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Transitions 17
Jane McRae) 17
The Trustees of the National Library are pleased and proud to be associated with Book & Print in New Zealand. When the proposal to develop a guide to print culture in New Zealand was presented in
As we look to the role of electronic resources in the century to come, and celebrate the enthusiasm for te reo Māori, it is timely to reflect on the impact of print culture on New Zealand. Book & Print in New Zealand presents a survey of the role of print culture in the economic, technological and intellectual life of our country which will appeal to a broad range of New Zealanders. It is particularly relevant to the research aims of the Trustees in that it will undoubtedly provide a stimulus to further research which will develop our knowledge of New Zealand culture and history.
The Trustees therefore welcomed the opportunity to support this publication and to be its major sponsor. We are delighted that further financial support has been provided by the Lottery Grants Board, and we would also like to acknowledge the amount of voluntary work which individuals and organisations have contributed to bring this publication to fruition. Foremost among these have been the members of the Humanities Society of New Zealand/Te Whāinga Aronui (HUMANZ). They have worked hard for several years to develop awareness for the need for a national research programme on the history of print culture in New Zealand, and to gather support for it to become a reality.
The Trustees congratulate HUMANZ on the successful completion of this part of the programme. We have no doubt that Book & Print in New Zealand will enhance the understanding of the role played by print culture in our bicultural society, and we look forward to the work which will build on this initial achievement.
Chair
Trustees of the National Library
Many people and institutions have been involved in the creation of this work, and the editors would like to thank in particular the following people for various help and personal encouragement:
We would also like to thank the following institutions for their practical support of the project:
For specific contributions we also acknowledge the Evening Post, the Ministry of Education, National Archives, Mataaliki Press and the Alexander Turnbull Library for granting permission to reproduce illustrations;
Funding grants from the Trustees of the National Library and the Lottery Grants Board provided financial support for a project which has grown in both scope and the number of people involved since it was initiated. The grants have not only covered the operating costs of the project, but enabled small payments to be made to the contributors and editors, and we were very pleased to receive this form of recognition.
But above all, the editors' warmest appreciation is due to the contributors for their great willingness to help with a project brought to completion in some 15 months. Like the editors, they too saw the great potential interest of the field of print culture, and were prepared to meet impossible deadlines in the cause of opening up the field and stimulating further research.
Throughout the project the editors have consulted at every point and acknowledge their joint responsibility for the work as a whole. For practical purposes the chapters were divided among the editors, with
While we have all made every endeavour to be comprehensive and accurate, there will no doubt be errors and omissions, for which we seek your sympathetic understanding.
We in Aotearoa New Zealand are culturally defined in many ways: through our relations with the environment and with each other, through our systems of belief and forms of government, and whatever else we have brought here or developed here. One quality in this many-stranded culture is so ingrained and widespread as to be easily overlooked. This is our dependence on the technology of printing. Printing, in all its phases of production, distribution, and reception influences our lives at every turn from cradle to grave. By means of printing we communicate, express ourselves, and store information. For Māori, print has been the most dramatic challenge to a 900-year oral tradition. To belong to our modern society is to have to cope with the printed word in all its forms. Schools teach us multiple uses of print, libraries are its storehouses. The producers of print, the printing and related industries,are of major importance to our New Zealand economy. Without printing we could not be governed. All these causes and effects are covered by the term 'print culture' which is the subject of this guide. The aim of this book, simply stated, is to explore the impact of printing on our New Zealand culture.
So long familiar and so pervasive is the printed word that we have tended to take it for granted, leaving the study of particular aspects to specialists. Only in the second half of this century have these discrete studies begun to integrate and move mainstream. In the 1980s and early 1990s national projects for the history of print culture, or the history of the book—the terms are more or less interchangeable—have been set up in a dozen countries overseas, including Great Britain, the United States, and in most countries of western Europe. Closer to home, the History of the Book in Australia project (HOBA) has recently instituted a concerted programme of research, encouraged by the holding of conferences, workshops, and the like. Plans are well advanced for a three-volume History of the Book in Australia to be published at the beginning of the new millennium.
New Zealanders, too, are rising to the challenge. The initial move towards our own national project in the Bulletin of the Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand, in its last issue for
Several reasons may be given for the rise of this new historical awareness. During the 20th century there has been a steady broadening in the scope of historical research. In France, the powerful movement towards more inclusive kinds of history, combining socio-economic and intellectual as well as political factors, is associated with Lucien Febvre and his so-called Annales school, named after the journal founded in l'histoire du livre (the history of the book). Scholars in the English-speaking world were moving along similar lines. The very title of The Printing Press as an Agent of Change (
Meanwhile, modern literary theorists for their part were insisting that the meaning of a literary text cannot be appreciated in isolation from the means of transmission and the society to which it belongs. Textual meanings, they argued, are the collaborative creation of all who participate in the processes of transmission. A text cannot therefore be properly understood without an enquiry into the conditions in which it is conceived, produced, and received.
All these things have led specialists in the many branches of the history of the book to see themselves as belonging to a wider and more unified field of enquiry. However, another pressure has been felt. Urgency has been given to such work by the acute sense that the rise of the new electronic media is rapidly revolutionising our traditional means of communicating through time and space. The long familiar means of producing print on paper are changing faster than the trade, or society at large, can cope. The death of the book is predicted. Libraries are full of computers and CD-ROMs. People have become used to speaking, hearing and seeing at a distance by means of the telephone, radio, television, and the computer. We use our personal computers to read, and to print and publish for ourselves, on paper, or, thanks to the Internet and the World Wide Web, on someone else's computer screen anywhere in the world.
It is time therefore for us to take stock of the traditional technologies and the ways they have affected our lives before the world we have lived in but not clearly known is changed and gone for ever. The need for a concerted effort to study the history of print culture in New Zealand is obvious. Elements of that history may be found to be similar to those being discovered in other countries, perhaps especially in other formerly British territories, such as Australia. However, what these similarities are will not be known until we look for ourselves at our own history. There are also bound to be significant differences, for our time and place is distinctively New Zealand. Above all, the meeting of an imported culture based on printing with the oral culture of the tangata whenua forms a special and fascinating part of our island story.
A major history is some years away. Such a work of synthesis must be based on a sufficient foundation of systematic research, and this foundation has yet to be laid.
Leading to this goal, but providing a valuable achievement in itself, Book & Print in New Zealand is the first comprehensive attempt to chart the many ways in which print culture in all its aspects has influenced our lives. The aim is primarily to introduce readers, general and specialised, to this rapidly developing subject by surveying the territory, noting work already done and indicating areas still to be explored. What is offered is a beginning, assembled with more haste than scholarship prefers. There is more to be said, even at the present level of broad survey. If this work elicits critical comment and additional insights and information, it will have achieved part of its aim.
The concept of a guide is simple, yet novel. No overseas models exist. In France and England well-funded programmes of research are linked to ambitious schemes for publication of massive histories. The Histoire de l'édition fraçaise is in four great volumes; the History of the Book in Britain is to be in seven. In early Studying New Zealand History, originally entitled Guide for Students of New Zealand History, first edition
The breadth of the subject was formidable—no less than all phases of the production, distribution, and reception of the printed word within New Zealand (not forgetting its overseas territories). The work would begin with the coming of print in
Developing the logical threefold scheme of production, distribution, and reception into the more numerous manageable sections of a book proved less easy. The transfer of meaning from author to reader calls for the services of intermediaries, each contributing to the total act of creation. The key functions are those of printer, publisher and distributor, it being understood that these labels cover any number of specialities. So far, so good. However, in the relatively small and unspecialised New Zealand economy, one person or one firm may play many parts. Functions, though neatly divisible in theory, tend in practice to be interconnected and overlap. This was especially true in the early days, but has not ceased to be so. For example, Henry Wise began in
This book was finally divided into six main chapters:
Chapter 1 (Transitions) is in two parts. The first, 'From Māori oral traditions to print' deals with the impact of an imported print culture on the existing Māori oral culture, and gives an overview of printing and publishing in the Māori language. The importance of this complex topic is by no means purely historical, for knowledge of the past has implications for language survival in the future. The second part is concerned with the development of an identifiable printed (and written) New Zealand English language.
Chapter 2 deals with printing and production (loosely interchangeable terms covering a host of processes, functions and agencies) from the 1830s up to the present day. The topic is treated under four main headings: technology, trade personnel, economics, and private or non-commercial printing.
Chapter 3 is on publishing. The term basically means 'uttering to the public' and is capable of the widest application. However, nowadays publishing is normally understood in a rather more limited sense, covering the choice of work to be printed, design and editorial activities leading up to production, the securing of finance, and lastly the initial phase of the distribution process. Most—though not all—modern publishers content themselves with wholesaling, leaving the final retailing stage of distribution to others. There are four main sections: the process of publishing, the publishers, general and regional studies, and categories of publications.
Chapter 4 (Distribution) contains three distinct topics and sections. The first two—bookselling and libraries—are concerned with the need to get printed materials to their final consumers. Libraries may be thought of as storehouses and centres of distribution, situated somewhere between bookseller and reader. In the third, attention is focused on book buyers and the book trade in general and on book collectors in particular. The latter are not only end users, but often remarkable gatherers of printed materials for the use of posterity.
Chapter 5 on readers and reading opens up a large topic: the development of attitudes to reading and literacy, including activities to increase interest in printed material and meet special needs. Book reviewing, literary criticism, and awards are also considered. A final section, 'Access tools', is a practical guide to the key reference works which support further print culture investigation.
Chapter 6 deals with print culture in languages other than English and Māori. There are two parts, the first dealing with the print culture of those Pacific Island languages with a New Zealand connection, the second with other languages brought into New Zealand from further afield.
If it was quite a task for the editors merely to outline so encompassing a scheme, the next was even more challenging. This was to find expert contributors, willing and able to construct a text on the foundation so laid. Wide consultation gradually identified suitable contributors. Those who accepted—and they were most of those first approached—showed a remarkably quick appreciation of what was being proposed, and a gratifying willingness to play their part, large or small. For the contributors perhaps the hardest job was to reduce large and often complex fields of knowledge into a relatively small space, without sacrificing clarity or precision of detail. In areas where little research had already been done, and contributors had themselves to engage in pioneering work, it was necessary, especially given the constraints of time, to divide up the tasks into more manageable units, and allot these to a larger number of people. This was the especially so for the Publishing and LOTEs (Languages Other Than English) chapters. It became clear that such smaller contributions should be allowed to retain much of their individuality, though within the general scheme, rather than for them to be forced into a stylistic and methodological straitjacket. It is hoped that the effect of varied approaches and styles, in broad conformity with the overall plan, will prove stimulating, for no one approach can give a rounded view of any subject. The result all in all should be seen for what it is: a work of very considerable originality, authority, and usefulness.
This book may be regarded as a report on the state of research into fields covered by the broad concept of print culture in New Zealand. What lessons are to be learned must largely be left for the reader to supply. There exists at present little or nothing in the form of major general studies, grounded on thorough research, and conducted to a professional standard. Print culture as an historical discipline may be judged not yet quite to be of age in this country. As for more particular studies, existing typically as pamphlets or articles in periodicals, there is often surprisingly much. The aim has not been to list all and every such piece, but to offer a broad view of each topic, and to select and report on the best or most modern studies in that area.
Now that this book is a reality, what next? The Humanities Society of New Zealand for its part is planning a range of research projects to build on the foundation so laid. It is hoped that others will follow. A pattern of annual conferences has been established to stimulate continuing work and present research findings to the growing community of interest. Readers who are surprised and pleased to learn how much has been achieved, should be delighted at the many enticing prospects of future discovery.
In accordance with current standard policy, the macron has been used to indicate long vowels in both Māori and Pacific Island words. The exceptions to this policy are in titles of books or articles (or other quoted material) where the original did not use the macron; in these cases the macron is not used. We acknowledge the assistance of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori/Māori Language Commission and
Captain
The first section, 'From Māori oral traditions to print', reviews the impact on existing Māori oral culture of the imported print culture—one impact in a period of profound social changes, and one to which Māori responded with enthusiasm. The section covers how the language became codified, the publication of Māori oral traditions, Māori use of writing and print in the 19th century, and an overview of publishing in Māori and by Māori through to the present day.
This approach to the history of Māori-European interaction from a print culture perspective refers to a wide range of publications, and identifies a number of important areas for further investigation and research. Detailed coverage of specific aspects of Māori language print culture (e.g. newspapers, literacy programmes) are covered in the later chapters.
The second section 'New Zealand English' describes the distinctiveness of and changes within our own variety of the English language—as it appears in print, where it responds more slowly to change than spoken New Zealand English. Current lexicographical research is also described, in which a major milestone has been reached in
The many interests of the meeting between Māori oral society and literacy are reflected in the range of those who write about it: literary historians, linguists, historians, enthusiasts of print and Māori culture. But theirs have been small studies which amount to a partial knowledge of this encounter, generating a sense of potential. Three issues are pertinent to a review of this literature and contemplation of future study.
First, the fact that Māori acquired literacy at a time of colonisation by the British is a critical determinant, but one balanced by the autonomy of Māori tribal society. Secondly, and a direct result of colonisation, is the fact that Māori use of writing and print is complicated by two languages. English displaced Māori as a first language, and Māori literature is in large part of both languages, in small part in Māori. The third issue arises from this dual language heritage, for at the time of their first encounter Māori and English were respectively of oral and literate traditions. Māori therefore came to experience those two traditions across both languages.
The assumption of literacy by Māori is not a straightforward, predictable history, although it compares with other oral peoples' response to literacy. What remains to be known is the situational detail of Māori literacy, which in turn could assist language survival, would acknowledge the singularity of Māori literature, and contribute to international scholarship on orality and literacy.
There are two kinds of first writing of Māori, one unsystematic but with human interest in the grappling with transcription of foreign sounds, and the other systematic, a serious, scientific conversion of Māori to written symbols. The first kind can be found in journals and travel narratives by late 18th-century and early 19th-century explorers, visitors and settlers such as Cook, Dieffenbach, Nicholas. Maori Pronunciation and the Evolution of Written Maori (The Legacy of Guilt (A Korao no New Zealand (
There are only brief histories of this remarkable innovation. Mission and Moko (Bible and Society (Oral Culture, Literacy & Print in Early New Zealand: The Treaty of Waitangi (
Linguists have drawn attention to the effect of the orthography on dialect,
The standardised spelling created some difficulty in comprehension, as is suggested by a rare printed example of Otago's First Book (A Word-list of South Island Maori (
The orthography represented the language sufficiently, however, for missionary translations and teaching of literacy. Māori evidently found it satisfactory for they used it effectively from the late 1830s, but their writing suggests that a more accurate alphabet might have resulted had the missionaries worked with them in refining it. Nineteenth- and 20th-century writing shows adjustment to the orthography, a claim to accuracy and pride in dialect. In a transcription and translation of Te Kāhui Kararehe's late 19th-century writing (Hicks's Maori Shorthand (A System of Shorthand for Maori (
Summarising the history of Māori in 'The Maori language past and present' (
Although accomplished readers of the symbols of art and landscape, Māori had had no form of alphabetic script and the transition of the oral language to a written form (in conjunction with the arrival of foreigners and colonisation) brought far-reaching changes to the content and traditions of language use which have yet to be fully documented. Two examples of change are neologisms and public access to traditional knowledge. Writing out the oral vocabulary did not alter meaning, but contact with Pākehā brought other words into it—either additional meanings were attributed to old words to signify new concepts and objects, or English words were transliterated to Māori sounds. Such additions, which may have originated orally, were reinforced in the literature. Another extraordinary result of writing was that traditional knowledge could be disseminated far beyond the reaches of a tribal audience. Access to oral or written texts may be circumscribed, by selection of an audience, by limited print runs. But it was a feature of Māori oral traditions to be closely controlled by the tribal group; with writing they could be communicated well outside its boundaries. Place names provide a case in point. Personal to and resonant of tribal life, they came to be spelled out on signposts, buildings, maps—the spelling and pronunciation of them becoming an issue of national debate in the 20th century. In recent times some tribes have refrained from published documentation of names which indicate sacred sites or resources.
Conventions associated with writing, and especially print, came with the orthography. For instance, consistency in spelling and punctuation, correctness in grammar, precision in word meaning, the layout of a written text—titles, chapters, paragraphing. In addition there were numbers, symbols and systems relating to money, weight, and time. Some of these had been specified in pamphlets and workbooks printed for missionary teaching and were apparent in published literature. But standards were made explicit, and served tuition in literacy and the progress of a literature, by grammars and dictionaries. These too were new to Māori, for the oral traditions did not record definitions of words or description of language components and structure. Both grammars and dictionaries could usefully be studied for their influence on usage, each providing evidence of its time, and bearing an authority which is often, though not always correctly, associated with print.
Clergy compiled the first published grammars and dictionaries; Māori were sometimes advisers. The first was Kendall and Lee's Grammar and Vocabulary (Grammar (Dictionary of the New Zealand Language and a Concise Grammar; several editions of First Lessons in the Maori Language (Dictionary of the Maori Language (
Dictionaries are also testimony to how the language has been used: most have been Māori-English, none all in Māori. The English-Māori lexicon was properly established with Biggs's Complete English-Maori Dictionary, and enlarged by English-Maori Dictionary (
The first Māori to produce a grammar was Maori-English Tutor and Vade Mecum (Let's Learn Maori (Te Rangatahi series (Te Reo Rangatira (
The reduction in use of spoken and written Māori over a long period is indicated by the purposeful creation in the late 20th century of a vocabulary for inventions, technological, scientific, and legal terms. The Māori Language Commission (established by statute in Te Matatiki (A Name and Word Index to 'Nga Mahi a nga Tupuna' (A Name and Word Index to 'Nga Moteatea' (
In the period up to
Stories of the mission presses (Māori were employed in some), the difficulties associated with production (the small number of letters must have been some relief), and details of the output of literature in Māori, are quite well covered in diverse sources, but could be covered in one specialist history. Colenso gives a personal account of his work in Fifty Years Ago in New Zealand (New Zealand Historic Places (no.44, Bibliography of the Literature Relating to New Zealand (Bibliography of Printed Maori to 1900 (
Up to
In this era of British aspirations to govern Aotearoa, two documents in Māori, the Declaration of Independence and the Ko Huiarau (
The Treaty of Waitangi (Ngā Tohu o te Tiriti: Making a Mark, which was published in
The continuing print legacy from the Treaty makes history. There is a rare published statement about it in Māori by
After Robinson Crusoe and Pilgrim's Progress, information about medicine, the keeping of bees and cultivation of tobacco, histories of Bibliography, as are the government newspapers in Māori begun in
The primary purpose of printing up to
The history of publication of Māori oral traditions, of the narratives, songs, sayings, and genealogies handed down over generations is, as some historians of literacy might expect, marked by length and quality of experience of literacy. The transition of the oral traditions to print would make a fascinating history. There is ample material for such research, as Williams's Bibliography, Bibliography of Publications on the New Zealand Maori (
When the oral traditions have come to print there have been mediators between the very different repositories of the Māori memory and literature. Pākehā published the first books of oral traditions in the 19th century from manuscripts written by Māori. They encouraged Māori into print as contributors to serials in the 19th century, and as authors of books and journals in the 20th century. By that time Māori were encouraging Māori into print. In the 19th century one motive for publication by Pākehā was to preserve the traditional knowledge which must have seemed dangerously ephemeral, not only oral but of a dying race. But there was also intelligent pleasure in the artistic compositions and some, like the typographer Coupland Harding who made it the subject of an article in Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute (
Maori Mementos (Davis, Ancient History of the Maori (
The complexities of the shift to print can be envisaged from the history of S. Percy Smith's bilingual The Lore of the Whare-wananga (
If bibliographers are correct in saying that form affects meaning, then there is reason to examine the impact of print on the oral traditions. A little of this has been done. Close comparison of Grey's published narratives with the Māori manuscripts reveals him as an intrusive editor by late 20th-century standards. Perhaps to please readers unfamiliar with oral style, he changed words, names, grammar, the order of events. Editing for a reader shifts the emphasis from the ear to the eye, and the isolated reader requires an explicitness unusual to the oral texts which were typically, although comprehensibly to tribal kin, oblique and elliptical. The public purpose of print pressed changes on that style. Print also brought translation to the oral traditions; it is rare for the oral literature to be only in Māori. Grey started that way, although he wrote prefaces in English. Almost all subsequent work has been bilingual, or a new literature retold in English. This rewriting began at the turn of the century and attracted Pākehā enthusiasts of Māori culture (
Publication also saw a shift from a tribal to a consolidated Māori content, and therefore fragmentation of the unified local tradition. As Simmons has shown (
Publishing of the oral traditions ensued from another practice of literacy, analysis and commentary. By this kind of work linguists and literary historians such as
Karanga Hokianga (
How Māori regarded, if they purchased, whether they read, early printed works of oral traditions remains to be known. Many provided material for books but were selective about what they offered. For some there were symbolic and practical aspects to publication—pride, preservation. Māori first published their traditional texts in 19th-century Māori newspapers and journals. At the turn of the century both Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute and the Journal of the Polynesian Society had Māori contributors, often in partnership with Pākehā translators such as Te Wananga, with the express intention of printing traditions, although it ran only two issues.
The production of books by Māori has been limited and invariably the work of Māori scholars, knowledgeable elders or those whose professions—in the church, university, government—required literate scholarship. This raises interesting questions about the nature of Māori literacy, of the kind explored in Norman Simms's Points of Contact (Te Toa Takitini and the Journal of the Polynesian Society between Nga Moteatea (Maori Music (
Since Grey's Ngā Kōrero a Mohi Ruatapu (Nga Iwi o Tainui (
There is no way of knowing whether, the circumstances being different, Māori would have printed more or less of their traditional knowledge. There is still adherence to the thinking and ways of an oral tradition. Few Māori have sought to publish their manuscript histories, perhaps because print serves a public who has long been indifferent to Māori culture, perhaps because they are family histories. There is sentimental attachment to the voice and face-to-face communication, a point made by Ngata in 'The Maori and printed matter' (
Māori react variously to publication. The most conservative refuse. Others value it as a means of preservation, a voice to future generations, a way of communicating world wide. More research could identify the scope and aspirations of Māori publishing, and discover whether the relatively limited publishing is a consequence of a recent history of literacy, colonisation, language loss, or religious views about the traditional knowledge, and whether use of print is essentially response to a crisis, to save this knowledge for the next generations of Māori. If this is the motive, it is quite different from an active choice of print to publish for common knowledge.
Māori use of writing and print in the 19th century occurred in a time of profound, often aggressive change. If writing had been introduced without colonisation and Māori had chosen at their own pace and in their own way how, even if, to use these arts, there would have been a different story. But very soon after the introduction of writing, Christianity and British government were exerting considerable force on their way of life. Undoubtedly Māori were influenced, maybe indoctrinated by print but they were not passive in reply to it, they argued the reasoning in Scriptures with missionaries and challenged government by their own use of it.
Māori began reading and writing in the early 1800s. There is ample account of and some disagreement about their literacy. Parr's articles (
There are ample records, however, to leave no doubt as to Māori people's discriminating and efficient use of literacy and literature in their own language in the 19th century. Excitement over, enchantment with, demand for, and intelligent reply from reading and books are reported in the studies referred to above. But more might be discovered about the habits of readers, for instance, what was read most, at all, of the government papers and Christian tracts listed in Williams's excellent guide as to what was available to read. When and where did people read? What response was there to an inanimate object rather than a person, informing the solitary reader? Did the predominance of Christian, of foreign literature estrange the reader from their own society? Most reported interaction over literacy has been about missionaries and Māori, Pākehā writers and Māori colleagues, chiefs and government, with less about that between Māori and Māori, individual and tribe, elder and young.
The Bible, the sole literature for many for a long time (well into the 20th century it was the only literature in Māori some read), provides one measure of response. Māori may have found it attractive because of similarities to the oral traditions—the genealogies, psalms, moral, mythological stories, the rhetorical, oblique, poetical mode. Lineham has relevant information on acquisition, use and reaction to the Bible (
That the Bible was well read and understood is evident from reports of memorising of long passages, and from quotations and allusions to characters, stories and Christian morality in songs, stories, articles and speeches. As histories of these individuals and movements recount, the Bible's deepest impression is to be found in the writings of 19th-century prophets and printed records of syncretic religious movements—Te Ua Haumēne and the Pai Mārire, Te Kooti and the Ringatū Church, Tāwhiao and the King Movement. The Bible is said to have been the only literature which the prophet Te Whiti kept, but he and Tohu banned the Pākehā's tool of writing at their Parihaka community in the late 19th century. (Mervyn McLean, collecting songs in the 1960s for his work on Māori music (
The missionaries refrained from producing reading which might distract their pupils from the faith. But from the late 1840s other literature became available—grammars and dictionaries, books of the oral traditions, the government's assortment. How much of this Māori read might be gauged from references to it in their writing. Māori read government, church and their own newspapers, as is apparent from correspondence in them. Letters also attest to a Māori readership of late 19th-century journals, although it is noticeable that these are from tribal leaders, colleagues of Pākehā publishers of traditions, those in the church or prominent in government. The general Māori population's reading habits may have been different. A survey of reading would also refer to government literature, the Gazette, Acts, Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHR), printed reports of meetings, Parliamentary debates, and, from the 1860s, the literature associated with the Native Land Court. Since this was all vital to political contest, it was possibly as well as if not more widely read than the Bible.
Exceptional evidence of how and what Māori wrote after first acquiring this skill lies in the large extant stock of 19th-century Māori letters and manuscripts. Large collections are held in the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, the Hocken Library in
Letters dated from the 1830s offer outstanding material for enquiry into Māori use of writing and print. The popularity of letter-writing is noted in all the studies of literacy cited above. Pleasure in conversation with those at a distance led to letters being delivered on paper, slate, leaves. As personal, individual examples of writing they provide evidence of use of the orthography, representation of dialect, development of a writing style—letters often follow the formalities of oratory (as heard in speeches on the marae), beginning with traditional greetings, closing with a song. The topics of letters are also instructive. They were a means of expressing personal feelings, of making requests (often for pens, paper, ink, books), and especially of discussing political matters. Formal and informal letters in Māori can be found in great number in the papers of officials of church and government—Bishop
Selwyn, AJHR), and in letters to newspapers and journals. The sense of an audience in this public readership brought rhetorical strategies to pen; argument, challenge and provocation typical to oral performance were transferred to a written forum. Letters have been reproduced in published histories and in Porter and Macdonald's anthology of women's letters (
Another way in which Māori used writing was to record domestic matters. There are diaries and personal records of monies, family celebrations, meetings, problems. There are biographical details about family members—for example, an account of his life dictated in Renata's Journey (1994a) and accounts of other journeys are examined in her PhD thesis (1994b). Such annotated translations of 19th-century writing—as Curnow's of Te Rangikāheke's writing (
Especially important is the writing which records the oral traditions, the copies that were made of songs, genealogies, sayings, histories, and the explanations of customs and rituals. From the late 1840s Māori recorded their traditions either because they saw the oral practice changing or because they enjoyed writing out the memorised texts. Some did this entirely for their own use and many such records have stayed at home, some have been delivered over to public archives. Others were encouraged by friendship, money, pens and paper, to supply interested Pākehā, and their writing remains in the papers of, for example,
Māori created many written records in response to government, possibly so time-consuming an occupation that it obviated other uses of literacy. Their own political organisations generated letters, circulars, minutes of meetings, submissions to government. Private minuting of Māori Land Court sittings and committees became precious books of family history, copies often made or new information added with each generation (and this writing continues). The Court (like the contemporary
Nineteenth-century Māori wrote for numerous reasons, each an object of interest, together an informative history. They wrote as memory, to record daily activities, to instruct the next generations; they wrote as a social pleasure —to friends, to work out problems of arithmetic (and later to record commercial activities); they wrote to satisfy others' desire for knowledge—sometimes in this they wrote for money; they wrote as a matter of political acumen.
Active, autonomous use of print began for Māori with the publication of newspapers as a direct answer to the government papers. A history of these newspapers would be timely, for they are an unusual source of Māori opinion and activities. Williams gives details about many in his Bibliography. Articles about Māori printers (there was an interesting conceit amongst some 19th-century Pākehā printers to transliterate their names to Māori) and presses record something of the newspaper history: Te Hokioi o Niu Tireni (Te Pihoihoi Mokemoke (
A Pākehā, C.O.B. Davis, was instrumental in encouraging Māori to collect money for a press and production of papers. Several independent papers were printed between Te Paki o Matariki (
Māori use of writing and print in the 19th century was apposite and gradual, a response to both internal cultural change and external government. In some situations Māori were fast and focused in using literacy to contend with settlers and government; in others, as with the oral traditions, they were slower and considered. By the end of the century, with the growing ascendancy of English, Māori were becoming dependent on literacy at least in that language. But practices of the oral traditions remained—the oral arts on the marae, the oral communication of traditional knowledge (despite recording it on paper) in tribal meetings or from elders to the young, all continued into the 20th century.
There could be interesting histories of Māori publishing in the 20th century which address matters such as the range and style of publications, the individuals and tribes who produced them, the intended and actual readership, the extent of Māori literacy, what education initiatives—the Kōhanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori and tribal universities—have brought to print, what publication tells of the future of the language. This research would inform current thinking about language survival and identify future publications.
There are a number of ways in which a Māori literature with its own emphases and characteristics has come to national notice in the 20th century. Researchers have learnt of its range through Taylor's comprehensive bibliography (Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English also singled out the literature as a special yet integral part of national publishing. This kind of juxtaposition of English and Māori literature has rarely occurred—the 1980s Penguin anthologies of New Zealand poetry with songs in Māori and English are other examples. The rarity derives in part from the fact that there is little public appreciation of this literature. Until very recently it was not taught as part of school and university curricula. It is not uncommon to hear or read in letters to the newspaper, opinion of the kind which, it is said, led to the rejection of
The shift to greater awareness of this literature might be attributed to Māori themselves who, since the 1970s, have strongly asserted their cultural identity and set out to reclaim a cultural heritage diminished by colonisation. This has involved extensive research into family and tribal history for personal satisfaction and for submission of claims on land and possessions to the
Increased demand for Māori materials especially by Māori researchers has led to better cataloguing of them and to appointment of specialist librarians. There has been published documentation of collections, National Archives' Guide to Māori Sources (Ngā Pou ārahi (
In terms of preferred publications, the 20th century is like the 19th in that serials retain an important place. The churches' continued acknowledgement of the language is expressed in periodicals. Meeting religious and secular interests, and all in Māori, some ran on from last century, others started anew, but circulation of them ceased around the 1960s: Te Toa Takitini from the Church of England and the Presbyterian Te Waka Karaitiana are well known examples. The Journal of the Polynesian Society saw most participation by Māori and of Māori material around the turn of the century and up to the 1950s. Cultural and linguistic custom, historical traditions, contemporary issues were the subject of articles and debate between Māori and Pākehā subscribers. Since then Māori content has been slight and from academics. Other journals have published articles and oral texts in the language but, like the Journal of the Polynesian Society, have been primarily in English: Te Ao Hou (Te Karanga (He Pukenga Kōrero (Mana (
In the late 20th century there has been a resurgence of newspapers. They are regionally or tribally based and report local and national news. There is also an occasional serialised literature in Māori—pamphlets, booklets, newsletters. In these later serials there is a clear sense of Māori purpose and readership which, however, is not exclusive, not only because (unlike those of last century) they have only sections in Māori, but because they report on Māori life which is now intrinsically bicultural.
Māori began the more substantial (in time, cost and expertise) publishing of books this century. The teaching texts have been referred to but by the end of the century there were diverse books in Māori and English and, like the serials, these were serving Māori needs. Books of the oral traditions are discussed above and demonstrate the significant role of scholars such as The Merchant of Venice (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (
As the century has progressed more Māori have published in Māori. There has been writing in new genres, including non-fiction (to use a literary term): Barlow's bilingual descriptions of cultural concepts Tikanga Whakaaro (Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau (1990-96), the Māori editions of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. All these are new kinds of writing, intended for a public readership, which test the resources of the little-used language.
Reprints are another way in which the literature has grown. A substantial trio in Māori—and without translation, suggesting a new readership—reproduced writings by Ngāti Porou elders,
A statement of the scope of Māori writing, particularly of that in English, is made in the five volumes of Te Ao Mārama (1992-96) edited by South Pacific Literature (
Literature helped Māori cross the divide between the oral traditions and English. If capitulation to English was disappointing, it at least enabled the vital human habits of composing stories and poetry and led to the renowned work of writers such as Keri Hulme and Hōne Tūwhare. As the fiction of Patricia Grace and Potiki (Pounamu, Pounamu (The Whale Rider (Pilgrim's Progress, insofar as it is publishing with an intention other than the author's, in this case to promote the language.) But there has been little original fiction in Māori. Some short stories appeared in Te Ao Hou in the 1950s and 1960s, a small collection Ngā Pakiwaitara a Huia, was published in
Since the 1980s the amount of publishing of literature for children has been striking, some is included in the fourth volume of Te Ao Mārama (
Major incentives for Māori publishing in the 20th century might be posited as to turn the tide of language loss by provision for teaching, and to preserve traditional knowledge. But there are signs—the newspapers, children's literature, and writing in English—that publishing has broader objects, perhaps the typically literary use of making ideas, knowledge, and stories public. Most publishing has been funded by government, through educational institutions or funds designated for literature and the arts. Self-sufficiency in publishing has been rare, economically difficult, but as Māori have gained economic and cultural autonomy, there has been a move to independent publishing. There are certain long-standing centres of production such as churches of different denominations and of the Māori faiths of Ringatū and Ratana, which publish Māori prayer and hymn books, new editions of the Māori Bible, journals. Limited funds, the small potential readership, sometimes the speed with which things are produced, have led to the corpus of Māori literature having numerous small, plain, functional items—typescripts, pamphlets, booklets, newspapers—put out in small print runs, often by desktop publishing. These have a limited circulation, easily disappear and do not make an impression on the market, yet much can be learnt from this casual, fragile literature. It is also witness to how print is used—to commemorate the opening of a meeting-house or a family reunion. Print is also engaged to proclaim the importance of the language, to urge speaking of it—Māori words, songs, quotations, appear on calendars, posters, clothing, advertising.
A comprehensive survey of 20th-century printing might also confirm a change in publishers' attitudes to Māori literature. Previously wary of the small readership, there has been specific promotion from university presses and the publishing houses of Penguin, Reed in particular (who have long
supported it), and
New initiatives in publishing brought attention back to concerns which translators of the Bible faced last century about the orthography and standards for print. The Māori Language Commission has played a key role in specifying conventions for marking of long vowels, word breaks, spelling, hyphenation in names. This work, which predicts a future for publishing in the language, has been done to encourage use of Māori in print, for teaching purposes, and in concert with editors of pioneering projects such as the Māori volumes of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. The need for this is indicated too by the standard of public notices in Māori; these often show a lack of familiarity with written conventions, a tendency to write the language as it is spoken. The Commission has communicated its recommendations for printed modern Māori in booklets, pamphlets, and its Māori newsletter. It has contributed significantly to the quality and quantity of printed Māori by translation of all kinds of public documents, newspaper advertisements, job descriptions, notices. This proliferation of public documents in Māori is perhaps a consequence of the
If Māori sometimes seem uninterested in, even averse to, literature, it may be because some books about them have been antithetical to their reality or produced without acknowledgement of their contributions or without their authority. Michael King registers opinion on this in 'Some Maori attitudes to documents' (
Although this brief survey suggests a limited, highly selective, even predominantly scholars' use of print by Māori for literature in Māori and English, it is not sufficient an investigation to attribute reasons for this. Further research might assess how the enduring oral traditions, colonisation, and cultural custom have determined Māori use of the utilities of literacy. If there had not been the experience of colonisation, it may have been that Māori would not have chosen to use print as a primary technology, as some oral societies new to print have done. But language loss is evidently one reason for the paucity of literature in Māori. Print demands sophistication with written language, if not from the writer then at least from editors and publishers. That sophistication is acquired when language is used as a first language and there is schooling in it. One overriding aspect of almost two centuries of Māori use of writing, print and publishing has been the continuing decline in the number of people who speak Māori as a first language. Moreover, Māori has only relatively recently been taught in schools and universities, the very places which prepare people to publish. In view of this the fact that there is so much printing in Māori is remarkable. Print cannot do what speech can, keep the language alive, and that is an imperative for many Māori. Print meantime plays a role towards that and, in addition, maintains the language as a revered object of study for future scholars of Māori and of the history of humanity.
Like other national and regional forms of English, the New Zealand variety is most distinctive in its oral rather than in its written and printed realisations. New Zealanders, just as Australians, South Africans and so on, are recognised above all by their speech, by features of accent inevitably present in every spoken New Zealand utterance.
The written form of English around the world is more uniform (apart from spelling variants) than the spoken form and has changed little since standard written English was established by 15th- and 16th-century printers and subsequently enshrined in the earliest English grammars and dictionaries.
A New Zealand scientific paper, company report or love poem, for example, may well contain no linguistic markers at all of its New Zealand origin or authorship. This is because the grammar of English (especially formal English) in New Zealand, including spelling, is virtually indistinguishable from that of British English. Such differences as do exist are matters of relative frequency of certain forms and constructions—greater preference in New Zealand for singular verbs with collective nouns like 'committee', for example—and are revealed only by detailed sociolinguistic analysis.
Thus no separate grammar of New Zealand English has yet been written, since grammars of British English have hitherto been considered adequate to describe (and prescribe) New Zealand usage also. This state of affairs was for the greater part of this century encouraged by educators and authorities (such as Professor
Where New Zealand English in print does differ from its equivalent elsewhere the major indicators of that difference are lexical, not grammatical. Lexis or vocabulary is the other level besides accent at which New Zealand English is distinctive, in both words and meanings. There are many words found only in New Zealand English ('marae', 'morepork'), while other words ('mainland', 'mufti') have acquired individual meanings here which are either additional to or substitutions for those used in general English. New Zealand words and meanings may or may not have specific reference to New Zealand itself ('mānuka' versus 'mocker' = 'clothes', 'gear'). Also, many are shared with Australian English ('mob' (of sheep etc.), 'mullock'), largely as a consequence of the common colonial experience of the two countries.
Unlike accent features which pervade all spoken discourse, lexical features are occasional, sporadic, and very much a product of subject and purpose. If the writing in question deals with specifically New Zealand themes and topics, the use of New Zealandisms is natural enough. We will expect vocabulary drawn from te reo Māori in writing on Māori subjects, New Zealand agricultural terms in farming publications, words relating to our distinctive social institutions and practices in political journalism, and so on. Proper names also play a significant part in identifying writing that originates in this country.
Literary artists wishing to represent the unselfconscious, colloquial speech of New Zealanders in print must also rely largely on lexical features. Critics sometimes claim to detect New Zealand 'accents' in novels and other fiction, but with occasional exceptions (usually comic and satiric) what is reproduced on the page—indeed all that can satisfactorily be reproduced—is New Zealand vocabulary and idiom. Slang often acquires a printed form in this way. The accent may be projected onto the text by the reader, but it is rarely indicated overtly.
Most New Zealand words and usages, like most new elements in all vocabularies everywhere, are initially coined or borrowed in the spoken language and only subsequently set down in writing. The earliest examples of this process here are traceable to the first English speakers to visit Aotearoa and their encounters with an unfamiliar natural environment and indigenous culture. Words borrowed from Māori, various compounds for flora and fauna, etc., first acquire a printed form in the works associated with Cook's voyages. More appear in the early 19th-century accounts of Savage, Nicholas and all subsequent travellers and colonists whose observations about this faraway land were written down and set before a fascinated British readership.
This New Zealand vocabulary was not at first part of New Zealand English, since that did not yet exist. It circulated at first (ephemerally) in
By the end of the 19th century, the English vocabulary in Australia and New Zealand had assumed a sufficiently different character from that in Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages (Oxford English Dictionary, was the first work to record at least some of the Māori words and other New Zealand forms found in 18th- and 19th-century publications. Also in Webster's International Dictionary. After this initial flourish, Australasian lexicography virtually ground to a halt for nearly two-thirds of the 20th century. Dictionaries compiled in England, especially those of the Oxford 'family' including the Concise and Pocket Oxfords (first editions 1911 and 1924 respectively) became standard reference works in New Zealand also, though they contained almost no Australasian usage. The educational climate in particular did not encourage recognition of linguistic difference in New Zealand, though at least one school dictionary in the 1930s had a short supplement of Australian and New Zealand vocabulary.
One or two substantial specialist accounts of the local vocabulary also appeared, for example 'A sheep station glossary' by L.G.D. Acland (The Early Canterbury Runs, Journal of the Polynesian Society, Slang Today and Yesterday (3rd ed.
Colloquialism and slang were felt to be the main (and therefore somewhat disreputable) way in which New Zealand usage was distinctive from English elsewhere, a view evidently reflected in the title of New Zealand Slang: A Dictionary of Colloquialisms (
Australasian supplements to British dictionaries reappeared in the 1960s, one appended to the local edition of the Collins Contemporary Dictionary (Pocket Oxford Dictionary (Heinemann New Zealand Dictionary, ed.
This was followed by a New Zealand edition of the New Collins Concise English Dictionary, and the Collins New Zealand Compact English Dictionary (both editions by Ian Gordon, 1982 and 1985), and by Burchfield's New Zealand Pocket Oxford Dictionary (
A further lexicographical landmark was the first substantial publication consisting solely of New Zealand usage, Elizabeth and New Zealand Dictionary (Dictionary of New Zealand English (
Aside from lexicography, most of the published work on New Zealand English to date has centred on pronunciation rather than printed uses, but notable general accounts include J.A.W. Bennett's article, 'English as it is spoken in New Zealand' (The English Language in Australia and New Zealand (The Cambridge History of the English Language (
Since the early 1980s there has been a rapid growth in teaching and research activity in the field of New Zealand English in the country's universities, particularly those of the four main centres. New Zealand English has become the subject of intense scrutiny in the context of a world wide surge of interest in all varieties of English. A periodical devoted exclusively to New Zealand English studies, the New Zealand English Journal (formerly Newsletter), published annually by the Department of English at the University of Canterbury since
New Zealand is unusual among English-speaking countries in making its own form of the language a topic for study in schools; textbooks written by New Zealand English, Finding a New Zealand Voice, New Zealand English and English in New Zealand,
Corpus studies are a further element in the New Zealand English research picture. Victoria University is home to the one-million-word Wellington Corpus of Written New Zealand English, completed in
This section deals with printing and production in New Zealand between
Under these broad headings will be found a number of particular topics as the subject requires.
Some overlap with the section on publishing is inevitable, since some firms have carried out both printing (in all departments, including binding) and publishing, and often other functions as well, such as bookselling and stationery trading. Histories of newspapers and periodicals are to some extent also relevant to this section, because they include the histories of their production processes; moreover, the firms which have produced them have in most cases been involved concurrently in general and jobbing printing.
The printing industry has always been subject to changes in technology and in ownership, yet up to a couple of decades ago the structural organisation of the print materials production industry remained relatively stable. However, from the 1970s onward the pace of change has hugely accelerated. Computerisation and the introduction of new categories of copying machines have not only brought major changes in the ways print materials can be produced, they have also made possible radical organisational changes. In the 1990s, while there are still some printing firms, especially in provincial towns, that continue to operate in terms of long-established modes of organisation, much of the kinds of work traditionally carried out by the printing industry is dispersed to typing/word processing businesses, copy centres using sophisticated photocopiers and laser print copiers, and stationery supply stores, operating as chains or buying associations. Moreover, for relatively small runs, many organisations that previously provided business for printers can now carry out 'desktop' print production in-house, using their own computers, scanners, high quality printers, and copiers. Any individual with access to such resources, and sufficient funds, can embark upon self-publishing. Some material is published electronically only, to be downloaded by individual users.
Accordingly, the historiography of print materials production can be envisaged as, for the period up to the 1970s, largely a matter of identifying and describing relatively slow-changing technologies, and patterns of organisation of the printing and related trades, according particular attention to their initial establishment. While it has to recognise a period of substantial change within the period 1890 to 1914, with the introduction of hot-metal typesetting, photo-engraving, rotary presses for newspapers, offset presses, and electric power, together with major growth in worker and employer organisations, it should also stress the continuities throughout this period, and the decades of relative stability thereafter. Since about
The New Zealand printing industry has always had to accommodate the pressures of competition from larger scale overseas enterprises. Before about Printing and Publishing in New Zealand (
Shifts in the economics of print material production are thus of major importance, and involve not only factors within New Zealand but also exchange rates, relative wage and paper costs, the level of sophistication of offshore production facilities, international or bilateral trade agreements, and the policies of other governments.
Historically, since
The technology of printing had to be imported into New Zealand, accompanied by the skilled operators. The central processes were, and are, composition (once involving literally the setting of type, but now, in the new technology, better described as keyboarding) and presswork (the multiplying of copies by means of machines, ever more sophisticated). Equipment and skills came directly from
Of the relatively few scholarly studies of New Zealand print production, the majority have been directed to the 1840s and 1850s. For later periods, such historical studies, and overviews of contemporary situations, as have appeared, have mostly originated from within the trade itself.
A.G. Bagnall's A Reference List of Books and other Publications associated with the New Zealand Centennial 1840-1940 (A History of Printing in New Zealand 1830 -1940, ed.
This History contains 13 cogent essays, including two by the editor himself, and concludes with two lighter hearted pieces, and valuable biographies of some of the more prominent individuals of the trade, with details of the firms they were associated with. Andersen's essays on 'Early printing in New Zealand' and 'Maori printers and translators' remain useful, with later studies filling in further details. They are based upon Colenso's Fifty Years Ago in New Zealand, with additional material from the papers by T.M. Hocken ('The beginnings of literature in New Zealand: Part II') and Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. These sources retain some independent interest: Hill's paper, for example, includes a useful commentary upon Colenso's 'Day and Waste book' (now held in the
While most of these essays are relatively limited in the detail they provide, they remain sound introductions to their respective areas, and are often at their most valuable where the writers, a distinguished group, were working from firsthand knowledge.
New Zealand for the 'Spread of Printing' series, made a noble effort at a survey, accurate as far as it goes but severely limited by the insufficiency of material to draw on. In Early Printing in New Zealand in their series of booklets on the printing industry; this concentrated on the technology rather than the people. Most recently, 150 years of Printing in New Zealand (
Regional studies are scarce. Printing in Canterbury (Centenary 1862-1962 publication of the Wellington branch of the Printing and Related Trades Union (Contributions to the Early History of New Zealand (Otago Settlement) (
Recent more systematic scholarship is best represented by the theses of Printing and the Book Trade in Early Nelson, The Making of Wellington 1800-1914 (eds. Hamer and Nicholls) cover different angles of what is the same general ground. The first of these was reprinted in Early Printing in New Zealand (
Sources for historical studies are widely scattered. The primary documents are the products of the presses themselves, catalogued principally in the New Zealand National Bibliography to 1960 ed.
As a newspaper press was usually the first, and often the only, printing firm in any settlement, the newspaper history will be a significant source of local information on printing. Guy Scholefield's Newspapers in New Zealand (
Individual newspapers, usually in the main cities, and their owners have been the subject of several theses, most of which concentrate on the editorial history and the political relationships; and historical accounts of some newspapers have appeared in the journals published by local historical societies, and even more frequently in the newspaper itself if it has survived. Most local history journals have been indexed in Index to New Zealand Periodicals (1941-86), and more recently in Index New Zealand (Brief History of the Press: Napier and Hastings Newspapers (
Many newspaper firms, and other printing companies, have produced historical publications at the times of their own centennials, which provide useful information not only about themselves, but also about predecessor firms, and often about their relations with other firms in the same city. A notable example is Coulls Somerville Wilkie's history of its own development (probably by Invicta News, in 1945-47, but the typescript version, in the company archives in the Hocken Library, is more inclusive.
A valuable overview of printing technologies at a certain period was provided by H.B. & J.'s Handbook (
An annual overview of the general state of the printing industry was traditionally provided in presidential addresses to the conference of the national Master Printers' Federation. Between 1935 and 1951 these were published in its journal Printing Prestige. Brief reports on printing and publishing can be found in the annual editions of the New Zealand Official Yearbook, usually within the articles headed 'Publishing', and valuable statistics for printing and associated industries in the 'Manufacturing' section.
The work of print material production in this country extends well beyond what can be found in the bibliographies mentioned above. Even for books and pamphlets, there are some categories of items of a modest nature for which Hocken, Bagnall and others would have included, at most, only the earliest printings. A good deal of the 'bread and butter' book work that has kept New Zealand printing houses busy was excluded by Bagnall, such as reprints of school books and cookery books. The latter deficiency is covered by School Books Published in New Zealand to 1960 (
There is, unfortunately, no complete listing of serial titles published in New Zealand, let alone a proper bibliography. Hocken (Index to New Zealand Periodicals and Index New Zealand. However, these recent sources can only be used to identify titles already known of through other sources.
For non-book work, there are such sampling works as The New Zealand Poster Book 1830-1940 (New Zealand in the Mid-Victorian Era: An Album of Contemporary Engravings (Early Prints of New Zealand 1642-1875 (The Postage Stamps of New Zealand (Auckland Star's Brett's Christmas Annual, the Christchurch Press's New Zealand Illustrated, the Otago Daily Times & Otago Witness Christmas Annual, and, for the weeklies, the Weekly News Christmas Number and the New Zealand Free Lance Annual. There are also the files of magazines. From the 1950s onward, such journals as Printers'
News, The New Zealand Printer and Graphix have exemplified in their illustrations the processes they documented. There are collections of ephemera, such as the collections of printed music, and of theatre programmes, in the Turnbull, Hocken and Auckland Public Libraries.
The records of individual printing or publishing houses (they were often the same institution in the period before about
Some production records of Whitcombe & Tombs from the early 1920s, held by Whitcoulls Publishers Ltd,
Harvey, in his paper 'Towards a bibliography of New Zealand newspapers' (1989a), notes some of the most useful sources for newspaper history. The 19th-century journals New Zealand Press News and Typographical Circular (1876-79) and the Colonial Printers' Register (1879-81) published by Australasian Typographical Journal (1870-1916) was principally Australian in coverage but did include some New Zealand items. Much more significant for its coverage was R. Coupland Harding's Typo (1887-97) which was intended for the industry as a whole, employers as well as workmen, and produced a valuable commentary on all aspects of developments in the trade. The Wai-te-ata Press edition of Selections from Typo (Printers' News (Printing Prestige.
An outstanding collection of typesetting machines, presses and other equipment, most of it in working order, is at the Printers' Workshop, Ferrymead Historic Park, in
Exhibitions have included 'The Printer's Art: An Exhibition of Printing', which opened in Wellington on Printing Prestige, 7 (Printing Prestige, 16 (Printed in Auckland: Book Production and Design Past and Present. In Art of the Book, compiled by
The technology of printing has been entirely imported and all significant changes have been introduced from the European or North American places of invention. Detailed information about the techniques can be found in the printers' manuals of England or A New Introduction to Bibliography (The American Printer 1787-1825 (
Technical innovations can be traced through the contemporary trade journals. The most common sources were British journals such as the British Printer (London, Inland Printer, although other sources were also available. Individual manufacturers of machinery and other equipment would advertise in the local trade journals, and the Australian firms of printers' brokers could supply trade literature. Later in the 19th century, several New Zealand firms added the function of printers' broker to their other areas of activity; their identity must be discovered through their advertisements in the New Zealand or Australian trade journals such as Typo or, at a later date, Printers' News, the journal of the Master Printers' Federation.
In the 20th century, on the whole, New Zealand print production processes have exhibited an accelerated pace of technological change, keeping not far behind developments in the larger, more heavily industrialised countries. Even so, older technologies persisted for a long time in niche areas, as in the continuing use of hand-set type for advertisements or posters, and of manual presses for proofing (see, for an example, William Cameron, Centenary of a Press,
Hardware (typesetting machines, presses, guillotines, bindery presses, etc.) and new skills have still had to be imported. Type and ink have also been imported extensively, although local manufacturers, such as the ink-making firm Morrison & Morrison (ceased
Agencies for overseas suppliers, new migrants, travelling New Zealanders, overseas trade journals such as those already mentioned, and Penrose's Pictorial Annual, and advertisements in their own journals, have kept New Zealand printers in touch with overseas developments and induced them to invest in new plant. A representative collection of text resources which had been acquired and consulted by printers is documented in the Catalogue of Printing Technical Books (Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, vol.3).
The New Zealand Patent Office Journal (Journal was established the annual report of the Patent Office (AJHR H.1,
Probably the most notable of local inventors was Penrose's Pictorial Annual (1908-09) describes his process, and the contribution of a The Inky Way (New Zealand Pictorial News.
There has been only one general survey of developments in the technology of printing in New Zealand, the work of Reports and Awards of the Jurors (under class VIII: Printing and allied machinery, and class XXVIII: Paper, stationery, printing and bookbinding) being very rewarding. The New Zealand Industrial Exhibition in Wellington in Official Record, as does the Official Catalogue of the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition in
Given the broad division between composition and presswork, within the composition or 'pre-press' area, right through to about Printers' News serves the mainstream, whereas the New Zealand Printer and Graphix have been directed towards the specialists (Graphix has included a particular interest in the printing of packaging). Computype Briefs (10 issues, 1989-91) also appealed to graphics specialists.
A crucial dimension of technology is the skills of work people. An unsigned article, 'The printing and publishing industry of the dominion: an analysis', in Printing Prestige, 1 (One Hundred Today: The Hawera Star 1880-1980,
The most drastic technological innovations in the 'modern' era in printing have been in typesetting processes. The first major transformation was the progressive, but never complete, displacement, from about From Hot Type to Cold Metal (
Advances in printing press technology have been more frequent, and step-by-step. The skills required have changed, and the work of operators become less laborious. The introduction of steam, gas and eventually electric power obviated the need for muscle power, but manual feeding of paper for general printing persisted much longer. The introduction of automatic feeding enabled presses to work much faster.
Technological processes available at a particular period have been outlined in Hutcheson (The Printing Industry in New Zealand (Unity Press Ltd, Auckland, in Oliver (
Individual newspaper histories, usually published as special supplements to the newspaper in question, have customarily included descriptions of the currently used technology and sometimes a survey of the past technology. An excellent example of the genre is the Otago Daily Times 1861-1961: First Hundred Years, in which commentary on the paper's history is combined with notes on the advertisers, most of whom are suppliers of paper, ink and printing machinery. The Christchurch paper,
The isolated examples of jobbing printers issuing publicity booklets, such as H.I. Jones & Son Ltd's Jubilee Souvenir 1860-1910, may include photographs and commentary to provide some technical information. Newspaper advertising supplements when a printing firm has opened new premises may also provide significant technical information on current equipment; the identification of these supplements will be difficult without systematic scanning of newspaper pages, since they are seldom covered by indexing sources.
This section covers typography (in the sense of design), type, equipment, and materials—ink and paper.
The term has two senses, page and book design, and the nature of typefaces. In the broader sense (which includes the choice of type), apart from the influence of R. Coupland Harding, this country's printers have generally followed fashions originating overseas.
As Legends of the Maori (A Romance of Book Production (
Beaglehole accorded credit for the recovery in typographical quality to the publishing policies of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (for which he had himself been the designer), and of the Department of Internal Affairs in relation to the publications associated with the
It is widely acknowledged that Lowry (see Printed in Auckland (Book no.8 (Yearbook of the Arts in New Zealand (Landfall,
Other recent book designers and typographers are worthy of investigation, among them
That many of the more straightforwardly commercial printers developed an active interest in the aesthetics and finer points of their craft is evidenced by some of the books and periodicals passed on from them to printing libraries such as the
General studies of the use of type in New Zealand book design have been few, but most have provided excellent indications of what should be done. Harding's comments in Typo on the new publications which came to his attention are always interesting, though brief; most are reprinted in Selections from Typo. Turnbull Library Record of Book no.4,
Beaglehole's own work as a typographer or book designer was surveyed in a knowledgeable and expert way by The Turnbull Library Record 1940-76' includes a discussion of the typography.
Under 'Typography' may be included style manuals. Survivors include those issued by the Otago Daily Times and Witness Newspaper Co. Ltd (Dominion (Evening Post (Timaru Herald (Government Printing Office Style Book (The Style Book (revised and expanded by D. Wallace and J. Hughes, Write, Edit, Print (AGPS and Lincoln University Press Christchurch Star (
The only studies of typefaces used in New Zealand are the introduction by Victorian Typefaces in Dunedin, and the brief article by Coleridge, 'Ornamental and display types by commercial printers in colonial New Zealand' (
Type specimens are the most important source material for the history of typography. The first creative act of the printer has always been to build his (occasionally her) stock of types, by selecting from the range of competing designs. The choice is normally made from type specimens, issued since almost the earliest days of printing, formerly by type-founders selling their wares in the form of finished cold metal types or as matrices—a few such firms still operate—and recently by computer software companies such as Adobe Systems Inc. Type specimens from the original supplier, whether in the form of books, brochures, or single sheets, are invaluable sources for the identification of typefaces in local use, as well as for tracing the sources of supply. Few copies of early type founders' specimen books exist outside the major production centres in
The Lyon & Blair Specimens of Printing Types . . . manufactured by Stephenson, Blake & Co. (probably c.Victorian Typefaces, and the Specimens of Type, Borders &c used in Lyttelton Prison, seldom if ever identify the designer or foundry, as Coupland Harding complained. Harding's own Catalogue of Printing Types, Machinery and Materials which was printed in
In the 20th century, specimens of typefaces from overseas suppliers have often been distributed, if not printed, by New Zealand agents. Examples are the specimens of Mouldtype faces issued perhaps since the 1930s by Morrison & Morrison (later Morrison Printing Inks & Machinery). A significant Wellington agent, Specimens of Printing Types, Borders, &c., kept in stock (undated, c.Colonial Printers' Register, lamented that the British were neglecting the colonial market, 'which in the matter of ornamental and jobbing type, is almost monopolised by the Americans' (vol.2, p.132,
New Zealand has not had an originator of type designs (pace Harding), but in the 20th century, local foundries have been established to cast type suitable for hand-setting using overseas-supplied matrices, by firms such as Express Typesetters in
The Ferrymead Printing Society's library catalogue lists a substantial collection of specimen books, from founders such as Stephenson Blake (UK, c.
Printers' types and the way they use them may be seen in whatever issues from their press. However, individual printers have often chosen to display their wares and skills by designing and printing their own type specimens. These were sometimes prepared for trade exhibitions, as for instance the Fergusson and Mitchell works exhibited at the Otago Daily Times, for the use of advertisers in their newspaper, or for customers of their jobbing department. Examples of specimens from other than newspaper printers include much sought after pieces from the Caxton Press, Meet Some Nice Types (New Type for Every Job (The Press, the Christchurch Star, Bascands (
How many printers' specimens have yet to be collected—or may be lost forever—is suggested by Harding's comments on 'Trade Lists and Samples' in the issue of Typo for
The display advertising of individual printers will usually form a partial showcase of their selection of jobbing types. These pages do not, of course, name the types in any way. Coupland Harding preserved a collection of leaflets, which are now held in the The Directory Directory, Patriotic Souvenir 1914, which offers pages from a variety of firms with some anecdotes and brief accounts of printing.
With the advent of machine casting in the 20th century, and the greater control of designs which accompanied a changed attitude to type design, the specimen books produced by printing firms were far more likely to identify the types precisely so that printers, or specialist typesetters, would automatically name the fonts they had available, and a printers' broker would name the designs they were offering for sale. This tendency was reinforced by the ease with which printers could obtain specimens and other sale literature directly from the original manufacturers, wherever they were located, even if they could not import the actual fonts, because of import restrictions. This was also true for the prospective customer, if interested, so that an advertising executive, for example, could have specimens from type designers in
The introduction of computer controlled phototypesetting, and the other technical advances of the 1970s and 1980s, made the identification of typefaces even more relevant, and a large printer such as the Government Printing Office would automatically itemise the designs and type sizes available, as in their looseleaf Gold Book specimen book of
The machinery for all aspects of printing—the presses, the composing machines, and other more specialised equipment—has all been imported, usually having been manufactured in Printing Presses (
There have been no general surveys of the development of printing machinery as such in New Zealand, although most general accounts of the technology treat the introduction of new presses in some detail, and newspaper histories, such as the Otago Daily Times celebrates 125 years 1861-1986, usually place considerable stress on this aspect of their history.
Some useful articles deal with particular aspects of the technology, or the sources of equipment. Kwasitsu's 'The production of the Nelson Examiner' (New Zealand's First Printing Press (
Centenary of a Press (
Te Hokioi, as well as recounting the experiences of the two Māori men who were taught to print in Vienna.
In the early 1960s, Cameron of Auckland University's English Department conducted a census that located about 70 19th-century hand-presses; but this needs updating. Until relatively recently, several such presses remained in commercial use as proofing presses, examples being the Albion described by Cameron in
The Pompallier building at Russell is one historical museum with good documentation on the equipment on display, and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust's explanatory leaflet Pompallier: l'Imprimerie Mariste (1994c) has an excellent brief description of the equipment, just as the leaflet Pompallier: Composition (1994a) gives information on the techniques involved in printing.
The best surviving archives relating to acquisition (and disposal) of mechanical hardware are those of the Government Printing Office. The archives of printing and newspaper companies, such as those listed above, may have some information. Otherwise the details for particular firms must be gleaned from newspaper histories, such as that by R.B. O'Neill (They Called it Marton (Meet Me at the Press (
For the 20th century, details of the increasingly sophisticated presses becoming available can be found in articles and advertisements in trade journals, originated both overseas and locally, and in newspapers' centennial supplements. Otago Daily Times obtained a Hoe rotary press in The Press got one in Otago Daily Times centennial supplement). There has been a subsequent shift towards web offsets. For example, on Manawatu Evening Standard brought into operation its recently acquired Goss Urbanite offset, issuing a supplement, Press Time '88, to celebrate the event and review its previous presses.
The first offsets had arrived in the country in Printing Prestige, Printers' News (from The New Zealand Printer and Graphix. Nowadays, just as there are many kinds of printed products, from postage stamps to flexible packaging, bewilderingly many different kinds of presses have developed for printing them.
The development of composing machines began from
Despite Auckland Star, the New Zealand Herald, The Press, Otago Daily Times, the DNZB article on Cyclopedia of New Zealand, 1897-1908, carried out the engraving, stereotyping and machine work for its first volume). Harding records in Typo, Bay of Plenty Times of Selections from Typo, p.106). Clearly there is room here for further enquiries.
History of the Government Printing Office (AJHR (many records were lost in the
The New Zealand Provincial Press Ltd's The Provincial Market (c.
Again, the printers' journals mentioned above provide useful sources for the introduction of computerised typesetting. Hill and Gidlow (Star newspaper. The teletypesetting machine represented an intermediate stage, with operators taking in advertisements by telephone and typing them into a device that produced a punched paper ribbon. Photo-typesetting is discussed by J.An Editorial Processing Centre for New Zealand Journals (
Advertisements in the journals, and in newspapers' centennial supplements, identify the main suppliers of printing hardware and other requirements, either as agents or as manufacturers. Companies such as
The only significant general survey of graphic reproduction techniques is Early New Zealand Botanical Art ( Alfred Ernest Cousins, an engraver and die-sinker who prepared the dies for many of New Zealand's postage stamps in the 1890s, reproduces various relevant documents as a brochure for the
There are a few articles and papers relating to the technical aspects of graphic reproduction. In Information obtained . . ., AJHR G.27, Photolithographic Branch . . . Papers relating to the saving effected by the . . ., AJHR H.22,
The 20th century has witnessed the introduction of increasingly sophisticated reproduction processes. Penrose's Pictorial Annual was a vital source of information for any serious printer about new developments. The various trade journals, and especially The New Zealand Printer, Graphix and Computype Briefs, are useful on the importation of more recent technical innovations in graphic fields.
For some decades the Government Printing Office took the lead in introducing new, improved machinery and processes. Glue (
In the past, the engraver, the etcher, and the lithographer, who drew designs directly upon the stone, were very much artists in their own right, as well as skilled craftspeople. From about
Attention may be extended here to professional originators of graphic material: book illustrators such as
The artefacts themselves are the primary source of evidence for the study of paper used by the printing industry. However, the necessary analytical methods would not, even under the most liberal conditions, provide information on the sources of supply, price, or other relevant factors. For these, secondary sources must be used.
Most printing and writing papers used in New Zealand have been imported. Early experiments in making paper from flax fibre failed in commercial application because of the toughness of the fibre and the difficulty of eliminating the gum. The first commercial paper mills in New Zealand began at Woodhaugh, on the outskirts of
North Island mills were established after World War II, beginning production by NZ Forest Products at Kinleith in Tasman 30 reports, Tasman had developed a substantial export market in newsprint and kraft pulp.
The costs and availability of papers have generally been critical parameters for the industry. There were major price increases during World War I, with serious shortages, and in World War II controls were imposed, removed after the war but reimposed in
Throughout its history the vast majority of printing papers used in New Zealand have been imported. While official statistics will provide raw figures for volume and value, and possibly for countries of origin, only a study of individual invoices could supply enough detail to be of use in specific cases. The records of individual firms might preserve these invoices, but few such records survive.
Trade advertisements of individual wholesaling commercial stationers may provide hints. These advertisements are particularly likely to appear in trade journals, such as the Master Printers' Federation's Printers' News, or in the centennial supplements of newspapers. Large overseas suppliers such as John Dickinson and Bowaters had their own agencies, but other suppliers were represented by agents such as Gordon & Gotch, or B.J. Ball. They were linked in the NZ Paper Merchants' Association.
Directories can provide information about the wholesale stationers, and the Cyclopedia of New Zealand is the most comprehensive example of this type of information source; others are mentioned elsewhere (see 'Owners and firms' below).
The Federation of Master Printers included a small pamphlet The Story of Paper in their information series in 1950-51, and this describes the general history of paper manufacture. Papermaking Pioneers (Pulp and paper making (report on investigations into suitability of selected New Zealand-grown woods for) (AJHR C.3A, Index to New Zealand Periodicals and Index New Zealand, and the even more specific business index and database Newzindex.
The Industries Development Commission's Report no.6: Book Production Inquiry (Report no.7: Tariff Inquiry, Certain Paper and Paperboard of Tariff Heading 48.01 (
The most significant source of evidence for bookbinding practices in 19th-century New Zealand are the books which survive in their original bindings. Sometimes these copies may contain the label of the binder, permitting some assessment of the skills of those firms. Techniques were imported, as were the materials and equipment, and Gaskell (Pompallier: l'Atelier de Reliure (1994b), of the equipment and methods used in that French-influenced workshop.
The 19th-century industrial exhibitions included sections displaying bookbinding work done in New Zealand, and there is some slight commentary on these examples in the reports; the most useful of these reports is in the Official Record of the New Zealand Industrial Exhibition held in Wellington in
These sources do not distinguish between custom binding (by individual order) and edition binding. The distinction became important once New Zealand publications were issued in edition sizes greater than the 400 or 500 copies which were the maximum for most of the 19th century. Even by the late 1890s, the Cyclopedia of New Zealand and other directories normally subsumed bookbinding under the printers or manufacturing stationers by whom the binders were normally employed, and the same is true of discussions in the trade literature. Colenso (
Case, or 'hardback', binding remains inevitably relatively labour intensive, and accordingly costly, except where wages are very low. The Industries Development Commission's Report no.6: Book Production Inquiry (
These figures, and the IDC's accompanying graphs, represented a state of decline not only for New Zealand printers of hardbacks, but also for binders, which has doubtless continued. The introduction of 'perfect binding' provided an efficient means of binding paperbacks; but Wilson & Horton's reported experience in The New Zealand Printer (
While conditions have remained difficult for edition binding, a number of small firms and individuals continue with custom binding, working for private customers and for libraries. New Zealand Guide to Art and Craft (
The earliest representatives of the 'booktrade' were stationers, and the conjunction of the sale of writing materials and commercial office appliances with the sale of books has always been common in New Zealand. In the 19th century it was only in the largest towns of England that the sale of books had been separated from that of stationery, and, in New Zealand, many of the larger printing firms in the larger towns sold books and were engaged in the manufacture of some forms of commercial stationery such as account books. Nevertheless, even in the largest manufacturing stationers a high proportion of the stationery for sale had been imported.
The 19th-century industrial exhibitions, most notably the Official Record of that exhibition comments on significant contributions. The evidence to the AJHR H.2,
H.J. Tubbs contributed a brief survey of the firms, 'Stationery manufacturing', to
The initial task of identifying who was engaged in the trade in any given locality must be pursued through general sources. Jury lists, electoral rolls and directories are standard tools in family history and these can, sometimes painfully, be scanned for those with the relevant occupations. Directories are among the most useful sources for those in business (as distinct from employees) and there is an excellent bibliography by Hansen, The Directory Directory (Cyclopedia of New Zealand (Printing, Bookselling and their Allied Trades in New Zealand c. 1900, in
Once individuals have been identified the pursuit of this specific biography will take the researcher into the area of family history, particularly for those who did not have prominent public careers. Family history is an area which receives much attention from libraries and archives, and there are a number of research guides: the most comprehensive is Tracing Family History in New Zealand (rev. ed. The Vincent Printers (The Life and Times of Samuel Revans (
Some other early printers have been the subject of formal biographies. The most substantial of these is the biography William Colenso, by A.G. Bagnall and G.C. Petersen (
Unsung Hero (The Vindicator (
Other biographies of political figures who came from a background in the printing industry have usually treated their early careers very superficially, if at all. Some attention may be paid to the journalism, and possibly to the economic aspects of their newspaper involvement, but even this will normally
be subordinated to the political career. The recent political biography of The Rainmaker (
Those printers, newspaper proprietors, and similar figures, who were elected to the House of Representatives or appointed to the Legislative Council at any stage in their careers, will have received a parliamentary tribute after their deaths. Some of these tributes are very brief, such as that for Parliamentary Debates on Debates, under the name of the deceased member.
Summary biographical information for some members of the trade can be found in standard biographical sources such as Who's Who in New Zealand (1st ed. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Dictionary is preserved in the office of the Dictionary secretariat, in the Department of Internal Affairs, whether or not the individuals are included in the published volumes. The database is available for consultation by researchers on application to the office. A larger representation of the Otago trade will be covered in Southern People, to be published by Dunedin City Council in Dictionary of New Zealand Biography compiled by Guy Scholefield in
Short articles on individuals may appear in many locations. An Index of Civilisation (The New Zealand Colonist, and Harvey has published on Turnbull Library Record (Historical Journal Auckland-Waikato (Auckland-Waikato Historical Journal (Revans: Father of the Press, with Gullible Sam, together with two collections of Revans's letters, Letters from Woodside, and Letters from Huangarua) and on Wakelin: Father of Journalism) in the series of booklets on Wairarapa history that he published from Wakelin House and
Other biographical material must be sought through such sources as newspaper obituaries, and the occasional local history. The newspaper trade has always followed the custom of writing up their own people, and every newspaper centennial issue will include an article on the founders, on some of the editorial staff, and sometimes also on the printers. The Greymouth Evening Star: Centennial Supplement (Pat Lawlor's Wellington (
In-house journals such as Coulls Somerville Wilkie's Invicta News, or the Government Printing Office's Print (1949-50), provide some information about printing employees. So also do trade union publications, such as Imprint, and those for special anniversaries. Trade journals such as Printing Prestige and Printers' News sometimes include short articles about notable people who have retired or died. For the Government Printing Office, the volume presented to
Where names are known, there are volumes of newspaper clippings, 'New Zealand Biographies,' and 'New Zealand Obituaries', in the Alexander Turnbull Library, recently made more widely available in a microfiche edition. In the Canterbury Museum,
Printing trades workers went overseas in the armed forces in both world wars, and those who died often received obituaries. Some of them wrote and printed newsletters, miscellanies, and official items, both on troopships and in the countries they were based in. A.B. Clark and J.C. Andersen's article in Kiwi News, and in the 3rd Division in the
Finally, printers who did not become journalists have occasionally prepared their memoirs. J.H. Claridge prepared and printed two collections of anecdotes, Odd Notes (75 Years in New Zealand (Memories (Mainly Merry) in Mellowed Memories which describes his career as a printer in considerable, sometimes technical, detail. As a source for printing history rather than biographical detail it is the best work discussed here.
One can usefully divide printing enterprises into categories. First there was the Government Printing Office, now GP Print, absorbed within the
There are the institutional presses, such as at the universities, several of which have their own printing plants; for example, the Otago University printery, and Massey University's printery, which provides study materials for over 600 extramural courses.
The commercial printing firms, large and small, can be subdivided into those mainly concerned with producing newspapers, and those devoted to general and jobbing printing. None of them have been exclusively committed to book printing. Some have been specialist enterprises devoted to lithography, photo-engraving, etc., and nowadays to colour graphics.
There has been, since the 1930s, a distinct group of small to medium sized 'literary' presses, such as Caxton, Pegasus and Griffin, operating commercially but for much of their lives committed to literary publications and periodicals. Printeries 'with a cause' have included religion-based enterprises such as the printing establishment of the
The printing industry has always been so structured that it is fairly easy for an individual to move from employee to owner and back again. At certain times the capital outlay necessary to establish even a small printing firm has been substantial relative to the worker's opportunities to accumulate capital, but technical innovations have also meant that second hand equipment would be readily available at a reasonable price. Because many firms are very small, with only two or three employees, there is also likely to be a great deal of uniformity of outlook between the owners and the workers on many issues.
There have been few histories of firms apart from newspapers, which have always marked their own jubilees or centennials with special supplements. The Jubilee Souvenir 1860-1910 of H.I. Jones & Son of
Directories supply the readiest means of identifying printing firms, particularly those with a separate classified trade section. These may not list all printers in any particular town, as small firms are particularly vulnerable to being overlooked by canvassers or to collapsing before they can be recorded. The newspaper and printer registrations at the High Court (formerly the Supreme Court) should in theory provide a more complete coverage, with the registrations under the Printers and Newspapers Registration Act Newzindex, which is available online as well as in paper.
The Master Printers' Federation has published its own journal, Printing Prestige, from 1935 to 1951, followed by Printers' News, since History of the Canterbury Master Printers, the only substantial regional history. The federal body has now become the Printing Industries Association of New Zealand; as is usual with trade organisations, the records of the individual branches normally remain with the surviving bodies.
The Making of the New Zealand Press (
For the earlier period, for provincial firms, often their own printed letterheads for invoices provide details of changing proprietors, and of services offered. More recently, for firms, there are simply the relevant sections in commercial portions of telephone books, which may include display entries showing the various services provided.
National Bibliography by name and by place.
Some firms such as Coulls Somerville Wilkie are relatively well-documented, with records in the Hocken Library, its history in Invicta News (and in a more extended form in typescript in the Hocken Library), and a profile in Tait (
Hot Water Sailor (Printing by the Avon (The Nag's Head Press (
Such business information resources as Datex investment service, the NZ Company Register, and the Nielsen Media Directory disclose the massive extent to which most of the more substantial New Zealand printing, newspaper, publishing, bookselling and paper making companies have recently been taken over by overseas corporations: the Datex especially provides much information about the makeup and recent history of the larger New Zealand companies.
The primary sources for information about conditions within the trade can be found in the records of the trade unions, on the one hand, and of the
Although a number of specialised unions for occupations such as the letterpress machinists, bookbinders, lithographers, and paper-cutters were in existence at different times, with varying combinations in different regions, these nearly all came into existence after the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act
Baxter contributed a brief historical survey to Type of a Century in Centenary 1862-1962 in
Separate publications of the various unions, such as rulebooks and annual reports, made be found as individual items in library collections. The union records contain most of these publications, although many of the small local unions left no significant records.
Complementing the union records are those of the Department of Labour. Such records as survive are held in the National Archives, although a substantial amount of the material of interest is in the files damaged in the Hope Gibbons Building fire of AJHR H.10,
A much more substantial source of information on conditions in the trade would be in the arguments presented to the Arbitration Court during award applications. The awards themselves, printed in the 'Book of Awards', correctly Awards, Recommendations, Agreements etc. (Dominion Award Dispute, giving considerable detail on the impact of the new typesetting technology. In Case for Typographers, in another significant dispute, with an analysis of the employers' figures and arguments. These are the exception. The union journal Imprint (beginning in Printers' Mallet (1966-68), likewise reported current developments in industrial relations. The new union journal, The Printed Word (
Modern occupational illnesses differ from those of the past: in place of lead poisoning, burns from lead squirts or acid splashes, and respiratory troubles from acid vapours for photo-engravers, Imprint was concerned with occupational overuse syndrome (OOS) for photo-typesetters, including effects on eyes and brains of overexposure to visual display terminals (vol.33 no.2 (The Printed Word (vol.1 no.Evening Standard,
For the period before the formal sources existed we must rely on informal accounts. The evidence given to the AJHR H.5, The Pope, the Prelate and the Printer (Catholic Times, sued officials of the
For the earlier years a few sources, chiefly with anecdotes, are available. In Otago Daily Times issued a collection of 'newspaper reports and correspondence' on the 'strike of compositors' very recently concluded. There are few disputes in the newspaper trade which have been as clearly and impartially documented. Harvey's 'Editors and compositors: contemporary accounts of the nineteenth century New Zealand press' (Trials of the Colonial Printer (
The Government Printing Committee Report (AJHR I.5,
There is one recent survey of the economics of the New Zealand printing industry, prepared by Oliver for the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research in
The article 'The printing and publishing industry of the Dominion: an analysis', in Printing Prestige (vol.Printing Prestige, and subsequent Federation of Master Printers publications (1954-62) were devoted to improving printers' cost finding, as was J.B. Hindin's Simplified Cost Accounting Procedures for the Printing Trade (
Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English (
The theses, now published, of Government Printing in New Zealand, 1840 to 1843, published An Index of Civilisation (1993b) surveys the sources of data on the financial success of 19th-century newspapers, and in a separate but companion article, 'Economic aspects of 19th-century New Zealand newspapers' (1993a), presents most of the available data in tabulated form.
The data used in these articles is largely drawn from the newspapers themselves, and various manuscript sources specific to individual newspapers. Examples are the letters of Sam Revans to H.S. Chapman, and of Chapman to his father in London, as background to the New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, and the New Zealand Colonist Trustees' Minutes, all in the Turnbull Library Manuscripts section. The Colonist Trustees' Minutes were also used by Coleridge in a discussion of the Colonist in her paper '
Coleridge has also published a substantial statistical study of the advertising in Wellington newspapers to Building a Paper Economy (
Some newspaper histories devote some space to the economics of the industry, although it is usually in the form of generalisations. An interesting exception is the Centennial Issue Evening Standard (Dominion Tariff no.5, issued by the New Zealand Master Printers' Association (to update an original of
The best source for figures of actual costs involved in purchases of equipment and materials, and outlay on labour costs are in the reports on government printing. The initial costs, in the 1840s, are itemised in official documents printed in Salmond's thesis (cited above). A portion of these, with inventories and costings, were printed as part of the Copies or extracts of any correspondence relative to the New Zealand estimates in the (Great Britain) House of Commons Sessional Papers (
The next important group of documents appear in the New Zealand Parliamentary papers, beginning in AJHR F.3, AJHR D.7, Report of the Government Printing Department appeared in AJHR D.11, Government Printing Committee Report (AJHR I.5,
The economic position of the industry as a whole was among the topics addressed by the Tariff Commission Report and minutes of evidence (AJHR H.2,
In the 19th century the AJHR periodically printed various government returns with statistical or financial data. One such relevant for printing history is the Return Showing Amounts Paid to Newspapers for Advertising and Printing, the earliest of which appears in AJHR G.22,
The Industries Development Commission Inquiry in
Significant developments in technology and in the financial environments can be followed in the business press. Within New Zealand this is indexed by Newzindex, available on paper since
There has been no general survey of government regulation and control of the printing industry in New Zealand. Censorship, since the earliest years, has been a matter of controlling content rather than access to the means of reproduction, and the historical surveys have naturally taken the same direction. There have been some studies of the conflicts of the first years, including Kennett's Unsung Hero (Early Conflicts of Press and Government (
The only significant legislation to control the printing industry in New Zealand has been the Printers and Newspapers Registration Act
Day's The Making of the New Zealand Press (
Government regulation of working conditions, under the Factories Act, and under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, are most usefully considered under 'Trade conditions' (above), and the effects of economic controls (such as customs tariffs) under 'Economics' (also above).
One should consider here the Tomorrow, through denying it supplies of paper.
The notion of a private press is at best ambiguous, and the vagaries of categorical definition are no less evident here in New Zealand. By chance the most comprehensive book on the general subject is by an author who lived and worked for a time as Professor of Librarianship at Victoria University of Wellington during the 1980s. In Private Presses (2nd ed.
Aside from half a chapter in Cave's book (pp.284-91), there is little in the way of general reference material concerning private presses in New Zealand. Private Presses: Their Contributions to Literature and Typography (Books and Bookmen (Vinculum 8 Parr offers the following definition of 'Private Printing in New Zealand': 'There is a PRIVATE PRESS when the operator runs it:—for his own enjoyment, being in full control of every choice, with persistent effort to improve techniques, without seeking financial gain (although he may sell some items to help cover costs)'.
Specific presses singled out by Cave were the early Caxton Press, Nag's Head Press, Myself as Printer, (
Two books that appeared on the occasion of the Auckland Festival are useful guides to the activities of the Writing in Auckland by J.Printed in Auckland (The Sky is a Limpet (How to Ride a Bicycle in Seventeen Lovely Colours (
The Maorilander, Spilt Ink (New Triad (Arena (1946-75) which ran to 81 issues.
In the 1960s several 'bibliographical' presses were established by those wishing, among other things, to teach the methods of textual transmission in the medium of print as practised in the handpress era. Although these presses were attached to institutions of learning, they were run by enthusiasts, whose productions went beyond the call of duty. The first of these was W.J. Cameron, who in The Lion Skin( Jerusalem Sonnets(
The 1970s saw a return to private presses by a generation that felt excluded from mainstream publications. This coincided with the availability of relatively cheap hand presses which were no longer required with the increasing move to offset printing. These offered the possibility of publication with full control over production at an affordable price. It also accorded with a renewal of interest in craft values. Notable amongst these were Lear (
Vinculum, made up of leaves contributed by members as a showcase of their work, reached no.46 in The Centennial History of Barnego Flat (general editor, E. Dadds [
A resurgence in the book arts in the 1980s has seen an increase in small presses committed to high quality, but also willing to be experimental. Notable amongst these were Tara McLeod's Art of the Book (
It has to be admitted that the work of private printers is variable in quality. The typographical renaissance of the late 1940s in New Zealand owed more to printers, such as
In this guide, 'publishing' encompasses the factors which influence the decision to produce a work at a particular time, and the editorial activities which are required to produce a work. . . . how the works . . . came to be published, in books and periodicals and . . . the electronic media. . . . how patrons, mainly the State, came to assist both writers and publishers. . . . Printing, as the mechanical multiplication of copies, is but one step in the process of publishing, which selects and edits the text before it is printed and sells or otherwise distributes it after.(
To this definition should be added the question of financial responsibility, for the publishers' financial risk is normally a central issue which shapes all aspects of the publishing process. Printing and distribution are covered elsewhere in this guide: note, however, that there is inevitably some overlap between these sections and this chapter.
This guide, as the Introduction indicates, 'may be regarded as a report on the state of research' into print culture in New Zealand. Readers will quickly discern this to be the case for this chapter, especially as they note the large number of references to areas and topics for further study, and the unevenness of coverage for aspects of the publishing field.
This chapter is divided into four main sections: the process of publishing, the publishers, general and regional studies, and categories of publication.
Publishing, most simply put, is the issuing, usually for sale, of printed matter. As
In order to 'prepare and issue (a book . . . etc.) for public sale' (as the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines 'publish'), there must first be a text. Whatever the impetus behind its genesis, a commissioned work or independently created, it has an author (or authors). Once the publisher has decided to publish a text, it becomes the object of attention of a number of the publisher's agents. These include all those people who work on the text or on the book which is to contain it: editor, designer, typesetter and printer. Formerly many of these people were employed within the office of the publisher, but increasingly they work independently of the publishing house, and are contracted to perform specific tasks. The publisher organises all of these: the preparation of the manuscript for printing, the production of the item by printers and binders, the provision of illustrations and covers, advertising and promotion, and the sale of the product to distributors and booksellers.
Central to any consideration of the process of publishing is the fact that publishing is a business. All of the operations described above are financed by the publisher's capital. The publisher must spend most of this money before any return is received. The capital is advanced against a perceived market and therefore a return on its outlay: without a market for the published work, the publisher could not contemplate this financial risk. However, this discussion will concentrate on the editorial processes of publishing rather than the financial side, which remains to be written about in the New Zealand context. Some inkling of the issues may be gained from overseas publishers' accounts (e.g. The Truth about Publishing, History of British Publishing (
What defines the direction of a particular publisher's activity could be described as the result of the tensions between an individual publisher's personal inclinations and the forces of business reality. What makes New Zealand publishing distinctive in this context is probably the level of influence of individuals, and small and medium-sized firms which have often prevailed and had an effect disproportionate to their size as the multinational behemoths fragmented, disestablished, regrouped and refocused around and amongst them. This would not have happened to the same degree in a larger pond.
Outlines from a New Zealand perspective of the process of publishing are to be found in some of the handbooks which have been produced for writers and editors, including:
Arnold Wall, A Reed Deskbook for Writers (
Anna Rogers, Write and Be Published (
First Edition (
Write, Edit, Print (
Publishers' accounts of the process are to be found mainly in the autobiographical writings of those involved, including:
Indirections (
Hot Water Sailor & Landlubber Ho! (
Accidental Life (
Then and There (
A.W. Reed, Books are My Business (
The first publishing in New Zealand represents a primitive sort of commissioning process. The Church Missionary Society trained the printer
The pattern of publishing in the early years of European settlement was for an author to pay for the issue of a work, and most of these works were political and religious pamphlets. Despite the presence on the title page or elsewhere of a printer's or perhaps a bookseller's imprint, this was essentially self-publishing. Old New Zealand (Southern Cross newspaper, who evidently already saw a New Zealand market for tales of the 'Good Old Times', as Maning's subtitle put it. A parallel edition was issued for another market by Smith, Elder in London.
By the mid 19th century in
If a work is commissioned, the publisher sets the parameters: the subject and its treatment, length, general style (in terms of the audience), inclusion of illustrations and other matter such as appendices, bibliography, and indexes. In any case author and publisher sign an agreement setting deadlines, the author's responsibilities (for instance, involvement in proofreading), the degree of editorial control to be exercised by the publisher, and the author's remuneration—royalty payments, advances against royalties, or a lump sum or other agreement. The contract also normally addresses the extent to which the author takes responsibility for defamation or breach of copyright, whether the author will offer an option on future work, and the conditions under which the contract may be terminated by either party.
By the turn of the century Whitcombe & Tombs had a standard printed agreement along these lines which they asked their authors to sign, offering a royalty of 10% or more on the retail price, and giving themselves a free hand to make most of the editorial decisions. This contract was still being used six decades later, although some authors struck out the latter clause. Authors' contracts now include clauses to cover new technological and cultural developments, such as motion picture rights and electronic publication options. These days a publisher may claim a greater degree of control than previously, but is also likely to be making a significantly larger investment in the marketing of a book. Most publishers offer a standard contract but are usually willing to negotiate terms. Standard author contracts are described by Anna Rogers (First Edition (The Author Publisher Relationship (The New Zealand Writer's Handbook (1952a).
An author may employ a literary agent to carry out contractual negotiations. The agent receives a percentage of the author's royalty. New Zealand's first formally constituted literary agency was First Edition lists 11 of the New Zealand agencies of various kinds in
Book packagers solicit manuscripts to fit concepts that are marketable to a publisher, usually as all-inclusive packages—commissioned, edited, designed, illustrated and sometimes even printed. The packager takes care of all dealings with the publisher, and the author's agreement (including royalties) is with the packager. Publishing consultants provide another kind of agency for both authors and publishers, offering assessment of manuscripts to publishers, assessing authors' drafts and assisting in bringing manuscripts to a publishable standard before they are offered to a publisher. To a degree these agencies have made redundant the role of the publisher's reader, potentially a position of considerable influence with the power to shape a list and determine the progress of an author's career (though in New Zealand probably not a significant force). In non-fiction publishing, the reader is usually a specialist outside the world of publishing. The rise of literary agents in New Zealand and their effect on the industry are discussed in articles by Jandene Dyson and Lesley Hanes in Endnotes (
In order to deal more effectively with such issues as contracts and remuneration, authors have formed themselves into societies to promote their common interests. Writers' organisations are described briefly in E.C. Simpson's A Survey of the Arts in New Zealand (Art Facts (N. Scotts et al.,
The short-lived Fellowship of New Zealand Writers, founded in The Turnbull (Annals of New Zealand Literature, commemorating the Week itself, which was held during Literature and Authorship in New Zealand (a lyrical overview which now smacks strongly of colonial cringe, published in London by Allen & Unwin for PEN in PEN Gazette and now The New Zealand Author). Through energetic lobbying it was instrumental in the setting up of the
Other writers' societies include the New Zealand Women Writers' Society, formed in Bulletin from Women Together (Women Writers of NZ 1932-1982 (a history and anthology by History of the New Zealand Women Writers' Society (by
New Zealand's high per capita output of books suggests it has a correspondingly high population of authors. An indication of the numbers might be gained from an analysis of New Zealand Authors' Fund returns. The Fund, which compensates authors for sales lost through library lending, is described in an article by J.P. Sage in New Zealand Libraries (Mutes and Earthquakes (
Aside from the work of the authors' societies such as PEN, practical guides for writers who want their work published have appeared from time to time, covering topics from manuscript preparation to publishers' contracts and proofreading. Changing times and conditions might be examined by a comparison of these over the decades. Daphne Double's New Zealand Writers' and Publishers' Yearbook did not reappear after its New Zealand Writer's Handbook (first issued in Local History (
Authors' papers and their accounts of their dealings with publishers are also a rich source of information. Noel Hilliard contributed his views on 'Authorship in New Zealand' to the The Changing Shape of Books (The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English that M.H. Holcroft's autobiographies offer much detail on the vicissitudes of authorship and its remuneration. Gibbons's thesis on J.C. Andersen (
Financial incentives to publishers to instigate the risky and expensive process involved in producing a book are sometimes difficult to separate from incentives to authors to produce a text in the first place. (Incentives and awards for writers are discussed in Chapter 5 in the section on 'Recognition and rewards of success'.)
A.G. Bagnall notes in his introduction to the New Zealand National Bibliography, vol.1 (Ancient History of the Maori (1887-90) was a mixed experience for all parties. T.F. Cheeseman's Manual of the New Zealand Flora (Historical Records of New Zealand (Bibliography (New Zealand Wars (An Absurd Ambition,
Heenan eventually gave way to pressure from PEN and others to set up the The New Zealand Literary Fund, 1946-70 (Art Facts (Scotts et al., Patronage and New Zealand Literature (
By Research Report on the Literature Programme's Publishers' Survey, noting that 25% of its funding was in grants to publishers, and analysing 25 publishers' responses. In Quote Unquote (
The government also assists publishers through annual grants made by the Historical Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs towards the publication of historical works, countering one of the biases of the Literary Fund. The Historical Branch also co-publishes many of the departmental and other organisational histories commissioned through its agency. Another example of this kind of indirect government subsidy is the publication of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography by the Department of Internal Affairs jointly with a commercial publisher (described in Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives.
Learned societies or institutions may also consider subsidising publication of books otherwise commercially unfeasible. Companies wanting to raise a monument to their history or to produce a gift for presentation may commission and fund publications to which they may offer a greater or lesser degree of editorial control. Substantial publications might appear in parts, in consecutive issues of journals such as the Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute (later the Royal Society of New Zealand) or the Journal of the Polynesian Society, occasionally being reprinted as monographs. For many years this was the only way to get scholarly non-fiction published in New Zealand. Accounts are to be found in C.A. Fleming's Science, Settlers and Scholars (Manifest Duty (Dictionary (Bibliography (Dictionary of New Zealand Biography's Māori-language series, Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau (Endnotes (
Aside from the topic of censorship, little focus has been devoted to forces—apart from the market—which restrict the publisher's freedom of action. Factors discouraging publication may include emergency legislation, such as restrictions on paper or other supplies in wartime. Nancy M. Taylor discusses censorship for reasons of national security and other World War II issues in The Home Front (
Legal restrictions, including libel and defamation laws, and, recently, privacy legislation, may restrict the publisher's actions. A controversial or sensitive text will be subjected to legal opinion and the author's contract will set out the parties' responsibilities. General guidance for authors and publishers to the libel, defamation and privacy legislation is found in some detail in Write, Edit, Print (
In Censored (The Indecent Publications Tribunal (Tomorrow in A Popular Vision (
The Copyright Act
In
Until the better-selling New Zealand authors could be persuaded that they might be equally well served by a local publisher as by their traditional London imprints, territorial rights were an issue affecting New Zealand writers rather than publishers. Publishers certainly did not expect their books to attain significant sales in other territories. For works for which an overseas market was conceivable, they might enter into a joint publishing arrangement with a British firm. Australasian or colonial rights might or might not be included, but from
Following delivery of the manuscript, the publisher goes about the business of getting it into print. Costings are prepared and marketing decisions are also made at this point. Some of the steps in this process are briefly described in handbooks such as Rogers (Write, Edit, Print (
Publishers generally have a critical input into the shaping of drafts before and after they agree to publish a manuscript. A reader or an editor will often, in consultation with an author, suggest and guide the recasting of a work and seek to find a mutually acceptable solution. The title 'editor' covers a range of activities, and a book will often have several editors. At the top of the pecking order is the commissioning editor, often designated Publisher, the one with the power to accept or decline. An important part of the role of this editor is to represent the publisher's interests to the author, and the author's interests to the publisher. There is an inevitable tension here, especially with small firms where the editor is in fact the publisher (though publishers may go to great lengths to nurture their stable of authors, in the small world of New Zealand publishing occasional allegations of unprofessionalism and broken, formerly warm friendships attest to the difficulties). In larger companies, the editor is often cast in the role of author's champion. The commissioning editor may 'structurally' edit the work, a time-consuming process which should ideally be carried out in close collaboration with the author; or may entrust the task to a more junior in-house, or increasingly a freelance, editor. ('Face to face—
At the very least, the editor is responsible for ensuring that the manuscript which goes to typesetting is as correct in terms of factual detail (if that is appropriate), spelling and grammar as it is possible to make it within the constraints of time and budget allocated to the project; and ensuring consistency, or adapting the author's conventions to follow the publisher's house style, where the publisher considers this to be necessary or appropriate. A.H. & A.W. Reed's house style takes up three pages of the Reed Deskbook for Writers (
Apart from in-house style sheets—often unpublished or semi-published, such as Auckland University Press's The Preparation and Style of Manuscripts (4th ed. Hart's Rules (Copy-editing (Cambridge University Press), or the Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press). G.R. Hutcheson gives 'Some hints on copy and layout' in H.B. & J.'s Handbook (The New Zealand Government Printing Office Style Book, first issued in The New Zealand Style Book and in its most recent incarnation is simply The Style Book (revised and expanded by D. Wallace and J. Hughes, Write, Edit, Print (Style Manual (5th ed.
Design includes format, choice of typeface, page layout, illustrations, and the design of the book jacket. One designer may be responsible for all parts of a book, but more frequently the cover will be designed separately (at a notably higher rate). The designer, whether freelance or in-house, is briefed by the editor chiefly responsible for the book. To a certain extent design decisions may be based on a house 'look'. Marketing considerations are also relevant here. Any discussion of the design aspects of publications is difficult to separate from considerations of typography relating to printing and production (see Chapter 2). Many amateurs and enthusiasts have taken an interest in this side of publication, and anyone who has ever dabbled in self- or desktop publishing appears to swiftly form firm opinions on typographical topics, particularly regarding legibility. Printers and designers notable for their influence in New Zealand include R. Coupland Harding;
In the days of hot lead, typesetting was an integral part of the printer's establishment (and a printer's house style was often as influential as a publisher's). With the shift to photosetting after World War II, a number of independent firms were established, and to get the best prices publishers often contracted typesetting and printing separately. The general availability of cheap professional-standard 'desktop' typesetting systems since the late 1980s, and the provision of manuscripts on computer disk, has seen much typesetting work carried out in-house.
Proofing is usually a joint responsibility of author and publisher, defined in the author's contract. The careful reader may suspect that in many mass-market titles these days both parties have abdicated their responsibility and dispensed with this step altogether—or left it to the computer spell-check. The publisher's production editor will be responsible for checking the technical details of proofs—the grid, margins, folios, widows, orphans and the other arcana of page design. Instructions on proofreading are included in the style manuals cited earlier, and a rare and interesting historical glimpse into one house's practices is to be found in History of the Government Printing Office (
The relationship between publisher and printer is crucial to the quality of the finished product. A number of New Zealand publishers have also been printers (for example Caxton, Whitcombe & Tombs, and the Government Printer). Since the 1970s much printing of New Zealand titles has taken place overseas, particularly in Southeast Asia, for reasons of economics (especially in colour printing), quality assurance and the capacity to produce large casebound books or perform complex printing jobs. The arm's length nature of the relationship with an overseas printer obviously restricts communication and control and usually the delivery of Ozalids or dyelines provides the last opportunity for the publisher to rectify errors. The Industries Development Commission reported in Book Production Inquiry,
Most skills in book production came directly to New Zealand from First Edition (
Training for editors is also available in a variety of night school, continuing education and WEA contexts; and the journalism courses offered by the University of Canterbury, First Edition.
Publishers have always worked together to a certain degree, to protect their common interests and those of other branches of the book trade, and to ensure their survival to compete against each other. The earliest formal publishers' organisation to be established in New Zealand was the British Book Publishers Representatives Association (BPRA), formed in the 1950s. In
The BPRA and the NZBPA combined in
For a number of years booksellers' and publishers' organisations had worked closely together, and by the mid-1980s were holding conferences at the same time, although separately. The preference of a number of publishers for the booksellers' organisation as a marketing body, rather than the BPANZ, was one of the factors, along with a reduction in membership charges, which led to the latter's retrenchment and the closure of its office in
Other organisations include the New Zealand Book Trade Organisation, set up in The Booksell Report, a marketing, sales and promotions newsletter, from 1983 to 1986. The New Zealand Book Council was established in The Book Trade of the World (
A brief history of the BPANZ appears in its newsletter The Publisher (no.12, The Publisher since New Zealand Publishing News (1977-93). A useful discussion of the issues relating to booksellers' and publishers' organisations is in Part 4 of Anna and Turning the Pages (
Three groups of the BPANZ's records, covering the years from 1970 to 1991, are held in the The Publisher.
Many trade publications are essentially ephemeral in nature. This makes them hard to find, but they are a central documentary source for any study of the publishing business. Substantial exceptions are the annual volumes of New Zealand Books in Print, issued under varying imprints from A Caxton Catalogue (NZCER, 1934-84, Books of Today. A trade journal, the Book Trade Monthly, appeared between 1979 and 1983 under various titles, latterly as the New Zealand Bookseller and Publisher. Some larger publishers have regularly or occasionally produced in-house newsletters: Scuttle Butt is an example. Even more evanescent are publishers' advertisements, fliers, book promotions, and press releases, but any of these which can be found will provide evidence of value to the study of publishing.
'Publishing is a paradoxical business', remarked the author of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's report on the printing and publishing industry, H.M. Oliver, in
Ten years later, according to the New Zealand Official Yearbook, the average print run of a general book was much the same, having peaked somewhere in the early 1980s, and was declining. Three hundred publishers were now thought to be active, but only about 100 were specialist book importers or publishers. By Yearbook repeated the same statistics for the number of active publishers, although First Edition in
These snapshots of some of the data relating to economic factors in publishing are notable for how much remains outside the frame. The Yearbook noted in
Publishing in New Zealand has sprung from a variety of structures. In earlier years family firms predominated, although they might go elsewhere for additional capital to facilitate expansion. Reeds, for instance, expanded by offering shares to a limited number of directors, staff, booksellers and authors in
Information on book sales analysis, the relative turnover of titles from a publisher's backlist and frontlist, comparative sales of overseas and New Zealand titles, overseas sales of books and rights, trade and specialist sales, and analyses of market segments are to be found in publishers' files. Overall statistics for the trade appear intermittently in a variety of sources. Some of these are identified in the section on book buying in Chapter 4 of this guide. W.B. Sutch contributed 'An economic survey' to History of Printing in New Zealand (Official Yearbook for
A Unesco survey from An International Survey of Book Production During the Last Decades, records New Zealand book production statistics from 1949 to 1978, during which period New Zealand's annual book production rose from 277 to 2,079 titles. It appears to be unique as a comparative study. Oliver (Printing and Publishing Industry, in First Edition (
The economic history of individual firms may be found in their records. Studies of individual companies (see the section following) provide some financial data but are unlikely to include balance sheets. In the case of active businesses, information on costing, discount structures, profit margins and financial management remains commercially sensitive and is likely to be kept confidential.
For over 80 years the New Zealand publishing scene was dominated by two firms. In The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden in
Even the estimated 12 million copies of Whitcombe's story books published between 1908 and 1962 pales beside the unimaginable quantities of material published by the third major player of the era, the Government Printing Office. The Office had its origins in the earliest years of colonial government, in
Publishing reputations are not made entirely by bulk of output, however. The social ferment of the 1930s was the fertile ground from which a number of significant publishing enterprises sprang, some longer-lasting than others. Aesthetic considerations underlay the enterprises of Harry H. Tombs—son of George—whose serials Art in New Zealand and Music in New Zealand, the annual New Zealand Best Poems, and some ambitiously designed monographs are landmarks whose present reputations might be cold comfort to their hard pressed proprietor who eventually had to give up the publishing business as hopelessly uneconomic.
Like Phoenix, perhaps more notable as a literary historical landmark than as a publishing history event. Out of the spirit of the times and the cooperative bookshops set up by the optimistic socialist fellow travellers of the era arose the Progressive Publishing Society (PPS) in New Zealand New Writing, modelled on Penguin New Writing in the
After World War II, Whitcombe & Tombs's publishing successes in readers and schoolbooks were undermined by the ascendancy of the Department of Education's School Publications Branch, as well as by competing firms, notably Reeds. Caxton led in literary publications while Reeds dominated in popular reading. Hamilton bookseller
The University of New Zealand Press was set up in Buttermaker's Manual (2 vols, Origins of the Maori Wars. Although other university presses were already established,
Of the 20 New Zealand book publishers listed in Perry's New Zealand Writer's Handbook, only two names (Reed—misleadingly—and Caxton—barely) are recognisably identified with publishers active in New Zealand today, although some others may live on through their lists, now under other imprints. It was in the 1960s that overseas publishing firms began to make an impact on the local scene. William Collins (originally of Glasgow) had had a presence here since
Blackwood & Beyond Reasonable Doubt?,
Another phenomenon of the 1970s was the entry of New Zealand's Heritage (in 105 parts, 1971-73) and subsequently New Zealand's Nature Heritage (both edited by Ray Knox). Locally these might be seen as drawing on the model of the pictorial survey series Making New Zealand, produced as part of the government's centennial publications programme. However they were also following a worldwide trend of the time. With a high-powered advisory board chaired by J.C. Beaglehole, New Zealand's Heritage claimed to be the first fully-illustrated social history of New Zealand, and at a total of almost 3,000 pages, and with articles by many of the country's leading scholars, it was a significant event. (It included a survey of publishing by M.H. Holcroft in part 97.) There seems to have been no successor to these series (except perhaps for Weetbix cards), perhaps a publishing idea that has fallen out of fashion.
Local publishers had continued to be active. Reeds had opened an Australian subsidiary but were bought out and dismembered in the 1970s, with the local publishing arm initially becoming
Other New Zealand firms—John McIndoe,
The history of Māori language publishing is another story, where factors other than economics have played an important part. From missionary beginnings it has survived 150 years of indifference and manipulation, if not outright suppression. Government and institutional support has enabled the undertaking of some large scale works, from the Māori Bible and the Williamses's Dictionary via Nga Moteatea to the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography's Māori-language series, Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau. Recently, independent Māori language publishing has re-emerged, with the production of educational and children's books to the fore. The award winning Endnotes,
Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English (Endnotes (Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature will also contain entries for the more 'literary' publishers. Specialist publishers in non-literary areas have commonly been overlooked. Such major enterprises as the business information publisher CCH, the medical publisher Adis, and the legal publishers Butterworths (part of
Whitcombe & Tombs published no company history, although notes for a planned centennial volume (by A.H. Johnstone) are extensively quoted by Anna and Whitcombe's Story Books (The House of Reed (The House of Reed, 1957-1967 (
The records of the enterprising Harry H. Tombs Ltd are held in the A Popular Vision (Landmarks in New Zealand Publishing. Some of Blackwood &
Government Printing Office records exist at National Archives, with lacunae caused by the periodic fires that have depleted all government records. Government Printing in New Zealand, 1840 to 1843 (New Zealand Libraries (Endnotes (
Other house histories are few. The publishing house of William Collins issued a booklet to commemorate its centenary in New Zealand as Quenching the Thirst for Knowledge (There Was a Tide (Endnotes (The Publisher, includes profiles of publishing firms in many of its issues, and the company listings in Book Publishers and Distributors (New Zealand Business Who's Who (the latest edition is the 38th, New Zealand Books in Print.
The key personnel in publishing are various in their roles: owners and proprietors, managers, editors, accountants, designers, typesetters, sales-persons, and so on. In the 19th century they were likely to be involved in other activities besides book publishing—in allied trades such as printing or bookselling, or in other kinds of business. For researchers seeking, in the first instance, to identify the individuals who have been involved in publishing, general sources such as directories and electoral rolls may be painstakingly combed. Published around the turn of the century, the Cyclopedia of New Zealand, in six volumes divided regionally, provides a useful index of professions and trades under whose heading for 'Printers and Publishers' some of the pioneers will be found. Newspapers are also indexed here.
In the earlier decades of European settlement in New Zealand after the missionary era, many newspaper proprietors dabbled in publishing. A number of them appear in G.H. Scholefield's Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Te Hokioi, are other notable figures. In the later decades of the 19th century the 'rag-planters', founders of provincial newspapers, proliferated. DNZB's second volume (1870-1900). Other prominent figures who appear in this volume are the publishers J.R. Blair, W.R. Bock (of Bock & Cousins, lithographers), Henry Brett, G.T. Chapman and the
It is not until the early 20th century that the founders of the modern publishing industry appear. Who's Who in New Zealand, published from Turning the Pages (DNZB (vol.3, 1901-20,
A.H. Reed founded his Sunday School Supply Stores in Autobiography (Young Kauri (Books are My Business (DNZB (vol.4, 1921-40, forthcoming). Both A.H. and A.W. have entries in A.H. McLintock's Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (
To the activists of the new socialist and radical movements in the early 20th century, the printing and publishing of their message was a central concern. These include the Romanian-born W.P. Black and radical printing tradesmen and unionists J.T. Paul and R.S. Ross, all of whom appear in the DNZB (vol.3, 1901-20). The entrepreneur publishers
Further information on individuals is to be found in general biographical sources such as the Alexander Turnbull Library's Biographical Index on Microfiche and New Zealand Biographical Clippings, 1890-1988 (also on microfiche, both Index on microfiche, History of the Government Printing Office (The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English, The Book of New Zealand Women (Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography's database, accessible to researchers on application, contains data on many individuals who do not find a place in the published volumes. The fourth volume in the series, to appear in
People in the broader cultural sphere who had an influence on aspects of the development of New Zealand publishing include the prolific scribblers Herstory diary in general and the diary for Broadsheet by R. Taylor (Herstory was compiled by
Publishing's denizens may wield unbridled power in their shadowy enclaves but unless their reflected glory may sell a book they are inclined to shun the spotlight. Trade literature is the place to find out about these enigmatic figures. Since The Publisher. Those profiled so far have included
The richest lode for information about people in publishing is still largely unexploited. Many of the best sources of historical, practical and biographical information are still active in the trade. Pony Club Manuals with sales of over 100,000) he maintains his agency with over 100 clients.
No comprehensive general study has yet been made of New Zealand publishing. The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English (Printing and Publishing in New Zealand (Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (The Book Trade of the World, Volume II (Endnotes (Working Titles: Books That Shaped New Zealand, ed. The Picador Anthology of Contemporary New Zealand Fiction (
Publishing in New Zealand was initially concerned with producing utilitarian works. As the settlers were able to move from more immediate practical concerns—taming the land, providing shelter and food—so publishing altered, from publishing as an auxiliary activity of printers, to publishing as a separate specific activity. This is virgin territory for print culture historians and it seems especially significant to more carefully distinguish when the distinction between publishers, and publishing as an offshoot of printing, became clear cut in the New Zealand context. Also essential to explore is the role of publishers based elsewhere (notably London) who were closely identified with New Zealand. Aspects of the relationship between the British and New Zealand publishing trade are noted in Luke Trainor's contribution to this chapter about colonial editions and their role in New Zealand.
Few regional studies of publishing in New Zealand exist. More are needed; they are especially important for the 19th century before the communications infrastructure was sufficiently developed for New Zealand to be considered as a single unit. K.A. Coleridge's work on early publishing and printing in Wellington is a notable exception. Her contribution in this guide on regional publishing in Wellington, and
Colonial editions at special prices were a form of British publishing of, chiefly, fiction for the colonial markets. Study of the system offers a window on the British dominance of book culture in New Zealand until the third quarter of the 20th century and what that meant for local print culture.
The classic form of the colonial edition is exemplified by Rolf Boldrewood's A Colonial Reformer (London, Macmillan's Colonial Library series, which began in
As this suggests, the significance of the colonial edition was not so much in any differences in production, which became small after World War I, but rather in its place in the marketing of British books, with all that meant for the colonial connection. Nineteenth-century novels, in three volumes or one, were too expensive for mass sale in New Zealand or other colonies. Local booksellers, agents and wholesalers needed the inducement of a cheap edition, extended terms of credit and—an important point—access to the most recent fiction. The colonial edition met this need. It also suited British print capitalism of the late 19th century by providing a facility for extended and cheap production, linked to heightened international competition where safe colonial markets were of benefit.
The first book issued in Macmillan's Colonial Library was Lady Barker's Station Life in New Zealand (
International Copyright Law and the Publisher in the Reign of Queen Victoria (Colonial and Home Library (Bentley's Empire Library (1878-81) and Colonial Library (from
The trans-Tasman connection was important for colonial editions. British publishers regarded Australia and New Zealand as one market area, their branches and agents covering both. Wholesale and retail booksellers and publishers such as Robertson and Angus & Robertson of Sydney, operated in New Zealand, just as Whitcombe & Tombs established a
There is some evidence that the Bentley initiative, as well as the Macmillan one and those that followed in the late 19th century, were influenced by fear of East Lynne (
Whatever the truth, Johanson provides evidence of a striking increase in book sales by British publishers to Australia and New Zealand in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He suggests that the volume of British book exports to Australia had by
The impact of World War I on colonial editions and British book exports to New Zealand is tolerably clear. Shipping was severely interrupted, costs of production rose with higher material expenses and wages, and binding costs, so important to colonial editions, trebled. Hardback colonial editions rose from 3s 6d to 6s and paperback editions were not produced. The formal differences between the British edition at 7s 6d and the local at 6s were reduced to a stamp notifying that they were colonial editions; the emphasis was now on the pricing arrangement, 'colonial terms'. British book exports to New Zealand fell sharply and the emphasis in the 1920s was on the protection of the booksellers' margins.
New Zealand had, in proportion to population, a large number of booksellers. The Booksellers' Association, formed in
When the
The solidity of this linkage in the book trade is indicated by the way in
which it survived the storms of the 1930s: the Depression, a period of Australian tariffs on books to protect local printing, and devaluation of the pound. Colonial editions, now termed empire editions, or later overseas editions, did not have their previous formal prominence. Some publishers, Murray and Macmillan for example, continued with overseas editions, while others used the The Publishers Association 1896-1946 (Turning the Pages (The Book in Australia ed. D.H. Borchardt and W. Kirsop (
Johanson (
Colonial editions are an obvious agenda item for the study of print culture. Their significance will not be known until the detailed work is done, including that on periodicals and readership. Then we shall be better placed to understand the longstanding dominance of British books, the internal dynamics that made that possible in New Zealand, and what that might have meant for the colonisation of the New Zealand mind.
There has been virtually no work on patterns of publishing within the Wellington region, apart from the brief survey article by Coleridge, 'Printing and publishing in Wellington, New Zealand, in the 1840s and 1850s' (
The first need for any study of regional publishing is to identify the works and the publishers. Item by item scanning of The New Zealand National Bibliography to 1960, ed. A.G. Bagnall (1969-85), and of the annual volumes of the 'Current National Bibliography' (1961-65), and
Publishers can be identified through business directories, such as the Universal Business Directory (The Directory Directory (
Once publications have been identified, reviews of them may provide further information about the publishers and their activities. Reviews can be located by using the Index to New Zealand Periodicals (1940-86), Index New Zealand (Newzindex (
New Zealand National Bibliography as being published south of the Waitaki River to
In subject matter, religion (66 titles) headed the list, publications on evolution, free thought and spiritualism swelling the total to 88 (several titles, fitting more than one category, have been counted into each category). Verse (31), fiction (17), and 'general literature' produced 89; local bodies and amenities 56, commercial 44, education 36, and politics 32. Clubs and societies, and personal pamphlets each produced 24. Such modern preoccupations as women, Māori and sport together barely reached double figures.
Local bodies, companies and organisations issued many of the items, and so did private individuals—mostly in testimonials, petitions and pamphlets, but also in more ambitious works. Otago French Primer for Beginners on his own behalf in
Though some Otago writers had work published abroad, there was a noticeable willingness to publish within the local community, for the gold-rushes enabled enterprising booksellers and printers to reach an adequate market. Title pages seldom stated when bookseller or printer was also doubling as publisher, but in some cases the distinction is clear. Grif: A Story of Colonial Life was issued by 'Rambles with a Philosopher (The Old Identities (
Booksellers such as Hay, J. Wilkie, Chemistry for the Goldfields (
Surviving information on print runs suggests that 19th-century publishing in The Reign of Grace (Horsburgh, Homeopathic Guide, issued by a local pharmacist in New Zealand Family Herb Doctor (
New Zealand Post Office Directory (
Though the bookseller R.J. Stark issued Thomson's A New Zealand Naturalist's Calendar in Memories of the Life of J.F.H. Wohlers (Early Days in Central Otago (Early Gold Discoveries (Advance Guard (1973-75), before its publishing department stuttered to a close.
The rise of Whitcombe & Tombs changed the regional pattern considerably.
Whitcombe's success, coinciding with a developing New Zealand identity, offered an example for other firms to emulate. Two such—Coulls Somerville Wilkie and the House of Reed—had Reminiscences of the Early Settlement (
In
Early in The Port of Otago (Grand Hills for Sheep (
In another development the McIndoe family's long-established jobbing printing firm was led by
In
Under the editorial direction of first Introduction to Opthalmology, feared uncommercial, turned out to be a runaway success. In
Individual publishers, mainly of verse, appear from time to time. The most determined of them has been
In Invercargill, the Southland Times interest was taken over in the 1960s by Craig Print, its work in this field greatly expanding as Southland communities, following Otago's example, began producing many substantial local histories. In On the Edge of the Bush on its own behalf and has since maintained a steady output, mainly of history and non-fiction, and not restricted to Southland. It has now printed or published over 300 titles.
Since the late 1970s Windows on a Chinese Past (Ng, Timeless Land (
Marketing is a permanent problem for southern publishers. Population imbalance and transport costs meant that a publisher of McIndoe's standing found it barely possible to distribute good quality poetry nationwide. No southern publisher has tackled the national popular market front on. Craig Print and Otago Heritage design their output to markets within reach, Longacre aims for a niche market, and the University of Otago Press depends in part on its academic and textbook interests. Nevertheless, considering the region's small population, publishing in Otago and Southland has maintained quite remarkable vigour, particularly in the field of history.
The student of publishing in New Zealand is handicapped by the lack of bibliometric studies. There is, for instance, no equivalent for New Zealand of Some Patterns and Trends in British Publishing 1800-1919 (
From its earliest days the State in New Zealand has been a major publisher. The colonial government's first official notices were printed on the Gazette came out towards the end of the same year. Government Printing in New Zealand, 1840 to 1843 (History of the Government Printing Office (
Unfortunately, the mass of material so produced over the years has been less than perfectly mapped. New Zealand Libraries (A Guide to the New Zealand Primary Sources in the Davis Law Library (Guide to New Zealand Information Sources Part V: Official Publications (New Zealand Government Publications: An Introduction (Users' Guide to Parliamentary Publications (Parliamentary Practice in New Zealand, first published in An Introduction to New Zealand Government (
The above guides are manuals of a kind, pragmatic in nature. This is also true of the few legal textbooks that give guidance on the availability of statutes, the most informative of which is perhaps J.F. Burrows's Statute Law in New Zealand (
Over the past decade attention has gradually turned from the practice of government publishing to its theory: from what is available to what should be available, and in what format. This has been in part inspired by the consequences of the major government restructuring which began in the mid 1980s. The deregulation of government printing in
It should be clear by now that there are large gaps in research on New Zealand government publishing. The bibliographic groundwork has not even been done. Some departments have issued spasmodic promotional catalogues of their publications; some have more or less regularly issued bibliographies or chronological lists (the Department of Statistics has been perhaps the most consistent performer here). However, few if any systematic and comprehensive bibliographies of any aspects of government publishing have been compiled, nor are satisfactory cumulative indexes available to the major publications.
Apart from Salmond (The First Forty Years: New Zealand Oceanographic Institute (Progress in Official Statistics 1940-57 (
No work at all has been done on the publication practices of local and regional government, or state owned enterprises; little research has been done into the accessibility and usefulness of government information in print form. R.C. Lamb, writing in New Zealand Libraries (Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (matters left uncorrected in subsequent indexes). Genealogical researchers such as Denis Hampton and —uses incidental to the original purposes of publication. What About the Users? (
The ideology underlying government publications has also been little studied. The Education Department's long term flagship, the School Journal, is one exception, with a pioneering essay by David Jenkins on its social attitudes (New Zealand School Journal and the imperial ideology' in New Zealand Journal of History (
Scientific publishing is defined as the formal communication across time and distance of methods, results, and implications of scientific research. Its purpose is both deposition (archival aspects) and transmission (awareness aspects); fellow scientists (peers) are the prime target audience for science publications which comprise mostly articles ('papers') in learned journals.
In New Zealand, Māori had of old a practical interest in scientific matters (horticulture, fishing, medicine, geography) but without a written language their findings cannot be considered published. It was not until this century that their orally transmitted knowledge started being committed to the scientific record.
Although sighted in Endeavour. Travels in New Zealand was the first general scientific account of the country. Published in London in
Since the early colonial days (the mid 1800s) New Zealand has had an active scientific community. Scientific societies were formed in nearly every main centre and several major museums and universities were built. A national scientific academy was established in Science, Settlers, and Scholars (
The early New Zealand Institute publications were in two categories, published in a single volume: Proceedings, defined as 'a current abstract of the proceedings of the Societies . . . incorporated with the Institute' and Transactions, 'comprising papers read before the Incorporated Societies'. In Bulletin series as well as occasional publications. Dissatisfaction with the annual Transactions (particularly the lag between submission and publication) led to the establishment of a quarterly Journal of Science in New Zealand Medical Journal was established. It ran for ten years, was briefly discontinued, then resumed under the same name (restarting with vol.1) in
The establishment of the Polynesian Society's Journal in New Zealand Journal of Agriculture in New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology in
The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) was established in New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology (established in New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology was also responsible for a Bulletin series initiated by the Board of Science and Art, the Annual Report of DSIR, and Geological Bulletins of the Geological Survey, previously published by the Mines Department. The Geological Survey had been established in
Between 1938 and 1957, the New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology published alternating Parts A (Agricultural Section) and B (General Section). Science and scientific output greatly expanded in New Zealand, especially at universities which added active research to their teaching obligations. To provide publishing avenues for this expanded research effort, in New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology was replaced by the New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, and the New Zealand Journal of Science. Soon after, additional journals emerged:
The relative importance of the generalist New Zealand Journal of Science decreased, and in New Zealand Journal of Technology; it folded in
A perceived overlap between the New Zealand Journal of Experimental Agriculture and the New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research was remedied by changing the name and content of the former to New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science in New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research then concentrated on pastoral and animal research.
Agricultural extension had been a prime role for the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture (1918-88), originally established as Journal of the Department of Agriculture (1910-12), later the Journal of Agriculture, NZ (1913-18). This journal remained with the Department of Agriculture until
Within the DSIR, direct responsibility for publishing had mostly resided within its head office, since Flora of New Zealand series.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, computer developments and applications started to have an increasing impact on New Zealand publishing and on the scientific community. The Government Printing Office introduced computer typesetting in New Zealand in
In Fauna of New Zealand series. The 1989-90 financial year saw the biggest reorganisation of DSIR since
It was mainly for financial reasons that the DSIR in
As a result of the external evaluation, the six journals were transferred to the Royal Society of New Zealand, separate from any government department, on
Now the major national scientific publisher, the Royal Society continues to produce the quarterly Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand (successor to the Transactions 1869-1971) and the annual Proceedings of the Society, alongside the 'ex-DSIR journals'. Although experiments with various electronic formats for journal distribution have been conducted using CD-ROM and the Internet, the principal form of science communication remains that of articles printed in its seven quarterly scientific journals.
Newspapers assume special significance in the New Zealand publishing context. Unlike the situation in
This section is primarily concerned with publishing of newspapers, rather than with production aspects (see Chapter 2) and with the role of the media in the political process; note, however, that this distinction is on occasion difficult to draw and so the user can profitably read both sections. It is also heavily weighted to 19th- and early 20th-century newspapers, the period which has been most closely examined. Research into more recent aspects of the newspaper press have been largely concerned with control and ownership of the newspapers and with their role in the political process, which is not the primary interest of this section.
The student of the history of New Zealand newspapers needs to be constantly vigilant about distinguishing fact from fiction, and this is as true for recent material as it is for the 19th century. Journalists and editors, perhaps because their stock in trade is skill with words, manufacture their own myths and history rather more than other writers.
A considerable amount of information about newspapers is to be found elsewhere in this guide. Note in particular the section on Māori newspapers later in this chapter, and also the sections in Chapter 6 which note newspapers published in New Zealand in languages other than English and Māori.
History
New Zealand, as a British colony, took its models from that country and retained strong links to it. Newspapers were no exception. British immigrants were advised to arrange, before leaving, 'to receive a file of some weekly London paper' (Wakefield, quoted in Hankin, Victorian News and Newspapers (
Harvey in 'Formula for success' (1993b, pp.208-209, based on Day,
Newspapers were initially established in New Zealand as government organs, whether directly or indirectly subsidised, and were centred at or close to the main areas of European settlement. Government control of these early newspapers is an essential element to understand and has been examined in several studies, most notably in G.M. Meiklejohn's Early Conflicts of Press and Government (Government Printing in New Zealand, 1840 to 1843 (The Making of the New Zealand Press (
As European settlement expanded and as land communication links (rail and road) were gradually developed, more newspapers were established. A newspaper was regarded as an essential requisite of every progressive town, as this
Newspapers (many of them short-lived) were established as a response to the sharp increase in immigration which followed the discovery of gold; the phenomenon of the goldfields newspaper in New Zealand has been briefly examined by Harvey (
Surprisingly little attention has been paid to the period of consolidation which occurred from the 1880s. As settlements became more established, their newspapers became more stable. Chains of newspapers were now feasible in country areas such as Taranaki and Southland where there was sufficient population density to support them. They were established by such 'rag-planters' as
Geographical conditions in New Zealand were particularly conducive to the establishment of small-town newspapers. (A study of the relationship between New Zealand's geography, its settlement patterns and its newspaper press is well overdue.) A short tongue-in-cheek but informative introduction to the difficulties which small-town newspaper operators faced is found in 'New Zealand's country press' (
The weekly newspapers, which were usually particularly targeted to rural areas, were influential—older New Zealanders will recall the pink covers of the We had long ceased to paper our houses with the illustrated pages of the Auckland Weekly News—and require further study. No serious research has been carried out into the contents of these or into their influence, for example as a factor promoting social cohesion. An interesting small study could also be made of the uses which were made of these weekly papers beyond those immediately intended: E.H. McCormick, reminiscing about his childhood, noted:
Auckland Weekly News, although traces of this pioneer custom were still to be found in the privies and occasionally in the kitchens of our rural neighbours . . . We had passed beyond that unsophisticated stage and now used the supplements issued with various journals, hanging them, suitably framed, on a background of floral or oatmeal wallpaper.
(McCormick, 1959a, p.12)
Up to World War II, the newspaper in New Zealand was essentially of two kinds: a large metropolitan paper, owned by a company or perhaps still under family control; or a small or medium-sized country paper, perhaps issued daily but more likely issued bi-weekly or tri-weekly, and very likely to be under the control of a working proprietor in the case of the smallest papers or, in larger towns, family owned and perhaps also family operated. World War II changed this. Skilled personnel was in short supply and many newspapers closed, never to reopen. (This, too, has not been well studied: for instance, a series of case studies to more closely identify the forces which caused closure could be carried out.) After
Other factors also reshaped the face of newspaper publishing in New Zealand, although few of these, if any, were unique to New Zealand. Overseas ownership of the media was hotly debated, especially during the early 1980s. Competition from other mass media was of concern. Technological change, this time from hot-metal to electronic typesetting, and reskilling caused considerable anxiety in the newspaper trade, as Hill and Gidlow (Manawatu Herald, well over one century old, in
Media comment about newspaper publishing in the 1980s and 1990s is plentiful and is usually focused on the question of ownership and control, especially in relation to ownership by overseas companies or by investment houses. Some of the most informative of this writing is the media comment found in the monthly magazines North and South and Metro. Examples include Star) and
Sources
Harvey (1991a) summarises the history and current state of the bibliography of 19th-century newspapers published in New Zealand, concluding that they are 'bibliographically well controlled but . . . only to a limited degree'. To locate surviving copies the starting point is Harvey's Union List of Newspapers (List of Newspapers Placed on the Register at the General Post Office, Wellington was first published in about
Few New Zealand newspapers have been indexed. Those indexes to individual titles which have been compiled are listed in Peacocke's Newspaper Indexes in New Zealand (
The major collection of New Zealand newspapers is at the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington. Significant collections also exist at
Scholefield's Newspapers in New Zealand (
No recent studies have been made of newspapers in particular regions or localities, yet there is considerable scope for such studies, particularly for the 19th and early 20th centuries when local and regional interests overrode national interests, and when communications channels were not fully developed. Existing studies include F.A. Simpson's 'Survey of the newspapers and magazines of the Province of Otago' (Printing in Canterbury (A History of the Canterbury Master Printers' Association, 1889-1989 (Brief History of the Press (
Material about local newspapers and their history is frequently present in local histories. Two examples of the many which abound can be found in Tauranga 1882-1982 ('Communications', Wairarapa (
Newspapers in Māori are noted later in this chapter. Newspapers in languages other than English and Māori are noted in Chapter 6.
The only detailed published history of an influential daily newspaper is R.B. O'Neill's Press. Other newspapers await similar detailed studies. More plentiful are studies which address specific periods during the life of a newspaper or a newspaper business. Two works based on work originally submitted as university theses are Salmond's Government Printing in New Zealand, 1840-43 (Printing and the Book Trade in Early Nelson (Nelson Examiner from 1842 to 1874. Born to New Zealand (Taranaki Herald during its early years. Harvey (Inangahua Herald, Reefton, a case study of the setting up of a goldfields newspapers. R.C.J. Stone's biographies of the Southern Cross. Many similar works have been published.
Anniversary issues—especially centennial issues—of newspapers may provide useful information, although the user should take into account their often anecdotal and not always critical approach. Some which contain useful newspaper history (as distinct from anecdote, or reproductions of early issues) are:
Theses are also an important source of studies of individual newspapers or of specific periods of their lives. An example of this genre is Graeme Robinson's 'The Evening Press 1884-94' (
An unusual, perhaps unique, source for newspaper history is a film running just over two minutes which depicts some of the activities involved in producing the Taranaki Herald in The Production of the Taranaki Herald and Budget,
The only newspaper company history is Evening Post, the Dominion, Truth, the Waikato Times, the Manawatu Evening Standard, the Southland Times and the Timaru Herald; and more recent history of the company and its mergers and takeovers. Verry's final chapter is titled 'How independent are Independent Newspapers?', the theme of much of the recent writing about newspapers in New Zealand.
Much has been published about individual newspaper personnel, although it has not yet been collected into a directory of printing trade personnel. Starting points are the entries in biographical compendiums. The biographical entries in the Cyclopedia of New Zealand have been extracted and reproduced in Printing, Bookselling and their Allied Trades in New Zealand c. 1900 (
There are also many periodical articles and monographs with biographical content. An early Wellington newspaperman and his role in the New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser (Wellington, 1842-43) can be found in Coleridge's 'New Zealand Advertiser and Bay of Islands Gazette and the Bay of Islands Observer published in Kororareka (Russell), New Zealand's first seat of government, are noted in Journalese (The Inky Way (
Politicians in New Zealand have often also been newspapermen, not surprising as the newspaper was, until the advent of other mass media, the primary vehicle through which politicians could express local needs. They have been well investigated by New Zealand historians. Some, like Wanganui Herald. The newspaper activities of a less successful politician,
Much unpublished biographical material still remains to be fully assessed. One example is the diary of Daily Telegraph (
Press associations were formed for the purposes of controlling and disseminating news by regulating access to the telegraph. They played a key role in New Zealand's newspaper history. The New Zealand Press Association was established in
The standard history of the New Zealand Press Association and its predecessors is Dateline-NZPA (The United Press Association (
Another relevant association history is that of the New Zealand Journalists' Association (
The day-to-day activities involved in running a newspaper and the economics of the newspaper business have been an area of interest to researchers. Harvey (1993a, 1993b) examines available evidence about profitability, circulation, income, expenditure, advertising revenue and similar factors for 19th-century titles. Other publications deal with specific aspects. Advertising is noted in Building a Paper Economy (AJHR provide a starting point. Circulation figures for 19th-century newspapers are noted in Harvey (1988-89), and in Harvey (
Aspects of the news-gathering process in the 19th century are covered by Day (New Zealand's Burning (The New Zealand Herald Manual of Journalism (
Harvey's 'Editors and compositors' (
Further research
Despite the considerable number of publications which exist about New Zealand newspapers, particularly for the 19th century, much research is still needed. In addition to the lacunae noted above, more needs to be known about newspapers published in specific regions, and about news-gathering (including the role of the telegraph). More histories of individual newspapers are essential, for example to allow better knowledge of whether New Zealand newspapers differ from colonial papers published in other countries. This list can be refined and extended almost indefinitely.
Many sources are available to further this research. The New Zealand Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) warrant attention: they include, for example, information about postage rates and subsidies for newspapers, about funding of the Māori language newspaper Te Waka Maori, and about government patronage in the form of advertising. Significant archival material is available in libraries: demanding attention in this category are the New Zealand News archives (AJHR, will reward further study. The registrations of newspapers required under various Acts from
Many newspapers published in the second half of the 19th century used Māori language, though not all were published by Māori. The earliest titles were those published by the government or its spokesmen. Te Karere o Niu Tireni (in various titles, 1842-63) contained government announcements and correspondence, Te Pihoihoi Mokemoke i runga i te tuanui (Te Hokioi (see below), and Te Waka Maori (1863-79 and Te Hokioi o Niu-Tireni, e rere atu na (1862-63) under the auspices of the Māori King Pōtatau, and range from
Te Paki o Matariki (Te Wananga (1874-78) and Te Puke ki Hikurangi (1897-1913). These newspapers illustrate the high degree of Māori confidence in printing their own language and are invaluable historical and cultural taonga. Periodicals in Māori which used a newspaper format also included several of a religious motivation: The Anglo-Maori Warder (Te Whetu o te Tau (Te Haeata (1859-62) sponsored by the Methodist Church, Te Korimako (1882-88), and Te Hoa Maori (1885-97), published by the Plymouth Brethren, are examples. Most of these newspapers in Māori took a particular stance on political or religious issues, but they all frequently also contain reports of hui, obituaries, waiata, advertisements, local news, correspondence and so on, which are all valuable sources of historical information.
Periodicals in Māori which can be defined as newspapers declined in numbers from the early 20th century. Although there were several Māori magazines, it was not until the 1980s that Tu Tangata subtitled itself Maori News Magazine. Māori newspapers began to flourish again from the 1980s. Some are listed in a Tu Tangata article, for example Te Iwi o Aotearoa, Maori Kuii-ee! (from Sydney), and in the 1990s Kia Hiwa Ra (Te Kūiti).
Brief overviews of the early Māori newspapers are included in articles by Sheila Williams and by Nicola Frean in the Turnbull Library Record.
Publications about Māori newspapers have so far concentrated on extracts from them. Te Pakiwaitara, Te Puni Wahine, and
Study of Māori newspapers has been hampered in the past by the location of scarce copies in research libraries. In an attempt to improve accessibility the Alexander Turnbull Library, in cooperation with other libraries which held copies, first produced microfilm copies through the National Library, then in Niupepa 1842-1933 has been purchased by a few major libraries, and digitisation of the papers is currently under discussion. However, the microfiche edition includes only those titles which began publication before
Avenues for further study of Māori newspapers are many. Bibliographic coverage is patchy so far. Union List of Newspapers gives place of publication, frequency, date ranges, title changes and holdings information for most early titles. Cataloguing of the early titles for the New Zealand National Bibliography in
There is therefore an urgent need for a distinct and detailed bibliography of Māori newspapers including, for example, changes in size and pagination, title changes, supplements issued, editors, printers and publishers, addresses, and language, and summary of contents. Twentieth-century newspapers in particular need study, as they are excluded both from the microfiche available, and from the Early Māori Imprint project. Studies of individual newspapers are also needed, and hopefully they will be written by Māori with access to iwi support and resources. Comparative studies of, for example, production, readership, iwi linguistic variations, and the way Māori owners and publishers used Pākehā printers, will not be possible until sufficient individual studies have been produced.
Newspaper content is a rich source of historical material (used by Weekly News and Auckland Weekly News, is an example of this from an English language viewpoint. In contemporary times, an interesting comparison of print and oral cultures could be made between the growth of Māori radio stations such as Te Upoko o te Ika and Te Reo Irirangi o
Periodicals include glossy magazines, annual reports, newsletters, critical journals, conference proceedings, monographs in series, directories and almanacs. They are published for a variety of purposes by private firms, government agencies, educational institutions, political parties, individuals, church and community groups. Many periodicals are not strictly published items, for example, newsletters that are intended solely for the members of a club. In New Zealand most periodicals have been written in English, but some have been written in other languages, especially Māori. They are usually published on paper but sometimes in microform and now electronically. Some periodicals are produced simultaneously in more than one medium. Some have been copied to other media, such as microform, for preservation.
Periodicals, along with newspapers, have been very important in the development of New Zealand literature. In the 19th and early 20th centuries they were the main outlets for writing in New Zealand because of the commercial difficulties of publishing books here. The publishing of periodicals has until recently paralleled that of newspapers, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish one from the other. The pictorial newspapers such as the Otago Witness and New Zealand Free Lance that were popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries have been considered as both newspapers and periodicals.
Newspapers and periodicals have been published since the early days of European colonisation. Most had a short life span. In the 19th century periodicals and newspapers regularly failed because the population was too small and scattered to support them financially. In the 20th century there were additional reasons for their failure, such as shortages of staff and paper during World War II, and the competition from broadcast media, especially television. Periodicals have, in New Zealand, also had to compete for readers with overseas magazines like the Bulletin. Newspapers and periodicals also competed with one another, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when newspapers regularly carried literary pieces and published weekly digests and pictorial issues.
Most popular and serious periodicals published in New Zealand have lacked originality. They were usually modelled on British and Australian titles. In the last 20 years there has been a resurgence in periodical publishing with the success of general interest magazines like Metro and North and South and niche magazines like New Zealand Gardener and Marketing.
Despite their undistinguished and often ephemeral nature, New Zealand periodicals are a valuable source of information, covering a wide range of topics. They can all conceivably be used for research. They often provide a record of an organisation and its business. However, there has been little research into periodical publication in New Zealand. Only literary periodicals have received much attention, although there has been a little done on directories and almanacs by Hansen (
The essays by Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English (Studying New Zealand History (Union List of Serials in New Zealand Libraries, (3rd ed. New Zealand Official Yearbook 1990, 560 periodicals that accepted advertising were published in
Some subject bibliographies of periodicals have been published, such as Iris Park's New Zealand Periodicals of Literary Interest (Women's Societies in New Zealand (
The best collection of New Zealand periodicals is held at the Alexander Turnbull Library, which is responsible for building and maintaining the nation's collection of serials published nationally. Local periodicals are only collected comprehensively for the Wellington region. Good collections of New Zealand periodicals are also held at the National Library, the Parliamentary Library, the Hocken Library, the larger public libraries, the university libraries and the libraries of the major museums.
Periodicals need indexing to improve access for researchers. Although considerable indexing of New Zealand periodicals has been carried out, much of it is recorded on card indexes in libraries and is not readily accessible. The Index to New Zealand Periodicals (1941-86) is the most important index. This was continued as Index New Zealand and is available online as INNZ through Kiwinet. Other databases on Kiwinet include entries for periodicals, such as the Legal Index (LINX) and Newzindex (NEWZ). Some periodicals issue their own indexes, for example Landfall, and indexes have been published for some periodicals, for instance J.J. Herd's Index to 'Tomorrow', 1934-40 (
Even when periodicals have been identified, the next problem is locating them. Many important older periodicals, such as New Zealand Building Progress and the New Zealand Tablet, are quite rare. The National Library of New Zealand has recently begun microfilming periodicals, for example Tomorrow, in an attempt to improve access. On-line indexing, and indexes on CD-ROM and microfiche, will also raise awareness and appreciation of periodicals as a research source, and encourage further research into their publication.
The scope for further research into New Zealand periodicals is immense. There is a great need for subject bibliographies of periodicals to augment the basic bibliographical details given by library catalogues. Research is needed into the commercial aspects of periodical publishing. Some starting points are available: Here and Now and Comment published articles on these aspects in the 1950s and 1960s, and Nielsen Press Research have published media guides since the middle of the 1980s that give information on print runs, circulations, subscriptions and advertising rates. Coleridge (
Some other areas that require research include: popular periodicals, especially women's magazines and sports magazines; the influence of overseas periodicals on New Zealand periodicals; politics and periodical publishing, for instance, the role of government in periodical publishing, the ideological underpinnings of periodicals, and the influence of periodicals on public opinion.
From the earliest years New Zealand's isolation and small population have had a profound impact on local publishing for children. During the last century and early this century, New Zealand authors have had to find publishers overseas. As few copies of these early books made it back to these shores the authors were frequently popular overseas, but remained little known or unacknowledged in their homeland. Within New Zealand, the smallness of the market meant, until recently, that it was only commercially viable to publish texts or cheap booklets which were likely to be purchased in quantity by schools, or which were affordable for families. Publishing of well produced children's books as we know them today could only be a small sideline.
The first recorded book for children featuring New Zealand was the anonymous Stories About Many Things—Founded on Facts, published in London by Harvey & Darton in Fairy Tales and Folk Lore of New Zealand and the South Seas, published by Lyon & Blair in Wellington in
Whitcombe & Tombs produced their first children's title, Maori Fairy Tales, in Wonderwings and Other Fairy Stories, only the tenth New Zealand-published children's title) marked the beginning of a 14-year period when Whitcombe & Tombs dominated local trade children's publishing (as distinct from the publishing of educational books and readers), producing at least one title per year and 28 books altogether. At the same time they were producing their prolific series of Whitcombe's Story Books for the educational market. (For more detailed discussion of this aspect, see 'Reading and Literacy' in Chapter 5.)
In Plume of the Arawas: An Epic of Maori Life. In The Book of Wiremu by Turi, the Story of a Little Boy by Lesley Powell (Paul's Book Arcade,
Paul's Book Arcade (later Blackwood & Smitty Does a Bunk written by Brian Sutton-Smith and illustrated by Kuma is a Maori Girl (Hicks, Smith, David, Boy of the High Country (Collins, Washday at the Pa (first prepared as a School Bulletin; reprinted by Caxton Press,
New Zealand's most notable children's author, School Journal, all of her books have been published overseas. Through the School Journal and other publications, Learning Media Ltd (formerly the School Publications Branch of the Department of Education) have been, and for many still are, the only vehicle in New Zealand in which writers of children's fiction can be published.
Commercial publishing expanded in the 1960s and by the early 1970s overseas publishing houses—chiefly
From the 1970s children's publishing generally pursued urban rather than the earlier rural themes. Books featured social problems and non-traditional family structures. As overseas, fantasy and science fiction stories became popular. Publishing of picture books in English and Māori began with Jill Bagnall's Crayfishing with Grandmother (Collins, The Kuia and the Spider and Te Kuia me te Pungawerewere (
Since the 1980s there has been a continued growth in distinctively New Zealand publishing, encouraged by enterprising publishers who have actively encouraged new talent. Notable among these is Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy,
Tui and Tui Turbo series, in emulation of the 1980s British trend of producing uniform format series of books to encourage children to make the transition from picture books to novels.
New Zealand was placed at the forefront of international books about children's books with the publication of About Books for Children (Books Before Five (Babies Need Books, by A Sea Change (Jabberwocky: New Zealand's Magazine for Children (Allsorts & Jabberwocky.
A variety of awards have encouraged writing and publishing for children.
New Zealand children's book publishing is still in a healthy state in the late 1990s. Publishers demonstrate both an awareness of overseas trends and a growing interest in publishing books which reflect the New Zealand experience and Māori and
This section is limited to a study of school and college textbooks published in New Zealand. It is based on School Books Published in New Zealand to 1960 (
Before the publication of Price (New Zealand National Bibliography to the Year 1960 (see vol.2,
In Price (
This is an unfamiliar view, for we are used to identifying the books from our publishers and printers as those we see in bookshops and public libraries, and it reminds us that there is an alternative world of books out there—school textbooks. It is also a reminder that in earlier days schools were often authoritarian and unwelcoming, so that many children left them with a loathing for books, determined never to open another one if they could help it. (Of course, the distinction between school books and the books a reader will choose to buy or borrow, for interest or recreation, is dissolving with the growth of school libraries and the determination of some educational book publishers to issue more attractive books: for example, some infant reading books are now as well illustrated and well written as good children's picture books.)
Nearly all the school books published in New Zealand before
Whitcombe & Tombs were able to publish books more cheaply than similar books that they could import from Great Britain, because they combined in one firm the three roles of publisher, printer and bookseller. As publisher-printers who sold many of their books from their own bookshops, they could choose not to take a full profit 'mark up' at each stage of the book's progress from manuscript to school room (publishing, printing, book-selling). This choice was not available to any other New Zealand publisher—indeed it was almost unique in the English-speaking world, for only one other book publisher, Angus & Robertson of Australia, combined within itself a considerable publishing department, a big book-printing plant, and a national chain of central city bookshops. (But despite this vertical integration, Angus & Robertson published very few school textbooks.) Inside Whitcombe & Tombs it was widely believed that their several printing works were kept alive during the Depression (1929-35) by orders, from their publishing department, to reprint school books.
Whitcombe & Tombs's publishing office was well staffed with competent editors and designers (A.W. Shrimpton, editor for 40 years, had family connections with a book printing business in Oxford) and driven by
It was a winning formula, with two extra ingredients. One was the nearby Australian market, which was reached by Whitcombe & Tombs's bookshops in the main Australian cities, who were both wholesalers and retailers of school books to local schools. In fact, Whitcombe & Tombs published many school books for Australia (and some in Australia). For example, their Progressive Readers (Primers) was published in both New Zealand and Australian editions, and there were specially adapted editions for particular Australian states. On the other hand, there was only a very small flow of Australian-produced school books to New Zealand.
The other special ingredient was the publishing skill and flair of the management of Whitcombe & Tombs. As an example: they pushed ahead the astonishing series of school library books, Whitcombe's Story Books (1904-56) which, in its day, with about 450 titles, was the biggest series of children's books in the world. The Australian bibliographer Ian McLaren has produced a thorough bibliography of this series (
Another educational publisher was the New Zealand Department of Education. It issued the New Zealand School Journal from Journal a month to every school child, so, for example, three million Journals in
After
Information about New Zealand's educational publishing to New Zealand Education Gazette, from its beginning in Landmarks in New Zealand Publishing: Blackwood & Janet Paul (
From the advent of the book, religious publishing was the most prolific area of publishing. The New Zealand experience was somewhat different. From the first the religious instinct was weak in the colony and churches struggled for support, yet there were strong traditions of literacy, and in the 19th-century volumes of Bagnall's New Zealand National Bibliography to 1960 (in contrast to those of the 20th century) the proportion of religious works is reasonably high. Religious tracts and pamphlets were frequent in the 19th century, and as controversies invaded the religious scene they were reflected in pamphlet literature.
General bookshops sold a variety of religious literature. They would not handle slow-selling denominational resources, and this encouraged the formation of specialist bookshops. Denominations and organisations like the Bible Society distributed their specialist literature from a shelf in the shop of some sympathetic retailer, often not a bookseller, although the ideal was to use a bookseller. In Auckland William Atkin called himself a church and general printer from his shop in High Street and was appointed Anglican diocesan printer. When
The first Christian bookshop chain was the New Zealand Bible and Book Society, formed in
Publishing itself was limited to denominational yearbooks and official publications, denominational magazines, and religious pamphlets and tracts. The religious periodicals were very important because they supplied information to very scattered religious communities. Most Anglican dioceses began magazines in the 1870s. A Methodist monthly began in Christian Outlook, which, from 1901 to 1910, became a combined magazine with the The New Zealand Tablet from New Zealand Baptist began in The Treasury began in
Of other forms of publishing in the 19th century, little now stands out apart from Māori publications. The largest New Zealand book of the 19th century was the Māori Bible, later editions of which were produced by the British and Foreign Bible Society in London in association with its Auckland Auxiliary. New editions of the New Testament were produced in
English literature included pamphlets reflecting hot controversies. Perhaps the most famous in the 19th century was the pamphlet from the Otago academic The Reign of Grace, which was published in The Christ of the Cross, was published by Gordon & Gotch in
Gradually colonial authors became known, but many of these were published abroad, including Lionel Fletcher, the Congregational minister in The Reason Why, written in
As local publishers emerged in the 20th century, the situation changed somewhat. Whitcombe & Tombs published little religious work, although they stocked a very fine range of religious books in their
It was in children's religious publishing that a breakthrough came. There was a major demand for religious publishing for children, since Sunday schools annually awarded children books and certificates as Sunday school prizes. The Auckland Sunday School Union met some of this demand, but supplying the needs of Sunday schools was the origin of the first large scale New Zealand publisher. Alfred Reed was a Dunedin Sunday school superintendent who in The Dynamic of Service in
A gradual change, which might be called secularisation, was occurring. More and more religious bookshops emerged alongside the secular shops. A.H. & A.W. Reed were able to supply them both from their own publications, and from overseas publishers which they acted as distributors for. The most notable of these bookshops were the Presbyterian Bookrooms which commenced in
The age of denominational shops came to an end after
Evangelical bookselling meanwhile flourished. In
This necessitated more local wholesalers of religious books. In
It was in this context that later religious publishing continued. The Presbyterian Bookroom was very active in publishing in the 1950s, including doctrinal works like Rev. J.M. Bates's Manual of Doctrine (Our Fathers Faith and Ours (Zealandia. In The Gospel Story which was published by the Youth Movement of the diocese. The Catholic Publications Centre was later established, and this issued a small range of works, notably those by Bishop John Mackey. There were a few other small publishers but they were not large scale or commercial in orientation.
Serious readers interested in New Zealand theological thought were largely served by the proximity of the larger Australian market. Australian publishers, including the Joint Board of Christian Education, Lancer Books, Albatross and Scripture Union, all published jointly for the trans-Tasman market. Some secular publishers issued religious works. Over the decades Ormond Burton has been published by The Organism of Christian Truth, were published abroad. A departure came with the Geering controversy of the late 1960s over the historicity of the resurrection, for the general publishers Hodder & Stoughton added his works to a New Zealand list, and commissioned a response from the prominent
The Charismatic movement was very successful in New Zealand and a flurry of pamphlets was issued debating the validity of the movement. David and Dale Garrett became symbols of the movement through their Scripture in Song music. There were also popular books published by such authors as Barry Smith and Ray Comfort, and these were read far beyond New Zealand. The typical reader of such publications read for excitement, for stimulation and to discover new spiritual experiences. Changing tastes in religion have meant that some of the latest religious works tend to advocate the New Age rather than Christianity, and the stock in secular shops largely reflects this change in taste.
Most of the history of music publishing and music publishers in New Zealand remains to be written. Very little has been documented, either of the companies or individuals involved in the industry, or of the actual material published by them, so any analysis of output, trends or influences has not been carried out. The Oxford History of New Zealand Music (
Early music publishing was usually in the hands of individual printers or lithographers, with some involvement by the newspaper presses. Identification of the individuals or firms involved has barely started, nor has the relationship between many of the publishers, printers and composers. Entries in works such as the Cyclopedia of New Zealand are few and far between, and it is apparent that the early music publishers had this work very much as a sideline, making tracing their development more difficult. Research through more general printing and publishing trade listings could well prove fruitful.
Three companies attained a long term prominence in the industry.
There is no bibliography of the actual published items. Given that the earlier national bibliographies did not include sheet music, there is still much to be found and documented. The somewhat ephemeral nature of some printed music makes the search for the early published items all the more urgent. Recent technological developments resulting in the relatively easy production of scores from the personal computer has made research into recent publishing history even harder because there has been an increase in the self-published, or published-on-demand titles. The lists compiled by Music at National Archives, 1991b), and The Canterbury Series of Bibliographies, Catalogues and Source Documents in Music also serve as useful references and pointers to other avenues of investigation. A survey of the music publishing history should also take note of the various music periodicals such as Music In New Zealand (1931-37) which sometimes contained complete musical works, either of a New Zealand origin or from overseas.
Directories are books which are designed to provide specific information about particular people. The directories discussed here were business-residential directories, lists of householders along with their addresses and occupations. Directories of this type were usually published annually and often contained elements of the almanac which had preceded them. The purpose of business-residential directories was, and still is, commercial: to bring buyers and sellers together. They were produced in large numbers in New Zealand from the 1860s and, while they are still produced in a reduced format, their popularity began to dwindle in the 1950s with the emergence of the telephone book and the yellow pages.
The first business-residential directories produced in New Zealand were based on English examples. They were compiled, published and distributed by immigrants, usually British. Yet the conditions that publishers such as
Directories in New Zealand fulfilled three main functions: to boost the local and regional economy by bringing producer and consumer together; to provide a compendium of useful information to benefit the local population as well as the would-be migrant; and to create in printed format a resource which would help meld isolated communities together.
Directories commonly contained as many as eight distinct sections. These included an almanac, an alphabetical list of residents, a list of occupations together with names of those who practised those jobs, a street directory, official information pertaining to local and central government, non-official information, advertisements, and a selection of maps. In the earliest directories, those which preceded the publications produced by Wise and Stone, the almanac was an essential ingredient. An almanac gave directions for the current year in the form of tide tables, new constellations, seasons, the physical landforms and so forth. It was of great assistance to early settlers because subsistence farming and fishing helped those newly arrived through lean patches.
Between Moody's Royal Almanac for the Year 1842 was the first almanac ever printed in New Zealand. It included a trade and official 'Directory of names, &c.'. Other early directories included
There were two early efforts at providing New Zealand with a national directory. The first was The New Zealand Directory published in Wright's Australian and American Commercial Directory and Gazetteer published in New York in 1881 and 1882-83. These were short-lived and it was not until Wise's went national in the early 1870s that New Zealand finally had a directory of some substance which was destined to survive for over 100 years. Between the early 1870s and the mid 1950s, three firms dominated the market. These were the directories published by H. Wise & Co. (NZ) Ltd, directories published by Stone Son & Co. Ltd, and Cleave's directories which covered the
Wise produced his first directory of Wise's New Zealand Commercial Directory. In
By the late 1960s Wise's, too, were having problems in sustaining the production of such a publication. Smaller, nimbler rivals such as Cook's New Zealand Business Directory, which listed occupational groupings only, had emerged in the mid 1930s, as had the Business Who's Who. In addition, the postwar growth of New Zealand's cities meant canvassing on foot was no longer feasible. There were more towns, too, as company towns like Tokoroa (a forestry town) and Twizel (built to house hydro-electric workers) emerged. As the number of domestic dwellings increased, so had the numbers of telephones, as well as a newer reliance upon the telephone directory and its Yellow Pages. The Equal Pay Act
Information for the three main sections of business-residential directories (the alphabetical list of names, the names attached to the list of occupational headings, and the streets directory) was acquired by means of a house-to-house canvass of the country's metropolitan areas and of homes in the surrounding countryside. The name of the head of the household was listed, as well as male lodgers aged 18 years and over (21 years in some cases). The spouse was excluded unless he or she owned property on his or her own account, as were children over the age of 15, even if they were in the workforce. Those who only rented property were also usually excluded. Official information (such as customs tariffs) was gleaned by writing to the particular government department concerned. Non-official information (such as the names and opening hours of recreational bodies, cultural societies and church groups), was had, again, by writing to the representatives of those bodies. Maps were seldom compiled from scratch as copies of local street maps were usually provided by a local printer or by the town council. For maps of the country, the assistance of the Surveyor General was usually called upon. Business houses were solicited for advertisements.
In the case of small directories, the publisher was usually the owner of a newspaper who had ready access to type, paper and the necessary printing skills. When directories grew larger, a local printer or publisher was commissioned to produce the item. Stone's, operating from Evening Star. Later they bought their own presses, not only because it was cheaper but because the production schedules were tight and the company could not afford to allow their printing needs to become secondary to those of the Star.
Both Wise and Stone encouraged buyers to take out subscriptions to their directories. This made the economics of producing directories easier as the number of directories to be printed could be estimated with some accuracy. Copies were also available through most bookstores and from catalogues. Wise and Stone aimed not so much at the householder but at those in business: hoteliers, mercantile houses, and manufacturers. Wise's, however, as the publisher of the country's quasi-official directory, had to provide one free reading copy in each Post Office.
It is remarkable that for such a small country, New Zealand should have possessed not one, but two firms producing outstanding directories, three, if Cleave's is included. Clearly the emergence of significant directories rested largely with the personal initiative displayed by
There have been few studies of the directory-publishing industry in New Zealand. BSANZ Bulletin in Almanacs and Directories: The Alexander Turnbull Library Collection of New Zealand Almanacs and Directories (The Directory Directory, based on the holdings of libraries nationwide. Another recent publication is Maslen's
Future research remains to be carried out on almanacs and directories printed in Māori. As well, work on the emergence of the telephone directory and the Yellow Pages needs to be done. This is particularly so as the telephone directory played a major role in dislodging the business-residential directory from its position of pre-eminence. Research is also needed on more recent directories specialising in sport, commerce and the arts, such as the Air New Zealand Almanac published between
The simplest way to distribute a printed work is for an author to deliver copies of his or her own work directly to the reader. This method has always been the favoured or desperate last resort of some. (Examples of self publishing, which may include distribution, are to be found elsewhere in this book.) However, even before the invention of printing, the chain of textual transmission linking author and reader was lengthened by the bringing in of intermediaries. In the early days of printing the tasks of production and distribution could still be managed by one person not the author, typically the master printer, who would commission the author, employ the production workers, and oversee distribution, wholesale and retail. In the small colonial societies of 19th-century New Zealand this comparative lack of specialisation remained operative long after it had gone out in metropolitan centres overseas. However, by the early years of the 20th century the divisions of function which are now the commercial norm were becoming distinct, in line with practice in larger economies overseas.
Under the broad heading of distribution are considered three topics, large in themselves: bookselling, libraries, and book buying and book collecting. Space allotted to these reflects not so much their importance as the amount and quality of scholarly work devoted to them: bookselling and book buying in particular have been relatively little studied.
Bookselling, the trade concerned with the distribution of printed works, is likewise conveniently considered under three heads. First comes a survey of patterns of historical change. For instance, the small mixed business of the mid 19th century had a century later evolved into the specialist bookshop or been overtaken by the spread of national chains. Secondly, the people in the trade are remembered, some for their exceptional drive or devotion to the printed word. Finally, trade regulation in its various aspects—import licensing for one—is dealt with. Booksellers have to cope more than many other sellers of goods with social and political as well as economic pressures, notoriously those to do with censorship.
Libraries of many kinds obviously have a distinct function among the processes of dissemination. The ratepayer-funded public libraries, for instance, by collecting and making available a range of printed and other materials to all members of their communities, at little or no charge to individual users, serve cultural rather than strictly commercial values. These institutions were for the most part 20th-century creations. Their 19th-century forerunners were the Athenaeums and Mechanics' Institutes, which have a fascinating history of their own.
Book buyers and book collectors are the most obvious recipients of print. However, it should not be forgotten that our letterboxes are witness to a never-ending stream of ephemeral material, usually unsolicited. Book collectors are important to historians because in these remarkable few may be detected the inclination of countless common readers, less visible, financially less well-endowed, and less obsessive. The collections built up by such as Alexander Turnbull have a value to society as a whole. They usually are opened to others while still in private ownership, and after the owner's death may be bequeathed to institutions. Collections, even if dispersed, may be reconstructed from sale or book auction catalogues. The commercial agents who serve the collection builders, and the societies of like-minded book lovers also deserve attention.
Among the cultural functions of print, bookselling completes a process that begins with printing and continues with publishing. It follows that the histories of these three components are closely related.
In New Zealand the shape of bookselling has been influenced especially by the settlement of the country which began long after the publishing of books and newspapers had been established in the countries of emigration. The impulse to improve their prospects that prompted immigrants to action also involved further education and the early days of settlement were characterised by the proliferation of libraries and a variety of educational institutions. This desire for knowledge and the consequent need for books was formalised to some extent by the Education Act
In such an environment bookselling looked to have a good future. Providing material for learning, replacing books that had to be sold to help finance emigration, and offering literary consolation for the isolation from a culture left behind, guaranteed a flourishing trade. From
The commercial manifestation of print culture was also found in the development of religious bookshops. This followed naturally from the country's church-sponsored settlements and the evangelical spirit in general. The Presbyterian Bookroom chain, the British and Foreign Bible Society's depots along with Catholic and Methodist bookshops were established and have continued for the most to the present. A Christian Booksellers' Association was formed in
In addition to bookshops, auctioneering contributed to making books available from the earliest days of settlement. Stock, both new and secondhand, would be ordered from England. In
The latter decades of the 19th century saw the continuing growth of the country's population with particular consequences for the world of print. Following upon the Education Act
During that part of the 20th century up to the end of World War II, bookselling was characterised by the growth of Whitcombe & Tombs as a national chain, the development of
The other main development in the distribution of print in book form is that of wholesaling, which has a much shorter history than that of retailing.
Until World War II there were no wholesale bookselling establishments such as exist at present. Importation had been undertaken since the 1870s by a few of the more enterprising booksellers until agents appointed by overseas publishers began calling on booksellers with publishers' lists, obtaining orders and sending them on to their principals. Eventually some publishers decided to carry wholesale stock in New Zealand in addition to supplying books direct to booksellers (i.e. filling orders obtained by agents). Among those who established a wholesale presence were Collins (now HarperCollins),
The wholesaling of New Zealand publications was for a long time mainly in the hands of Whitcombe & Tombs and A.H. & A.W. Reed, but by the 1990s the former (now called Whitcoulls) had ceased wholesaling, and Reeds had been taken over by an international company, although still wholesaling. The place of these two firms pre-eminent since the 1970s had steadily been superseded by a growing number of smaller companies wholesaling a much wider range of material. The wholesale supplies of magazines, as distinct from books, was for many years largely in the hands of Gordon & Gotch. This firm, which had humble beginnings in the Victorian goldfields in the 19th century, became the dominant supplier to both newsagents and booksellers in Australia and later throughout New Zealand. Competition in recent times has broadened the range of titles and added numerous international newspapers. One recent development has been the stocking of magazines (alongside paperbacks) by supermarkets.
There were two other factors that influenced the decision to hold local wholesale stock. The first was import licensing imposed in the 1930s and in place until
From this arose closed market operations which required that some titles or imprints be purchased by the bookseller only from a New Zealand wholesaler while other books not necessarily stocked in New Zealand could still be imported. Both means of supply were effected by orders taken from the bookseller by the wholesaler's representative, or by orders initiated by the bookseller. The 1990s has seen the loosening of some of these arrangements and the increasing use of overseas wholesalers by a number of more innovative booksellers. Electronic technology and less costly air freight has provided a global aspect to bookselling not possible until the last few years. Books from virtually anywhere are expected to be supplied quickly, and this has put new demands on both wholesaler and retailer. These changes have also put pressure on market rights, a system whereby an originating publisher, say in the
'The trade of bookselling . . . remains one of the great unknowns of research into cultural history.' So remarked a flier advertising an international conference on bookselling in Printing, Bookselling and their Allied Trades in New Zealand c. 1900: Extracts from the Cyclopedia of New Zealand (
So much for a brief history of bookselling to the present. Integral to the trade's development is the enterprise of significant players over the years and the demonstration of their differing talents.
The other chain of consequence was that of
South's Book Depots was a chain established by
Among individual booksellers of influence the names of History of Western Philosophy, which sold over 200 copies.
Paul's Book Arcade was opened in Hamilton in
There have been many booksellers who have worked hard and, with particular skills, have established strong, effective and sometimes long-lived businesses which have not necessarily required a location in one of the four main centres in order to flourish. Carthew's in Feilding, Bennett's in
University, cooperative, and secondhand bookshops have also made their mark. The University of Otago in
Secondhand bookshops continue to flourish, sufficient to warrant the publication a few years ago of a national directory booklet—Hugh Norwood, Antiquarian and Secondhand Bookshops (
The rise of Fascism and the threat of war during the 1930s had led many people to the political left and one manifestation of their concern was the cooperative book movement. Left-wing bookshops were already in existence selling pamphlets, periodicals and books of a strictly socialist nature, but the increasing sense of crisis brought about the alliance of progressive movements in many countries and produced Popular Front governments which embraced cultural as well as political issues. This situation was expressed in New Zealand by the election of a Labour government in A Popular Vision: The Arts and the Left in New Zealand 1930-1950 (
The book trade was given an official structure with the formation in
Censorship has always been a fact of life for booksellers and the evolution of this form of restriction is one barometer of a society's changing values. The Offensive Publications Act The Bartlett Syndrome: Censorship in New Zealand,
In
The Indecent Publications Tribunal ceased to exist in
Another major issue which arose about this time was that of uniform retail prices. The government believed that such price agreement was not in the public interest as defined by the Trade Practices Act. In spite of both considerable evidence to the contrary and the help of an expert witness from England, the enquiry in
The 1970s saw the arrival of The Bartlett Syndrome (
During
Directories old and new and of various kinds offer information about booksellers, and their businesses, not least in their advertising sections. Dedicated directories of sections of the trade are Norwood (Book Dealers in Australia and New Zealand (Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, vol.3, includes articles on A.H. Reed and B. Whitcombe. The forthcoming Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago-Southland Biography, ed. New Zealand Bookseller & Publisher and Book Trade Monthly. Individual booksellers also may issue their own publicity material, or even something more ambitious, such as Parsons Packet, issued 1947-55 by Parsons Packet (
Specific sources include: Minutes of the Associated Booksellers of New Zealand/New Zealand Bookseller Association 1922-69, which are held in the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington; Minutes of Booksellers Association of New Zealand/Booksellers New Zealand 1969-91, which are held by the Association in Book House, Wellington; Book trade journals, which include NZ Bookseller & Publisher, New Zealand Book World, Book Trade Monthly, and Booksellers News.
This brief survey of bookselling in New Zealand attempts to show particular features that have shaped this aspect of our print culture. The energy, enterprise and sometimes vision of individuals have contributed most to the place of bookselling. Frequently there is found a passion for books, an emotion which, when well directed, allows the burning of the midnight oil, the labouring for love and the acceptance of an often modest return. Sometimes, however, the same passion encourages the myth that a love of books and an apparently easy way of life will make a good-looking balance sheet appear automatically. That those with intelligent dedication outnumber the dreamers is evidenced by so many quietly successful businesses continuing to exist in such a small population. The abiding pressure on bookselling as one form of cultural expression has been the presence of censorship, especially that imposed by law. While guidelines are no doubt necessary from time to time, many would argue that a kind of censorship by way of a bookseller's selection of stock based on likely public interest should be a sufficient self-regulator. However, there is nothing to suggest that by virtue of the continuing tension between enterprise and regulation, the place of bookselling in New Zealand's print culture will change significantly in the foreseeable future.
Perhaps uniquely amongst the institutions and agencies described in this book, the key to the study of the history of libraries in New Zealand and to knowledge of their operations and resources lies within the institutions themselves. This survey deals primarily with specific published sources of information about New Zealand libraries, but also draws attention to certain reference tools found in libraries which open up further sources of information.
However, these tools must be viewed as nothing more than indicators of where to look. If libraries are to be exploited for maximum benefit, an enquirer needs to bear in mind that libraries are more than their collections and the buildings which house them: the critical element is the corps of librarians who operate the service. They have the skills and the knowledge to guide an enquirer through the sources.
Sources of information about print culture are also to be found in media other than print. Electronic files, electronic bulletin boards and directories may often be elusive, transitory, and imperfect, but increasingly they are useful sources of current information and provide traces to other sources. These new media are today the stock-in-trade of libraries, and librarians are familiar with their peculiarities and strengths.
We lack a general descriptive work on New Zealand libraries. A person pursuing a study of even modest intensity would have to hunt and seek through a range of sources, such as sections of books, articles in periodicals, and unpublished items, to gain a coherent account of the state of libraries and their development.
This gap was so obvious that the Wellington College of Education, which administers one of the training courses in librarianship, compiled and published an introductory text for students: see Richardson, Library Service in New Zealand (The New Zealand Official Yearbook should not be overlooked. It provides brief descriptive and statistical information about library service in the country, albeit with some emphasis on the services of the National Library of New Zealand.
The identification of libraries, individually or by type, is not simple. There are several sources which serve as partial guides, but no central comprehensive directory. The single most useful published listing is New Zealand Library Symbols, published by the National Library of New Zealand since
The New Zealand Library and Information Association (NZLIA), PO Box 12-212, Wellington, can supply on request details about individual libraries in New Zealand from membership files and other sources. (Until
A census of libraries has been taken at varying intervals since
Another listing is DILSINZ: A Directory of Information and Library Resources in New Zealand (Szentirmay DISLIC in 1959 and 1981. The first listed only special libraries and special collections. A third source is Public Libraries of New Zealand (
From time to time, regional directories of libraries have been produced for an occasion, such as the running of a libraries conference in that city or region, for example:
The NZLA, perhaps because of the predilection of the members of this profession for listing, classifying and indexing, felt the need to publish a series of directories of librarians: ten editions between 1951 and 1990 under the title Who's Who in New Zealand Libraries. The directories provide alphabetical lists of persons in positions of responsibility and persons with library qualifications, and the lists are indexed by library.
The only statistical data readily available on a regular basis comes from two sectors: public libraries and the university libraries. The librarians of the universities maintain comparative tables of measures of resources and use. The National Library of New Zealand collects similar types of figures annually from the public libraries and publishes them for general information. The National Library itself publishes a substantial annual report which is a public document. It carries statistical and financial information about its activities, and incidentally provides some information about wider library services. The census reports (1874-1979) referred to above provide analysis of funding, resources and use, arranged by library type and size.
The Local Authorities section of the NZLA for some years in the 1960s and 70s published a Summary of Public Library Statistics. This was compiled for each financial year, providing some analysis of library performance.
Prior to the reform of local government in
Useful annual reports are published by other institutions, for example those of the Hocken Library, University of Otago, noting major acquisitions of New Zealand and
Libraries came to New Zealand with the first mass wave of European immigration. The ships that carried those people were in some cases furnished with collections of books and journals, intended as the base collections for public libraries in the new settlements. Examples of the taste and preoccupations of those people may still be seen at the
Three municipal public libraries—
The record of the
The published story of the beginnings of the other early library,
J.E. Traue (
Given the importance of the concept of the mechanics' institute in the origins of the
It is surprising that individual libraries have not been as ready as school and parish churches to produce records of their history, given the celebration of many centenaries in the past 30 years. A search of the New Zealand National Bibliography (NZNB), the Index to New Zealand Periodicals, and Index New Zealand, under the heading Libraries, will identify the few histories that exist. Here are some of special interest: Barrowman (
Bagnall's New Zealand National Bibliography to the Year 1960, in its earliest volumes covering to
Enlightening also are the published rules of libraries; and here study should not be confined to the public institutions. The New Zealand National Bibliography carries references to several early private libraries. These occupied a niche in the library market which remained important up to the 1960s. However, few if any of the book clubs that were still prospering immediately prior to the advent of television in New Zealand could hold rank with the Parnell Book Club,
The establishment of the earliest libraries was parallel with the establishment of their communities. Libraries were amongst the amenities and facilities that settlers brought with them. The subsequent development of those libraries and the development of a library network throughout the country took place because pressures were exerted from various directions, by a variety of agencies: individuals, city and county authorities, the Government, education authorities, professional librarians, and organisations with a vested interest in the growth of libraries.
There were different strands of development within the general fabric of library development, and progress in one element or another would slow or increase in pace from time to time. Each element and each type of library has therefore to be considered separately, even if all movements were tending in the same direction, and occasionally resulted in concerted action. The education and training of librarians was one such area of interest; the creation of a national library, the securing of free public library service, and the improvement of services to children were other prominent issues, each worth a chapter of its own.
Public library service in New Zealand has been, with a few exceptions, a community issue and has been accordingly a responsibility of local government. We do not have library law governing the administration of public library service, as may be found in other countries, such as those of Scandinavia.
The statutes under which public libraries operate in New Zealand have been permissive rather than prescriptive. The Danish Public Libraries Act, a prescriptive statute, was published in New Zealand Libraries (
However, some saw an association between the notion of library law and the bogey of state interference, particularly when the concept of state aid to public libraries was discussed. The two ideas are of course linked: state aid must be balanced by accountability.
State aid and the role of the state in library service has a story of its own. There was as much apprehensiveness on the government side as there was on the local government side. New Zealand Libraries reported a sharp response by the Minister of Education, Algie, and by some newspaper editorial writers, to an address given at the NZLA Conference in
The disparities in scale and quality of service which are characteristic of the New Zealand public library sector (one could certainly not call it a 'system') stem from the local, largely unregulated nature of service, and the dependence for funding on local rates. There has been from the outset a large gap between the levels of service achieved in urban areas and those achieved in rural areas; there have even been significant gaps between poorer and richer urban communities, even gaps within individual urban regions. Part of the reason lies in the fact that we have not had the mechanism for encouraging and achieving consistent standards across the country that exists in other countries with which we generally like to compare ourselves, namely direct funding assistance by central government to local services. This has been a weakness of our public library structure, but it has been argued that it may also be a strength which has allowed progressive authorities to achieve the highest standards.
The principle of 'State aid' came close to realisation in the period of the Provincial governments, but the low level of assistance that was offered had little effect, and no useful precedent was created.
The principle found a different form of expression in the mid 1930s, when the idea of the Country Library Service (CLS) was conceived. It was an idea whose time had come: the right conditions existed in the immediate post-Depression period, the right people were in power and the right people were on hand to make it work. The Service in its many manifestations flourished for over 30 years, becoming part of the folklore of rural communities and a vital element in the operations of public libraries in the smaller towns.
McIntosh (Books to the People (
The difficulty in achieving fair standards of library service in rural areas was a prime motive in the campaign for regional service. Service to rural areas and isolated places is a story in itself. Ronnie covers the strategic and political dimensions of that story, but the feeling and flavour of library work in rural areas can be gauged from sources such as Sutherland and MacLean (Report of the Ministerial Review of National Library Services to Rural Areas (Chalmers,
Virtually all the debate and action about standards for service has stemmed from the NZLA/NZLIA, but the establishment of library education at Victoria University and the introduction of advanced studies has generated research of interest to libraries. A clear statement of the research needs of the sector was made by O'Neill (
Research undertaken has been individual and isolated, not part of a plan. There is no institute of library research in New Zealand nor any agency serving that purpose, although the National Library of New Zealand within its purposes clearly has an obligation to foster development of knowledge about library service. The Library has undertaken some pieces of research, and the Trustees of the Library have funded individual studies and research in response to applications.
A statistician in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, working as an interested library user, demonstrated what could be achieved on a small scale with modest application of analytical methods, in three pieces of research and analysis he did in the 1960s and
The development of published standards for libraries was in part a political exercise (to support bids for higher levels of funding) and in part a professional response (to demands for better management). Standards documents were produced for the libraries of technical institutes, special libraries, and teachers colleges, in each case by the professional groups associated with the type of library. The standards for public library service were the more robust, being first developed in the early 1950s: O'Neill (
The National Library in its particular way applied a set of standards to the public libraries which it supported through Country Library Service. Its Guide for Public Libraries (
It was only to be expected that the late 1980s would see a shift from input standards, which is what these earlier standards had been, to measures and standards of output. In the case of public libraries the profession looked at various methodologies. The most attractive was that which had been devised by the Public Library Association,
In a further development since that date the NZLIA has produced a manual for assessing the economic value of libraries, designed once again to support claims for increased funding, or at least sustained funding: NZLIA and Coopers and Lybrand (
Mention was made earlier of the planning and the activities undertaken by groups of early European settlers, leading to the establishment of libraries in communities. Popular pressure and the initiative of individuals, whether users or public-spirited persons, continued to be influential, and remain so to the present day. The influences are expressed through 'friends of the library', as various as the veteran Friends of the Alexander Turnbull Library, the National Library Society or the support groups for particular public libraries, and local lobby groups formed to meet specific situations. However, the more sustained effort has come from the people with the most immediate vested interest: those involved in the operation of services, and the governing authorities of those libraries, acting collectively.
The impulse to form a group nationally to promote the advancement of libraries came from
The first change of name, to the New Zealand Library Association, aimed to reflect a more balanced view of the organisation's objectives and activities. Rather than being an association of libraries it had become an association of all parties with an interest in the welfare and promotion and of libraries, including the sponsorship of professional standards.
The dominant voices in the Association were inevitably those of the professional librarians working in the field, but representatives of governing authorities remained effective members, and often occupied the highest offices in the organisation. The broad terms of the Association's constitution, allied with the small scale of the library sector in a relatively small country probably explains why much of the history of libraries in New Zealand can be traced through the records of the Association. The diverse groups which make up the library sector have chosen to work within the single organisation, albeit as discrete sections. The Association itself has mastered the geography of the country by forming branches or regional groupings, each of which draws sustenance from the national body and in turn feeds its energies into national activities. The story of the NZLA was told comprehensively in its jubilee year by
The Association has been the major generator of material about New Zealand libraries, in its capacity as a publisher of journals, other serials, and monographs, as a commissioner of surveys and reports, and as an author of submissions to official bodies. A professional journal, New Zealand Libraries, began in New Zealand Library Association Newsletter (1956-77), and from Library Life. With less regularity the various geographical branches and interest groups of the Association have published newsletters. Branch newsletters may be found in major libraries in the areas concerned, but those of interest groups have not been retained consistently. Neither type form part of the Association's records.
New Zealand Libraries has been indexed in the Index to New Zealand Periodicals and in Index New Zealand (INNZ), but partial cumulative indexes have also been published by the Association from time to time: Robinson and Henderson (
The NZLA/NZLIA has cultivated relations with kindred organisations in other countries, most conspicuously with the Australian counterpart, the Australian Library and Information Association (formerly known as the Australian Library Association). Three joint conferences have been held by the two associations, in APLIS (Australasian Public Library and Information Services) and the short-lived New Librarian.
Acknowledging traditional ties, the Association has been an active member of the Commonwealth Library Association (COMLA) from its formation in
DNZB, vol.2, 1870-1900). The consideration that was uppermost in the minds of the appointing board in
Prior to World War II, the person who wished to gain qualifications for library work typically would enrol for courses run by the Library Association, London. Rank and file staff in libraries were required to have little more than an upper primary school pass. The raising of the qualification levels of workers in libraries is a story of activity in the late 1930s and 1940s by the re-energised NZLA, directly, and in partnership with the
Ronnie (New Zealand Libraries each year, but there is a convenient source of listings of students in Dienes (
The transfer of the graduate education of librarians to Victoria University of Wellington in Working Party on Education for Librarianship (
With the two arms of library training secure in their respective institutions, a period of quiet progress might have been expected. However, changes in social conditions and in the library environment forced further review. One of the issues, distance education, is the subject of a paper by Richardson (World Trends in Library Education (
An interesting episode in the development of library education was the campaign to establish a training course for teacher-librarians, as part of a wider campaign to strengthen library services in schools. A course began at Wellington Teachers College in
An allied question is that of professional qualifications. Discussion of this issue within the profession was coloured by the existence of the two levels of training, graduate and non-graduate. Less than ten years after the commencement of the graduate school in
Five years after Barr the subject was thoroughly treated by a number of prominent librarians at a symposium, reported in New Zealand Libraries,
The NZLA/NZLIA, contrary to some views of it and occasionally the wishes of some members, has never been an industrial organisation nor, in the current parlance, has it acted as a negotiating agent, but it has taken an interest in the working conditions of librarians, in particular the levels of remuneration. From New Zealand Libraries (New Zealand Libraries: Roth, Brooks, Traue, Gittos (
In the decades after World War II workforce planning was understandably a preoccupation of a sector confronted by steady business growth on the one hand and a relatively small labour intake on the other. How was the profession to estimate the numbers needed to avoid shortages or surpluses of various
types of worker? A series of survey articles was published in New Zealand Libraries between
In the year prior to the publishing of the first of these articles, the Professional Division of the Association carried out a general survey of library work. The purpose of the study was to ascertain how the work of libraries was being discharged, in particular its allocation between clerks, library assistants and the two types of qualified staff. The knowledge derived from the study was expected to help in subsequent planning of training, negotiating of salaries, and achieving of efficiency in library operations: O'Neill (1967b).
Another survey was carried out a year later directed specifically at women and their position within the profession. The report on the survey was published, and its findings were the subject of a seminar within the New Zealand Libraries for
The paradox of the 'five-sixths minority' was put before the profession, with a plea for correction of the anomaly, in a statement made by 12 women librarians in New Zealand Libraries in
The most recent treatment of the subject was a paper by
Recognition of the careers of most of these persons is to be found amongst retirement tributes and obituaries in the pages of the Association's journal and newsletter, and in other journals and in newspapers. The search for more substantial treatments in book form yields virtually nothing. For example, the life of the key figure in library development in the three middle decades of this century, G.T. Alley, remains a 'work in progress'. Even the items in the periodical literature seem strangely random, reflecting little of the pace and pattern of library development. For example, the death of John Barr, partner in the landmark survey of New Zealand libraries in New Zealand Libraries (35,
Nonetheless, there are some works which deserve notice. G.T. Alley, first National Librarian, around the time of his 80th birthday, published reminiscences of his work with people whom he regarded as pivotal:
The record of women, in a profession which they dominated numerically, is even less adequately treated.
Another 30-year career of note was that of New Zealand Libraries by five senior members of the profession, one of whom characterised her as 'influential rather than prominent'—a compliment to a person who provided leadership in the period when the system for training librarians was being established: White et al (
The career of Metro, reflecting the impact that this person has had in public life: Callan (
In an obituary for
The American librarian Keyes Metcalf visited New Zealand once, in New Zealand Libraries occupies five pages.
The first mention of the New Zealand Historic Places (60,
The Carnegie Corporation's more significant investment in New Zealand library development was directed at people, the people who were supported in their studies in
With New Zealand's graduation to the status of a 'developed library country' the New Zealand Libraries (
The practice of modern government, in the frequent mounting of commissions of inquiry, working parties and reviews has obscured for us the fact that major enquiries 50 years ago were major events in the library world. They seemed to be necessary way stations on the road of development, and they stand prominently in the record of development.
The foundation stone of the modern library structure in New Zealand is considered to be the Carnegie-funded survey by
It introduced or reiterated support for ideas of free library service (quite radical at the time), state subsidies to local library authorities, raising of the library rate, and lifting qualification standards for library workers.
Whether the Munn-Barr Report was as effective as it is supposed to have been is of academic interest only, because the survey was not the last word. The need for review and commentary by an outsider was to arise again in
The next visitor was Dr
The most recent activity which could be compared fairly with these three surveys was the large exercise in collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the NZLIA, The N Strategy. This exercise in policy formulation and strategic planning was designed to draw upon the energies of organisations and people within New Zealand, coupling the various library groups with various interest groups within the community at large: information technology, communications, marketing, commerce, manufacturing, and so on. It operated through conferences, workshops, consultation across all sectors, and the mounting of research and policy development by working parties dedicated to various specific issues. The objectives of the programme are set out in The N Strategy: Recommendations for Actions for Prosperity (
One of the curiosities of New Zealand public library practice has been the differentiation in public libraries between two classes of fiction: 'serious fiction', and 'the other'.
The distinction had its origins in the working out of a free library service policy for public libraries. The greater number of public libraries in the 1930s offered service to users only on payment of a membership subscription or rental fees for borrowing, or both. The promoters of free library service, that is, free access and free borrowing, were aware of the immediate funding hurdle that stood in the way of any library that attempted the transition. Not only was there the problem of finding funds for strengthened book collections, but there was the certainty of enlarged demand for the existing stock, much of it of a light nature. New Zealand's free-and-rental system was a device which allowed the serious objectives of free service to be realised at the same time as the demand for light reading was satisfied. The formulation of the free-and-rental system was described by O'Reilly (1948a).
Most of the debate concerned fiction literature, because this was an era in which light fiction was the nation's 'television'. For an interesting sidelight on this subject see the Report of the Wellington Public Libraries for the year ended 31 March 1965, in which the City Librarian
There were two views of the free-and-rental scheme. The first saw a clear distinction drawn between 'serious' fiction, and that written purely for entertainment. This led to the separation on library shelves of the two types of fiction, and the application of a borrowing fee to the lighter fiction. It led also to the erection of a system of fiction classification and an organisation for reviewing fiction regularly in terms of the classification.
The second view saw a distinction simply between books which were in high demand and those for which there was lower demand. This view, espoused notably by R.N. O'Reilly, and practised at Canterbury Public Library, saw rental charges applied to the high demand items, with a proviso that there would be other copies of these books also in the free collection, which existed to serve the library's social and educative functions. This practice has had a revival in the 1990s, with the introduction of 'bestseller' rental collections in public libraries.
The earliest manifestation of the conflicting views is in the papers presented at the 17th conference of the NZLA by Barr (
The NZLA was a promoter of the first view of the free-and-rental system. For decades it had a Fiction Committee, the function of which was to classify fiction and publish lists for the guidance of member libraries. The basic reference is the Association's Report on (A) Standard and (B) Popular Authors (Guide to Authors of Fiction, a comprehensive list of writers of fiction, against each of whom a classification was allocated. The classification system was developed to a point of refinement which would be fascinating today to students of literature. The Guide was supplemented by monthly lists of new fiction, each item carrying a description and commentary on the book, and a classification.
Readers wishing to gain further understanding of the tension between the two schools of thought on free-and-rental service should consult New Zealand Library School (
The effect that the free-and-rental system had on patterns of borrowing was studied by O'Neill (
Attempts have been made from time to time, in the name of progress or professional innovation, to remove distinctions between services to children and services to other age groups, by integration of the book stock in public libraries, by merging of a community's public library and its school library, by pooling of staff in the children's library and the general library. However the designation of services specifically for children has remained established practice since the first children's libraries were opened in Wellington and
This child-centred view of library service, allied with a thorough knowledge of children's literature, lay behind the revitalisation of children's librarianship in the late
Another critical event within this process was the creation of the School Library Service in
Both the major surveys, Munn-Barr, and Osborn, made reference in passing to the quality of services to children, but the area first received individual attention in a survey conducted in
It was ten years before research and review on a comparable scale was undertaken. The National Library examined its own services to young people, and the use made of various other library services by young people: Chalmers and Slyfield (
Professional discussion and action on the issue of service to Māori falls into two periods: an earlier time when Māori were regarded as one user group amongst a number of user groups, where low rates of library use indicated that there was a need for development; and the latter period, during which the concepts of bicultural development and bicultural provision of service have been given prominence.
The report of the professional association's Māori Library Service Committee in
The development of the bicultural concept is traced in a bibliography by
Interesting demonstrations of biculturalism practised in specific fields are set out by
The most recent and comprehensive descriptions of the various types of library in New Zealand are to be found in Richardson (
'Public library' denotes the type of library service which is operated for the general community and administered almost exclusively by district councils. Funding is derived from the local area, and standards of service are determined entirely by the governing authority. There have been few exceptions to this pattern. The period of large government public works saw a few public libraries established under the auspices of a government agency, but these reverted eventually to local control. A typical example was the Tūrangi Public Library: N.G. Williams (
The public library sector had for most of its history been marked by extreme diversity and disparities of scale. Services ran the gamut from a few books in a cupboard in a local country store to urban library systems comprising a central library, branches and mobile libraries, with all the gradations between. There had been hopes for rationalisation through reorganisation in regional units, but little progress was made until local government itself was reorganised in
There has been no discursive or reflective account of the state of public library service in the period since
The readiest contemporary account of public libraries is given by Dobbie (
There is general agreement on the functions and purposes of a public library, despite the increasing divergence of opinion politically and economically on how the objectives of the library are to be met. The functions are set out simply in the NZLA's Standards for Public Library Service in New Zealand (A Good District Library: National Library of New Zealand (
The role of public libraries in relation to society, continuing education in particular, is explored and explained in McKeon (New Zealand Libraries deserve study.
University libraries are described by
Some progress was made in the period that Sandall describes, but the condition of the libraries was still poor enough to attract criticism from
In the conditions of the late 1980s it was inevitable that the global approach to university funding and the funding of their libraries would yield to the market approach, leaving each institution to find its own way. Two papers which point the new direction are Elliott (
Special libraries are most comprehensively described by
Libraries, at least those of the public service kind, have regarded themselves as partners in a wider operation: the promotion of print culture, culture in the broadest sense, education, and provision of information. On the other hand, they have, by virtue of their size and their position within the print sector, become embroiled from time to time in fierce debate with other 'partners'. Notable amongst the issues have been library-versus-local bookseller; authors' rights; photocopying and copyright.
The first of these issues has receded in recent years. In earlier times some booksellers benefited from business arrangements with their local library, indeed some councils insisted as a matter of policy that the library buy from local booksellers. This business has largely disappeared as a result of statutory demands for increased local government accountability, and the parallel development of a specialist market in library supply, which is dominated by overseas suppliers. Shrewder booksellers saw that the local library was adding a fresh dimension to the retail book market, not simply competing with them for a share of a static market.
The manner in which New Zealand worked its way through the question of authors' rights, known in some other places as 'public lending right', provides an interesting comparison with the experience elsewhere. In the
The first photocopiers were installed in libraries in the late 1960s. They were not sufficiently convenient or efficient to pose a threat immediately to owners of copyright, but by the mid 1970s the debate was running strongly. A university librarian posed the question: photocopying—the new heresy?: Wylie (
Paradoxically the pressure being brought to bear on libraries was reduced as photocopiers became more numerous in the community, and the increase in their practical efficiency multiplied many times the risk of abuse that copyright owners were fearing. It helped that libraries had adopted codes of practice, as White had advocated, and generally shown themselves to be responsible parties. The passing of the Copyright Act
The attention of the copyright owners came increasingly to be directed at the sectors where the risk and the scale of abuse were very much higher: in the teaching departments of educational institutions. In his
Another notable area of public and political pressure was that of control and restriction of publications. This had a curious manifestation during and immediately after World War II. Publications were subject to restriction and control for economic reasons. In the days of our overwhelming dependence on publishing centres in New Zealand Listener ('Importation of books',
The initial signing of the Unesco Agreement was marked by an article in New Zealand Libraries ('End of duties on books in sight',
The more common grounds for restriction of publications have been sedition, blasphemy and indecency. Libraries are among those social institutions which feel the effects of a common impulse amongst human individuals to exercise control over what other individuals read and view. Libraries are subject daily to pressures from users, from governing authorities and from the government.
The primary point of control, up to the passing of the Indecent Publications Act
A description of the state of New Zealand's censorship system, some comparisons with systems elsewhere in the world, and an account of the library profession's views on the matter in that earlier period of censorship policy and administration, are set out in articles in New Zealand Libraries by Horn, Hood, Roth (
The NZLA was involved in the radical review of the legislation that led to the passing of the Indecent Publications Act
The mechanisms for control were to undergo further review and change with the appointment of the Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into Pornography (New Zealand Libraries (NZLA, Intellectual Freedom Committee,
And then there is the matter of the enemy within. Do librarians, in exercising the judgment that is necessary for selecting new items for stock or discarding older items from stock, practise a form of censorship? Do they, in the day-to-day administration of their organisations commit small or grosser acts of censorship against the public? These questions were explored in a pair of matched articles: Cauchi (
The readiest source of summary information is
The institution which came into existence with the enactment of the National Library Act
A national library was a major structural element in the library system that had been envisaged in the succession of reviews of the country's library services by overseas experts. An even earlier example of a national library model, proposed by the Librarian of the
The national library concept was the object of one of the most persistent campaigns pursued by the library profession. It was a campaign which in its later stages became bitterly divisive. The professional opposition that was mounted in the early 1960s against the government's proposal for a national library stemmed from concerns about a loss of identity by the Alexander Turnbull Library and the
The various schemes for a national library proposed a monolithic structure, similar to those that existed in other countries. However, it is generally believed that the seed of the National Library as it came to develop in this country was planted well away from a major urban centre, in a rural education scheme that operated in New Zealand Libraries (
Further development of the national library concept was an organic and incremental process. The Country Library Service set up a schools section in
The NZLA intensified its campaign in the 1950s, to a point where the government agreed to set up a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the proposition. Perry (New Zealand Libraries ('Royal Commission on the State Services',
With the institution firmly established the library profession next turned its attention to the accommodation difficulties of the National Library. At the height of the problem the Library was occupying 13 buildings in Wellington, not one purpose-built. New Zealand Libraries published in
The most comprehensive description of the functions and achievements of the National Library, when it was most active and its influence was most pervasive, can be found in a chapter of the handbook that was supplied to library students: New Zealand Library Association. Certificate Course, Paper A: Library Service in New Zealand (
The record for the 1980s and 1990s is most readily to be found in the annual reports of the Library. Although they came increasingly to be couched in the language of state corporatism and management-speak, there can be discerned through them a trend away from the classical functions of a national library to those of an agency seeking simply to coordinate the activities of other libraries in the country, and to provide some bibliographical services, where possible on a cost-recovery basis.
A person wishing to trace the shift in philosophy might find enlightenment in reading the personal statements of successive National Librarians, made on those occasions when fundamental values are exposed, broad policies are sketched and futures are predicted: Alley (
Anyone searching for turning points in a trend as significant as the reformation of the National Library might wish to contemplate the brief and limited debate that occurred in the mid 1970s, about the desirability of developing a national lending library, on the model of the British Library at Boston Spa.
National Library strategic policy in recent years has been based amongst other things upon a development doctrine known by librarians as 'resource sharing'. The theory would have it that sharing of resources, by various processes, produces a national information 'stock' which is significantly greater than the sum of the individual parts.
The Library Interloan Scheme was the first of these processes that was put in place. Initially it was a contractual arrangement between certain libraries, lending and borrowing from one another on roughly equal terms. In time, with the involvement of the National Library and its stock, it grew into a scheme for balancing the strongest and the weakest ends of the library system. Wylie (
Libraries were early users of computers, initially for recording the lending of library materials, later for providing bibliographical records and indexing, and latterly for communicating with other libraries and providing online services to users.
In
The literature carries numerous references to specific applications, too many to cite here. The first development of note was NZBN, the New Zealand Bibliographic Network—a communications system and central database which was launched in New Zealand Libraries in 1983 and 1985: Randell and Clendon (
The National Library formed a working party to examine trends in information techonology and the effects that they might have on the way in which libraries work. Their report in National Library: Information Technology Futures Working Party provides a fair description of the situation at that time, but the scant references to the Internet betray the age of the document. The N Strategy study group on the Internet makes good that omission:
The inseparable forces of demand and supply mean that in many ways the pattern of buying (and selling) New Zealand books is at the same time the pattern of publishing in New Zealand, and some of the issues raised here are discussed more fully under 'Economics' in Chapter 3, 'Publishing'. Unfortunately neither perspective is well documented at a national level on a consistent, regular basis, even for the more recent period when publishing has developed into a strong local and export activity. There are many opportunities for further research and analysis of these patterns, and also of the imported book trade as part of the total book market.
Part of the explanation for the lack of national statistics and analysis lies in the history of the organisations that support the trade and represent the publishers and booksellers—groups whose affiliations have fluctuated regularly, especially over the last 20 years. A broad picture of this history can be found in part 4 ('The Issues') of the Rogers's Turning the Pages (New Zealand Publishing News (1977-93)
Finally, in New Zealand Cultural Statistics 1995 (
By international standards, New Zealanders buy relatively more of the newspapers, magazines and books they read. A survey reported on by the New Zealand Book Publishers Association, cited in the New Zealand Book Council's Newsletter no.41 for household was $380.64, of which about half was spent on books. An interesting trend over the last ten years is the increase in expenditure on magazines, which now exceeds expenditure on newspapers.
One of the few published reviews of the contemporary retail trade is New Zealand Publishers News remains a useful source of publishing and therefore book buying information for the period 1969-90. For example, the
Other nuggets of information include: school textbook sales ($5.8 million in First Edition (rev. ed.
Complementary information can be found in the publications of the Booksellers' Association and its successor (from
The New Zealand Bookseller & Publisher (1968-72), in addition to lists of current publications and Indecent Publication Tribunal decisions, includes articles on a range of general topics such as sale or return, shop presentation, mail-order selling. A particular success reported (in New Zealand Book World (1973-81) initially purported to continue the preceding title, but developed into a general magazine with very few articles on the New Zealand trade. Following its demise, a number of short-lived trade journals were produced in the 1980s until (after a couple of name changes in 1986-88) Booksellers News (
Three relevant market research surveys have been published. The National Research Bureau's Survey of Book Buying In New Zealand (Survey of Book Buyers in New Zealand (two publications in
A The Book Buyer and Book Buying Patterns In New Zealand (New Zealand Listener as the only magazine or newspaper to have a significant reach to book buyers as a whole. Book reviews on
Bestseller lists have always been regularly published in the trade journals and at times in other magazines, such as the New Zealand Listener and Metro. The current largest and most neutral survey of bestsellers is compiled fortnightly by Booksellers New Zealand from a sample of 100 bookshops (out of their 400 membership) and is described in Booksellers News (Official Yearbook) are: Edmonds 'Sure to Rise' Cookery Book (over 3.5 million copies, with 33 editions between 1907 and 1993), Yates Garden Guide (more than a million copies from 1895 to 1995), Whitcombe's Everyday Cookery (The Game of Mah Jong (New Zealand Calorie Counter (Whitcombe's Modern Junior Dictionary, Collins' Clear School New Zealand Atlas (Junior Edition), and Whitcombe's Atlas Of Geography.
Bibliographic reference sources, including national bibliographical records (refer to section 'Access tools' in the following chapter) provide a valuable source of information on New Zealand publishing and therefore potential sales at the level of individual titles. For example, educational books bought by families or as sets by schools may be investigated through Ian McLaren and Whitcombe's Story Books (School Books Published in New Zealand to 1960 (
Meaningful analysis of book buying patterns—whether print runs and sales of individual titles, or aggregated by subject area, or over periods of time—will depend on detailed searching of individual publishers' and distributors' records.
Collectors have always constituted a significant minority of local book buyers. To be a collector, it is not sufficient to accumulate a large agglomeration of books. It requires an intentional focus upon some subject, author or category (for example cricket,
The term 'book collector', interpreted broadly, distinguishes collectors of text materials, printed or handwritten, from collectors of fine art, silverware, and other collectables. Some individuals (among them Turnbull, Hocken, Vogtherr) have nonetheless functioned both as major book collectors and as gatherers of quite different categories of items: Māori artifacts, porcelain, paintings, and so forth.
Book collectors in this country have pursued very diverse areas of interest, and for many of these fields, international guides to collecting are available. Even so, New Zealand material has often had a special appeal for local collectors, catered for by locally-produced guides.
During the past half century, even serious collectors, depending upon their fields of interest, have been able to buy solely within New Zealand. Previously they had to purchase largely from dealers overseas, by mail, or while visiting. Thereby they have brought many valuable books into the country. Some migrants brought substantial personal libraries when they first came. Many such libraries have been dispersed through sale, providing ore for subsequent collectors. Others have been donated to the public, for preservation in institutional libraries. Collectors have enriched in immeasurable ways the cultural resources of the nation.
J.C. Beaglehole in 'The Library and the cosmos' (
J.E. Traue, in '"For the ultimate good of the nation": the contribution of New Zealand's first book collectors' (1991b), has drawn another kind of distinction, between connoisseurs and 'colonial collectors'. For the connoisseur in the English tradition 'the emphasis was on selection, on choice works and rarities, and collecting was established as a relatively expensive hobby'. The 'colonial collector' on the other hand was concerned to amass and preserve 'anything whatever relating to this colony' (in Turnbull's words), as 'evidence in documentary form' for the nature of the recent past and the fleeting present. By this measure, Turnbull operated as a connoisseur in his ordering of Kelmscott Press publications, and as a colonial in his all-embracing acquisition of New Zealand textual and graphic materials, and artifacts. Vogtherr sought the finest copies he could get, selling off a less desirable copy when he could buy a better one. Hocken was the prime exemplar of the specialist 'colonial collector'.
Collectors, tout simple, can be contrasted with those who collect in order to write (historians, bibliographers, amateur ornithologists, and so forth), or with pursuers of professional interests (scientists, railway engineers, etc.), who have assembled working collections of one kind or another.
A further distinction can be made, in retrospect, between those individuals whose collections have been preserved in institutional libraries, and those whose collections have either become dispersed, or else are retained still in private hands. And there are of course presently active collectors, for whose efforts a future generation may well be grateful.
The only systematic introductory work is Guide to New Zealand Book Collecting and Handbook of Values (Catalogue of Books on or Relating to New Zealand: To Which is Added Remarks on Book Purchasing and Book Collecting in London (The Lure of New Zealand Book Collecting (what was worth collecting, and its contemporary value, but also discussed the history of various authors and publications, such as McNab and Murihiku.
Pat Lawlor, like Andersen a central figure among the Wellington literati of his era, offers in Books and Bookmen (Beltane Bulletin. His own collecting is mentioned below.
Recent prices for collectable New Zealand books have been provided by Andersen (The Best New Zealand Books (Book Values publications by
Bibliographies are also vital, notably T.M. Hocken's Bibliography of the Literature Relating to New Zealand (New Zealand National Bibliography to the Year 1960 (1969-85).
J.H. Bethune's book auction sales have been held in Wellington, with relatively brief interruptions, since
In the 19th century, there were also occasional auctions of consignments of books sent out by British book dealers. Books for Colonial Readers (
Antiquarian booksellers within New Zealand that issue catalogues include Smith's Bookshop Ltd (Turning the Pages (
Book collectors being scattered throughout the country, efforts have been made to link them. The Wellington-based New Zealand Ex-Libris Society, at first concerned mainly with bookplates, was established in Ex Libris. The more recently founded Slightly Foxed Society meets regularly in
In The NZ Book Collector lasted for just one issue. A more substantial journal, History and Bibliography, ed. S.D. MacMillan, managed three issues in A Roll of Book Collectors in New Zealand (
Apart from such membership lists, the only subsequent listings of collectors would be the mailing lists for Bethune's auction catalogues, and of antiquarian book dealers—doubtless now subject to the Privacy Act
The Fascinating Folly: Dr Hocken and his Fellow Collectors (DILSINZ: A Directory of Information and Library Services in New Zealand (
The Governor's Gift: The Auckland Public Library 1880-1980 (DNZB, vol.3). Other gifts include
Barrowman's The Turnbull (
Art New Zealand (9,
The recent booklet published by the University of Otago Library, Rare Books and Special Collections: A Guide for Readers (
One special area of collecting interest is that covered by Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in New Zealand Collections, compiled by The Oldest Manuscripts in New Zealand (
A useful area for investigation is the archives of antiquarian book dealers, both in this country and overseas. For example, the records of Bernard Quaritch, I and II, of London, in the British Library's manuscript collection, include a 'Customer list arranged by country, 1887-99' (Add. Ms. 64221), and 'Trade/Gents' ledgers, c.1916-35 (64255-57). The archives of Newbold's Bookshop,
This section mentions some of the more noteworthy collectors, usually listed in order of date of birth. Unacknowledged sources include biographical articles in McLintock's Encyclopaedia ( Who's Who in New Zealand (
William Colenso (1811-99) assembled outstanding collections of zoological, botanical and mineral specimens (now in the
Sir George Grey (1812-98) assembled and donated two major libraries. He was Governor successively of
His book collecting has been discussed within several biographies, notably those by DNZB (vol.1) and Colgan ( Dictionary of British Bibliographers and Book collectors (DBBB), and in
Sir David Monro (1813-77), who came to New Zealand in
Charles Rooking Carter (1822-96), in New Zealand between 1850 and 1864, promoted the settlement of the Wairarapa district, and became a member of parliament. He did most of his collecting after returning to England in
Thomas Morland Hocken (1836-1910) acquired a near-complete coverage of New Zealand printed material, and numerous manuscripts of local interest or to do with early missionaries; and he brought together many drawings, paintings, maps, and photographs. In
Biographies include: Dr Hocken and his Historical Collection ( Dr T.M. Hocken: A Gentleman of his Time (
Benjamin Leopold Farjeon (1838-1903), a journalist (in
Sir Robert Stout (1844-1930), a lawyer (Chief Justice 1899-1926) and politician (Premier 1884-87), assembled a collection of nearly 2,000 pamphlets, mainly of the late 19th century. In
John Macmillan Brown (1845-1935) bequeathed to the University of
Robert McNab (1864-1917), a lawyer and politician, compiled four books dealing with the history of Southland (
Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull (1868-1918), born in
This became the Turnbull Library Record; see also DNZB (vol.2) and DBBB (forthcoming).
Frank Wild Reed (1874-1953), who came to New Zealand in
Sir Alfred Hamish Reed (1875-1975), a younger brother of
Horace Manners Edward Fildes (1875-1937) accumulated more than 1,800 volumes, mainly reflecting his consuming interest in the early history of New Zealand, but extending to
William Downie Stewart (1878-1949) built a substantial library with special strengths in law and theories of government. He was a
Patrick Anthony Lawlor (1893-1979), journalist, man of letters, and miscellaneous author, assembled a substantial library, with strengths in New Zealand poetry (the Hocken library has a checklist), and in the works of Thomas à Kempis.
Esmond Samuel de Beer (1895-1990), born in
Ernest George Frederick Vogtherr (1898-1973) was a
Frederick Burdett Butler (1903-82) of
Charles Orwell Brasch (1909-73), born in
Austin Graham Bagnall (1912-86), librarian, bibliographer and historian, brought together a large collection of titles in national and local history, which is now in the
These notes on collectors no longer alive omit many notable individuals on whom there is work to be done. Of the numerous significant collectors of the present day, only a few are mentioned here:
Paul Aubin of
Ray Bailey of
John Barton of
Colin Dennison of
Ian Farquhar of
Rowan Gibbs of Wellington has a collection of New Zealand fiction and of New Zealand children's books, also of editions of
Robin Gwynn of
Peter Lineham of
The Len Lye Foundation has an archive of writings by and about the late
Dave McLaren of
Basil Poff of
Susan Price has written
Robin Startup of
John Mansfield Thomson built up a substantial collection relating to musicology and music printing, most of which was donated to the Victoria University of Wellington Library in 1983 and 1995.
Russell Vine of
Other noted collectors in the music field include
A number of scientists have built up significant libraries, not necessarily confined to their areas of specialisation, among them, in addition to those individuals mentioned in the Roll, the late
The purpose in generating print culture items is that they are read. This chapter discusses the development of attitudes to reading and literacy in New Zealand, opening with a survey of literacy programmes and resources within the formal education system from the 19th century through to the present day. This is complemented by the following section 'Creating an interest in print culture' which reviews ways in which a range of organisations, including the book trade itself, works towards increasing the general level of interest in reading.
'Recognition and rewards of success' identifies incentives for writers and the trade through literary prizes and awards, and also looks at the development of literary criticism and reviewing of New Zealand creative literature in English. A slightly different approach is taken in 'Changing trends and special needs' which surveys a broad spectrum of 'different' publications from comics to artists' books, and from talking books to luxury editions and CD-ROM products.
The final section of this chapter covers the major New Zealand access tools, which fill multiple roles in the print culture context. Bibliographies, indexes and general reference works are not only a publishing category of their own (and one worthy of detailed study), but they also provide a necessary infrastructure through which access is gained to print culture records and publishing history. They are valuable resources for researchers, who are readers of a special sort.
The teaching of reading and education generally in New Zealand was sporadic and uneven in the first years of the 19th century. A Documentary History of New Zealand Education (Bolton alone, with some desultory schooling but, though clergymen were given free passage for services rendered, schoolteachers were not.
Most schools were established by churches or private individuals and privately run and paid for. In the 1850s provincial governments were given responsibility for education, but only Royal Readers, published by Revised Code of
Demand for literacy among Māori was very strong in the early part of the 19th century. M.P.K. Sorrenson in 'Maori and Pakeha' in The Oxford History of New Zealand (A Korao no New Zealand or the New Zealander's First Book, a glossary and phrase book; Ratari, lists of phonetic sound groups in Māori and words in
He Puka Ako i te Korero Maori (He Korero Tara mo te Kura (He Pukapuka Whakaako mo te Kura, printed at St. John's College in Ko te A-Nui a Wi Hei Ako Maana ki te Reo Ingirihi or Willie's First English Book in
Teaching reading to Māori in English became standard practice in The Native School Reader for Standards II and III, produced by the Government Printer, which consisted of 50 fables 'altered and in some cases localised so that they may be interesting to Maoris' (preface). The Native School Reader abounds with hortatory 'fables' which are colonising and assimilatory in intent. Becoming Literate—Becoming English (
Reports from the Inspectors of Native Schools published in the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHR) from AJHR through until
The Education Act The Citizen Reader (Approved Readers for the Catholic Schools of Australasia (New Zealand Graphic Readers (Collins School Series) offered extracts from 'classic' writers such as
Department of Education Inspectors' reports published from AJHR (H.1-I,
The first mainstream reading books published in New Zealand were Whitcombe & Tombs's Southern Cross Readers (1886-87), followed by the Imperial Readers (Pacific Readers series which began in Live Readers for the Modern Child (Progressive Readers (Janet and John series which was based on an American original. Whitcombe & Tombs were the major publishers of reading materials for children, with one series after another. There was no comparable publisher in Australia and Whitcombe & Tombs's readers were also widely used there, with copies produced for each Australian state. Whitcombe & Tombs also produced Whitcombe's Story Books, a series which began in Whitcombe's Story Books (Janet and John came school sets, and a change in focus, shifting to descriptive tales of children's experience.
School in New Zealand in the Twenties (
There is no comprehensive account of the history of reading and reading methods in New Zealand after Price's Hig[h]lights in Education 1816-1985 (School Books Published in New Zealand to 1960 (
The production of reading materials has been a traditional activity of the Department/Ministry of Education dating back to before the 1920s; reading readiness has latterly been a focus of its research and publication. The School Journal, which began in School Bulletins for primary and post-primary students, also published by the Department. In Journal and the Ready to Read series, as well as handbooks for teachers on reading and writing. Its School Journal Catalogue (
The Department of Education also produced guides for teachers to help them choose readers: Books for Infant Classes (Books for Junior Classes (Reading in Junior Classes (The Learner as a Reader (
Janet and John, which replaced Whitcombe's Progressive Readers series in Run, John, Run: Watch, Janet, Watch, a study of sex-role stereotyping in infant readers was published in Janet and John readers in a Ready to Read series of 12 little and six big books. The Ready to Read series produces new titles every year and is issued to all New Zealand schools with junior classes; support materials include An Introduction to Ready to Read (
At the invitation of the Department of Education, a number of publishers also began publishing supplementary little book series in the 1960s: Reed's Read it Yourself books and the Environmental readers, Paul's Book Arcade Playtime readers, Whitcombe and Tombs's Step Along Stories, and PM Supplementary Readers were published 1963-65 and followed the same graded colour covers and vocabularies as Ready to Read. In PM Story Readers, many of them written by Beverley Randell: A Checklist of Children's Books Written by Her, 1955-1995 (
Shortland introduced the Story Box series for five- to eight-year-olds to New Zealand schools in Jellybeans (for the parent market) began in
Since
English in the New Zealand Curriculum is the Ministry of Education's policy document which sets out the reading objectives of the curriculum. Literacy is regarded as a reciprocal relation between reading and writing in New Zealand and there are two teachers' handbooks which accompany the policy— Dancing with The Pen: The Learner as a Writer (The Learner as a Reader: Developing Reading Programmes (
The work of Books Before Five (Babies Need Books (Five to Eight (Cushla and her Books (
The progress of children learning to read is monitored by teachers administering the PAT (progressive achievement) tests developed in the late 1960s, explained in Progressive Achievement Tests (Reading: The Patterning of Complex Behaviour (The Early Detection of Reading Difficulties (1979a) discuss the processes and procedures of reading readiness, including a diagnostic survey and Reading Recovery. Clay's work has been very influential internationally and there are many studies of reading which refer to or use her work. Whole Language Plus: Essays on Literacy in the United States and New Zealand (
There is a great deal of research on reading acquisition, Reading Recovery and reading readiness in education publications. Elley's Assessing the Difficulty of Reading Materials (Lessons Learned From LARIC (The Learner as a Reader (Overcoming the Matthew Effect (At the Cutting Edge (
Achievement in Reading Literacy (Comprehending the Recent IEA Reading Literacy Survey (NZEI, A Summary of Reading Recovery Data (Reading in the Middle and Upper Primary School (Research Bulletin produced by the Ministry of Education provide continuing information on reading achievement.
Survey of Teenage Reading in New Zealand, published for the Booksellers News (Booknotes, newsletter of the New Zealand Book Council, provide a record of bestseller lists, book events and some indication of readerships.
Adult literacy was not publicly recognised as a problem in New Zealand until the early 1970s when organised literacy programmes were developed. From This Fragile Web (Taking Control Over Their Own Lives (A Job-Related Survey Among Electric Power Board Workers (Literacy At Work (The Literacy Needs of Access Students (Literacy Survey of Prison Inmates (
In Michael's Challenge Overcoming Illiteracy by Literacy My Prize (Nurture the Culture in the same year published a variety of papers on literacy and had as its keynote speakers Dame Literacies, Numeracies and Scientific Understandings (
One of the initiatives of the Tū Tangata philosophy of the Department of Maori Affairs in the late 1970s was the establishment of the Te Kōhanga Reo movement in He Purapura series of readers for five- to eight-year-olds; some of the Ready to Read series have been translated into Māori, and there are also the He Kohikohinga series for older students; Ngā Kōrero which are stories from the School Journal translated into Māori and Ngā Tamariki Iti o Aotearoa, books designed to be read to young children. These series are all produced by Learning Media and are listed in a handbook Te Reo Māori Resources (
Literacy among Māori children prompted the development of the Reading Tutoring Programme documented in Pause, Prompt, Praise (Atvars, Berryman and Glynn, Kōhanga Reo Let's Celebrate (Māori Literacy and Numeracy (Irwin, Davies and Harre Hindmarsh,
The huge quantity of material on the teaching of reading cannot be adequately covered in this survey but even a preliminary indication of its extent draws attention to the importance of literacy in New Zealand's colonial and post-colonial culture; the ways in which literacy is both the first ground and an active factor in discourses as widely spread as colonisation, imperial history, pedagogy, economics, cognitive development and gender; its role in the conflict between an oral and a print culture; and to the development of reading materials and methods in New Zealand that are internationally recognised and imitated. The teaching of reading and the place of literacy are significant emphases in New Zealand cultural history.
A history of the creation of interest in print culture is largely that of institutions and organisations, and thus is relatively easy for the researcher to identify and access. Two aspects seem important historically and in contemporary terms: the education system (including its encouragement of reading as a function of the basic skill of literacy), and a generally held (though increasingly contested) notion of 'culture'. That is, those values which a civilised society deems its duty to uphold, and which have historically included literature. Victorians, such as Matthew Arnold, saw literature as a moral force in a world increasingly uncertain about the security of religious faith, and the academic study of literature, new in the 19th century, took on this Messianic tinge. In Britain, movements towards universal education and in particular adult self-improvement combined both these strands—the educational and the cultural—and these values were brought to New Zealand by 19th-century immigrants, who saw and used reading as a central part of their value system.
The history and development of the public library system embodies these attitudes, and is therefore an obvious source of information. Libraries not only provide books, but historically have also developed programmes of encouragement and education aimed both at adults and children. Encouragement of membership and use, reading sessions, special promotions concerning particular books or events and the generally high profile of the library in the community are factors that contribute. Sources for the researcher are, obviously, written histories and archival material concerning individual libraries. Examples include C.W. Holgate's An Account of the Chief Libraries in New Zealand (Auckland Public Libraries 1880-1950 (The Library from the Sea: the Nelson Public Library 1842-1992 (Books to the People: A History of Regional Services in New Zealand (
There are a number of more theoretical or policy-oriented works which concern the library and its place in society: for example, McIntyre's Building the Library into the Community (Public Library Effectiveness (1992b); O'Reilly's 'Libraries': An Exercise in Definition (The Library and the Community (Great Library Success Stories (
Many libraries evolved out of private institutes or societies formed in the early days of settlement for the encouragement of civilised intercourse, with their functions later superseded by or subsumed into the official public library service. Histories and archives of organisations such as the Mechanics' Institutes, and the
Non-government organisations with a more overtly educational bias also contributed to the creation of an interest in print culture. As mentioned, Victorian ideas of self-improvement, sometimes combined with a political, often left-wing, agenda formed the basis of adult educational movements, such as the Workers Educational Association (WEA), Mechanics' Institutes, and university extension programmes, where book groups, literary discussions and lectures were an important feature. Works such as The WEA of New Zealand: What it Is and What it Aims At (The Beginnings of the WEA (A Popular Vision: The Arts and the Left in New Zealand 1930-1950 (History of the University of Auckland (
Book groups, semi-formal organisations meeting in individual members' homes to discuss a prepared book, seem to have arisen from such organisations; the WEA and university extension departments have been involved in the provision of reading lists, sets of books, study guides and advice. And there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence that informal groups, based on this model but without the institutional backing, have been a feature of middle class cultural life for some time. The enormous popularity of reading is both attested to and encouraged by literary festivals such as the Women's Book Festival and the Writers and Readers Week component of the Wellington International Festival of the Arts. Recollections of Five Festivals (
Government patronage of the arts has been organised around the Arts Council, previously the The What and Why, Who and How of the Arts Council (Policy into Action: the Seventies (A Policy for the Arts (The Arts Council in the Community 1981-88 (Research Report on the Literature Programme: Publishers' Survey (and complementary . . . Writers' Survey); the purpose of the research is often polemical, as in New Zealand's Best Kept Secret: The Arts (The Arts in Education News-sheet, the Pacific Island News-Sheet, The Arts Advocate, and Arts Times promoting its work, and culture generally in the community.
What is not recorded is the contentious area of the Arts Council's role as arbiter and also, in a sense, as creator of a distinctive New Zealand culture. Debates over who gets funding for what are associated with the aims and outcomes of creating an interest in print culture, but can probably only be approached through the institutional memory of the participants, and its occasional overflow on to the pages of the newspapers.
Literary prizes, and patronage generally, have long been a means of enhancing the status of and thereby the interest in literature, and are discussed in more detail in the following section of this chapter. Exhibitions play a similar role by publicising aspects of print culture, whether it be reading or literature, as well as forming a historical record of past attitudes. Descriptive catalogues are sometimes available for the researcher, e.g. New Old Books: An Exhibition of Recent Additions to the de Beer Collection (Working Titles: Books that Shaped New Zealand (Fabulous and Familiar: Children's Reading in New Zealand Past and Present (
The New Zealand Book Council is an organisation overtly dedicated to the promotion of interest in print culture, and has exercised a widespread influence. It has functioned in a number of areas, well represented by archival and published material. Founded in Booknotes, no.117,
This set the tone for the Council's role as a publisher of research papers backgrounding print culture and its various manifestations. The Changing Shape of Books: A Collection of Papers Presented at a Seminar Held at Victoria University September 15-16 1973 (
The Book Council has also been active in promoting commissioned research associated with the promotion of print culture, such as Esslemont's Survey of Book Buyers in New Zealand (Book buyers . . . published in the same year. Some of this work has been done in cooperation with the trade, such as Maconie's Survey of Teenage Reading (Books You Couldn't Buy: Censorship in New Zealand, by C.E. Beeby (Booknotes (originally Book Counsel) contains a range of material relevant to print culture, reading and the literary scene, and thus both promotes and records initiatives in these areas of interest.
A recent non-institutional initiative, author
The extent to which the 'self-interest' of purely commercial activities are included here is an interesting question. The publishing industry and bookselling trade may promote themselves from purely profit-oriented motives, but thereby also promote an interest in print culture. Early Whitcombe & Tombs catalogues, primarily pieces of advertising, nonetheless included short essays on literature: on 'New Zealand authorship' by A.H. Grinling in the Whitcombe's Monthly Review of Literature, which became Books of Today, appeared from the early 1930s until The Publisher and New Zealand Publishing News, and also publications of more general interest, such as the New Zealand Book Publishers Association and the Association of Booksellers' Books of the Year (1964-67), or the Dunedin Publishers Association's Books in Dunedin (1949-62). The Wellington bookseller Parsons Packet, part catalogue, part review journal, from 1947 until 1955 of which a selection edited by Parsons and
As a part of their protection of their industry trade organisations have taken part in debates over issues central to print culture, e.g. censorship and import controls, leaving published and archival records. Market research into aspects of readership has often gone ahead with the industry's support, providing useful statistical data and reference resources such as New Zealand Books in Print (
The newspaper industry is an obvious subject for investigation, both in itself—as a transmitter of print culture—but also in the more specifically literary context in promoting book reviews, book pages, literary competitions, and literary advertising. Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English are relevant here. There are also a number of local histories of individual newspapers, such as: 100 Years of News: As Presented by the New Zealand Herald 1863-1963 (120 Years, 1866-1986: The Nelson Evening Mail (100 Years of Newspapers in Dannevirke (
There is a close relationship between the encouragement of interest in print culture and the education system, which cannot simply confine itself to the mechanics of literacy, but has always seen a responsibility for the more general promotion of reading as a desirable social activity. Organisations such as the Children's Literature Association of New Zealand have concentrated on providing teachers with resource materials with which to encourage reading: publications such as Gilderdale and Bowden's World Beyond World (New Zealand Picture Books (Teenread '85 and In and Out of Time (both New Zealand Books for Children (
An area where there is little material concerns the history of readership. Australian research which provides fruitful models for New Zealand includes works such as 'The colonial reader observed' and 'Libraries' in The Book in Australia (Australian Cultural History (Books, Libraries and Readers in Colonial Australia (Australian Readers Remember (
Autobiography, biography and personal reminiscence are also a source in this area, whether of such people directly associated with books and reading such as
Implied in much of this material is a consensus of what constitutes the literate and cultured citizen, and a history of trade and institutional cooperation in pursuit of this commonly agreed good. This is unlikely to be a feature of the future, as a society of far more disparate and contestable values emerges—one in which ethnicity, gender, and class challenge the consensus. Popular culture will similarly question and challenge the notions of high culture implicit in the last century and a half's attitudes towards readership.
The most significant recent published research on literary criticism, book reviewing, and literary prizes and awards, are two essays published in Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English, ed. Three Hundred Years of New Zealand Books (
The online database Index New Zealand (INNZ), launched in Journal of New Zealand Literature (New Zealand Libraries (New Zealand Medical Journal (New Zealand Sociology (INNZ was published in a printed format. Retrospective indexing of journals onto INNZ is being carried out by the National Library.
The main focus here is on the reviewing of creative literature in English, particularly at the specialist level. For other disciplines, the primary sources for reviews are the relevant professional journals, many of which are indexed on Kiwinet, as noted above. The development of book reviewing in fields other than New Zealand literature requires further critical analysis. New Zealand (Media Directory, established in Advertising Directory and Media Planner.
Until the 1930s, literary criticism in New Zealand was almost entirely restricted to book reviews published in newspapers and magazines. From as early as the 1880s, many of these publications committed themselves to supporting the development of a distinctive New Zealand literature, although until at least the 1940s discussion focused almost entirely on overseas publications, with literary journalists demonstrating a clear preference for poetry and short fiction imitative of British models. New Zealand Periodicals of Literary Interest (Newspapers in New Zealand (Union List of Newspapers preserved in Libraries, Newspaper Offices, Local Authority Offices and Museums in New Zealand (
Prior to the 1940s, few efforts were made to survey the overall state of New Zealand literature. Introductions to anthologies of poetry supplied brief accounts. One of the earliest of these was Alexander and Currie's New Zealand Verse (A Treasury of New Zealand Verse in Kowhai Gold verse anthology and O.N. Gillespie's New Zealand Short Stories provided a foil against which an emerging group of younger critics and writers were to react. Influenced by British and American literary modernism, this new generation challenged the hegemony of the literary journalists, most effectively by participating in a series of avant garde little magazines and newspapers— Phoenix (1932-33), Tomorrow (1934-40) and Book (1942-47)—which provided for the serious examination of New Zealand literature, as well as encouraging new and innovative creative work. The culmination of this initial movement was the establishment in Landfall. Its editor, Landfall combined with a number of other magazines published during the 1950s and 1960s (including Here & Now (1949-57), Canterbury Lambs (1946-49), Hilltop (Arachne (1950-51), Numbers (1954-59), Mate (1955-77), and the annual anthology New Zealand Poetry Yearbook (1951-64)) to stimulate an increasingly vigorous local criticism. The New Zealand Listener (
Since the 1960s, book reviewing and literary criticism has continued to develop in line with available outlets. The Listener and Landfall have remained important, and new literary magazines to emerge include Argot (1973-75) and Islands, first published in The Word is Freed (1969-72), affected a self-consciously revisionist critical stance. This tone was sustained during the 1980s by several little magazines, including Parallax (1982-83), Splash (1984-86), and AND (1983-85). Local and overseas academic journals, including SPAN (Journal of New Zealand Literature (Journal of Commonwealth Literature (World Literature Written in English (Australian and New Zealand Studies in Canada (Comment (1959-70, 1977-82) and Te Ao Hou (1952-75). The appearance in New Zealand Books signalled the maturing of book reviewing in all genres, while Quote Unquote, founded in Books to Buy (1966-92) and the New Zealand Book Council's Booknotes, founded in
In the immediate post-World War II period the most substantial fruit of the new critical rigour was Book of New Zealand Verse 1923-45 (The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse (Speaking for Ourselves (
Letters and Arts in New Zealand, revised in New Zealand Literature, stood as the only book-length historical study until the publication of Penguin History of New Zealand Literature in Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English (
A number of important genre studies and collections of essays began to be published from the early 1950s, one of the earliest of which was Recent Trends in New Zealand Poetry (The New Zealand Short Story (Poetry in New Zealand (The New Zealand Novel: 1860-1960 ( Frank Sargeson (
Essays on New Zealand Literature (Journal of Commonwealth Literature and World Literature in English. Critical Essays on the New Zealand Novel (Critical Essays on the New Zealand Short Story (
Collections of essays and monographs by individual authors have appeared at regular intervals since the 1970s. Prominent among these are Look Back Harder (In the Glass Case (Answering to the Language (Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English (p.612 and passim). Such essays are usefully augmented by interviews and biographical writings. In particular, the autobiographies of Life (Critical Study (Beginnings (Islands, was the first sustained attempt to account for the personal origins of modern New Zealand literature. Collections of interviews with writers also add to this body of resources while theses in the area of New Zealand literature are also of immense value. All supply useful bibliographies, some of which are listed in Bibliographical Work in New Zealand (Union List of Higher Degree Theses in New Zealand Libraries, the most recent edition of which covers the period up to
Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English (Funding: A Guide for Applicants (
Before the establishment of the Literary Fund in Letters and Art in New Zealand (New Zealand Literary Fund 1946-70). From AJHR. The Fund was disestablished in
Literary awards began to be privately sponsored with the establishment of the New Zealand Books in Print provide retrospective listings of the winners of the various book awards. These currently include the NZ Post (previously AIM) Children's Book Awards (New Zealand Books in Print, as are other current sources of assistance for writers, including residential fellowships. The first of these was the
Grants for research leading to a publication are available from, among other agencies, the Lottery Grants Board, the Historical Branch of Internal Affairs, the National Library of New Zealand, and the Stout Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington. Scientists and academics can apply for funding to the Marsden Fund, administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand, as well as to individual universities and the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors Committee. The major source of funding for creative writing is Creative New Zealand. As well as contributing to the university fellowships, and to the Todd and New Zealand Children's Book Awards: Complete List of Winners and a List of Books Shortlisted 1988-96 (
Financial incentives and support for publishers are discussed in Chapter 3 under the heading 'Encouragement to publish' within the 'Process of Publishing' section.
The diversity of print media accommodates different reading and communication needs. Historically, the relationship between text and image has developed according to design trends, technological innovation, and readers' needs.
Although picture books have long been a part of the children's literature scene, the graphic novel and comic book often cater to both an adult and children's reading market, running the gamut from the purely pictorial to the balanced integration of word and image, to a riot of text and image which replays single-frame, cinematic, story-board design. Comics in Australia and New Zealand: The Collections, the Collectors, the Creators (Maui: Legends of the Outcast written by
The livre d'artiste represents a quite different relationship between image and book format. It is not to be confused with 'artists' books' which will be treated below. In origin, the livre d'artiste was developed to foreground the work of famous artists, whether painters, sculptors or printmakers, who were commissioned to illustrate deluxe volumes of prose and poetry, or to produce a suite of prints on a theme, which were subsequently packaged as a high-priced, limited edition, boxed set. The 'coffee table' art book is its modern descendant, using the latest colour reproduction technologies and printing on high-quality art and book papers. Most New Zealand publishers produce such works, although they often use the New Zealand landscape as their subject matter. Craig Potton Publishing has capitalised on the current domestic and international interest in landscapes to produce a wide range of print-based products from coffee table books to calendars, diaries, appointment books and postcards.
New Zealand publishing has heeded the call of the fine edition in several ways. Each variety appeals to a particular sector of the book buying public, most usually those with unlimited funds for personal entertainment or for investment opportunities. First, the fine press book has a small number of exponents in New Zealand (Bob Gormack,
Secondly, there are expensive facsimile editions of rare books otherwise only ever seen in library special collections or on exhibition in galleries. These books are frequently large folio-format works of art, history, botany, zoology, ornithology, or exploration, which boast lavish colour plates, all possible with modern colour reproduction processes. Zoology of the Beagle and Genesis Publication's reprint of Cook's journals are examples of such facsimile editions. Signature (
Thirdly, some publishers hold back copies of a trade edition in order to produce luxury, generally full-leather, bindings for presentation copies or for special purchase. Although this habit fell into decline in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it is now becoming more common in an era of corporate gift giving and promotion of products in a climate of multinational competition.
Finally, the limited edition book or 'quality book' is a recent marketing invention, usually offering original texts presented as authoritative or definitive complete with lavish reproductions, and accompanied by questionable production and investment claims. In contrast to the fine press book, the notion of limited edition in this instance has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with the publishers' perception of the market. Although most mainstream publishers, particularly in the buoyant 1970s and early 1980s, tried their hand at one if not more of these high-risk publications, several set themselves up to deal exclusively as publishers and/or distributors: Metro article (1991a) provides a good starting point for research and includes a useful select bibliography of Taylor's publications, many of which, such as the 'Notable Thoroughbreds' series, The New Zealander, Eugene von Guerard, and Bullshit & Jellybeans have influenced the course of New Zealand publishing and book marketing. The investment possibilities of the limited edition, deluxe book have been revived in the late 1990s with New Zealand Book Values (
Artists' books have a rich critical literature overseas and have only recently been assessed in New Zealand. Unlike the genres noted above, the artist's book sets out to redefine the structure of the book and, in particular, the reading experience. As the artist engages conceptually with the form, the result can be an eclectic combination of unusual materials, unorthodox construction, and an intensive interrogation of the assumptions behind the book as print or image-based communication medium. The Local Environment (Visual Diaries/Artists' Books (ANZART '85 Artists' Book Show, Opening up the Book (Art New Zealand and New Zealand Craft contribute to the expanding field of research. As more polytechnics and art schools recognise the global acceleration of interest in and expertise with the artist's book medium, they are including book arts modules or degree majors in their curricula.
If artists have endeavoured to redefine the book, books themselves have also come under pressure from other communication media. In The Changing Shape of Books. Speakers addressed a number of issues: literacy, educational methods, reading habits, library resources and the new format of the printed word.
As readers demand 'a high visual content' (Miller, p.71) in the display of print-based communication resources, books with colour reproductions, tables and statistics, headings and subheadings, columns and boxes are more frequently borrowed or purchased. The Hamlyn series of history books is often cited as a model for the new way of communicating information and educating. Technological developments in the printing industry, particularly the improved and affordable colour reproduction technology, enables these information needs to be fulfilled. Miller's
Miller notes, however, that although the book and its associated forms are more readily accessible to the reading public, there has been a decline in the content quality (p.73). This must also be extended to book and print-based design. Today's book designers are more often freelance than part of the in-house publishing environment. The increasing number of self-publishing and desktop publishing ventures which do not utilise trained designers have resulted in a loss of communication effectiveness, efficiency and style.
Today, the reading debate must also accommodate electronic technologies, particularly that of computer multimedia. Computing is introduced at an early age to encourage learning through the playing of computer games, and to teach using the full multimedia potential of the computer. As well as specialist reference tools (such as indexes and legal texts) New Zealand multi-media CD-ROM publications for which there are also hard-copy print equivalents include the TVNZ New Zealand Encyclopedia (Bateman New Zealand Encyclopedia), and Coast to Coast (Mobil New Zealand Travel Guide volumes. Not only do the differing titles create bibliographic challenges, but a different distribution process applies to CD-ROM products, which are more often sold through computer shops or by mail order than through traditional bookshops. The Press (
Although the bicultural dimension of New Zealand has only recently been signalled by a greater visible use of bilingual texts in official documentation and signage, the publishing industry is increasing its output of bi- and monolingual texts in Māori and a wide array of Pacific Island languages.
For the visually and hearing impaired, and for those with physical disabilities, the traditional book format provides a distinctive challenge for which alternative media have been developed to satisfy these readers' needs. For those who are print-handicapped readers or for those who through sight impairment or physical disability are unable to read, hold or turn the pages of a standard book, the National Library of New Zealand's Print Handicapped Resource Unit in Talking Books/Audio Books for Print Handicapped Readers since
The history of Braille books and their publication in New Zealand has yet to be written, although two useful centenary histories of the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, one by
Although it is primarily the spoken word which is affected by deafness, the education for deaf and deaf/mute readers in the written language, the written language experience for deaf children, the nature of the reading experience for the hearing impaired, and the use of new technologies for communication are all areas currently under scrutiny. Library services for the deaf and hearing impaired and the use of the traditional book as a tool for education are a fruitful area of study. Numerous histories of deaf institutions and associations have been written and a number of newsletters continue to be published. These are a rich and underutilised resource for exploring the development of special print-based materials—their production, publication, distribution and reading. Of particular note is the increasing number of print-based or electronic books used to tell—in words and images—personal stories of the hearing impaired, or to educate other readers about the deaf experience.
The development, standardisation and recognition of New Zealand Sign Language has led to the forthcoming Dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language spearheaded by
Access tools are the means by which information relating to print culture can be identified and located. New Zealand has a wide range of these tools to access the wide range of print culture items. The most important of these are bibliographies and indexes (including resources such as library or publishers' catalogues and listings of books in print). General reference sources (without a specific print culture purpose) may be useful starting points for either general background or specific types of information, e.g. biographical.
A useful overview of these, though now rather dated, can be found in J.E. Traue's New Zealand Studies: A Guide to Bibliographic Resources (
Bibliographies may be comprehensive in scope, such as a national bibliography, or limited by format such as theses, newspapers or Māori printed material. Bibliographies on specific subject areas are outside the scope of this section.
The most significant New Zealand bibliography is the six-volume New Zealand National Bibliography to the Year 1960 (1969-85) compiled by A.G. Bagnall. As well as being a listing of New Zealand imprints it includes books and pamphlets published overseas with New Zealand content. This replaces earlier attempts at comprehensive bibliography, in particular the work of T.M. Hocken (
Material after New Zealand National Bibliography (NZNB). It appeared in print form until NZNB lists new, changed and ceased serial titles, as well as maps, music, art prints and sound recordings.
Works currently available for sale are listed in New Zealand Books in Print (New Zealand Children's Books in Print (
The New Zealand Library Association (NZLA) published a number of useful items including Guide to New Zealand Reference Material and other Sources of Information (2nd ed. A Bibliography of New Zealand Bibliographies (Bibliographical Work in New Zealand: Work in Progress and Work Published.
A bird's-eye view of material up to the late 1970s can be found in the New Zealand volume of the World Bibliographic Series (
There is no comprehensive listing of New Zealand serials though details of recently published titles can be found on NZBN, and Nielsen Publishing's biannual Media Directory (founded in Advertising Directory and Media Planner) is a useful source of information on current periodicals (by subject) and newspapers, including community newspapers. The Union List of Serials in New Zealand Libraries (1970 and 1975 supplement) contains full bibliographic information for earlier titles and also where they are held.
Although there is no comprehensive bibliography of New Zealand newspapers a good substitute is Union List of Newspapers Preserved in Libraries, Newspaper Offices and Museums in New Zealand (
The bibliographic control for theses submitted to New Zealand universities is fairly comprehensive. Originally published in Union List of Theses of the University of New Zealand, 1910-54 there have been nine supplements taking coverage up to Union List and supplements are arranged in broad subject groups with author indexes and subject indexes after
Bibliographical control of manuscripts and archives is not comprehensive and it is particularly difficult to find the holdings of many small repositories.
In volume 1 of the Union Catalogue of New Zealand and Pacific Manuscripts in New Zealand Libraries (National Register of Archives and Manuscripts in New Zealand appeared irregularly in paper and microfiche form until Archifacts, the journal of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand (ARANZ) lists recent collections of archives, and the Alexander Turnbull Library's manuscript acquisitions are listed in the Turnbull Library Record.
Early Māori imprints are listed in H.W. Williams's Bibliography of Printed Maori to 1900 (
Although there is no general bibliography of maps, some useful publications dealing with specialised areas have been produced. A notable contribution has been by R.P. Hargreaves who between 1962 and 1971 produced eight compilations, mainly dealing with 19th-century material, including: French Explorers' Maps of New Zealand; Maps of New Zealand Appearing in British Parliamentary Papers and Maps in New Zealand Provincial Council Papers. For older maps the best means of access is through the catalogues of libraries such as Alexander Turnbull Library and the Hocken Library; other map collections can be located through The Directory of New Zealand Map Collections (New Zealand National Bibliography since Copyright Publications (1949-65).
For accessing the contents of New Zealand periodical literature, the most important and useful tool is Index to New Zealand Periodicals (1941-86) and its successor Index New Zealand (INNZ, Index in New Zealand Science Abstracts was established to cover scientific material.
The Index appeared in annual paper volumes and on microfiche, but was not cumulated, so each year must be searched individually. INNZ is an online database on the National Library's Kiwinet service from which annual microfiche issues have been produced with a cumulation covering 1987-91. In Index.
Scholarly journals in the social sciences, art and humanities are indexed as well as some monographs in series, chapters in books, theses and conferences in these disciplines. All entries for this research-type material include an abstract in a similar fashion to the three annual volumes of New Zealand Social Science Research Abstracts which cover material from 1985 to 1987. Newzindex (
Parliamentary papers and other official publications are a rich source of information on a very broad range of topics of print culture interest, referred to throughout this book. Such material can be complex to identify and trace, but J.B. Ringer's Introduction to New Zealand Government (
Access to books printed before Early Imprints in New Zealand Libraries: A Finding List of Books Printed before 1801 held in the Wellington Region (
A good general starting point for any researcher is Studying New Zealand History (2nd ed. New Zealand Official Yearbook (
The most comprehensive encyclopaedia is still A.H. McLintock's three-volume Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (New Zealand's Heritage (1971-73) includes some articles of relevance to New Zealand print culture history.
Now of historic interest, the six-volume Cyclopedia of New Zealand: Industrial, Descriptive, Historical, Biographical, Facts, Figures, Illustrations (1897-1908) is mainly useful for biographical information (arranged by locality) on individuals and businesses, though not entirely trustworthy. Directories (dating from the 1840s onwards) provide some basic information on commercial activities; refer to Hansen's Directory Directory (
The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Book of New Zealand Women: Ko Kui ma te Kaupapa (
Pictorial material can be approached through major organised institutional collections (such as the Alexander Turnbull Library's, now also available on the Internet through its Timeframes service, or the New Zealand Film Archive), newspaper archives, and commercial photographic libraries.
The languages used in New Zealand were all brought here from overseas. The history of their use, and associated print cultures, is that of the people who came, and stayed. Māori, the language of the tangata whenua and the oldest such language, has been considered in the preceding chapters, as has New Zealand English, the language of wider communication.
This section covers the print culture of all languages other than Māori and English with a New Zealand connection, and incorporates all the perspectives of the preceding sections. For example, the publishing records of newspapers in Chinese are recorded here (not under 'Publishing') as are bibliographies for Pacific Island material (not under 'Access tools' in the 'Readers and Reading' chapter). This chapter is therefore something of a microcosm.
The patterns of immigration, geographic context, government and other (e.g. religious) administration, together with the nature of the languages themselves suggested two quite distinct groupings within the chapter:
These groupings are presented in more detail in the two following sections, each of which has its own introduction.
Any atlas clearly shows New Zealand is a Pacific Island nation, and it is well known that Māori, the tangata whenua, are a Polynesian people. Generally speaking, however, New Zealanders are not very aware of the wider Polynesian, and still wider Pacific Island economic and cultural context into which New Zealand fits. But, for most of this century, New Zealand has had a very special relationship with and responsibility for four Pacific Island (and also Polynesian) countries—Niue, Tokelau,
It is the print culture connection between these four countries and New Zealand which is the main focus of this section. This field has been little explored before, and the content of the section is original research which provides a framework for further investigation. It covers language, religious and educational publishing, together with overviews of other publishing activity in this century; a summary of sources and resources for identifying and locating copies of material is appended.
The initial special relationship from the New Zealand perspective was one of administrative and therefore wider cultural and social responsibility. For the small and scattered populations of these tiny atolls and islands, the relationship was—and still is for Tokelau (since
While New Zealand did not colonise the island territories, the administrative interrelationship certainly had a major impact in areas significant to the context of print culture such as education, and language use, although the foundations for these had been laid by the missionary 'invasions' of the early 19th century. The first half of the 20th century was not known for its active support of indigenous languages and cultures and this is reflected in the print culture evidence of that time from the territories.
Possibly even more significant than administrative responsibility, another special relationship developed—immigration to New Zealand from the 1960s onwards in search of education, employment—and even survival, where island resources could not support growing populations (such as Niue). Today (apart from
On the basis of these statistics, New Zealanders arguably now have an even greater print culture responsibility (language and literacy support, education, publication) towards the people of these countries than during their time of dependency, apart perhaps from
The demographics of the population figures also hold print culture messages for New Zealand in the future: while Pacific Islanders are 3.8% of the total population (mostly in
There are many challenges.
Following the period of exploration and discovery of the
The London Missionary Society (LMS) provided the first missionaries, establishing stations in the territories as follows: Cook Islands (1820s),
The sections which follow tend to have an emphasis on the work of the early missionaries (because of their groundwork in formalising the languages) and the predominant religion. Further research into the publications of other churches, such as the Church of
Cook Islands Māori is the language of the majority of Cook Islanders, most of whom are from the island of Rarotonga, the dialect of which has become predominant. The two other distinct languages in this island group are Pukapukan and English (Palmerston Island). Efforts to preserve Pukapukan are supported in New Zealand by children's books published from the
Work on recording Cook Islands Māori began with arrival of the LMS missionary Te Akataka Reo Rarotonga (published 1854-69) long remained the authoritative grammatical resource.
The missionaries were initially responsible not only for religious affairs, but were also instrumental in formal education as well as civil law—in
By the early 1830s, coastal settlements were established and the printing press was in full operation under Buzacott's guidance, consequently 90% of the Rarotongan population was able to gain access to religious literature in their own language. By the mid 1850s most Rarotongans were able to read, though the pace on the outer islands was slower. Literature during this early period was the Bible, books and notes of sermons, mission periodicals and catechisms in both Cook Islands Māori and English. Literature of an educational nature was initially accessible to the Western missionary families and to children of the local aristocracy. While the language of education during the missionary period was Cook Islands Māori, after that time English was and still is used.
The Bible remains as the most comprehensive published body of literature in Cook Islands Māori. The various current denominations in the Cook Islands (including Cook Islands Christian Church, Catholic, Mormon) translate and often develop their own educational resources for their adherents which includes material for children. Material developed by specific denominations is not widely known outside the denomination, and often is not clearly identified as to date and source. Examples include the Catholic hymnbook Kia Puroro te Reo . . ., which also shows dialectal signs of having been translated from Tahitian, apparently a fairly common practice. Within New Zealand, the Pacific Islanders Presbyterian Church (PIC) is the predominant denomination of Cook Islanders, but it does not produce material in Cook Islands Māori. As in the secular field, no major research has been conducted to collate and assess religious material in Cook Islands Māori.
Key language reference works include dictionaries by Savage (Pacific Bibliography (
Maori Lessons for the Cook Islands. The paucity of textbook literature available in New Zealand prompted Carpentier and Beaumont to prepare their Kai Kōrero course book. Language nests and courses offered through community institutions either develop their own resources, utilise those published by bodies such as Anau Ako Pasifika, or rely on texts already in existence. Cook Islands Māori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, disestablished at the end of
Such is the dominance of the English language through the impact of trade, tourism and the formal education system, the future of Cook Islands Māori language is considered to be threatened in both New Zealand and the Islands. However, a community-based Cook Islands language group is currently looking at developing a language curriculum for adoption within New Zealand schools which may well necessitate the compilation of new language texts to support its survival.
The major impact on the Niuean language has been English, originally as a result of the work of missionaries and (initially) use of English as the language of education. This influence is so strong that indigenous Niueans are close to being naturally bilingual. More recently, large scale immigration to New Zealand has lead to an increasing proportion of New Zealand-born Niueans for whom Niuean is not a first language, nor a language which will provide employment.
LMS missionaries were active in Niue between 1846 and 1890, and were responsible for formalising the alphabet and producing a complete Bible (Ko e Tohi Tapu) and hymnbook (Ko e Tau Lologo Tapu) in Niuean, both of which are still in print. Following the missionary period, Niuean religion became Congregationalist (to
Several notes on vocabulary and grammar were published in the Journal of the Polynesian Society between 1893 and 1907, but the first substantial dictionary (with a few pages of supporting grammar) was J.M. McEwen's Niue Dictionary (
Since Studies in Niuean Syntax (
The most recent course book for studying the language is First Book for Learning Niuean (
Niuean is not taught as part of the formal New Zealand education system, although Learning Media Ltd produces children's stories for use in schools in the language. However, work actively continues to ensure that the language is not lost—through compiling the comprehensive dictionary and a new version of the hymnbook, and in community-based language nests in
In Niue itself, decolonisation has strengthened awareness of the distinctiveness of Niuean culture and language, and the indigenous language is now used in preschool and secondary education. It is essential that such efforts are maintained if the Niuean language is to survive and develop.
Ever since Christianity was established in the Tokelaus between the late 1860s and early 1870s, virtually all religious functions were conducted in the Samoan language. Samoan missionaries—Catholic,
The importance attached to the acquisition of the Samoan language was further given impetus with the introduction in
Undoubtedly individuals used their own versions of an alphabet when the urge to write a 'fatele' or dancing song motivated them. However, after a drawn-out debate, an alphabet was produced and ratified in Tokelau Dictionary (which also includes a grammar) was published in Law Lexicon (Hand-book (
The Bible project was more complex. Each island formed its own Bible Review Committee, to receive translated material from
Fortunately religious groups continued producing material in Tokelauan. In Tuhi Miha hā Muamua-Faitauga . . .) into Tokelauan, taking only two years to complete it. On the other hand, the Tokelau Pacific Island Presbyterian Church in Ko nā Pehe ma nā Vīkiga o te Atua—translations of Protestant Samoan hymns with some original Tokelauan ones.
Due to renewed interest raised by the National Tokelau Association in New Zealand in translating the Bible, Tokelauans in New Zealand and in the home islands decided to again enter into a joint venture for this project. This time the New Zealand Bible Society would provide free consultancy and technological expertise, while the Tokelau people themselves via the cooperating churches (Protestant and Catholic) would translate and review the materials. The project, launched in
The Bible project is seen as an important step in preserving the Tokelauan language, which is currently taught in New Zealand at language nests and some primary schools.
The first significant linguistic material in Samoan was collected after the arrival of the LMS in O le Tusi Paia) was not published until
Religious material in Samoan such as the Bible, prayer books, theology (as well as the history of some denominations) is produced by several organisations such as the Bible Society of the South Pacific in
During the earliest period, no published grammar or Samoan dictionary was available, and the first such work, by Samoan Language (no longer in print) is currently carrying out major research into Samoan at the University of
Samoan is one of the stronger languages among Pacific Island populations, reflecting its larger population base, and Samoan has always been used as the language of religion and education in the islands, including during the missionary period. Consequently there are a number of current key reference works: Pratt's Grammar and Dictionary, Downs's
In Taiala mo le Gagana Samoa has become an important document for the teaching of spoken and written Samoan in New Zealand where Samoan is now taught from pre-school up to university levels with quite a number of Samoan pre-schools in the main centres of
Current initiatives include a teachers' development programme (in
The two major influences on secular educational publishing in
While New Zealand acquired the four Pacific Island territories of Cook Islands, Niue,
The School Publications Branch of the New Zealand Department of Education published resources in Samoan, Cook Islands Māori, Tokelauan, and Niuean for use in schools in the territories—but nothing, apparently, in Pukapukan (a second Cook Islands language).
While these publications ranged across the curriculum, most were reading resources—usually School Journal-like periodicals, often sharing part of their contents, in translation, with the School Journal. Towards the end they increasingly included material by indigenous writers. The titles of these journals were:
Other government agencies also published educational material in these languages, including the departments of Island Territories, Māori and Island Affairs, and External Affairs. Many were actually produced by the Department of Education through its School Publications or Island Education units. One substantial output was the translation of nearly a dozen children's classics (e.g. Defoe's Robinson Crusoe) into Niuean in the 1960s and 1970s. A The New Zealand School Publications Branch, describes its activities to that time (see especially pp.28-30).
Major immigration by Pacific Islanders to New Zealand from the 1960s onwards (especially to
School Publications Branch/Learning Media Ltd produced more than 200 items in the 20 years to Tupu series which began in
Over the same period other publishers produced a further 100 items, including the only publications in Pukapukan (from
The Crown-owned Learning Media Ltd is the most prolific publisher of educational materials in Pacific Island languages through its contracts with the Ministry of Education, and arrangements with education departments in A Guide to the Pacific Learning Material 1976-96, a guide to the Ministry's
Other publishers of resources (particularly in Samoan) include Anau Ako Pasifika,
A specialist
The New Zealand and Tokelauan national bibliographies both include educational publications, though the former has very limited coverage for the period to
A shift towards the more formal inclusion of Pacific Island languages within New Zealand education was indicated in the New Zealand Curriculum Framework and followed through into the Samoan curriculum published in Survey of the Needs for Resources in Pacific Islands Languages and the MRL Research Group's research report, Maori and Pacific Island Language Demand for Educational Services,
Educational publishing will continue to develop in this direction. The Ministry of Education plans to continue to play a strong role, together with other general educational publishers and specialist smaller Pacific Island language publishers.
During the main period of New Zealand's administration of
The Polynesian Society appears to have been the most significant publisher. M.P.K. Sorrensen notes in his centennial history of the Society (p.33) that its Journal had published relevant papers both in the indigenous language and English translation since the first issues in Rarotonga Records (Vocabulary and Grammar of the Niue Dialect (Tongan Phrase Book (c.
Most vernacular publishing during the period occurred in the Cook Islands and
In Western Samoa, the long-established LMS printery at Malua at times supplemented its religious and educational output with commercial printing work. It printed a little annual calendar in the years around 1915-20, O le Kalena Samoa, which in Duties of Officials, and in O le Tusi Faalupega o Samoa, a guide to Samoan ranks and names. Samoan versions of some classic European tales were also printed, including Stories from the Arabian Nights (The Bottle Imp (AJHR A.4,
Local politics and government administrative duties produced some publications in both Ioi Karanga (1898-1901) and the administration's Cook Islands Gazette (1898-1926) and Cook Islands Review (1954-70) are examples. The Government Printer in Rarotonga also printed such items as a Translation of the Cook Islands Act 1915 into Rarotonga Maori (
From O le Savali monthly in Samoan for officials, continuing throughout the colonial period. English was used for most government publications until the later 1940s and early 1950s, when the Western Samoa Gazette (
The weekly independent local newspaper the Samoa Bulletin (1950-67) was also published in both languages. New Zealand's Department of Island Territories reported in Samoa Bulletin, undertook a variety of other work, including government publications. The New Zealand government was at this time assisting the Samoan government with equipment and technical assistance in setting up its own printing press, which began operation early in
With the wave of immigration from the
The Housing Corporation was especially active, producing several series of pamphlets informing tenants of their rights and responsibilities. The Department of Social Welfare published brochures on benefits, and the Justice Department produced material on disputes tribunals, bail, parole, and information for prisoners. Every three years parliamentary election booklets and posters were produced to inform electors of the arrangements for voting. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs published a comprehensive set of pamphlets in
After
It has been rare for the private sector to initiate publications of translated material. However, some interesting initiatives by non-government agencies include a
The Tokelaus have received special attention under New Zealand government administration and there has been a major investment in communicating in Tokelauan with the population of the atolls. A quarterly newsletter Te Vakai Tokelau (in both Tokelauan and English) was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Ko te Vaka Tokelau (
One project stands out. Since
Because virtually all the material referred to is ephemeral in form, it is poorly documented and difficult to track down, although some is included in bibliographies of Samoan and Tokelauan material (see section below 'Sources and resources'). To date there is no record of any research into these Pacific Island publications, but King's
Most material referred to was translated by the Department of Internal Affairs during the mid 1970s to mid 1980s, and more recently by the New Zealand Translation Centre Ltd, a Wellington-based company which holds a large collection of translated public information in Pacific Island languages.
Current trends, including the reduced role of government in many aspects of New Zealand life, seem to indicate that the future emphasis will be on the maintenance and survival of the Polynesian languages through education, and that the era of large scale publicly-funded translation into these languages is over. As if to underline this tendency, Aoteareo, a
Pacific Island languages can be heard on the radio but not seen in the bookshops. Print culture in 'trade publishing' is virtually non-existent—there are no commercial publishers even on the islands themselves. For centuries,
Newspapers (usually in Samoan) have occasionally and briefly come and gone in the Pacific Network Newspaper (
There is only one identified creative writing competition in New Zealand for Pacific Island languages, held annually by Manukau City Libraries,
This section describes the major local collections of Pacific Island language material and the most useful bibliographic sources relating to New Zealand's publishing history, together with a brief summary of the development of library services in the islands.
Major collections
While most libraries report their current holdings of books and serials to the New Zealand Bibliographic Network (NZBN) database, and its predecessors, this is not always the case with Pacific Island language publications. It is important for researchers to approach libraries individually with enquiries about such material as some holdings are only available as in-house listings, and many other catalogue entries are too brief to be informative. There is no comprehensive listing of national holdings of official publications.
The major local collections of Pacific Island language material produced in New Zealand and its island territories are:
Some public libraries have developed services specifically for Pacific Islanders—Manukau Library and Information Services has separate reference-only Polynesian collections in its branch libraries at Otara and
Bibliographies and indexes
No single bibliography covers New Zealand's print culture in Pacific Island languages, and relevant items must be sought from general listings for New Zealand or the four island territories. Many bibliographies are not annotated, so items must be examined in order to identify the language. There is a need for annotated bibliographies with comprehensive subject access and which also note the language used.
General bibliographic reference tools such as Bagnall's New Zealand National Bibliography to 1960 and its successor the annual current National Bibliography are useful starting points for Pacific Island language material, together with (for periodical articles) the
Significant specialist bibliographies and indexes include:
Library services and education
The 1950s and 1960s saw the beginning of public library services for residents in the island territories. By
The National Library of New Zealand is a member of several Pacific Island library and archives networks. It offers bibliographic support to the University of the South Pacific Library and the Cook Islands and has provided professional assistance in a conservation workshop and with collection organisation. Major bibliographical publications relating to Pacific Island countries include the Tokelau National Bibliography (Solomon Islands Bibliography (
Although only one person (a Cook Islander in
This section surveys the print cultures of many of the diverse non-Polynesian immigrant groups who have settled in New Zealand since the earliest days of European settlement. It also considers two of the languages of learning that have been brought to this country.
The approach taken has been dictated by the nature of the topic. Since expertise was to be found chiefly among those familiar with a particular language or family of languages, individual contributors were sought for those languages in which a significant print culture might exist in New Zealand. For most, but not all of the obvious candidates, separate studies have been obtained. These are, in the order of arrangement, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, French, Gaelic, Greek (ancient) and Latin, German, Polish, and Scandinavian languages. For various reasons, some language groups are not represented: African, Asian (other than Chinese), Hebrew, Indian and Middle Eastern. However, exclusion should not be taken as necessarily reflecting lack of importance within New Zealand.
Studies of immigration as distinct from print culture may be found in Immigration and National Identity in New Zealand (The National Ethnic Communities Directory, published by the Race Relations Office jointly with the Department of Internal Affairs, Ethnic Affairs Service, the most recent issue being for New Zealand International Migration: A Digest and Bibliography (eds. Trlin and Spoonley),
The purpose of this survey is mainly to introduce readers to material available about the print cultures of languages other than English and Māori in New Zealand, and to indicate directions for further enquiry. The result should be a better understanding of New Zealanders whose cultures and traditions do not fit into the bicultural focus of the country.
This book will suggest answers to many questions. What physical forms has the print culture of languages other than English taken? What subjects does it cover? Where are the printed materials located? Is the material in public collections or in private hands? How much of it was printed and published in New Zealand, and how much imported? If it came from overseas, who brought it here, when, and why? Fruitful areas for further exploration will be revealed, such as the connection between print culture and the history of different religions.
The print culture of the many languages in question varies, as do the settlement histories of the immigrant groups themselves. The many forms assumed by the printed word: books, newsletters, songbooks, hymnbooks, mottoes etc., are not equally spread across all languages. The diversity is also in subject matter, and in how and when the printed materials arrived in New Zealand. Some groups, the French for example, have been in New Zealand since the days of earliest European settlement; others are comparatively recent arrivals. The printed materials surveyed are not only in libraries—our contributors on Scandinavian languages considered holdings in different libraries of books—but, to an extent hard to estimate, in the possession of individuals and societies scattered throughout the country.
Each immigrant group in New Zealand has its own distinctive print culture history. Many of these histories, particularly of recent immigrants from Asia and the De Schakel from
However, there are also similarities in the fates of the print cultures of many of the immigrant groups, chiefly in the common struggle to survive. Learned languages have struggled, too, though for different reasons. Frequently only remnants remain: hymn cards with Latin text, mottoes in Latin, song books in Scots Gaelic and other languages; also the newsletters of the different immigrant groups which reflect the specific circumstances of their life in New Zealand.
Ironically, it may be noted that, at certain times in New Zealand's history, a considerable amount of racist and anti-racist printed material in English has been provoked by immigration: cartoons, pamphlets, newspaper and magazine articles and books. For example, in the 1930s, A.N. Field was a prolific writer and publisher of anti-Semitic material, such as Today's Greatest Problem,
Why have immigrant print cultures not flourished more in New Zealand? Why has more substantial material not been produced? There are various reasons. Over the years, immigration policy has favoured 'kin migration', that is, recurring immigration from the original source, usually Great Britain (McKinnon,
After World War II, more non-British immigration was permitted because there were not enough immigrants from the
In the early 1970s, immigration from the traditional source countries of
Immigration policy favouring British immigrants has contributed to the fate of other languages' print cultures in a number of ways. Most importantly, it has meant that the non-British immigrant groups have simply been too small numerically to be able to maintain their own culture. In the 1870s, for example, Scandinavians were the most significant of the non-British groups, but they were never more than 1.25% of the population.
Groups were not only too small, they were scattered. For some groups, there was concentration in the first generation, then a tendency to scatter with later generations. Except for Pacific Islander groups, the small communities were not bolstered by continuing new arrivals. Another factor affecting some groups was unstable population: people came but did not stay to build up the strong community life than makes cultural maintenance possible. In the case of Jews, for example, if everyone who had come stayed, more viable communities might have been established. The fact that immigration policy discouraged family settlement also contributed to the difficulties many groups had in preserving a separate identity. Refusal to allow the entry of wives and children had serious impact on culture and language maintenance, women so often having primary responsibility for the transmission of culture to the next generation. Gender imbalance and the smallness and scattering of immigrant groups have led to high rates of marriage outside the immigrant community, bringing problems for cultural transmission to the next generation.
At the same time as immigration restrictions made it difficult to establish viable communities, the small groups of non-British settlers also faced strong pressures to assimilate. Only a small minority believed that the retention of the immigrants' culture could make a valuable contribution to the way of life of New Zealanders. 'We must make new Britishers: by procreation and by assimilation: by making suitable aliens into vectors of the British way of life that has still so much to give to the world' wrote R.A. Lochore in
Immigrants and children of immigrants interviewed by the writer have recalled the pressures to give up their languages and other aspects of their former cultures after settling in New Zealand. Whatever the language spoken in the privacy of their own homes, the public language of all had to be English. Nor were other cultural differences welcomed by the New Zealanders with whom they came into contact (
Cultural minorities from the
Visibly different immigrant groups experienced particularly strong pressures. Public hostility towards Chinese and Indians encouraged them to keep a low profile. But all groups were affected by a social climate in which, among other difficulties, immigrants' voluntary organisations were treated with suspicion and seen as obstacles to assimilation (Trlin and Tolich in Greif,
Hostility and suspicion notwithstanding, ethnic associations did form to provide mutual support, particularly after World War II. From the 1950s, for example, Chinese language schools mushroomed, but did not continue to thrive. Seeing them as likely to hinder eventual assimilation, the government declined entry to Chinese teachers. Funding too was short.
Refugee settlers from South East Asia in the early 1980s faced severe obstacles in maintaining their languages and cultures. Refugees at that time were 'pepperpotted'—i.e. sent to live in widely separated provincial areas where they felt culturally and linguistically isolated. Assimilation was sometimes pursued spontaneously by the groups because they felt they need to belong to the mainstream to be successful. The consequences are, according to Man Hau Liev writing of cultural erosion in the Cambodian community, that 'the children appear to be strangers who have lost their ethnic cultural values and identity. They speak English at home with their siblings, and they reject their ethnic arts and songs' (Greif,
The failure of many of the immigrant groups to develop a flourishing and lasting print culture can perhaps also be explained by the characteristics of some of the immigrants who came. Some of those who came tended to have predominantly oral cultures. They were willing and sometimes eager to assimilate as quickly as possible. The perceived ability of German and Scandinavian immigrants to fit into colonial British society and that of the Dutch into 1950s New Zealand was the reason for their recruitment in the first place. Jews who cared deeply about retaining their culture were less likely to come to New Zealand to settle; these preferred to stay in centres of larger Jewish population.
Future patterns may differ. The numbers of immigrants who have settled in New Zealand in the late 1980s and early 1990s may be large enough to enable cultural maintenance and cultural transmission to occur more easily than in the past. The new Asian wave of immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan,
In 1990s New Zealand there is greater acceptance of cultural diversity than in previous decades, though there is also considerable anti-Asian or anti-immigrant sentiment. It remains uncertain whether one of the vital conditions for the growth of vibrant communities, for cultural maintenance and for the development of printed materials in languages other than English will be present, namely the opportunity for established immigrant communities to be replenished by more immigration in the years ahead.
The 19th century was the era of the Chinese goldseekers in Otago and on the West Coast. They were rural male Cantonese who first came over from Victoria, Australia, and later direct from China. Initially, in
The next wave, who came from the late 1880s, also established themselves throughout New Zealand in small businesses, capable of supporting families. From the turn of the century this led to the growing wish, despite the 'white New Zealand' policy, to bring their families here out of danger.
Although generally illiterate, they valued learning and even printed paper itself. New Zealand Presbyterian, Windows on a Chinese Past (vols.1 and 4
Their only commercial printing in this country was by means of lithography. The one example that has survived (in the Otago Settlers Museum) is the lithographed minutes of the meeting of the Cheong Shing Tong (Poon Fah Association), held after the sinking of S.S. Ventnor in
Of handwritten Chinese, rather more survives. However, it should be understood that unless otherwise stated, the examples given in the course of this brief survey represent a small selection from a more comprehensive documentation compiled by
Correspondence in Chinese must have been plentiful enough. The Statistics of New Zealand (New Zealand Presbyterian, Diary 1899-1907, items 334, 408 and 442, etc.).
Legal or quasi-legal documents had their mixture of English and Chinese. Among these were petitions, such as that addressed in
Notices, official and business, are another class of document. Don translated notices in Chinese, including rules of the anti-opium Cherishing Virtue Union (New Zealand Presbyterian, Dunstan Times of
Pakapoo lottery tickets are plentiful in Otago museums, as are Chinese coins, but appear to have been printed in China—illustrated in Windows on a Chinese Past (vol.1
Handwritten and stamped calling cards in red were presented at the time of the Chinese New Year (New Zealand Presbyterian,
The Chinese goldseekers attached red paper inscriptions bearing felicitous phrases and poetical couplets on walls, doors, shrines, meat safes, and in any auspicious place in a house. They may be seen in Don's photographs. Again, none have survived. Gambling dens had white paper inscriptions. See for instance, Don's Annual Inland Tour 1896-97 (
Wood provided a common alternative writing surface to paper, in the shape of wooden signs, commemorative plaques and presentation pairs of vertical boards bearing poetical couplets, often with the donors' names carved in smaller characters. For example, living memory recalls the walls of the Poon Fah Association's Lawrence Joss House hung with flags and wooden plaques. Don similarly described the Round Hill Joss House interior in the New Zealand Presbyterian,
The Chinese goldseekers also used cloth banners with embroidered or stitched-on characters, ordered from China. One such work is the long horizontal banner in Hanover St Baptist Church in
The only known 'Chinese' newspaper produced in New Zealand last century was Don's weekly Kam lei Tong I Po. Kam lei Tong was the rented premises in which Don preached at Riverton, and 'I Po' means newspaper. The first issue appeared on New Zealand Presbyterian,
Other overseas Chinese newspapers and magazines circulated in New Zealand in the 1880s and 1890s, including the daily China Mail; the weekly Chinese Australian Herald; the monthlies Review of the Times, Missionary Review; and the Chinese Illustrated News, the Chinese Globe Magazine—these two printed in Kwang Pao and the Wa Tz Yat Pao. These titles are mentioned in contemporary issues of the Christian Outlook and the New Zealand Presbyterian, and in Don's diaries. Copies of some of the above magazines are among that part of the Chinese library of the Dunedin Chinese Presbyterian Church which was deposited c.
Surviving books in Chinese, printed in China, from the period include two almanacs in the Graham Sinclair collection. The Sinclair farm was next to the Adams Flat Chinese Camp. A book on acupuncture was found in Sue Him's orchard shed in Alexandra (now in the Alexandra Museum). The literate used to read to the illiterate, and their books were read 'till they fall to pieces' (New Zealand Presbyterian, Koo sz king lam (Ancient matter—a forest of gems); and 'Vast, vast is the mist on the ocean, while the concubine is buried in sadness'. Classics at Round Hill and elsewhere, according to Don (New Zealand Presbyterian, Saam tsz king (Three character classic), Saam Kwok, Lit Kwok, History of the feudal states, and Mencius with commentary. The Chinese pharmacopoeia was used at Round Hill, according to the same source.
In
Don himself printed three bilingual booklets of hymns (Knox College Library). His most important legacy, however, was his handwritten notebook 'Roll of the Chinese in New Zealand 1883-1913'. It records in Chinese and English the 3628 Chinese Don met from 1896-1913 and, in English only, some others he knew from Windows on a Chinese Past (vol.4
New Zealand has probably the finest cache of photographs on the Chinese goldseekers and their origins, thanks to Don, whose hobby was photography. Some are bilingually labelled. His collection was dispersed, but is now largely reassembled in the Hocken and Knox College libraries,
Gravestones may also be included as print culture. Chinese examples were usually inscribed in Chinese, bearing the name, county and village of origin, and the time and date of death. The earlier gravestones dated the year by the emperor's reign. Sometimes the name and date of death were added in roman script. The Chinese also used wooden grave markers, but none remain, and many gravestones have been vandalised or illegally removed. The last Chinese to die on the goldfields were probably buried in paupers' unmarked graves, but many others are unaccounted for. The Dunedin Genealogical Society has drawn and recorded in a booklet the Chinese gravestones in the Southern Cemetery,
All the Otago museums have items relating to their local Chinese, including items bearing print or script. The West Coast museums are poor by comparison. The most comprehensive collection of Chinese goldseekers' memorabilia is that built by Graham Sinclair. The bulk of this collection, which includes musical instruments, mining rights documents, photographs, two almanacs, newspaper articles, all to do with the Adams Flat goldfield, has been donated to the Museum of New Zealand, Wellington.
Over the last 100 years the Chinese in New Zealand have undergone a remarkable change in fortune. Starting the century as a besieged underclass, Chinese are now ending the century as a group of diverse and healthy communities. Their story, and the aspirations of successive generations of Chinese New Zealanders, can be traced through the surprisingly active print culture maintained throughout this century.
Historically, 20th century Chinese New Zealand print culture can be divided into three periods, 1900-49, 1949-87 and post-
Given the hardship faced by Chinese in that first period, it is remarkable anything was published at all. A small and transient community, labour-intensive occupations, and the need to support families back in China were all obstacles to the time-consuming and expensive process of publishing. The other obstacle was the physical difficulty of printing Chinese characters. A characteristic of pre-
What also particularly marks this period is the total focus on mainland Chinese politics. At this time the community mostly comprised urban-dwelling males (3,374 at its peak in
From 1900 to 1915, five Chinese New Zealand political organisations were set up. One was the Chinese Association founded in
How successful it was is academic as the government was overthrown that same year by the republican revolution. China quickly fell into a long period of civil disorder with the new government in Beijing and the rival Nationalists in Guangdong vying for control of the country. The community here mirrored these rivalries, with active organisations representing both sides.
The Nationalist Koumintang (KMT) enjoyed less New Zealand support but was more sophisticated in its activities. In Man Sing Times, became New Zealand's first Chinese-language newspaper. Published in Wellington every ten days, the paper advocated support for the KMT cause in China. It was handwritten and cyclostyled with a separately printed full-colour cover. Lack of funds caused its demise after only one year. The Auckland KMT branch also tried its hand at publishing in Min Hok Times of which only one issue is known to have been published.
The community's political differences were set aside at the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war in New Zealand Chinese Weekly News. It contained war news and reports of NZCA war effort activities. It also exercised social control on the community. During the war years the NZCA instituted a compulsory percentage of income levy on all able-bodied male workers. Money from the levy went to the Chinese Relief Fund and lists of defaulters were printed in the paper. Advertising revenue also went to the Chinese Relief Fund. A similar paper, the Q Sing Times, was set up in Man Sing Times, both NZCA papers were handwritten and cyclo-styled, produced by full-time professional journalists and continued to the end of the war in
The postwar period brought dramatic changes to New Zealand's Chinese community. Discrimination eased and in
The early part of this period was marked by a number of ephemeral publications usually serving very specific purposes. County groups (welfare and support groups set up by migrants from particular geographic areas in rural Guangdong) had been active since the 1920s. After the war, however, they began publishing their aims, constitutions and histories (Poon Yu and Seyip Associations,
The political situation overseas, however, continued to haunt the community. Communists on the mainland and the Nationalists in Taiwan vied for overseas Chinese support. Rivalry was most intense in the decade following the New Zealand Chinese Monthly Special of Kui Pao/Chinese News Weekly of
As Chinese came to identify as New Zealanders, overseas issues gradually receded. One publication that spanned this entire transition period (from 1949-1972) was the New Zealand Chinese Growers' Monthly Journal. Published by the Dominion Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial Growers (originally set up at the request of Fraser's Labour Government to ensure New Zealand could maintain its supply of produce to American Forces in the
Apart from the Growers' Journal, activity during the 1960s and 1970s was limited to small-scale newsletters mostly written in English, by then the main language of Chinese New Zealanders. Amongst them were church newsletters like the bilingual Wellington-based Chinese Anglican (196?- ), community newsletters like Auckland Chinese Hall (Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre Newsletter (
A real revolution in print culture came in Sing Tao Daily, (formerly Weekly, New Zealand Chinese Weekly (New Zealand Herald but sold in Hwa Hsia, the magazine of Taiwanese immigrants) are being published by Hong Kong new migrants. Published weekly, the papers are typeset using standard Chinese computer software and contain local and overseas news along with useful information on New Zealand customs and processes. The papers vary in quality but the majority tend to be lightweight in content and carry a large amount of advertising.
More specialist publications include the annual Chinese Handbook and Chinese-English Business Directory (both begun New Zealand Chinese Magazine (New Zealand Federation of Chinese Medical Science Journal (
The Christchurch Chinese Monthly News (Dunedin Asian Monthly News (
Of course, the new wave of migrants did more than cause a revolution in print culture. Public outcry over Asian immigration and a rise in anti-Asian feeling in the wider community forced a response from the English-language publications of the established Chinese community. Although small in number, publications like the Wellington Chinese Association Newsletter (Chinese Voice (City Voice, carries news, entertainment and commentary aimed at improving the wider community's understanding of Chinese New Zealanders.
The commentary related above shows how each generation of Chinese New Zealanders has used the printed word to fulfil its needs and articulate its aspirations. Supplied free to a tiny readership, the publications maintained a precarious existence. Their very existence, however, particularly in the early period, shows how passionately the community felt about the issues its publications addressed. Primarily, all arose out of a need to convey vital information and, with several exceptions in the modern period, they were not meant to provide leisure or entertainment. The utilitarian nature of Chinese New Zealand print culture, even today, may be seen as a reflection of the struggle the community has undergone to survive in this country.
Further research and access
Research into Chinese New Zealand print culture in the 20th century is still in its infancy. Charles Sedgwick made passing reference to several publications in his Man Sing Times by Manying Ip was published in the Sing Tao Weekly. A thesis on the subject is currently being researched by an MA student at Victoria University. Besides this, little or nothing has been written. A major difficulty for researchers in this field is that few of the original publications survive in public institutions. Even the Chinese language newspapers currently published in New Zealand Chinese Weekly News, which ran from 1937 to 1946. Prior to this only one issue was publicly available. While other institutions have small holdings of Chinese New Zealand publications, the major source of 20th century Chinese New Zealand publications is the Alexander Turnbull Library, which holds complete and almost complete runs of every serial publication mentioned in this essay as well as monographs and supporting manuscript material. It is hoped that further research into this area will be undertaken in the near future.
The foundations of Croatian settlement in New Zealand have been traced to at least the early 1860s with the documented arrival and/or residence of pioneer adventurers, sailors and goldminers. There have since been five significant 'waves' of immigration: a strong flow from the early 1890s until World War I (approximately 5,000 arrivals); a short burst during the 1920s (around 1,600 arrivals) before the onset of the Depression; a small 1930s inflow (about 600 arrivals) between the tail end of the Depression and World War II; a fluctuating flow from the late 1940s until the early 1970s (approximately 3,200 arrivals) that included a small number of post-war displaced persons plus refugees in the late 1950s and early 1960s; and finally, during the 1990s, a flow of skilled migrants and their dependants.
Young single males, most of whom had no intention of permanent residence prior to the 1930s, accounted for the vast majority of arrivals. Their return migration (many of these sojourners appear to have visited New Zealand on more than one occasion), coupled with immigration restrictions from
With the exception of both the arrivals in the 1990s, typically seeking refuge from conflict in former
Before the advent of tourism in the 1950s and 1960s, the economy of central
Against this background, the breadth and quality of Croatian print culture in New Zealand has been remarkable. For the purpose of this review attention will be focused upon: (a) newspapers, published 1899-1949; (b) poetry and fiction; and (c) other literature. Excluded from the latter category are posters, pamphlets, handbills and a range of 'grey material' printed in either Croatian or a mixture of English and Croatian by clubs in
Newspapers
For newspapers, two distinct periods can be identified. During the first period (1899-1919) nine newspapers were published, the known details of which are as follows:
Until Napredak and Zora, the two most successful ventures which had roving agents appointed to sell subscriptions and gather news, had only 500-600 subscribers. More important, however, were the personalities of the proprietors and/or editors, their 'missions' and the often intense rivalry or hostility between them. Matthew Ferri, for example, probably lost readers for reasons which included: the use of too much English (in Bratska Sloga); content that identified him as an Austrophile rather than a clear-cut Croat patriot; pressing too hard with a message on the virtue of permanent settlement (out of step with the aspirations of sojourners working as gum-diggers); and his scathing attacks on rivals Ivan Segetin (Danica) and Tony Suvaljko (Glas Istine), as well as items (in Napredak) on various 'enemies of the people' such as Zora, distinguished by its wartime anti-Austrian, pro-Croat and pro-South Slav union (i.e. Yugoslav) stance, was marred by its editorial attacks on so-called 'enemies' with opposing views, not to mention the presentation of too much content in English in the later stages.
The second period of newspaper publication (
Clearly World War II was a significant stimulus. The United Front (ed. Pospisil, a Czechoslovak) was the official organ of the Slavonic Council that included representatives from the various Yugoslav (Croatian) clubs, as well as Czechoslovak, Russian and Polish representatives. It promoted Slav unity in New Zealand, cooperation with Slavonic organisations abroad, support for the Allied cause and loyalty to New Zealand. Following the withdrawal of the Russian and Polish representatives, who were at loggerheads with each other, the Slavonic Council became the All Slav Union, in essence a Yugoslav (Croatian) dominated body. The patriotic activities and interests of this new organisation were recorded in Slavenski Glasnik, which was primarily directed toward Yugoslav (Croatian) readers. Like the two papers edited by Joseph Alach, Slavenski Glasnik had a definite left-wing orientation.
Poetry and fiction
Works of poetry and fiction, published over the years 1906-86, represent a second major facet of New Zealand's Croatian print culture. Details of these items, two of which were printed and published abroad, are as follows:
) was completed late in her literary career. Written in English, translated and published in
Among the poets, each dealing with one or more themes common among emigrants—the pain of separation from loved ones (e.g. Zarnić's Rastanak), a longing for the homeland, experiences abroad (e.g. Štula's Od Novi Zeland domovini)—Ante Kosović was the most accomplished. Of the four volumes listed, the two published in 1920 and 1947 are long epic poems that mark national resurrection after World War I and II respectively, while Dalmatinci diskusiraju formu konja . . . (Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse (Dalmatinac iz tudjine. Addressed to the youth of
Other literature
Two other publications of interest are:
The handbook by Scansie includes a Christmas message, reflections and statistics on the war in Now Respected, Once Despised: Yugoslavs in New Zealand,
Imported Croatian print material such as Ante Kosović's first volume of poetry, Amelia Batistich's novel and Čizmić's history of settlement, is by no means rare. On the bookshelves of Croatian households, especially in Matica (Motherland) and the Hrvatski iseljenički zbornik (Croatian Emigrant Yearbook)—the latter previously titled Iseljenički kalendar (Emigrant Calendar)—both published in Zagreb by the new (post-
Coupled with less formal language classes offered by the Croatian Cultural Society and the Dalmatian Cultural Society in
Although the first contingent of Dutch settlers arrived here in the late 1940s, mostly from the East Indies, immigration from the
Emigration as a partial solution to economic problems in the early post-World War II years was actively supported by the Dutch government, after the loss of its major overseas dominion (Indonesia, independent since De Schakel (The Link) was the first, published from
Dutch Protestants were soon similarly served; the Reverend Bert Denee and his wife Mia established the newsletter Protestants Contact in
Meanwhile, the enterprising and sociable Henk Willemsen, who initially settled in The New Zealand Hollander. It was a 50:50 mixture of 'news from home' and items of local interest. The publishing rights in this paper were bought out during the 1960s by Louis Kuys, then secretary of the Auckland Netherlands Society Oranje, founded in Holland Bulletin, devoted largely to local news, although it often also included interesting articles. Two features of this early publication deserve mention: more than half of its content was in English (an
However, in The Windmill Post. This featured a calendar of events nationwide, as well as items of important news from 'home' and the world at large (such as the first moon landing). However, Louis Kuys regarded The Windmill Post as his personal property and, after his dismissal from the Society's secretarial post, carried on publishing it as the organ of his 'Link' business, which organised charter flights to and from the Australian Dutch Weekly (in fact a fortnightly bilingual newspaper) which, since
Upon Kuys's dismissal and in competition with The Windmill Post, the Oranje News (1970-1973) and from De Oranje Wimpel (The Orange Banner). Over the years its editorship rotated widely, moving as far afield as De Nieuwe (New) Oranje Wimpel, continued until the 95th issue of
This was widely regretted, particularly by older settlers, for De Oranje Wimpel was a much more sophisticated periodical than The Windmill Post. The latter, as a conveyor of 'news from home', gradually settled into a reactionary 1950s groove, confining itself to information cut and pasted mostly from the populist, conservative Dutch daily Telegraaf, a close cousin to the British Sun. Its attention to political and social issues in the
Quite a different kind of periodical was the glossy, if slim, quarterly Vogelvlucht (Bird's Flight), distributed since the mid 1960s by KLM (which, although without landing rights in New Zealand, has for many years run charter flights from Australia and Indonesia). This bilingual magazine was primarily designed to lure established immigrants into European holidays. It never concerned itself with politics, but focused on tourist attractions and cultural matters in the mother country. The material for it originated from the company's Amsterdam head office and was passed on to all major Dutch migration destinations (De Nieuwe Oranje Wimpel, it ceased publication altogether in
This does not mean that the Dutch community now lacks indigenous publications wholly or partly in the mother tongue. A number of local newsletters continue, to name a few:
Also, a modest national two-monthly newsletter continues to be run from a Wellington base, called, like the Assumptionist Fathers' first newsletter mentioned above, De Schakel. But Schakels of this kind may by now seem an unnecessary luxury to second generation and younger Dutch settlers in this country. The pioneers of the 1950s still alive are elderly now, and their descendants and successors, the well-educated, well-heeled new immigrants of the last twenty or so years, may be more or less fluently bilingual, but are perfectly happy to read about matters that affect them in English.
There are some charming small-scale hardy survivors. Aucklander Bas van Hof reports that the Netherlands Veterans Legion (akin to the RSA, with which it staunchly marches on Anzac Day dawn parades), consisting of fighters of World War II, the post-colonial action in Indonesia and the UN intervention in De Ouwe Hap (The Old Bite) going from De Dorpskrant (The Village News), circulated around the Dutch retirement village 'Ons Dorp' in Henderson—so inward-looking by now, for most of its residents and readers are well into their eighties and nineties, that not even supporters and contributors from the Dutch Friendly Support Network remain on its mailing list.
By New Zealand lights, the Dutch have been seen as ideal immigrants, readier than others to melt into the wallpaper of Pākehā society. Hence their presence in print in their mother tongue is likely to be of an ephemeral nature, despite their important contribution to the New Zealand economy and culture.
Although New Zealand has received visits from French travellers since the 18th century, and French immigrants since at least the 1830s, they have never been sufficiently numerous in any one place, at any one time, or sufficiently stable, to generate a print culture of their own. Not even at
The importance of French missionaries and priests in the early history of 19th century Catholicism has meant that there is a substantial body of manuscript material in French created in New Zealand, but this falls outside the limits of this publication.
French texts printed in New Zealand, written by and/or for native speakers, seem to be few in number. Examples identified are an advertisement published in a Wellington newspaper in New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator,
Paradoxically perhaps, and as a reflection of cultural patterns imported from
The substantial market for teaching materials which this created has usually been served by imported books but sometimes by indigenous productions—textbooks, for instance, and supplementary reading materials. The evolution of pedagogical strategies, the introduction of new technologies (records, radio, computers) and curricular changes can be plotted in these works. Still more recently, literary texts which have fallen outside copyright restrictions have been produced by various technologies for university course work. The following titles are only a sampling of the materials which have been sighted:
A teaching text was produced during World War I to serve a highly specific market, namely New Zealand soldiers serving in Soldiers' Spoken French, Whitcombe & Tombs,
Within the universities there exist scholarly journals which occasionally publish articles in French, and students at Massey University have for a number of years produced an entirely French-language magazine; the bilingual journal Antipodes seeks to satisfy both academic and general readers; published conference proceedings occasionally contain texts in French; some New Zealand resident academics have written scholarly works in French but, as far as is known, only one has been published in this country.
Some periodicals and newsletters produced by or for groups of language teachers are wholly or partly in French. Two examples are Polyglot, Lettre du BCLE, Wellington, Bureau de Coopération Linguistique et Educative, French Embassy (
Often on the fringes of the world of secondary schools and universities, are newsletters and magazines, some of which have used both English and French, produced by cultural groups such as branches of the Alliance Française. For example, Alliances, Waikanae, newsletter of the Fédération des Alliances Françaises de Nouvelle-Zélande (
Even more ephemeral are menus, posters and theatre programmes. One such, with a synopsis in French, is the programme for a production of Marivaux, L'Ile de la raison, Globe Theatre,
The ambitious but short-lived Le Néo-Zélandais: Journal Littéraire et Artistique, 1-18 (1882-86) containing some political commentary, but also articles on literary history and materials for learners of French, catered for a diverse readership. No full set is known to exist but a handful of issues are held by the Hocken Library and the Auckland Institute Museum Library. But to which public did Louis Direy direct his commentary on and partial translation into French of The Triad, which reviewed recent French literary works, did not hesitate to quote in French.
The number and inherent quality of materials in French known to be printed (or published) in New Zealand belie the true extent of the presence of language- and text-based French culture in New Zealand society. Focused within the education system (and often swamped by imported materials), or at its fringes in the in-house publications of cultural groups, the corpus identified to date contains a high proportion of trivial and insubstantial items, although further investigations may well force a revision of this preliminary assessment.
Readily accessible evidence lies in published library catalogues, and 19th-century booksellers' advertisements, auction catalogues, and marks of ownership in individual books all contribute to a broader picture. The picture this material reveals will be usefully supported by a consideration of translations from the French imported into and read in New Zealand: the popular status of
Finally, it is appropriate to acknowledge the printing of French for export. Labels and packages on products destined for markets in the Portrait de la Nouvelle-Zélande (New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Equally elusive, but of interest for the evidence it provides of commercial and cultural exchanges, is the work of New Zealand printers for Pacific Island publishers. Thus, a handsome collection of short stories by a New Caledonian author was reportedly printed in Forêt, terre et tabac, Les Éditions du Niaouli, Nouméa.
From about
While the Irish were most numerous of the Celtic immigrant peoples, little seems to be known of the prevalence of the Irish Gaelic language, or of any printed texts they may have brought with them. The Scottish Highlanders, who spoke another distinctive form of Gaelic, emigrated to New Zealand in significantly fewer numbers than the Irish and constituted only about one-fifth of the total Scots immigrant population. One of the particular difficulties in considering the print culture of the Celtic peoples in New Zealand is their heavy reliance on traditional processes of oral transmission, especially in relation to the Gaelic cultures of both Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. Nevertheless, a surprising variety of printed matter in Scots Gaelic is extant in parts of New Zealand.
The oldest appears to be of a religious nature in the form of Bibles (both Old and New Testaments combined), New Testaments, Psalms and Paraphrases, hymnbooks, catechisms, variously published by the Edinburgh Bible Society, the National Bible Society of Scotland and the British and Foreign Bible Society. Almost without exception these texts were published in the 19th century and appear to have been brought with Gaelic-speaking immigrants between the mid 19th century and early 20th century. Both the Otago Settlers Museum,
The intentional translation from English into Gaelic of such texts reflects the Church of Scotland missionary activities among the Gaelic speakers. Possession of a Gaelic Bible (biobull) served as a talisman and, together with two other elements of domestic Highland culture—bagpipes (piob mhor) and locally-distilled whisky (uisge beatha)—not infrequently adorned the kitchen table simultaneously. In a culture dominated by oral traditions a Bible may have been the only printed domestic Gaelic text.
Other religious texts include those probably held and used by ministers and officers of the church: McLauchlan (
In their religious worship Friend of the Gael (Book of the Hills, Old and New (
Other than the Gaelic Society's monthly meetings, opportunities to sustain the language were limited. Oral Scots Gaelic, along with many other minority immigrant languages confronted by an anglophone cultural hegemony, declined within a generation. Gaelic societies attempted to retain the language, particularly in song. At the A Choisir Chiuil, the Celtic Monthly and Mactalla newspapers, the use of a large Gaelic library, and the privilege of hearing a Gaelic sermon every month, were available.
That library included fiction titles in Gaelic published in Scotland: Mac-Dhomnhuill (n.d.); MacCormaig (
The Society's choir still performs from the A Choisir Chiuil song books. However, some Gaelic-language text remains enshrined in the names of Highland bagpipe tunes, especially those of the earliest genre, ceol mor, now generally referred to as piobaireachd or, in its anglicised form, pibroch. While these tunes continue to be published according to both their Gaelic and English titles, few pipers have sufficient knowledge of the language to refer to the tunes in Gaelic.
In an effort to sustain the Gaelic language, publications in the form of grammars emerged, mostly post-World War II, and largely in Scotland, where Macleod (
Dictionaries found are likewise 20th-century publications: Dwelly (
Subscription to newspapers permitted, and still permits, contacts with 'home'. Both the Stornoway Gazette (published on the Hebridean Isle of Lewis), and the Oban Times (published in Oban, Argyllshire) contained Gaelic-language portions and were posted from their respective places of publication to subscribers in Oban Times.
This manner of contact was augmented by a variety of periodicals, initially those published in Scotland. The monthly magazine of An Commun Gaidhealach (The Gaelic Society of Scotland), variously entitled An Deo-Greine (The Sun God), Gailig' (Gaelic) and An Gaidheal, was a bilingual, English-Gaelic publication. Irregular issues between vols.9 (Scottish Highlander. There is evidence of private subscription by the Society's members to these titles and to the Celtic Monthly, but no copies remain.
Historic migratory and familial connections between Nova Scotia and Waipu, in Northland, New Zealand, are witnessed by copies of Mac-Talla, a Gaelic language newspaper published in Sydney, Nova Scotia, for several years. The House of Memories, Waipu, holds issues from vols.5 and 6, dated
The first New Zealand-published periodical to include Gaelic material, albeit limited to a page or two, began in The New Zealand Scot. This was succeeded by The Scottish New Zealander, and ultimately became The New Zealand Scotsman & Caledonian in The New Zealand Scot and The Scottish New Zealander; the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, holds a complete set of The New Zealand Scotsman & Caledonian and the Hocken Library,
The bilingual Gaelic-English An Ghaidheal; Paipeir-Naidheachd agus Leabhar-sgeoil Gaidhealach, published in Glasgow, served a dual function as both newspaper and Gaelic schoolbook. The four volumes (1873-76) which remain in the Gaelic Society library predate the Society's formation in Guth na Bliadhna (Wind of the Year) Books 4 (1906-07), 5 (
Arguably, the most pervasive reminder of the contribution made by Gaelic speakers to the evolving New Zealand colonial landscape is visible in geographical terms, through such Gaelic place names as Balmoral, Benmore, Ben Nevis, Benhar, Craigellachie, Dalmore,
The Germans were the second largest immigrant group in New Zealand after the British up to
The first organised German settlements in New Zealand, in the Moutere and Waimea valleys of
The main thrust of German settlement was in the 1870s, when Vogel's assisted immigrant scheme specifically targeted Germans and Scandinavians to help with public works schemes. In Europe, agents of the
Furthermore, the vast majority of German settlers did not join German settlements. They tended to assimilate quickly into the English-speaking majority society and were 'submerged' into the New Zealand English culture. The Germans' perceived ability to integrate rapidly into colonial British society was one of the main reasons for their recruitment in the first place. In those German settlements which continued to exist beyond the first few years of German immigration, German continued to be spoken among the older residents up to the 1960s, but this was an oral tradition, not a written one. The Bohemian settlement of Puhoi still takes pride in keeping alive some of the German dialect expressions of its founding fathers.
World War I brought a rapid stop to German immigration, and the only German 'settlements' during the ensuing decades were the German internment camps on Motuihe and Somes Islands. During World War II, the Deutsche Stacheldraht-Post, which informed internees of internal and external developments—the fortnightly issue for
German print culture as such is a relatively recent phenomenon in New Zealand. This is due to three main factors: the growing number of German immigrants to this country over the last few years, the teaching of German at schools and universities, and New Zealand's popularity among Germans as a tourist destination.
Over recent years various newsletters and newspapers in the German language have been established to serve German-speaking immigrants in New Zealand. In many of the larger cities there are German, Austrian, and Swiss clubs which publish newsletters in German. Areas which have a concentration of recent German settlers—Golden Bay, Coromandel, Bay of Islands, West Auckland—often have community or church newsletters with contributions in German. The Methodist church in Massey (near Henderson) had an annual Christmas service in German for three years from
There are Goethe Societies in GANZ—short for 'German in Aotearoa New Zealand'—a newsletter principally in the German language aimed at teachers of German at schools, technical institutes, and universities. As far as tourism is concerned, there are countless brochures, leaflets and books produced by the New Zealand tourist industry to cater for the large numbers of German, Austrian, and Swiss visitors to our shores. There have been various attempts to establish German newspapers for German-speaking immigrants and tourists, but they have been by and large unsuccessful.
The universities and their libraries are the main guardians of German print culture in New Zealand. The Otago, Canterbury, Victoria, Massey,
The highly-regarded periodical Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies, a joint venture by the German section of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association and the Canadian Association of University Teachers of German, publishes articles in German. For many years Seminar had a New Zealand associate editor, and two members of the present editorial committee are from New Zealand universities. The general journal of the Australasian Universities Language and literature Association, AUMLA, partly based at the University of Canterbury, also publishes articles in German.
Though small in relation to the proportion of German-speaking immigrants, German print culture in New Zealand is nonetheless a significant contribution to the diversity of print culture in New Zealand.
In the 19th century, and for many centuries before, education in European cultures meant an education in Classics. It was natural, therefore, that immigrants to New Zealand should bring personal libraries of Greek and Latin texts with them, and that institutions such as schools, universities, theological colleges and public libraries should set about establishing collections. Some of these were subsequently enriched by donations of personal libraries, and collections of particular interest, notable especially for the number of incunabula, are to be found in
Collections
Epistolae, 1477; Justinian, Institutiones, 1499).
The library of the University of
In Wellington, the Alexander Turnbull Library holds small Rare Latin and Rare Greek collections, including 15 manuscripts. Most of the 100 or so incunabula are in Latin or Greek. The former
Victoria University of Wellington Library received the collections of two major donors, A.R. Atkinson and Professor Sir
In Dunedin, the University of Otago has two significant collections. The Shoults Collection, on deposit from Selwyn College, and donated in Thesaurus antiquitatum Romanarum (De iure belli et pacis (Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (Cote's De Genealogiis Deorum Gentilium (Pharsalia (
The Dunedin Public Library holds the Alfred and Isabel Reed Collection of rare books and manuscripts. The Latin Bible is particularly well represented, from portions on parchment and vellum from the 10th century onward to printed bibles of the 15th and 16th centuries. The Hewitson Library, Knox College, holds over 300 volumes in Latin in its Rare Books Collection of pre-
Information on the above collections may be obtained from the following:
The provenance of the works in these and similar collections was European and to a lesser extent, North American. In this they are completely representative. The active use of both Ancient Greek and Latin in New Zealand has always been limited and peripheral. Greek appears in excerpt in printed works, publication of numismatic legends, and sepulchral inscriptions; Latin, in addition to these, as monographs and in mottoes.
Monographs
Latin and Greek were part of the foundation curriculum of New Zealand's first four universities. Both were taught also at metropolitan high schools, and Latin, which is still taught to reduced numbers, at many schools outside the metropolitan areas. Yet their place in education has left little mark on print publication in this country. The predominance of the European book market, the limited size of the academic community, which imposed the need to reach an international audience, and the fact that the majority of classicists working in New Zealand were expatriates for whom the world of serious scholarship lay elsewhere, discouraged local publication in or on the classical languages. Thus no Greek monographs printed in New Zealand are known, and those in Latin are a very rare exception. The only identified book is Exules Siberiani, by H.D. Broadhead. This is an abridged version in Latin of La jeune sibérienne, published in an edition of 1,000 copies by Whitcombe & Tombs (Review'. Beyond this, the only Latin 'monographs' were minor and occasional. Until New Zealand Tablet (1878-1996). The printery of Holy Cross College, Mosgiel, also produced chapel cards and vesting prayers in Latin for local use, and ordination cards with English text and appropriate Latin quotation. A curiosity from this printery was the vellum it printed with Latin text which was deposited under the foundation stone of the Verdun Memorial Chapel at the college (
Texts in excerpt
The most frequent form of publication of Greek and Latin is not as monograph, but in excerpt. Extensive passages of the Latin texts of Roman authors form the basis of three series of textbooks published since the 1970s in response to changes in the schools' Latin curriculum:
The Greek and Latin texts of poems 'imitated' by New Zealand poets appear in Richard J.H. Matthews, Classical New Zealand Poetry Based on Greek and Latin Models (
In monographs on classical subjects published in New Zealand the original languages naturally appear in quotation, as, for instance, in
Bulletins (7) published under the imprint of Auckland University College/Auckland University, 1949-71
E.M. Blaiklock, The Male Characters of Euripides, Wellington, New Zealand University Press,
B.F. Harris (ed.), Auckland Classical Essays Presented to E.M. Blaiklock,
E.M. Badian, Publicans and Sinners,
The Teacher's Guides and Study Materials published by the Classics Department, University of Otago (Odyssey to Roman religion.
Pressure of space in overseas journals and the expansion of New Zealand universities in the 1950s, and Classical Studies in schools in the 1970s, led to the establishment of three locally-published journals which have become the main repository of 'illustrative' quotation: AUMLA, French Department, University of Canterbury, Prudentia, Auckland University Bindery, NZACT Bulletin, New Zealand Association of Classical Teachers,
The original languages also appear in extensive quotation in theses and dissertations presented for postgraduate degrees in Classics. Since Research in Classics for Higher Degrees in New Zealand, Department of Classics, Victoria University, Wellington (
A specialised use of Latin is in the nomenclature of botany, zoology and palaeontology, which is still cast in a conventional Latinised form. Full Latin descriptions of genera etc., seem never to have been published in New Zealand, even by 19th century scholars such as Georgics (Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute), Wellington, vol.1,
Numismatic legends
The texts of Greek and Roman coins in New Zealand collections have been published in the New Zealand Numismatic Journal, Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand, Wellington (Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the Otago Museum, Classics Department, University of Otago, Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the Southland Museum, Invercargill).
Sepulchral inscriptions
If Dunedin practice can be taken as representative (and an informal survey of members of the Genealogical Society suggests that it can) the only common Latin inscription is the formulaic R.I.P. It is used predominantly, perhaps exclusively, on Catholic grave sites. In a few cases (ten of the 55 noted in an unsystematic examination of requiesca(n)t in pace. The most recent instance is dated aetat. is exceptional, and only one near complete epitaph in Latin was found: In memoriam William James Dempsey obiit 23 June MDCCCLXVIII, and two inscriptions which were more than formulaic: Laboro, spero, exspecto (Hic iacet Bache Parsons Harvey . . . Abeunt illuc omnia, unde orta sunt Cic. 'De Sen.' (non omnis obiit, an apt and touching variant on Horace's non omnis moriar.
The only Greek inscription sighted is the stylised first three letters of 'IHS, and only on stones carrying R.I.P.
Mottoes
Mottoes in Greek are very rare. However, until the recent revival of Māori, Latin was considered the natural language of mottoes in New Zealand, with a predominance of roughly 5:3 even over English. Latin was, and still is, used in a very wide range of social contexts: by educational institutions (Caelum certe patet, Pakuranga College), local bodies (Festina lente, Maniototo County Council), individuals (Fortuna favet audaci, A.H. Turnbull's bookplate), insurance companies (Amicus certus in re incerta, AMP), sports clubs (Vis unita fortior, Alhambra-Union Rugby Football Club, Nihil utile quod non honestum, The Press, In vino felicitas et caritas, Montana Wines), brewers (Huc tendimus omnes, McCashin's Breweries), pizza-bar T-shirts (Carpe diem, Filadelfio's, Per mare per terras, Clan Donald).
Notes have been written on some New Zealand mottoes by Will Richardson in The New Zealand Armorist and some have been published in the NZACT Bulletin. The most comprehensive collection consists of those included by Richardson in his 'A new offspring: a checklist of mottoes used by individuals and institutions in New Zealand' (unpublished). As a result of work on this contribution to this book, Dr
Polish belongs to the family of Slavonic languages. A number of immigrant groups in New Zealand speak languages belonging to this family—for Croatian see the section earlier in this chapter. Slavonic languages generally are not international languages like French or German, and this makes a huge difference to their print culture. For obvious political and historical reasons Russian is the most important of Slavonic languages, and it is the one commonly taught in New Zealand universities. In the last 20 years there have been efforts to establish Polish as a school and university subject, but without success. However, because of the tragic history of the Polish homeland since the 18th century, a Polish print culture has long been established abroad wherever Poles have settled as migrants and refugees. New Zealand is no exception to this pattern.
In New Zealand writing, printing and reading in Polish is limited to the circle of Polish-speaking immigrants and their families. The language's association with a relatively small immigrant population and their particular interests has a great deal of bearing on the type of Polish material found in New Zealand. This essay deals mostly with the type of printed matter that Poles have produced here, not with material that they brought with them or later imported.
Polish immigration to New Zealand has occurred in several distinct phases related primarily to political and economic conditions at home. First, like some other European immigrant groups to New Zealand, Poles were assisted to settle here in the 1870s to work on public works schemes. They formed settlements in Taranaki, the Manawatū, and the Wairarapa, at Marshlands and on the
The second major wave of Polish migrants was part of the massive displacement of
First to arrive were the 'Polish Children', refugees from the Soviet occupation of eastern
One of the Polish teachers who came with the 'Children', —
Osiedlienie młodziezy polskiej w Nowej Zelandii w roku 1944 (translated and published in English as
The printed legacy of the Polish Children's Camp in Pāhiatua has found its way into New Zealand archives and libraries. The camp files from the administration were finally deposited in the National Archives. A significant proportion of those documents were written in Polish because the Polish schools were run by Poles. Printed material such as grammars, dictionaries and histories, which helped New Zealanders to learn about Poles and
The Polish post-war émigrés, ex-servicemen connected to the 'Children' and displaced persons, formed an association in Wellington in the 1950s which published a newsletter, Wiadomości Polskie, which continues in print to this day. Polish language has been a symbol of Polish national identity since the 19th century, and maintaining the language has always been an important aspect of the life of the Polish Association. Initially Wiadomości Polskie was published entirely in Polish, but today there is material in English. In the early life of the Association, it also published several year books (1951-55). Included in these were reprints of classic Polish history and literary texts as well as original articles written by Poles in Wellington.
Over the years the Polish Association has been involved with other publications through subgroups of its membership. For the 40th anniversary of the deportation of Poles to the Soviet Union, the Międzyorganizacyjny Komitet Obchodu Czterdziestej Rocznicy Deportacji do ZSRR (a committee specially set up to organise commemoration activities for this anniversary) published Polacy w Nowej Zelandii: Wspomnienia deportacji do ZSRR, 1940-80, w czterdziestą rocznicę (Poles in New Zealand: Memoirs of the Deportation to the USSR,1940-80, on the Fortieth Anniversary). The book includes a collection of memoirs by survivors as well as reprinted material by established authorities on the history of the deportation. It is printed entirely in Polish.
More recently the Polish Women's League (Koło Polek) have published their own set of memoirs, Wiązanka myśli i wspomnień (A Bouquet of Thoughts and Reminiscences). Every member of the League was encouraged to contribute something, original or not, to the volume—a cherished poem or prayer was also acceptable. This volume also documents the work of the League from 1965-91. Every piece is published both in Polish and English.
Other activities of the Polish Association include the Saturday schools for teaching children Polish. The schools are organised by a Parents' Committee. Moja pierwsza czytanka (My First Reader) in
The most recent wave of Polish immigrants arrived from the 1980s onwards either from camps (in Austria) or directly from Kraj (Country) in Kraj, Zbiór wiadomości niezwykłych, szokujących, mądrych . . . choć nie zawsze . . . (Collection of Data: Unusual, Shocking, Sagacious . . . Albeit Not Always . . .). Another publication, a bimonthly newsletter, also based in Solidarność na Antypodach (Solidarity in the Antipodes), began publishing in
The printing of newspapers and journals has been especially important to the Polish diaspora since the great emigrations of the 19th century. Much of this printed material hinges on political debate about The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (1918-21); so much so that memoir writing is now well recognised as a research tool in Teoria magnokraftu (Theory of Magnocraft) published in
The Poles in New Zealand are a small community seemingly isolated for long periods from their beloved Polska. Isolated or not, their activities in print belong to the flow of literature generated by the Polish diaspora.
There has been a small but regular influx of Scandinavians into New Zealand in the two centuries since Swede Daniel Solander first visited with Cook. Swedes alone numbered about 4,000 immigrants in the period up to
There are at least a dozen Scandinavian clubs or societies in New Zealand and other gatherings have taken place in Norsewood,
Despite the level of Scandinavian immigration, and the obvious interest in their Scandinavian ancestors shown by many of the members of these clubs and societies, there is but little evidence of an active Scandinavian print culture in New Zealand. Brevduen (The Carrier Pigeon), a religious monthly edited by Edward Nielsen in Mauriceville in Skandia, a newspaper edited by a Manawatu Times at the end of the same year; and two more religious papers: Pastor Georg Sass's Evangelical Lutheran Monthly (The Scandinavian Lutheran Weekly, which was published alternately in Danish and English from
As regards more literary texts, all Petersen has to offer is poet Lars Andersen Schou, who wrote 'En ny sang' (A new song) in 27 verses in the early years of immigration, and 'Fremad paany' (Onward again) in
In contemporary New Zealand literature, Scandinavia is represented solely by texts in English. Yvonne du Fresne (b.Motherland (Living in the Maniototo (Bodde alltid i Maniototo (
What printed works in the Scandinavian languages are held by New Zealand libraries? In early
By far the most extensive collection of books in the Scandinavian languages is that in the University of Auckland Library. The only university course in Scandinavian studies in New Zealand is that which was set up (as part of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature) at the University of
Given the likelihood that the earliest printed materials in the Scandinavian languages to arrive in New Zealand were religious ones, the New Zealand National Union Catalogue was searched for Bibles, hymnbooks and prayer books in those languages. A number of early Bibles were listed, many of them published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in the various Scandinavian capitals. The earliest Scandinavian Bible found was one published in Copenhagen in
The Union Catalogue and the Nina by Swedish author Fredrika Bremer (1801-65) published in London in History of the Swedes by Erik Gustaf Geijer (1783-1847) from the following year (both at Auckland University).
Of works in the original languages, the oldest editions held at Auckland University were works by Swedish poets P.D.A. Atterbom (1790-1855), Svenska siare och skalder: eller Grunddragen af svenska vitterhetens häfder, (2nd ed. 1862-63); and Geijer, Samlade skrifter (1873-77). The earliest non-translated work by Holberg was in Latin: Nicolai Klimii iter subterraneum (Havniae: Sumptibus Societatis ad Promovendas Literas Danicas Conditae, Den danske skueplads in an edition from
The giants of mid 19th century Scandinavian literature were well represented in the University of Auckland Library collection, but again, the earlier holdings tend to be English translations, which suggests that those in the original languages were added to the collection after the Scandinavian Studies section was established. There are 82 items by Norwegian playwright Kærlighedens komedie, and the Parliamentary Library reported an Peer Gynt, hopefully edifying reading for our elected representatives past, present and future. This library also listed an 1876-80 edition of Samlede skrifter by Denmark's Hans Christian Andersen (1805-73).
The above is just a brief sampling of New Zealand library holdings in the Scandinavian languages: those in the University of Auckland Library are obviously the most extensive. In the absence of evidence of many materials actually produced in the Scandinavian languages in New Zealand, by earlier or more recent immigrants or others, the fine library collection developed over more than 30 years by those teaching in the University of
James Bade, Senior Lecturer in German and Assistant Dean of Arts at the
Ann Beaglehole is an historian who came to New Zealand after the Hungarian uprising in
Jennie Coleman graduated MusB (Hons) from the
Kathleen Coleridge is Special Materials Librarian at
Roger Collins has recently retired from the French and Art History departments at the
Tony Deverson is a senior lecturer in English at the
Nicola Frean is currently establishing a local archives collection for the
Penny Griffith is a former librarian with a continuing interest in New Zealand bibliography, printing and publishing history. She is now a freelance editor and desktop publisher and Managing Editor of the
George Griffiths was a journalist on newspapers in New Zealand and England, and spent 30 years with the
Michael Hamblyn is a library manager from
Stephen Hamilton recently graduated PhD in English from the
Ross Harvey, Associate Professor in the Department of Information Studies at
Robert Holding has been actively involved with Pacific Island publications since the early 1970s, and established the
Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin was born in
Lynne Jackett reviewed and later selected children's books for School Library Service,
Jaap Jasperse is the editor of the
Stephen Jelicich, resident of
Patrick King worked as a translator and editor of European and Polynesian languages with the Translation Service of the
Robert Leek, Senior Lecturer, Department of English,
Peter Lineham is a senior lecturer in History at
Douglas Little was born in
Don Long has edited Pacific resources for the official agencies for education in New Zealand,
Rick McGregor graduated in English and Scandinavian studies at the
Brian McKeon, Wellington City Librarian 1973-94, advises on print copyright in universities, acts as joint editor of
Jane McRae is a lecturer in Māori oral literature in the Māori Studies Department of the
Keith Maslen, Honorary Fellow, Department of English,
Jean Mitaera is a New Zealand-born Cook Islander with a particular interest in writing on Pacific representations of identity and how these can contribute to Pacific people's cultural, political and economic development in Aotearoa/New Zealand. She is currently employed by the
Nigel Murphy, Published Collections Librarian at the
James Ng ONZM, is a history-loving medical practitioner of Dunedin who has written
Elizabeth Nichol is Manager of the Literature, Arts and Music Department,
Edwin Nye was born in
Alan Preston is the founder and managing director of
Hugh Price studied at
Bruce Ringer graduated with an MA from
John Ross majored in English at
Theresa Sawicka is a research fellow in the Department of Anthropology,
Sydney Shep is the printer at
Reverend Lagi Sipeli JP, QSM, was born in
Ross Somerville has worked as a music librarian, cataloguer and reference librarian in public libraries and the
Jane Stafford teaches English at
Clark Stiles has worked at the
Luke Trainor has recently published
Andrew Trlin is Associate Professor,
Noel Waite graduated BA Hons in English and French. His PhD thesis 'Adventure and art: literature publishing in
Lydia Wevers is a senior associate of the English Department at
Sheila Williams worked at the Alexander Turnbull Library, assisted with the retrospective New Zealand National Bibliography, and was in charge of the National Library's Bibliographic Unit. She lectures on bibliographic organisation and subject access in the MLIS programme at Victoria University of Wellington.
Diane Woods is a reference librarian with the
With certain exceptions, this Bibliography consolidates and provides full bibliographical details for the works referred to in the text of the book. Almost all entries are for secondary sources which would provide the researcher with additional print culture information. A few are primary sources such as archives and manuscripts, and a few are for works (e.g. type specimen books) that are examples of specific print culture activities.
Works referred to in the text but excluded from the Bibliography are:
Readers may also be interested in the bibliographical database being developed under the auspices of the Humanities Society of New Zealand and supported by funding from Victoria University of Wellington. While the database is still at a developmental stage, people wanting to find out more, or have specific searches carried out, should contact: Dr