Alexander Turnbull Library

Turnbull Library Record, Volume 16, Issue 2, 1 October 1983, Page 137

Alexander Turnbull Library

J. E. TRAUE

Report by the Chief Librarian for the year 1982/83

The Alexander Turnbull Library is a specialised research institution within the National Library to which has been assigned the responsibility for the long-term preservation of the national collection of library material relating to New Zealand and the people of New Zealand. As a research library its primary objective is to contribute to the body of public knowledge by building on and preserving its research collections on New Zealand, the Pacific, early printed books, John Milton and his times, and the arts of the book, and by encouraging research and publication based on these collections.

ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS Despite the problems created by the growth of public demand on the New Zealand collections of last resort in a time of restraints on staffing and expenditure, which have been outlined in previous reports, the Library has been able to take a number of initiatives to improve the availability of the collections to the public. With strong financial assistance from the Endowment Trust a significant expansion of the publications programme has been possible, and the Research Endowment Fund has increased its level of support for conferences and seminars and grants for research workers. The New Zealand Composers’ Foundation has made substantial grants for the work of the Archive of New Zealand Music. The Friends of the Turnbull Library, through their support of the Turnbull Library Record, the promotion of the Turnbull Winter Lectures, and publicity on Access Radio and elsewhere, have made a significant contribution to public understanding of the Turnbull’s special role as a national research institution.

Six exhibitions were mounted in the Library to display to the public some of its rich resources for research. ‘Quenching a Thirst’ presented a wide range of ephemeral materials, including posters, handbills and advertisements, on popular beverages; ‘The Terrace, Past and Present’ drew on photographs, maps, paintings and drawings of The Terrace in Wellington; ‘Scores of Sounds’ brought together a wide range of materials to illustrate aspects of musical composition in New Zealand from 1940, and a memorial exhibition for Frank Sargeson presented manuscript, printed, and visual resources available in the Library. ‘Buildings on Paper’ featured architectural drawings from the 1982 measured drawings competition, and a range of source materials from the history of science in New Zealand was displayed at the end of the year. In addition a number of items were made available to other institutions for public display.

THE PROMOTION OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION For a research library the most effective and appropriate means of making its resources available to the widest possible audience is the encouragement of research and publication based on its collections. Extracts from foumals . . . of the French ship St Jean Baptiste . . . 1769, the first of a five-volume series based on the microfilm copies in the Library of the original logs of French expeditions visiting New Zealand between 1769 and 1827, was published during the year. These volumes, part of a much larger series ‘Early Eyewitness Accounts of Maori Life’ are being supported by the Research Fund and the Endowment Trust. The Trust also made a grant to a university press to assist the publication of the D’Arcy Cresswell-Ottoline Morrell letters, one part of which is held by the Library. Three sets of reproductions of pictorial works were published during the year: coloured prints from original watercolours of the Southern Alps by John Gully and views of Victorian Auckland by J. B. C. Hoyte (in conjunction with the ANZ Banking Group (N.Z.) Ltd); and in a new series ‘lmagers of a New Land’ six reproductions of photographs by the Tyree brothers of early Nelson. Other publications included a new catalogue of the Library’s publications; A Guide to Manuscripts Relating to Science in the Alexander Turnbull Library, Towards Maturity: Turnbull Winter Lectures 1982 (published by Victoria University Press for the Friends); and a fourth instalment of the National Register of Archives and Manuscripts. The Research Endowment Fund made grants to seven scholars during the year (four from overseas) either for research on the collections towards a publication or for lectures and papers at Turnbull conferences and seminars. Two weekend conferences of the New Zealand Early Modern Studies Association and a national conference of musicologists were sponsored by the Research Endowment Fund. During February 1983, the Library, in association with the Royal Society in New Zealand, sponsored the first national conference on the history of science in New Zealand. The Library’s research programme has been supported by grants from the Todd Foundation, the Ilott Trust, BP Oil (N.Z.) Ltd, IBM (N.Z.) Ltd, ICI (N.Z.) Ltd, Mobil Oil (N.Z.) Ltd, the New Zealand Concrete Research Association, Shell Holdings (N.Z.) Ltd, and Wellcome N.Z. Ltd, and by income from the Cooper, Heaphy and Hoyte Prints.

BUILDING THE RESEARCH COLLECTIONS Donations during the year rose from 407 to 442. The Library continues to receive, under the compulsory deposit provisions of the Copyright Act administered by the General Assembly Library, a comprehensive range of materials published in New Zealand to add to the national collection of last resort. Among the rare New Zealand items purchased for this collection were William Gibbs’s New Zealand Flax or Phormium Tenax (1864) and Mutual Relations between the Canterbury Association and the Purchasers of Land in the Canterbury Settlement (1853). A collection of hitherto unrecorded accounts of early twentieth century world travels which included New Zealand was purchased in Canada. The collection of writers’ papers was augmented by the Allen Curnow

and Dame Ngaio Marsh papers. Other major acquisitions of original materials included the early records of the New Zealand Public Service Association; the records of St John’s Presbyterian Church, Wellington, the Brethren movement, and the Churches’ Education Commission. Several portraits of artists were acquired, including a fine oil of George French Angas, and three watercolours of the Wellington region by Christopher Aubrey were purchased. Additions to the photograph collection included albums of views of the Waikato and Auckland in the 1860 s and of nineteenth century Maori portraits. Negotiations were concluded for the important Ans Westra collection of negatives to be deposited with the Library. The map collection’s major acquisition was of 5,350 aperture cards containing microfilm copies of some 1,400 manuscript maps from last century held in the Head Office of the Department of Lands and Survey. Among the many donations to the Archive of New Zealand Music were the papers of Arthur Hilton, Dorothy Davies, the Music Federation of New Zealand and the New Zealand Opera Company. A subscription has been placed for ‘The Eighteenth Century’, a set of microfilm copies of some 200,000 volumes of works published in Britain and its colonies from 1701 to 1800. This is a major addition to the resources available in New Zealand for research in British studies and it will be made available on library interloan. This new set supplements the microfilm copies of British books from Caxton to 1700 already held by the Turnbull. The collections relating to John Milton and the seventeenth century were strengthened by the purchase of 21 additional titles and, by the Endowment Trust, of a collection of 64 pamphlets.

CONSERVING THE RESEARCH COLLECTIONS The Library continues to place considerable emphasis on stabilising the collections through control of the climate in its various buildings, good storage practices, and education of staff and users in the proper handling of materials. Users, both actual and potential, are being advised that to protect the collections for the future they should restrict the use of last resort collections to minimum levels. The resources available for long-term preservation, both for repair and facsimile copying on microfilm, are still inadequate. Financial assistance for microcopying of materials in heavy demand is being sought from private sources.

Ms Pamela Najar was recruited in the United States to fill the position created two years ago for a conservator, an illustration of the lack of qualified conservators in New Zealand. The Conservation Unit provided internship experience for four graduates of conservation courses and one bookbinder, and the conservation staff participated in a seminar for the librarians of newspaper publishers and a disaster preparedness seminar sponsored by the Nelson Provincial Museum. The Conservation Officer travelled to the United States to visit conservation laboratories and to participate in the International Institute for Conservation’s conference, ‘Science and Technology in the Service of Conservation’. On 31 March 1983, the Conservation Unit, a responsibility since its

inception of the Alexander Turnbull Library, passed out of the Library’s control. In future it will be a unit of the Technical Services division of the National Library.

Publications, Lectures, etc. by the Staff 1982183 Barton, P. L. ‘Catalogue of the Historical Maps of the Survey of India (1700-1900), edited by S. N. Prasad’ (review), New Zealand Mapkeepers’ Circle Newsletter, 13 (November 1982), 15-16.

‘Guide for a Small Map Collection , by Barbara Farrell and Aileen Desbarats’ (review), New Zealand Libraries, 43 (September 1982), 194; New Zealand Mapkeepers’ Circle Newsletter, 13 (November 1982), 14-15. ‘Land and Water Resource Surveys of New Zealand: Map Coverage and Reference Lists, compiled by C. L. Clark’ (review), New Zealand Mapkeepers’ Circle Newsletter, 13 (November 1982), 15. Letter on computer and photo-produced maps and archival records, Archifacts, 22 (June 1982), 603.

‘Major National Mapping Agencies of New Zealand’, Special Libraries Association. Geography and Map Division. Bulletin, 129 (September 1982), 58. ‘Map Transit and Storage’, Archifacts, 22 (June 1982), 591-6. ‘Microcartography: Applications for Archives and Libraries, edited by Larry Cruse’ (review), New Zealand Mapkeepers’ Circle Newsletter, 13 (November 1982), 12-14.

‘Washington Library Network: Maps’, New Zealand Mapkeepers’ Circle Newsletter, 12 (May 1982), 20-21. BUCHAN, A. and Hutt, F. Lecture on ephemera collection to the Friends of the Turnbull Library, 15 September 1982. Dell, S. E. ‘Maori Manuscript Collecting’, Archifacts, (March 1983), 13-14.

Hoare, M. E. ‘The Expedition of the St Jean-Baptiste to the Pacific 1769-1770 . . . , edited byjohn Dunmore’ (review), New Zealand Listener, 103 (2 April 1983), 84. Faces of Boyhood: an Informal Pictorial History of the Boys’ Brigade in New Zealand 1886-1982 (Wellington, 1982), 136 p. (comp, with Margaret Henry) ‘A Guide to Manuscripts Relating to Science in the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington’ (Wellington, 1982), 30p.

‘A Man on Edge: a Life of Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller, by Edward Kynaston’ (review), Historical Studies of Australian Science, 5 (1981), 123-25. (ed.) The Resolution Journal of Johann Reinhold Forster, 1772-1775, 4 vols (Cambridge, 1982), 831 p. Hakluyt Society, 2nd series, nos 152-155.

‘ “Skilled in Natural History and Drawing”; Johann Reinhold Forster and George Forster’, in The Journal ofH.M.S. Resolution 177 2-1115 by Captain James Cook (Guildford, 1981), p 56-72. ‘The Tattooed Land: the Southern Frontiers of the Pa Maori, by Barry Brailsford’ (review), Archifacts, 22 (June 1982), 604-5. The Board of Science and Art, 1913-1926: a precursor to D.5.1.R.; paper presented to a conference ‘The History of Science in New Zealand’, 12-14 February 1983.

LONG, M. ‘Alice Mabel Holdsworth, 1878-1963’, Turnbull Library Record, 15 (October 1982), 93-94. MINSON, M. F. Watercolours in the art collection; lecture to W.E.A. class, 25 March 1983. ‘John Barr Clarke Hoyte, 1835-1913’ (biographical note), in The Hoyte Prints 1982 (Wellington, 1982).

OLLIFF, P. M. The historical records of Wesley Methodist Church, Wellington, as a source for local history; paper delivered at the annual conference of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand, Dunedin, 27-28 August 1982. PALMER, J. M. ‘Scores of Sounds at the Alexander Turnbull Library’, Crescendo, 3 (1982), 8-9. Genealogical resources in the Alexander Turnbull Library; address to the Nelson Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists, 28 February 1983.

PARKINSON, P. G. Swainson and Abbot: relics in the Antipodes; paper presented to a conference ‘The History of Science in New Zealand’, Wellington, 12-14 February 1983. Salmond, R. M. C. ‘Jules Massenet’s Le Roi de Lahore ’; broadcast on Radio New Zealand Concert Programme, 24 September 1982. Sullivan, J. ‘The Tyrees of Nelson’ (biographical note), in Tyree (Wellington, 1982. ‘lmagers of a New Land’, Series 1).

Traue, J. E. From gentleman’s library to national collection; address to the Rotary Club of Wainuiomata, 16 March 1983. The purposes of the'Alexander Turnbull Library today; address to the Women Writers’ Society, Wellington, 9 November 1982. In addition members of the staff lectured to students at the Department of Librarianship, Victoria University; the School of Library Studies, Wellington Teachers’ College; and the School of Journalism at Wellington Polytechnic; and spoke on the Access Radio programme organised by the Friends of the Turnbull Library.

ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY

Chief Librarian: MrJ. E. Traue, MA, FNZLA

Assistant Chief Librarian: Miss M. Walton, MA, ANZLA Acquisitions Librarian: Miss D. M. Sherratt, BA Art Curator: Ms M. F. Minson, MA, DIP NZLS Art Librarian: Ms M. Long, BA, DIP NZLS Catalogue Librarian: Miss R. M. C. Salmond, BA, DIP NZLS First Assistant, Catalogue: Miss M. E. Donald, MA, DIP NZLS

Catalogue Assistants: Mrs H. Loftus, MA, NZLA CERT; Mrs B. G. Matthews, BA, NZLA CERT; Mr T. Ralls, MA Manuscripts Librarian: Dr M. E. Hoare, FLS First Assistant, Manuscripts: Mr D. C. Retter, MA Subject Specialist, Manuscripts: MrsJ. I. Starke, BA (hons), ANZLA Editor, National Register of Archives and Manuscripts: MissJ. Wild, BA, DIP LIBR Manuscripts Assistants: Mrs P. Olliff, BA, ALA; Mr K. L. Stewart, MA, DIP ED Maori Materials Subject Specialist: Ms S. E. Dell, BA (HONS), DIP NZLS

Map Librarian: Mr P. L. Barton, ANZLA Music Librarian: Miss J. Palmer, MA, DIP NZLS Photograph Librarian: MrJ. P. Sullivan, BA, DIP NZLS Reference Librarian: MissJ. V. Horncy, BA, DIP NZLS First Assistant, Reference: Mrs P. Sargison, BA (HONS), DIP NZLS Reference Assistants: Mrs A. L. Buchan, MA, DIP NZLS; Miss F. S. Hutt, BA, DIP LIBR; MissJ. A. Mclntyre, BA, DIP NZLS Serials Librarian: Mr P. G. Parkinson, BSC, DIP NZLS

HONORARY CONSULTANTS Dr A. G. Bagnall, OBE, FNZLA New Zealand bibliography and Regional history Mrs J. E. Paul, BA (HONS) New Zealand art history and Typographical design Mr A. A. St. C. M. Murray-Oliver, MBE, MA, FMANZ, ANZLA New Zealand and Pacific art Mr V. G. Elliott, MA, B.LITT., DIP NZLS Early printed books Mr D. G. Medway, LL.B.,FLS Historical ornithology