All images are courtesy of the Heritage Collections, Dunedin
City Library, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Programme for a show touring New Zealand to raise funds for
the country's
armed services during the Second World War
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Australasian
Ephemera Collections – Part 1: New Zealand
One of the four courses offered during this year’s Australian
& New Zealand Rare Book Summer School held at the State Library of Victoria
(SLVA), Melbourne, was ‘Ephemera: A Collector’s Key to the History of Books’.
Each morning the course instructor, Emeritus Professor Wallace Kirsop, lead us
on a highly informative tour through book dealer catalogues, type specimens,
printers’ and binders’ bills and labels, prospectuses, and other
bibliographical ephemera. In the afternoons, the class was treated to
presentations by some of the SLVA curators and paid a
visit to the rare books collection of Monash University.
Meeting my fellow classmates and learning about the
ephemera actively collected by two of Melbourne’s many cultural / educational
institutions piqued my curiosity: What other collections of ephemera – not only
in Australia but in New Zealand as well – are ‘out there’? Of course most
libraries and museums will have some ephemera in their collections, such as the
programmes printed on silk, railway pass and phrenological chart of Sir George
Grey’s head held in the Auckland City Libraries, Sir George Grey Special
Collections. Rather than attempt to record every institution, this post (the
first of two) aims to highlight those organisations that maintain dedicated
ephemera collections. It is hoped readers aware of other collections in New
Zealand and Australia will contribute to this list by way of comments.
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| Theatre programme, Oct 30 1926 |
The City Library Heritage Collections holds a
collection of over 400 pieces of ephemera relating primarily to Dunedin, but
touching on some national topics as well. Pamphlets, menus, printed
advertisements, brochures, all on a range of subjects. The collection is
particularly strong in theatre and music ephemera, and in material related to exhibitions
held in New Zealand and overseas.
In addition to this dedicated ephemera collection,
Robert McNab, who donated his collection of 4,200 books to the library in 1913,
also gave over multiple volumes of bound tracts and pamphlets.
N.B. The website states that the ephemera collection
is uncatalogued, which is now outdated information. The collection has been
fully catalogued and can be browsed in the library catalogue
[select ‘Power Search’ – drop-down menu ‘location’ – DP McNab Ephemera
Collection]
There are 140.5 archives shelves and
125.5 book shelves of printed ephemera, not including material held in the posters
collection or art ephemera.
The scope of the ephemera collection is
to support those of the other Hocken collections and encompasses general New
Zealand themes, and Otago and Southland in particular. It is representative
rather than comprehensive and includes material for its informative and/or
aesthetic value. Especial emphasis and priority is given to University of Otago
and Hocken Collections ephemera. Music ephemera relating to the Dunedin area, and
artists' and election ephemera for all of New Zealand are given priority. The
collection is strong in classical music, fine arts and the performing arts, as
well as educational and tourism material. Material ranges in age from the
nineteenth century to the current day.
Like McNab, Dr. T. M. Hocken’s 1908 gift
to the nation included bound tracts, programmes and book dealer catalogues.
[Description provided by Katherine
Milburn, Liaison Librarian (Ephemera), Hocken Library]
As a national repository, Te Papa’s collection is one
of New Zealand’s largest. Many of the museum’s separate collections, such as Artworks,
Fashion and the First World War each actively collect ephemera.
The National Library of New Zealand boasts the
country’s largest collection of ephemera. The Manuscripts, Drawings, Paintings
and Prints, and Special Printed departments all maintain ephemera collections.
In addition to the separate divisions mentioned above,
the Alexander Turnbull Library (part of the NLNZ) holds a printed ephemera
collection of more than 190,000 items from the 1840s to the present.
Included in the Naval Museum ephemera are leaflets, menus,
Christmas cards, event programmes, and fleet reviews.
Canterbury maintains three separate
collections of ephemera: theatre and concert programmes, art files, and general
ephemera.
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| Sir Edmund Hillary share certificate, issued to help support the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition |
[Guest post by Anthony Tedeschi, Rare Books Librarian,
Dunedin City Library]
