Heritage et AL

During WW1 (and indeed WW2), soldiers aboard troopships en route to war sometimes published magazines. Theses troopship magazines ranged from hand-written to professional looking publications. They were highly valued and were intended to be informative, entertaining and to help the morale of soldiers. A number were also written on the return voyages back to NZ. Ref: AWNS-19150708-47-3, 1915, NZ troopship Ludzow at Alexandria, Egypt, 1915, Sir George Grey Special Collections Auckland War Memorial Museum Library has recently completed the digitisation of its troopship magazines . These are are listed on the library's online catalogue and are also available as pdfs (simply click on the publication, then click on the link in the Notes field). Examples of the museum's holdings of troopship magazines include: 'Father Neptune's day on the New Zealand Transport 75, "S.S. Waitemata" and other items of interest / N.Z.E.F. 21st Reinforcements', 1917 (D526....

At the Dunedin Public Libraries’ Reed Gallery, there is currently an exhibition showcasing the letters and manuscripts collected by the Dunedin publisher, Alfred Hamish Reed (1875-1975) over a sixty year period. Our Will and Pleasure: Royal Autographs, Letters & Memorabilia of the British Monarchy covers the seventeenth century through to the early twentieth century and includes items written or signed by members of the royal houses of Great Britain from the House of Stuart to the current House of Windsor. The exhibition is timed to coincide with the wider events marking the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. It is also available as a rich online exhibition detailing the individual case items, along with excerpts and background information and high resolution zoomable scans.