The Alexander Turnbull Library has 92 incunabula in 87 volumes, two of which are duplicates. The earliest publication is 1469.
The collection includes many fine examples of the art of the earliest typographers, illustrators and binders. Branches of knowledge represented are theology, literature, law, science, philosophy, history and geography.
History of the collection
Since the foundation of the Turnbull Library in 1918, 26 titles in 26 volumes have been added to the collection by donation or bequest, and 40 titles in 36 volumes added by purchase. The remainder are believed to have been in the personal collection of Alexander H. Turnbull (1868-1918).
Active purchasing of incunabula stopped in the 1960s, but in 2009 an auction in Wellington provided the opportunity to add two further titles to the collection. Donations and bequests have provided a more steady stream of new additions. The most recent donation was received into the Library in 2001. With one exception, all donations came from New Zealand collectors.
New Zealand donors and year of donation or bequest:
- 1936 – Sir Joseph Kinsey
- 1953 – Percy Watts Rule
- 1959 – Laura Harper
- 1962 – Thomas L. Seddon
- 1978 – Bible Society in New Zealand
- 1998 – General Assembly Library of New Zealand
- 2001 – Society of Mary and Archdiocese of Wellington.
Most purchases were made overseas, but five New Zealand vendors were:
- 1941 and 1955 – Bethune & Co, Wellington auctioneers
- 1945 – Olga Mackie
- 1952 – Sir John Moody Ilott
- 1958 – James Sharon Watson
- 2009 – Dunbar Sloane, Wellington auctioneers
Further information about the collection and its earlier New Zealand collectors can be found in '"Where did they come from?" Incunabula in the Special Printed Collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library' by Ruth Lightbourne, Turnbull Library Record 41 (2008), pp 11-35.
A selection of images from the incunabula collection are on our Flickr Commons account.
Access items in this collection
This collection is available at Archives New Zealand for the duration of the building redevelopment.
Search for items in the collection using the National Library Catalogue.
Contact details, and information about accessing, borrowing, and making copies from this Collection
Image
Illuminated initial S, in blue, green, yellow, pink and gold. De imagine mundi, by Honorius of Autun ([1472?]). Rare Incunabula Collection, Rare Books and Fine Printing Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.
