GOOD DEMAND AT SALE FOR NEW ZEALAND BOOKS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 52, 17 October 1949, Page 4

GOOD DEMAND AT SALE FOR NEW ZEALAND BOOKS

The New Zealand section at a book sale last week attracted buyers from all over the Dominion as well as bids from Australian collectors. For established writers, such as Elsdon Best, James Cowan, and Lindsay Buick, good prices were obtained. New Zealand books included a number on mountainering, which were in keen demand. Bidding was often spirited. Among the New Zealand seption, which numbered some 700 volumes, bargains, nevertheless, were available for the collectors.

An autographed copy of GuthrieSmith’s “Tutira” brought £8 10s; it sold recently at auction at £ls. Another copy changed hands for £l3. Guthrie-Smith’s bird books sold up fco £5 a copy. One copy of D. McMillan’s “Byways of History and Medicine,” now a rare item, was sold for £8 10s, and another for £6. There was a surprising demand for Airini Woodhouse’s “George Rhodes of the Levels,” which was sold for £9 10s. Though published only a few years ago, the edition was limited, and it is now classed as rare. Lindsay Buick’s “Old Marlborough” brought £5. On the first day of the sale general literature, largely theological and classical, was disposed of. One set of theological books brought £24. Voltaire, Rabelais, Balzac, and Havelock Ellis were in demand, and were in marked contrast to the religious section. Buyers were also anxious to secure copies of Government reports and other documentary material.