Turnbull, A Library and Its World

Rachel Barrowman

In 1918 Wellington merchant, yachtsman and book collector Alexander Turnbull left his private library to the nation. Hailed as 'the most generous bequest to the people of New Zealand ever made by a New Zealander since the beginning of New Zealand Time', it forms the cornerstone of New Zealand's national collection of historical and heritage material. Exploring the library's development in its cultural context, this history is also the history of New Zealand's intellectual and cultural life in the twentieth century. From books and bibliophiles to taonga and Treaty claims, strong personalities and controversy are part of the Turnbull story. Scholars, researchers and writers, librarians, benefactors and Friends have helped to sustain Alexander Turnbull's founding vision of a great library as a vital link from the past to the future.

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