Notable Acquisitions

Turnbull Library Record, Volume 31, 1 January 1998, Page 90

Notable Acquisitions

English composer and editor Richard Bolley, who worked on the international journal Early music and then settled in New Zealand, deposited his collection in the Archive of New Zealand Music. These materials comprise 54 folders of vocal, instrumental and orchestral works from 1965-1997 and six sound recordings. The collection of New Zealand composer and teacher Hugo Anson, who became Fellow and Registrar of the Royal College of Music, London, was donated by the School of Music, University of Canterbury. It comprises 30 folders of music scores of several of Anson’s works, and his arrangements for two pianos of compositions by other composers, dating from 1919-1960.

Several large collections were added to the Ephemera Collection over the last year. These include a group of band and popular music posters from Rob Mayes of Christchurch; a collection of activist posters on environmental and political issues from Nicky Hager; and a collection of sales catalogues, advertising and popular prints from Dr Les Cleveland.

The long-awaited New Zealand historical atlas/Ko papatuanuku e takoto nei, was acquired after publication in October 1997. Edited by Malcolm McKinnon with Barry Bradley and Russell Kirkpatrick, cartography by Terralink NZ Ltd, and published by David Bateman in association with the Historical Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs, it marks an important milestone in New Zealand historical research and is a valuable addition to the Cartographic Collection. Several early manuscript maps were donated to the collection this year, including maps of the Grace family property near Taupo in the 1880 s (from Lady Dorothy Grace); maps of the Nelson/Marlborough region drawn by Maria Nicholson ca 1860 (from Mrs A.D. Payne); and the ‘Reconnaissance Map of Part of Fiord County’, by John Hay, District Surveyor, 1883 (from Miss Ursula Furkert).

Philip George Poppleton was the leader of team which established the meteorological station on Campbell Island in the International Geophysical Year, 1957/58. He returned as leader for the next two years, during which time he took the extensive collection of colour slides which he presented to the Library for the Photographic Archive in August 1997. These excellent images document all aspects of life on the island; construction work, social life, plant and animal life, and meteorological study.

A gap in the works of John Milton was filled with the acquisition for the Special Printed Collections of the second edition (1650) of Eikonoklastes, Milton’s attack on the Eikon Basilike of King Charles I. This second edition is a revision and enlargement of the first edition of 1649.

From the same era of the mid-17th century are 22 pamphlets and books by Milton’s contemporary, and his political adversary, Sir Roger L’Estrange. The collection,

generously donated to the Library by Professor D. F. McKenzie, significantly improves the Library’s holdings of L’Estrange.

Further donations of rare and early printed books included the engraved full score of Nicolo Jommelli’s oratorio La Passione di Nostro Signore (London, 1770), and 18th century editions of J.H. Knoop’s Pomologia, Fructologia and Dendrologia which include hand-coloured engraved plates of fruit and plants. A further 32 valuable items, including an edition of Sallust (1494), works of literature and history from the 16th to the 19th centuries, early Pacific voyages, and volumes featuring hand-coloured illustrations, were transferred from the Parliamentary Library.

Additions to the Archive of New Zealand Printing include Home light, one of 23 copies of the work of Bill Manhire, Nigel Brown and Chris Orsman printed during a residency in Antarctica, and other items from the newly-established Pemmican Press; and 57 items written or printed by the late Count Potocki of Montalk, from the bequest of P. J. Platts of Christchurch.

Recent acquisitions in the Oral History Centre include The Player Queens oral history project, which comprises interviews with twelve women who have made the transition from amateur to professional status as actors in New Zealand theatre. The actors include Dame Kate Harcourt, Davina Whitehouse, Alice Fraser, Dorothy McKegg, Bridget Armstong and Edith Campion. This collection will be of use particularly to researchers in theatre and women’s studies, and to social historians. Researchers interested in alternative lifestyles, hippiedom and the community experience may be interested in the acquisition of ‘Don’t Worry, They’ll Soon Go Away’, the Rainbow Valley Community oral history project. Most of the interviews in this project were made during the 21st anniversary of this community which has been in existence in the Takaka area since 1974.