Listen to learn about Mary Wollstonecraft’s groundbreaking book of feminist philosophy, her brave and unconventional lifestyle, her political writing on the French Revolution, and her imaginatively written travel book. 

After Wollstonecraft's death, her grief-stricken widower, William Godwin, published Memoirs of Her Life, a revolutionary biography, which inadvertently destroyed her reputation for almost a century. 

Learn more about these rare books:
https://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/en/heritage-and-research/meet-a-rare-book/ep7-wollstonecraft.html

Enjoy other Meet a Rare Book episodes from the series playlist:
https://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/en/heritage-and-research/meet-a-rare-book.html

Sound Archive: Originally recorded on 11 February 2021 for the Meet a Rare Book Collection SA_0078_22

Image: Mary Wollstonecraft. A vindication of the rights of woman, 1792.
b1973396_02

Music: Afternoon Tea by Mona Wonderlick - https://soundcloud.com/search?q=Mona%20Wonderlick
AShamaluevMusic - https://soundcloud.com/search?q=AShamaluevMusic

Production Credits:
Edited and presented for podcast by Mark Gosper, 2021.
Staff talks presented by Georgia Prince recorded by Sue Berman [2019-2021].

Executive producer - Sue Berman
Research and copywriting - Renée Orr, Zoë Colling, Georgia Prince and Jane Wild.

Thanks to the Digital Assets, Web Design and Content and Development Teams.

Supported by Auckland Council Libraries.

Meet a Rare Book - Mary Wollstonecraft

Episode 6:

Join librarians Ella and John as they talk about the adventures of Mr Toad. He is a scene stealing amphibian and he knows it! Despite his mischievous ways he has a good heart and good friends in Ratty, Mole and Badger. In this episode Toad sings his own praises and Toad Hall becomes the scene of an epic battle. 

If you enjoyed these chapters, ask one of our friendly librarians to help you find the Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame in your local Auckland Library. https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=5d2693aa-afa1-582c-8dd1-269b1221acf9&entityType=FormatGroup

Wind in the Willows

Look a Book: Wind in the Willows: John and Ella

Nau mai haere mai - Welcome to a session from the Reading Room of Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero, Central City Library, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

In this podcast, we are delighted to share the recording of Greg Doran’s visit to the Auckland First Folio in June 2023.  

Greg Doran, artistic director emeritus of the Royal Shakespeare Company is on a tour of surviving first folios sponsored by the British Council.  https://www.britishcouncil.org.nz

He comes to us after visiting First Folios in Japan and most recently Sydney, at the State Library of New South Wales. Next stop Cape Town. Our First Folio has travelled the furthest from the Print House in London, some 11,386 miles in fact. 

The Folio has had an active life, most recently getting some attention from David Ashman, our Preservation Manager. The Folio can be handled more easily post-treatment. The tangible evidence of the preservation treatment (including leather shavings and “gutter sweeping”) is now stored in a bespoke archival box with the Folio itself.

In this recording, Greg meets our unique annotated Folio and talks with an interested party – including retired rare books librarian Georgia Prince who curated the exhibition Shakespeare in his time which featured 17th century rare books from the Heritage Collections.

 We also had a moment with the Shakespeare bronze, affectionately referred to as the ‘Beadle bust’ – named for the sculptor Paul Beadle. The bust entered stage left during our discussion – returning to its plinth after a stint on the Ground Floor of our busy public library.

Let’s give Greg the floor to share his close reading!

Listen to David Ashman’s preservation treatment: https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/sets/celebrating-shakespeare

Shakespeare in his time – 2016 curator talks: https://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2016/06/shakespeare-in-his-time-curator-talks.html

The Beadle bust: https://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-shakespeare-beadle-bust-origin-and.html

Gregory Doran on Auckland Libraries' First Folio

In this track we talk with Poukōkiri Whakaaturanga Taonga Kahurangi Goulton about the exhibition of ngā mōteatea in the Kura Tūturu | Real Gold exhibition case for Hōngongoi and Matariki.

Kahurangi explains how te reo Māori was originally only transmitted orally and as such Māori crafted and perfected the art of mōteatea.  Mōteatea refer to all forms of traditional waiata or songs. These waiata were composed to transmit, retain and celebrate the life, customs and history of Māori. 

In the case we have the hand written manuscript of a waiata composed by Hinewairoro and collected by Riwai Te Ahu from Ngāti Hinerangi and Ngāti Awa. We can assume this waiata dates back to an earlier time. This waiata has been identified as, A song to incite remembrance in people’s hearts.  

On view for July 2023 in the Reading Room Level 2 Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library or by request at any time.

Image: Karakia, Waiata. Riwai Te Ahu. Pre-1854. GNZMMS 097_07

Kura search results: Riwai Te Ahu https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/search/searchterm/Riwai%20Te%20Ahu

Further Reading:
Nga Moteatea: he maramara rere no nga waka maha, he mea kohikohi. Part 1. 1928. Ngata, Apirana Turupa 
https://tinyurl.com/sskxzmzt

Ngā Mōteatea with Kahurangi Goulton

I o Tatau Hapori : The Voice and the People of Our Neighbourhood

This playlist supports an exhibition on display for August 2023 at the Franklin Hub.

Oral histories often include great family history content and interesting social history. In these clips we hear some examples of different types of memories and recording. 

0”45 – 2”05
The first recording was made in 1961 and is read as part of her family story by Elizabeth Duncan.

2”05 – 6”15
Susan Carpenter sat down recently with her elderly mother to record some family stories and her mother’s experience of growing up in Pukekohe. In this clip we hear a lovely recollection of time spent with Nana in town and going to the Milk Bar in Newmarket in the late 1940s.

6”15 – 8:34
When asked to discuss her free time as a child, Mere Thompson recalls the games she and her sisters played including hopscotch, skipping and playing shops.

Image: 	
'Four generations', Drury, 1994. "Tui Hall celebrating her 90th birthday with her granddaughter Angela Deane (right), her great-grand-daughter Lisa Deane and her great-great-grandson Dylan Deane". Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Footprints 03422

Family Recollections

In this session we get up close with the 15th Century French manuscript the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, followed by a discussion of some fragments of very early medieval manuscripts found as part of the binding of a bible printed in 1480.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa  - welcome to this podcast celebrating our Auckland Libraries Rare Books and Manuscripts collection. 

This track was recorded in 2019 as part of a series of talks delivered by Rare Book specialist Georgia Prince. 

Ref to content:	
Le livre de Boèce de consolacion
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/manuscripts/id/17669/rec/1

Image: Detail from Epistola beati. Latin, Basel, 1480. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1480 BIBL

Don’t miss your opportunity to visit our Heritage Collections exhibition Miraculous: medieval manuscripts on display in the Level 2 Gallery of Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero – The Central City Library – from 16 August to 11 November 2023. 

We invite you to explore digitised versions of our Rare Book and Manuscript Collections on Kura Heritage Collections Online, or make an appointment to view in person in our Special Collections Reading Room – Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero – The Central City Library.

Boethius and Fragments

A Tribute to Octavia E. Butler

In this episode of the Awekura series we talk with Renée Orr, Rare Book specialist and Curatorial Services Team Leader at Auckland Council Libraries Heritage Collections. Renee shares with us a rare 17th Century book, its history and provenance, to this recently donated gift to the Heritage Collection. 

It’s a bit of a tongue twister of a title!  "The Memorable Works of a Son of Thunder and Consolation: Namely, that True Prophet, and Faithful Servant of God, and Sufferer for the Testimony of Jesus, Edward Burroughs, who Dyed a Prisoner for the Word of God, in the City of London, the Fourteenth of the Twelfth Moneth, 1662".

The book was printed in 1672 in London and is a collection of the writings of influential Quaker, Edward Burrough.

Read more about the book and find links to related material here:
https://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2025/11/awekura-edward-burrough-1634-1663.html

Image: A collage produced by Julian Lubin from photographs of the Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

The Memorable Works... with Renee Orr

In this episode we catch up with Renée Orr to discuss the recently acquired privately-published book of prints by the Japanese woodblock artist Hiroshige (1797-1858). 

Renée shares the back story of the book to include reference to the front ex libris bookplate of Hilda Wiseman and the intersection of interests with the book’s creator Percy Neville Barnett.

For images and to read more go to:  https://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2026/03/awekura-hiroshige.html

Books about Japanese woodblock printing and Hiroshige in the lending collection:
Japanese woodblocks : masterpieces of art
https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=e36bdd9e-611c-5d58-82e6-43ea6cb2d187&entityType=FormatGroup
Japanese woodblock prints artists, publishers, and masterworks, 1680-1900
https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=3982e56a-1106-5e03-9b22-5d6ae823939c&entityType=FormatGroup
Hiroshige : 1797-1858 : master of Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints
https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=8672e9c2-887f-5952-b655-20dec9edb785&entityType=FormatGroup
Hiroshige : 1797-1858
https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=474de03c-8fb5-53d4-9f5c-2ffa5decc512&entityType=FormatGroup

Hilda Wiseman collection

https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=d712d073-8ee7-5001-9fcd-9487dd240255&entityType=FormatGroup
In another dimension : Auckland bookplates 1920-1960 (PR:PURI 2002)
Link to blog: https://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2015/06/bookplates-hilda-wiseman-and-auckland.html

Awekura is a kupu drawn from Māori weaponry, particularly the taiaha. It refers to the arero, the tongue of the taiaha, which is adorned with kura, red feathers. The term reflects both the physical beauty and their deeper spiritual and narrative significance. Awekura is the name given to our blog and podcast series that showcases treasures within Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, presented by our library specialists.

Hiroshige's woodblock prints & Hilda Wiseman's bookplates

In this episode we navigate heritage maps with maps librarian Katrina Laan. 

Katrina shares with us five of her favourite maps including the first printed map of the Pacific in 1601, a 1946 tourist map,  the fabulous Thomas Wing’s map of the Kaipara Harbour 1835,  early city fire insurance maps 1915 and we learn 'just what is a cadastral map'?   Listen in to a lively discussion to learn more about these maps and more.

You can read more here: 

And check out an earlier podcast on the Wings maps  here: https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/chart-of-kaipara-harbour-by-thomas-wing?in=auckland-libraries/sets/real-gold-treasures-of-the

Links to Auckland Libraries Heritage Maps via Kura Heritage Collections online: https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/maps

Maris Pacifici, 1601, Abraham Ortelius,  Map 9588
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/maps/id/9743/rec/1

Auckland and environs : sheet no.4., 1924, New Zealand Department of Lands and Survey,   Map 77
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/maps/id/1972/rec/2

Tourist map of New Zealand, 1946,  New Zealand Government Tourist Department;  Map 9091
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/maps/id/9134/rec/1

Chart of the entrance to Kaipara Harbour,  Captain Thomas Wing, January, 1836. Map 4613
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/maps/id/1211/rec/3

Fire insurance maps, 1915, Council of Fire and Accident Underwriters' Association of New Zealand, Map 9128
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/maps/id/9340/rec/1

Heritage maps with Katrina Laan

In this episode Sue Berman talks with the Heritage Collections Principal Archives and Manuscripts Kirsty Webb about the Real Gold case for February 2020. 

It features the amazing weather journals and story of early missionary the Rev. Richard Davis.

Richard Davis was a thirty-four year old Dorsetshire farmer, and in 1824 he arrived in New Zealand with his family and settled at the Church Missionary Society mission in Paihia. Nine years later, he was sent inland to Waimate North to establish a model farm for the CMS on land bought from Ngāpuhi, and to continue his work as a missionary and teacher.

Farming depends on understanding the climate, and this in turn relies on accurate weather observation over time. In these two diaries, Davis recorded rainfall, temperature and pressure, and noted wind and weather patterns.

In 2008, NIWA climate scientists Dr Drew Lorrey and Ms Petra Pearce identified these two volumes as the earliest continuous land-based records currently known in New Zealand.  The precision, consistency and length of time over which these measurements were made by Davis gives them a baseline for contemporary climate research.    

These journals have been successfully nominated for inclusion as a listing in the UNESCO Memory of World register.

Reference and Digital Resource available: 
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/manuscripts/id/13117/rec/1
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/manuscripts/id/13413/rec/2

Here’s a link to the article about their discovery by NIWA https://niwa.co.nz/news/scientists-rediscover-new-zealand%E2%80%99s-first-weather-diaries

Image: Register of thermometer and barometric measurements 1839 [to 1849] Rev. Richard Davis, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZMS 378

Weather Journals - Rev. Richard Davis

Welcome to Ngā Pātaka Kōrero Auckland Libraries podcast page! Catch up on author talks, events and concerts, and hear more in-depth commentary from the curatorial team behind our taonga treasured collections and exhibitions.

Weather Journals - Rev. Richard Davis

Ngā Pātaka Kōrero - Auckland Libraries

Related tracks