Heritage et AL

In February 2017 Manurewa Library celebrates its 50th anniversary. On 20 February 1967 it was opened on the first floor of the Natali Buildings on the corner of Great South Road and Station Road. It was Manukau City Council’s first full-service free public library. Ref: The Natali's Buildings, c1979, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 01617. Known as Pegler’s Building when it was opened in June 1930, this originally housed seven shops on the ground floor and a reception room or hall, four offices and two flats on the first floor. In 1967 the reception room was converted into a library.

This coming weekend, January 24 th -26 th, marks the observation of Auckland Anniversary. This year  ASB and Auckland Council are presenting weekend packed with events to celebrate the 175 th anniversary of Auckland. The main events will be held on Queen’s Wharf and at Shed 10 and include a multimedia exhibition that promises to give a glimpse into the area’s past. Image: Drawing showing the Auckland Regatta 1862. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 863-RB586. F. R. Stack. Staff from Auckland Libraries will be down at Queen’s Wharf over the weekend with our mobile library bus filled with historical resources and displays of items from our heritage and research collections. Image: Dry Work. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19090204-06-06. Photographer: E.Gilling. . The Auckland Libraries mobile bus will be just inside the main entrance area next to the information stand, so do pop by and see us. Members of the Heritage and Research team will...

2013 is the 700th anniversary of the birth of the Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) - poet, biographer, prose writer, lecturer, book collector, biographer of Dante and Petrarch, humanist.   Boccaccio’s best known work is the 'Decameron', written between 1348 and 1352. It is a collection of 100 tales told by a group of young noble men and women who flee to the countryside to escape the Plague. Over 10 days they tell each other stories to distract and amuse themselves. The 'Decameron'’s combination of “realism, cheer and disorderliness” and its reputation as a book banned for its erotic content have ensured that it has remained popular through the centuries. It has been translated into many languages, turned into verse, and inspired other books, films, and electronic media. Ref: 'Il decamerone Di M. Giovanni Boccaccio', Londra, 1757-[61], Sir George Grey Special Collections The copy in Italian (shown above) was printed in the 1750s. The second ...

One hundred and fifty years ago, New Zealand enjoyed its first professional opera performance at Dunedin’s Royal Princess Theatre – the country’s first purpose-built theatre. Dunedin had become home to the newly rich who were in need of some 'refined' culture, a sentiment echoed by those tired of the “limited sources of entertainment” offered by grog-shops and other equally seedy places on the Otago goldfields.  Ref: Poster for Princess Theatre, 31-62787, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Ref: 881-1, Sir George Grey Special Collections Ref: 7-A11197, Sir George Grey Special Collections Today marks the 125th anniversary of the death of Julius von Haast (1822-1887). German born geologists Haast and Ferdinand Hochstetter (1829-1884) were responsible for much of the early geological surveying in the South Island, particularly around the Canterbury region. Haast had a number of of flora and fauna and landscape features named after him including: Haastia (an alpine plant), the extinct Haast's Eagle (the largest eagle to have ever lived), the Haast River and the  Haast Pass . Find out more  about Haast and his written works . Auckland Libraries heritage holdings include letters from Haast to Sir George and maps  as seen below (in both instances enter the search term 'Haast' into the databases) in the Sir George Grey Special Collections at Central City Library.        Ref: NZ Map 5694e, Sir G...

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Sir John Logan Campbell , often considered to be the founding father of Auckland. There are many reminders of Sir John in the Auckland of today, including his gift of Cornwall Park to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand. The deeds for the park  can be found in the Sir George Grey Special Collections at Central City Library.   Ref: 7-C2033, Sir George Grey Special Collections Professor Russell Stone has recently edited  ' Poenamo ', Sir John's pioneer reminiscences. Republished as a complete facsimile of the 1889 reissue,  'Poenamo Revisited: New Zealand's very first adventure story'  is full of additional content, illustrations and biographical details.   Ref: 1-W1497, Sir George Grey Special Collections Stone is an Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Auckland and a specialist on Sir John Logan Campbell. He is...