Special Collections is thrilled to have Colin McCahon’s 1959 painting Landscape through a Victorian window on display in the Reading Room.Read more…
University of Auckland 140 years: Shelf life
This imagined day in the life of the library, written for the University’s 140th anniversary this year, is based on sources mainly in Special Collections.Read more…
Access to Special Collections material affected by building work
Due to building work in the General Library | Te Herenga Mātauranga Whānui, some Special Collections material will not be available until Monday 6 November 2023.Read more…
Vaiaso o te ‘Gana Tuvalu -Tuvalu Language Week 2023
Fakatalofa atu – welcome to Vaiaso o te ‘Gana Tuvalu -Tuvalu Language Week, which includes Tuvalu Independence Day on 1 October. This year’s theme is fakatumau kae fakaakoi tau ‘gana ke mautu a iloga o ‘ta tuā – preserve and embrace your language to safeguard our heritage identities. Read more…
Drawing lessons from Rewi Thompson
The work of Rewi Thompson (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Raukawa) and his legacy as a teacher and indigenous architect of international renown is explored in the new book ‘Rewi: Āta haere, kia tere’. Read more…
Te Wiki o te reo Māori 2023
He mihi tēnei ki a koutou katoa i runga i Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Haere mai ki Te Tumu Herenga ki te whakanui i tō tātou reo rangatira. Nō reira, kia kaha te reo Māori.Read more…
Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani – Cook Islands Language Week
‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani – Cook Islands Language week kicks off from Sunday 30 July to Saturday 5 August 2023. In the latest 2018 Census, 80,532 people of Cook Islands descent live in Aotearoa and 46,668 people of Cook Islands live in Tamaki Makaurau.Read more…
Collection connections: In the Lee of a Looted Island
The University of Auckland art collection is a significant part of Cultural Collections, and we are extremely excited to have a painting from the collection recently installed in the Special Collections Reading Room, Ground Floor, General Library.
The painting, ‘In the Lee of a Looted Island’ (1966), is by Don Binney and has recently been returned from having some routine conservation. Read more…
University of Auckland 140 years: In the classroom
To mark the 140th anniversary of the opening of Auckland University College (AUC), Special Collections goes back into the classroom to look at university teaching before PowerPoint, Zoom and Canvas.Read more…
International Archives Week: Archives United
This week is International Archives Week, marking the foundation of the International Council of Archives (ICA), under the auspices of UNESC0, on 9 June 1948. This year the event also celebrates 75 years of the ICA’s work to promote the importance of records and archives and the work of those who care for them.Read more…
University of Auckland 140 years: First four professors
To mark the 140th anniversary of the opening of Auckland University College (AUC), Special Collections has taken a closer look at the appointment and careers of the first four professors.Read more…
University of Auckland 140th Anniversary: Orientation
To coincide with Orientation Week, Special Collections has put together a display celebrating this important and fun part of the university year.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Titirangi summer cottage
Sleeping porches were a fashionable feature of homes designed at the turn of the 20th century. See an example in a Titirangi ‘summer cottage’ in the final Special Collections Twenty at 20 series story. Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Throughlines
Intriguing item no. 19 is a 1965 exhibition catalogue that contextualises an Auckland artist’s work, provides a snapshot of the gallery scene and wonderfully evokes the era. Read more. Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Naval gazing
Paul Beadle is probably best known as an influential sculptor, artist and first Dean of the Elam School of Fine Art. What is less well known is that he served with the Royal Navy as a submariner and navy artist. Dive deeper in the latest Twenty at 20 story. Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Prescription for the future
Special Collections holds medical records requiring researchers to be patient. To learn why, read story number 17 in the Twenty at 20 series. Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: A tasty treat
This correspondence register was made in Sydney, used in Port Vila, stored in Suva and shipped around the world twice before coming to Special Collections with the Western Pacific Archives in 2002. Somewhere on its travels it was eaten by beetle larvae. Discover more about its journey in the latest Special Collections Twenty at 20 story. Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Sweeping rooflines
To mark this year’s 20th anniversary of Special Collections, the curators have selected some intriguing items for the Twenty at 20 series. No 15 examines an idyllic watercolour of a large country house at Turakina.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Unexpected photographs
A Special Collections copy of the report on the 1939 Young Māori Conference held at Auckland University College differs from the standard version. Story number 14 in the Twenty at 20 series explains why.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Letter from the Tongan Royal Household
To mark this year’s 20th anniversary of Special Collections, the curators have selected some intriguing items for the Twenty at 20 series. Here is number 13. Written in lea faka-Tonga This 1912 letter announcing the baptism of Princess Elisiva FusipalaRead more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Favourite ephemera
To mark this year’s 20th anniversary of Special Collections, the curators share item number twelve, our favourite piece of ephemera: a 1948 Ashes football test match souvenir programme. Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: ‘Little all alone’
What links kittens, Crunchies, and a Victorian portrait album? Read the latest Special Collections Twenty at 20 story to find out.Read more…
40 years of Winter Lectures
Back in the winter of 1958, historian Sir Keith Sinclair proposed the University of Auckland follow Canterbury University’s lead in establishing a special series of lunchtime lectures on topics that could be addressed by speakers from a range of departments and faculties. Make a cup of tea and begin to explore almost 40 years’ worth of free public lectures.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Revolving diagrams
What was this ingenious 17th century revolving book diagram used for? Read the latest Special Collections Twenty at 20 story to find out.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: An iconic Swanndri
To mark this year’s 20th anniversary of Special Collections, the curators share item number nine, geographer Kenneth Cumberland’s Swanndri jacket which he wore on the 1980s television series Landmarks.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Well-travelled letter book returns
Notable Auckland architect Daniel B. Patterson’s letter book provides insights into his clients, contractors and collaborators. Read more in the eighth story in the Twenty at 20 series. Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: A quirky scrapbook
Many of the archival collections in the care of Special Collections have been part of Te Tumu Herenga | Libraries and Learning Services for much longer than two decades. Among these is the William Steadman Aldis papers, gifted to the Library in 1940 by his youngest daughter Amy Letitia Aldis.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: The sweetest item
The sixth story in the Twenty at 20 series is an election sweetener. A Labour-red lollipop was handed out to students in the Quad in 2002 and is the only confectionary item in Special Collections. Read more…
James Joyce exhibition and talk
Special Collections has mounted an exhibition, James Joyce: in his wake, that highlights several works by the Irish modernist writer, including Ulysses, some early poetry and his final novel, Finnegans Wake. The exhibition also features writing, music, fine printing and art inspired by Joyce’s unique voice.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Archive within an archive
Tapa notebook poetry project: ‘Issa gift(s) that keeps on giving’. The fifth story in the Twenty at 20 series explores spoken word poet, Zechariah Soakai’s ‘tapa notebook’. The notebook is inspired by other poets’ work held in Special Collections.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: McCahon’s glorious glass
Colin McCahon drawings identified in the James Hackshaw architectural papers helped to authenticate windows at a Rotorua school. Learn more in the fourth Twenty at 20 series article.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Our wordiest title page
Title pages were once very crowded with lengthy descriptive text. The third story in the Twenty at 20 series examines the book in the Special Collections stacks with the wordiest title page. Read more…
A step back in time: student life in the 1920s
Have you ever sat in a classroom in one of the University’s older buildings and wondered about the staff and students who came before you? We take a step back in time to reflect on student life in the 1920s.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Lectures 1883-style
Students managing their complicated timetables this semester will be surprised by the simplicity of the first lecture timetable after the University’s opening in May 1883, our second 20th anniversary of Special Collections Twenty at 20 item.Read more…
Special Collections Twenty at 20: Illuminated manuscript fragments
Special Collections is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a programme of exhibitions, stories, talks and events. This collection of illuminated manuscript fragments was gifted to the University by Emeritus Professor Frank R. Horlbeck, Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin – Madison.Read more…
Special Collections: 2021 Christmas hamper
Kia Tupuolaola e Moui he Tagata Niue – May the Tagata Niue thrive
To mark Niue Language week, Special Collections are pleased to provide online access to a petition sent by Patu-iki Togia-Pule-toaki to the British High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, in October 1899.Read more…
![Architectural drawing of Auckland University College Arts Building [University of Auckland ClockTower] (sheet 8), Lippincott Collection (LP2).](https://www.news.library.auckland.ac.nz/files/2021/09/clocktower-lippincott-wordpress-feature-image-option01.jpg)
ClockTower design: celebrating 100 years
2021 marks 100 years since Roy Lippincott and Edward Billson won the competition to design the University’s first significant purpose-built building, now known as the ClockTower.Read more…
BSANZ 2021 Conference: Communities, books and the power of words
Interested in studies about books, authors, publishing, readers and related topics? Registrations are open for the Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand 2021 virtual conference, 22-23 November. Read more…
Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga – Tonga Language Week 2021
To mark Tonga Language Week 2021, the Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound presents the first two episodes of the AMPS 50th Anniversary Podcast, a series of talanoa (conversations) with five significant academics from the University of Auckland. Read more…
New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre: 20 years online
The New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre went live 20 years ago on 20 July 2001, making it one of the country’s longest-running poetry hubs.Read more…
A mystery building, a pirate ship and other architectural treasures
A pirate ship cabaret and tearooms is one of the treasures housed in a collection of architectural drawings by architect S S Alleman (1901-1978).Read more…
Communist Party centenary: The Party and the hangover
James Hector: a note from the past
James Hector (1834-1907) was a leading scientist and administrator in Aotearoa. For Hector Day, Special Collections highlights a handwritten note by Hector left in a zoological journal.Read more…
Robin Hyde’s papers receive UNESCO recognition
The papers of Robin Hyde, held by Special Collections, and the Alexander Turnbull Library, have been inscribed on UNESCO’s New Zealand Memory of the World Register. Special Collections is marking this occasion with the exhibition ‘torrents of amber’.Read more…
Special Collections: 2020 Christmas hamper
The stacks in Special Collections contain countless items that deserve close inspection by researchers. Here are a few that caught the eye of Special Collections staff during 2020.Read more…
Philcox architecture archive: Builder of handsome edifices
The architectural drawings collection of W. Philcox and Sons provides a unique insight into an Auckland building firm from the turn of the 20th century. Search the new collection listing.Read more…
Books tell a prize-winning story
A personal library is more than the sum of the books a person owned. The books we keep can provide unique insights into our life story.Read more…
Celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday
Celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday. View rare manuscripts of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony by visiting our Special Collections display.Read more…
Te Vaiaho o te Gagana Tokelau 2020
Celebrate Tokelau Language Week. Consult the Tokelau Dictionary online and explore other Tokelau related resources held by Te Tumu Herenga.Read more…
Building Bridges: Looking back to the future
Revisit how Auckland Harbour Bridge was built and the Special Collections the library holds about its history and engineering.Read more…
45 years of the Waitangi Tribunal
45 years after the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal, we reflect on its position in Aotearoa New Zealand society.Read more…
Macawa Ni Vosa Vakaviti – Fijian Language Week 2020
Preserving our roots: protecting our forest taonga
Supporting the International Year of Plant Heath; discover Special Collections resources about our native trees and plants, mātauranga and forestry.Read more…
Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani Cook Islands Language Week
Welcome to Cook Islands Language Week. Celebrate Cook Island culture by exploring the maps, letters, old records and research we have curated.Read more…
Choose: having your say
A new Special Collections display in the General Library dips into an extensive election ephemera archive to look at two significant, historic referenda issues.Read more…
Kiribati Language Week 2020
Watch the playlist and explore selected resources as you celebrate Kiribati Language Week.Read more…
Contribute to a University of Auckland Covid-19 archive
Help future researchers by contributing your pandemic experiences and activities to our Covid-19 archive.Read more…
Picturing Cultural Collections
A series of photographs are hanging in the Special Collections Reading Room in the General Library. Read their backstories and discover more about Cultural Collections.Read more…
Should I be wearing gloves?
Help for Creative Arts and Industries students using library resources
The Fine Arts and Architecture and Planning collections are in their new home in the Library. Visit the General Library and view the new locations.Read more…
Special Collections: delivering tailored services
Special Collections artists’ books display
View the artists’ books display at Special Collections in the General Library until Friday 6 March.Read more…
Honouring Professor Jonathan Mane-Wheoki
Holiday treasures unearthed
Critical Encounters Tuia 250
The Fine Arts Library closed at the end of Semester Two 2019
The Fine Arts Library closed on Monday 18th November 2019. From 2020 the Fine Arts books, journals and supporting services will be available from the General Library.Read more…
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
Reo Māori Kūki’Āirani – Cook Islands Language Week
The Architecture and Planning Library is now closed
The Architecture and Planning Library closed at the end of Semester One. From Semester Two the Architecture and Planning books, journals and supporting services will be available from the General Library. Read more…
Play it loud
General Library turns 50
Opening the Archives
On your bike: ‘Biketivism’ on campus
Summer road trip
End of First World War centenary project
First World War armistice: Clear the line
Women’s suffrage: Enrolling the new electors
Māori Land Court Minute Books Index now open access
Furniture by New Zealand architects
We, the undersigned
Paid for in blood: Medical rare books display
Resonating through the decades: the From Scratch records
You never know who you’ll meet at university
Journeys of an historic handpress
From the collections: History serials pass 50-year mark
Broadsheet magazine 1972-1997
Ngā Kura Māori: The Native Schools System 1867-1969
Launch of Chinese rare books catalogue
100 Years of Architecture and Planning
“The First Girl Graduates”: The legacy of Kate Edger
Miss Butterfield’s busy year
From Crack of Dawn to Croak of Dusk: The Solar Plexus records
‘The Balloon of the Mind’: Yeats, Donnelly and Cuala Press
Two displays, two cartoonists: Steve Bell and Frank Dromgoole
A clean slate
New Zealand prisoners of war 1914-1918
Display of Sir Hugh Kawharu papers
Architectural traces in the Western Pacific Archives
