A Call for Papers
On
the evening of 17 October in the Dunningham Room, Dunedin Public Library, Jim
E. Traue, ex-Turnbull Librarian, Wellington, will give an open lecture
entitled: ‘Treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life’. All
are welcome to attend.
The Symposium proper will begin at 10.00 on 18
October at
the Auditorium, Toitū Early Settlers Museum. It will finish at 5.00 pm.
There is no end
to collecting. There are collectors of the first editions or earliest printings
of various works of literature, history, science, and philosophy; of bibles,
children’s books, travel books, and almanacs; and still others ranging from
limited private press productions to collectors of manuscripts and illustrated
books. There are also those who collect thimbles, decorative teaspoons, cakes
tins, art, motorcycles, and a whole lot more.
The methods by
which collectors amass their materials are equally varied, including through
catalogue, auction, gifts, and e-sites like Trademe and abebooks.com. Indeed,
by accumulating such items, the question arises: what constitutes a collection?
Is it a disparate mass of stuff, or something much more organised?
Institutions
throughout New Zealand have been fortunate to benefit from collectors such as
Alexander Turnbull, Sir George Grey, A. H. Reed, and Dr Hocken, to name but a
few. Their collections are in the public domain for all to use and enjoy; we
would be much poorer without their efforts. There are, however, those that are
lost, such as General Robley’s moko collection, and Rex Nan Kivell’s New
Zealand-related collection (now in Australia). And what of the future? Will
institutions continue to receive collections from generous public-spirited
collectors, or will they disperse them to the four winds, for others to enjoy?
If
you would like to participate in this symposium, which we hope will be wide
ranging, please send your abstracts to Dr Shef Rogers, English Department,
University of Otago (shef.rogers@otago.ac.nz)
or Dr Donald Kerr, Special Collection Librarian, University of Otago (Donald.kerr@otago.ac.nz) by 31 August
2013.
Registration
for the full day will be $25 (waged); $10 (unwaged). Details of how to register
will be notified on the Centre’s website closer to the event.
And
please check out the Centre for the Book at Otago website http://www.otago.ac.nz/books for
forthcoming events.
The image above is of the circa 1850 painting, The
Bookworm, by Carl Spitzweg (1808–1885). The original painting is in the
Museum Georg Schäfer in Schweinfurt, Germany. The digital image is reproduced
here courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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