TURNBULL LIBRARY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 November 1939, Page 9

TURNBULL LIBRARY

VALUED AT ABOUT £500.000. 1\ IA N Y IR RE PL AC E A 81. E TREASURES. The Alexander Turnbull Library, which is administered by the Department of Internal Affairs, is the only public State library in New Zealand. "Appropriately. this world-famed national library—it is really international—stands handsomely opposite the beautiful grounds of Parliament, near the Wellington War Memorial." remarks "New Zealand Centennial News." “The facade has the pleasant ruddy complexion of good plain honest brick, free from stucco ’make-up.’ and thus reflects the sturdy unpretentiousness of its generous founder. “If there was ever a labour of love it was that zealous, tireless, intelligent collection of books, manuscripts, and pictures by Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull. He was truly wedded to this work, for he had no other wedding; he died a bachelor at the age of fifty in 1918. By that time he had assembled about sixty thousand volumes, which were bequeathed to the State with all his other treasures of print, manuscript and pictures. Since then, by other liberal gifts and purchases in New Zealand and overseas, the total of books has been brought above eighty thousand.

“Altogether the present value of the library could be stated as about £500,000. but. of course, it is impossible to measure the best of the treasures in terms of money, because they are irreplaceable. Indeed, some are unique, and others are extremely rare first editions. For example, there is a complete set of the sixteen-page paper “Mercurius Publicus” edited by the famous poet John Milton. The only other set known to be in existence is in the Bodleian Library. "The writer of this article likes to think of Alexander Turnbull as a man ever faithful to one great purpose — the making of a library which he would leave to the nation. He found immeasurable happiness in this ideal. It must be always remembered that he was an ardent booklover —a love shown in his personal cataloguing of between thirty-five thousand and forty thousand of his volumes. The exact reproduction of one of his cards reveals the care which he took to have an easily legible script—no quickly-written scrawl. He always stood up at that task, which ran frequently to twelve hours a day. “Happily, the purpose of this institution is not solely for preservation; the stores of knowledge are for use. All reasonable facilities are available tor students and also for visitors who may have only a limited time to spend in the building.”