THE ROMANCE OF PRINTING

New Zealand Listener, Volume 22, Issue 546, 9 December 1949, Page 24

THE ROMANCE OF PRINTING

» "()H sir, we are gone," read the cryptic note which William Colenso found by his printing press one day. It had been left there by the three Maoris he had been trying to train as printers, and with their defection he had to recruit men from one of the American whalers /in port. Colenso was not New Zealand’s first printer-that honour goes to the Rev. William Yate — but he was certainly one of the most colourful early | figures. Since his day the business of | printing and publishing in New Zealand has gone a long way, and the story of its ‘development and modern manifestations is told in a series of five talks called The Romance of Printing, which will be broadcast, from 2YA starting on Friday, January 6. . 5 ; In the first talk A. E. Aubin describes "Early Printing in New Zealand," and he takes us from Yate’s time to the

arrival of the first lintoype machines. As early as 1842, he says, there were nine newspapers in New Zealand, and amongst those early editor-printers there were some capable writers, men who weren't worried about the laws of libel and who when they did hit out always "hit hard. In the second talk, ""The Newspaper-a Modern Miracle,’ H, J. Sumptor describes how a newspaper is produced, and in the third, "The Story of "Paper," Dr. A. H. MeLintock shows how the manufacture Of paper plays its part in the quality and number of books or periodicals we read. In the fourth talk N. G. Power describes how a printed book is made, and in the fifth J. A. McLean discusses "Modern Typography." The talks were written, under the supervision of Dr. McLintock, by men who are experts in their particular field.