Awekura - Hiroshige

Awekura is a blog and podcast series that highlights treasures within Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections. In this series, library specialists provide a window into the world of these special collections. 

Are you interested in learning more about the world of publishing? Renée Orr from Curatorial Services shares with us a recent acquisition. This fascinating example of a private press book about the Japanese artist Hiroshige was once owned by Auckland artist Hilda Wiseman and is adorned with her bookplate.

Image: P Neville Barnett. Hiroshige. 1938.

The artist 

Japanese woodblock artist Hiroshige (1797-1858) is acknowledged as a master of landscape art in the “Ukiyo-e” genre, which was a popular Japanese art form from the beginning of the 17th to the end of the 19th century. 'Ukiyo-e' means pictures of the floating world. Hiroshige started his career working on a range of subjects but became particularly famous for the landscape prints produced in the 1830s.

The art of Japanese woodblock printing flourished during Japan’s Edo and Meiji periods. Although affordable and widely accessible to the masses, these prints were created within a complex publishing environment that involved artists, carvers, printers, and publishers.

Japanese woodblock artists developed a unique and highly skilled practice. By 1765, they had introduced polychromatic printing, almost a century before European artists, using up to twelve colour blocks. The prints were made entirely by hand, with moistened paper pressed and rubbed onto each block, allowing for subtle colour blending and craftsmanship.

Image: P Neville Barnett. Hiroshige. 1938.

The publisher

The book Hiroshige was produced in 1938 in a limited edition of 200 copies by Percy Neville Barnett. P. Neville Barnett was born in New Zealand but spent most of his life in Australia. He was a banker by profession and a book collector by passion. He appreciated fine editions and the book arts, leading him to publish several books about bookplates and Japanese woodblock prints.

Between 1930 and 1953, Barnett created seven books about this unique Japanese art form, illustrated with facsimile prints. He acquired the woodblock prints for his books from Tokyo print shops that replicated original processes. Barnett typically produced different editions of his books such as standard, deluxe (extra plates), and a small number of Author’s presentation copies. Hiroshige was Barnett’s favourite artist, but the book’s release came at an unfortunate moment, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, which limited its success.

Image: P Neville Barnett. Woodcut book-plates.1934.

The bookplate

Bookplates have been collected for as long as books themselves, originally serving as ownership labels closely tied to the practice of book collecting. Making, sharing, collecting and exhibiting bookplates was a very popular thing for booklovers to do in the early 20th century, and Ex Libris societies dedicated to bookplates were formed in many parts of the world.

Barnett shared his bookplate interest with Auckland artist and bookplate designer Hilda Wiseman (1894-1982). Hilda Wiseman was one of the founding members of the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Ex Libris Society in 1930, and its secretary until 1967. The Auckland Ex Libris Society is now the only society in New Zealand and the oldest in Australasia. Wiseman designed over 100 bookplates, printing on her small handpress in her Epsom studio. Her bookplate designs represented the interests and personalities of book owners, although her favourite themes of New Zealand birds and flowers also appear. 

Auckland Libraries is lucky to hold Hilda Wiseman’s collection of bookplates in our Heritage Collections, consisting of 13 boxes and approximately 1100 plates. Some are those she designed, but many more are bookplates she acquired over time. We also hold Hilda Wiseman’s artistic papers as part of our New Zealand Manuscripts collection (NZMS 1035).

Image: Bookplate from Hilda Wiseman collection of bookplates.

Listen to the podcast with Renée Orr here:

Ngā Pātaka Kōrero - Auckland Libraries · Hiroshige's woodblock prints & Hilda Wiseman's bookplates

Curious about how a bookplate looks?

From 4 March 2026, there will be a display in the Atrium, Level 2, Central City Library, celebrating Hilda Wiseman and selected bookplates designed by her from 1925 to 1961. These show a variety of subjects, from birds and other animals to architecture and recognisable Auckland places. They also showcase a range of print techniques, including linocuts, zinc and woodcuts.

The Hiroshige book will also be on view in the Auckland Library Heritage Trust display case, opened to show Hilda Wiseman's ownership bookplate. This was designed for her in 1932 by Australian artist George David Perrottet and depicts both a printing press and an early bookplate she designed for herself. 

Also on display in the case is another book that tells an interesting bookplate story. The memoires of Sir James Melvil of Hal-Hill, is a book from the Don Smith rare book collection that features a book label designed for Lytton Strachey by his close friend, the artist Dora Carrington.

We hope you enjoy these connections between artists, printers and publishers, books and bookplates.