The Manuscripts & Pictorial website was launched in December 2008.
It currently contains over 100,000 digitised pages from the Alexander Turnbull Library's holdings of Sir Donald McLean's papers, and nearly 60,000 digitised items from the Turnbull Library's pictorial collections (including photographs, paintings, prints, ephemera, cartoons and unpublished maps).
Go to the Manuscripts & Pictorial website
About the Manuscripts & Pictorial website
The Manuscripts & Pictorial website is a user-friendly way to search and browse digitised manuscript and pictorial material from the collections of the Alexander Library.
Powerful search tools
On the site you can search across all items, or choose to focus on selected parts of the collections (for example, the McLean papers or the Photographic Archive). You can also use the search filtering options to help you refine your search results.
Downloadable items
As with the Papers Past website, you can download items from the Manuscripts & Pictorial website as PDF files. These have been formatted for ease of printing.
Many items in the McLean papers have a transcription or translation. These are presented alongside the original item onscreen and in the downloadable PDF file.
Go to the Manuscripts & Pictorial website
Get help with searching the Manuscripts & Pictorial site
Elliott Young, project leader for the Manuscripts & Pictorial site has written a series of posts for the LibraryTechNZ blog giving hints and tips on how to get the most out of the site.
Introduction to the site & faceted search using filters
Exploring names by names and subjects
Options for viewing search results
Using the 'people' and 'places' search functions
You can read all the entries individually, or see them all on one page.
About the Sir Donald McLean papers
Sir Donald McLean (1820-1877) was one of the most influential figures in 19th-century New Zealand history. In his various roles as Chief Land Purchase Officer, Native Secretary, the Superintendent of Hawkes Bay, official in charge of military operations on the East Coast and Native Minister, McLean played a pivotal role in relations between Māori and the government.
Over 100,000 pages from McLean’s papers have been digitised, including correspondence, diaries, telegrams, letterbooks and maps. Many of the letters and diaries have been transcribed and are keyword searchable.
Of particular significance are over 3000 letters in te reo Māori, many of which have transcriptions and translations attached.
Scope and contents of the McLean collection – Manuscripts & Pictorial website
Sir Donald McLean biography – Manuscripts & Pictorial website
