjames Cook r.n. f.r.s., and his Three Voyages of Discovery in the Pacific 1768-79’, in New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1969, p. 1116-1128. ‘John Webber and his Aquatints’, Turnbull Library Record. 2 (October 1969) 74-79. Some Further Notes on Old Thorndon. [Wellington, 1969]. lOp. Last Notes on Old Thorndon. Wellington, 1969. 7p. ‘Why Pictures?’, New Zealand Libraries 32 (December 1969) 178-188.

v- , 1970-1975 Alexander Turnbull Library. Eighty Years in the Collecting; A Selection of Books, Manuscripts and Paintings . . . Prepared for the Occasion of its Fiftieth Jubilee . . . 31p. Wellington, 1970. Substantially compiled by Tony Murray-Oliver. New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Wellington Regional Committee. Newsletter. Wellington, March 1970-April 1971. Edited by Tony Murray-Oliver as Secretary.

‘An Inquiry into Certain Nineteenth Century Prints: the Heaphy Lithographs’, Turnbull Library Record 4 (October 1971) 74-94. ‘Art in Canterbury: A Summary’ in A History of Canterbury, (Christchurch, 1971) vol. 11, p. 465-480. ‘Augustus Earle Paints New Zealand’, New Zealand’s Heritage v. 1, pt. 11 (1971) 298-303. ‘Early Artists of the Colony’, New Zealand’s Heritage v. 2, pt. 17 (1971) 466-471. Historic Thorndon. [Wellington], 1971. 16p. ‘Charles Heaphy: Soldier, Artist and Surveyor’, New Zealand’s Heritage v. 3, pt. 32 (1972) 891-896. ‘Artists of the 1850 s and 1860s’, New Zealand’s Heritage v. 3, pt. 34 (1972) 943-947. ‘Art in New Zealand 1870-1900’, New Zealand’s Heritage v. 3, pt. 43 (1972) 1194-1199. ‘Art in a New Century’, New Zealand’s Heritage v. 5, pt. 68 (1972) 1882-1887. Wellington: City Walks and Tours (with Allister Bristow). Wellington, 1973. [ll]p. Captain Cook r.n.: the Resolute Mariner . . . (with Thomas Vaughan). Portland, Oregon, 1974. xiii, 97p. Historical New Zealand Prints 1696-1880. Wellington, 1974. [34]p. Catalogue of an exhibition to tour Australia. Captain Cook’s Hawaii as Seen by his Artists. Wellington, 1975. 215 p.

1977-1980 ‘A Collection of Drawings Made by William Ellis on Cook’s Third Voyage’, Turnbull Library Record 10 (October 1977) 5-9; ‘The Ellis Drawings: An Inventory’, 28-37. ‘Alexander Turnbull: Merchant and Collector’, Art New Zealand 9 (Feb/April 1978) 33-34. ‘Earle and Angas: Two Important New Water Colours’, Turnbull Library Record 11 (May 1978) 40-41. ‘Portrait of Tu, Pomare I of Tahiti by John Webber’, Turnbull Library Record 11 (October 1978) 112-114. ‘Sufficiently True to Nature . . . Sufficiently Idealized . . .’, in Waikato Art Museum, Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky, the Man and the Artist, [Hamilton], 1978, p. 7-10.

‘The Turnbull Library and the Public’, Art New Zealand 9 (Feb/April 1978) 55. ‘Captain James Cook . . in Campbell Grant (N.Z.) Ltd, Exhibition & Sale: Captain Cook’s Voyages in the Pacific . . ~ Christchurch, 1979, p.l-2. An Exhibition Commemorative of Captain Cook r.n. f.r.s. 1728-1779: Original Paintings, Drawings, Manuscripts and Memorabilia which are Held in New Zealand . . . Wellington, 1979. [22]p. ‘Sir William Fox: Politician, Reformer, Artist’, Onslow Historian 9 (1979) 7-11. ‘Portrait of an Artist’ (review of Charles Blomfeld: His Life and Times, by Muriel Williams), New Zealand Listener 94 (26 January 1980) 53. ‘Down South’ (review of Roger Collins’ Pictures of Southern New Zealand), New Zealand Listener 94 (1 March 1980) 76-7. ‘Angas Revisited’ (reviews of Early Paintings of the Maori and Maori Scenes and Portraits), New Zealand Listener 94 (29 March 1980) 81. ‘Collector’s Piece’ (review of Una Platts’ Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists), New Zealand Listener 95 (5 July 1980) 76. ‘Two Centuries of Myth-Making’ (review of Leonard Bell’s Maori in European Art), New Zealand Listener 96 (18 October 1980) 84. ‘The Illustrated 19th-Century News’ (review of Colonial New Zealand by Hargreaves and Hearn), New Zealand Listener, 96 (6 December 1980) 84. ‘Towards clarification of variant portraits of Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata’, in Patricia Burns, Te Rauparaha: A New Perspective, Wellington, 1980, p. 321-325.