H.—22

XXII. THE ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY The work of the Library has gone steadily forward. A. Holdings and Acquisitions The number of books catalogued is now over 68,000. Three thousand volumes were catalogued during the year, about 430 of these being purchases, and the rest gifts and exchanges. Advantage was taken of the sale of a fine private library to secure some good art books and books of literary history and biography. A small group came from the Bibliographical Society, consisting of some volumes of the Transactions, and books on English song books, the bibliography of English printed drama, and Early Spanish bookbindings. The other books were mostly the Esperanto books presented by Mr. G. Gordon and the Earp collection of books on bees and beekeeping (about 250 in each), and a further selection from the Kinsey collection, including the Arctic and Antarctic books. B. Uses of the Library The number of readers, about 3,000, is much the same as in former years. Besides the general public, a number of servicemen and servicewomen find the Library a good place in which to spend some of their spare time, either for casual reading or to follow up some subject in which they are interested. Books on the Pacific in general are naturally popular, and studies have been made of particular islands or groups, such as Pitcairn, Samoa, the Solomons, &c. New Zealand subjects studied include race relations in New Zealand, immigration, and aspects of Maori life and history. C. Exhibitions The main exhibitions have been : Art of our Allies, Islands in the News, Arctic and Antarctic Regions, literary and historical anniversaries of 1943, fine illustrated books, and a special exhibition of some of the best of the Library's treasures. D. Indexing Besides the "New Zealand Journal," -periodicals containing articles of literary or historic interest to New Zealand have been indexed. Those completed include the N.Z. Railways Magazine, the New Zealand, Illustrated Magazine, Wanderlust, and The Lone Hand, as far as the Library set goes. Efforts to locate a full set that might be borrowed to complete the index have been unavailing. The indexing has also been done of the typescript of H. S. Chapman's letters, the letters of S. Revans, and " Our Fathers have told Us." E. Donations and Exchanges The largest donation received during the year was that of Mr. Harold Large, of Napier, who gave nearly one hundred books on the Bacon-Shakespeare question and on Bacon himself, the collection being the work of many years. He also gave a set of English translations of the works of Jules Verne. Another valuable gift was that of Mrs. A. J. Luke, who gave a dozen beautiful art books in memory of her father, the late A. E. W. Mills. These covered the work of Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Coreggio, Canaletto, Grinling Gibbons, &c. An item of historical interest was the Bible used by the Reverend William Bolland, the first vicar of St. Mary's, New Plymouth. This was sent out from London by his great-grandson, Mr. W. W. J. Bolland, and arrived not long before the celebrations of St. Mary's Centennial. The Church authorities were naturally interested to hear of the Bible, and the texts that Mr. Bolland had preached from for the services at the building and the opening of the church were used at the celebrations. These are, of course, only a few of the numerous individual donations that came to the Library in the course of the year. Publications were also received as gifts or on exchange from the University of Michigan, the University of Washington, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the Claremont Colleges Library, California, and the Lloyd Library and Museum of Cincinnati. F. Photographic Collection Owing to the continued acquisition of interesting and valuable photographs, a start has been made to sort and catalogue the vast collection in the Library. This collection consists of several thousand negatives, plates, and prints on different subjects presented by different people, the largest being the Eileen Deste collection of approximately three thousand negatives and plates of the construction of the Social Security Building in 1940 and the Centennial Exhibition. Also there is the Halse collection taken during the late Victorian period, showing housing, costume, and views ; the Malcolm Ross collection of Maori studies and New Zealand views ; the Lavton collection of ship prints ; Tarawera eruption damage by W. Crompton Smith ; places of historical interest, by Russell Duncan ; and loose prints of New Zealand scenes taken last century, including such subjects as railways, engines, scenic reserves, Maori houses, and people, &c. There is also the collection of negatives and prints of illustrations in Centennial publications.

Approximate Cost of Paper.—Preparation, not given ; printing (480 copies), £15.

By Authority: E. V. Paul, Government Printer, Wellington.—l 944. Prize Oil]

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