Heritage et AL

Last year in the Special Collections reading room I came across a slim volume titled Religion and theosophy, a lecture delivered on Sunday afternoon in the City Hall, Auckland, New Zealand on Sunday afternoon, March 26th, 1893 by Lilian Edger, M.A. Intrigued by the title I wondered about who the woman was who had given this lecture. After a little digging I found Lilian Edger was a scholar, lecturer, author, educator and prominent Theosophist. More well-known is her older sister Kate who was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree. Lilian was also an outstanding scholar, obtaining her B.A. at 18 and her M.A. with double first-class honours a year later from Canterbury College. Ref: Theosophy in New Zealand, New Series v.7:no.2, April-June 1946, page 47, Auckland Libraries, SERIAL 212 T39.

Among the many items that Auckland bibliophile Henry Shaw (1850-1928) donated to the Library early in the twentieth century are a number of Asian and Middle Eastern manuscripts purchased from London booksellers. Shaw did not share Sir George Grey's interest in philology. His chief reason for collecting these manuscripts was aesthetic rather than linguistic. He was drawn to fine calligraphy and illustration. One of Shaw's most exquisite donations is a handwritten Quran from India , bound in lacquered paiper-mâché covers that are painted on both sides with richly coloured floral patterns. The sacred text is inscribed in black ink on a gold background within blue and gold borders. Chapter headings are written in blue and accompanied with small ornamental devices. Many pages have skillful decorations in the margins. Ref: The Quran, 1817, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-C1914. On one of the pages Shaw has pasted a note from a bookseller's ca...

In recent years, the rapidly growing Indian community in New Zealand has established its own newspaper titles. The earliest such home-grown title I’ve traced so far is the New Zealand Indian Times published in Mangere from September 1993 to October 1994. This included content in four languages: English, Hindi, Gujurati and Urdu. Ref: AWNS-19010215-4-6, a group of officers from the Indian Army, 1901, Sir George Grey Special Collections The Christchurch based Kiwi Indian , began publication in November 2001, but also lasted little more than a year. By contrast, the Auckland based Indian Newslink was established in November 1999, and is New Zealand’s longest-lasting Indian newspaper (issue 461 came out on 1 July 2020). Ref: AWNS-19010222-7-2, Indian troops viewing Auckland from the summit of Mt Eden, 1901, Sir George Grey Special Collections The Indian Times , published in Otahuhu monthly from September 2003 to June 2004, included mostly English content, with a small Hindi l...