Join us in this Kura Tūturu | Real Gold series to discover highlights from Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection.

Presented by a curator or specialist librarian, each episode we feature a taonga (a treasure) from the collection.

These items can be viewed in the Heritage Collections reading room, Level 2 of Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library.

Some digitised items feature in Kura Heritage Collections Online kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz

You can also search for rare books and printed material using the Auckland Libraries general catalogue www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/

Kura Tūturu | Real Gold - Taonga from Heritage Collections

This month we have on display a manuscript and two books that feature in common, wooden covers. 

In this track listen and learn from Senior Librarian Heritage Renée Orr as she talks to the three items on display for April.

Come see for yourself Kura Tūturu | Real Gold case in the Reading Room Level 2  Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library.

Ben Verhoeven and Gaylord Schanilec. Sylvæ : fifty specimens printed directly from the wood with historical anecdotes & observations. Stockholm, Wisconsin: Midnight Paper Sales, 2007. 
https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=69ab3bc4-d77e-59fb-a881-cce0ae7ec73a&entityType=FormatGroup

Image:
Eric Craig. New Zealand Ferns. 1880s.
https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=c2496dd6-85e2-53f6-b123-2e4efd21fc5e&entityType=FormatGroup

Weddase Maryam. 17th century. (EASTMS: G.118)
https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=ba09a935-ef79-5ac7-9d5f-0e850fee2596&entityType=FormatGroup

Wooden Covers with Renée Orr

This month we have two special cases on display on Level 2 of Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library both with Shakespeare at the heart.

In this track listen and learn from Rare Book curator Jane Wild as she tells us about the items on display for May. 

Event: Register to attend this event Saturday 20 May https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/events/2023/05/piringatahi-special-collections-up-close-rare-shakespeare/
In this Piringatahi: Special Collections Up Close event, we delve into the 17th-century publishing history of Shakespeare’s plays. Auckland Libraries is the only institution in the Southern Hemisphere to hold copies of all four 17th-century editions of Shakespeare’s collected plays and early editions of his sonnets.

Find out more about Folio 400 here: https://folio400.com/

A more in-depth read here: http://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2023/05/readers-and-readings-traces-of-use-in.html

Check out the playlist Shakespeare First Folio.

Come see for yourself Kura Tūturu | Real Gold case in the Reading Room Level 2 Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library.

Music Credit: Seringapatam composed by Bruce Paine played by Chris Everest at Auckland Libraries Heritage Concert 2023

Image Credit: The Real Gold case photo by Jane Wild. 2023.

Shakespeare’s folio and the pocket edition

Auckland Libraries have recently acquired, digitised, and catalogued four chromolithographic posters from the late nineteenth century. 

In this track we hear Andrew Henry, Principal Aotearoa NZ Collections, share the story behind the creation of these artful 1890s advertising newspaper supplements. 

The posters feature views, taken from different elevated spots around the Tāmaki Makaurau central isthmus, surrounded by vignettes of local businesses who had paid to be included in the posters. The interior views of shops, hotels, and factories are particularly intriguing. 

Printed by Wilson and Horton's Lithographic and Colour Printery, in Auckland, in 1895, the chromolithographs were included as a supplement to the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Weekly News. 

The digitised posters are available to view via Kura Heritage Collections Online. 
https://tinyurl.com/327ssn7j

Learn more about them in a Heritage et AL blog post by Andrew Henry, Principal Aotearoa New Zealand Collections Librarian: https://bit.ly/ArtfulAdvertising

On view for June 2023 in the Kura Tūturu | Real Gold case in the Reading Room Level 2 Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library or by request at any time.

Image: View of Auckland from Harbour, 1895, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Eph-Post00426.

Artful Advertising with Andrew Henry

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

In this track Sue Berman talks with Tania Mace about her research into early inner city Auckland neighbourhoods. 

Tania talks about her history research interests, her approach to documentary heritage material, her discoveries and the opportunities for research still to come. 

Tania's research was undertaken with the support of the Auckland Libraries Heritage Trust - John Stacpoole Scholarship and through the use of the Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

Listen to the associated oral history clips - https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/sets/lost-neighbourhoods-of

Read about Tania's research findings on Heritage et AL  
https://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2025/05/lost-neighbourhoods-of-central-auckland.html

Information about the ALHT John Stacpoole Scholarship here:
https://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2025/05/auckland-library-heritage-trust-john.html

Read: Tania's recent publication 
The near west : a history of Grey Lynn, Arch Hill and Westmere
https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=5d618312-e8c3-5cf4-9d6f-b31a81c813f6&entityType=FormatGroup

Tania Mace: Lost Neighbourhoods of Central Auckland

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.

Ngā Mōteatea with Kahurangi Goulton

Ngā Pātaka Kōrero - Auckland Libraries