THE collection was donated in 1948 by Alfred Hamish Reed.
AH Reed was a well-known New Zealander and his company Reed Publishing was for many years the largest publisher in New Zealand, Mr Smith said.
A.H. Reed, publisher. Portrait by Kershaw.
A.H. Reed, publisher. Portrait by Kershaw.
He was remembered for long-distance walking tours, including traversing the length of New Zealand and walking from Sydney to Melbourne in Australia.
“And he did that at a very old age, when he was in his 80s.”
Popular figure. . . Mr AH Reed is seen here near East Taieri in 1964 taking one of his long walks, in this case a 1448km walk through Dunedin, Christchurch, Arthur’s Pass, West Coast, Haast Pass, Central Otago, Milton and then back to Dunedin. PHOTO: EVENING STAR
Popular figure. . . Mr AH Reed is seen here near East Taieri in 1964 taking one of his long walks, in this case a 1448km walk through Dunedin, Christchurch, Arthur’s Pass, West Coast, Haast Pass, Central Otago, Milton and then back to Dunedin. PHOTO: EVENING STAR
He was also a charity figure.
“He was known near Dunedin for his help in churches and in the hospital.”
He was a collector of books and manuscripts, and his great love was the Bible in both written and manuscript form.
Mr Reed’s first donations to the Dunedin Library in 1948 were followed by donations between 1948 and 1960.
As his business became more successful and he had “a little more money to spare,” he was able to contribute more important items to the collection.
He is such a fond memory around Dunedin, and many people who are still alive remember him and know of the collection he gave to the city of Dunedin.
“I think that adds value to the project, that history around Mr. Reed himself.”
The project was made possible by the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme, administered by the National Library, Mr Smith said.
Perfect angle. . . To ensure that the manuscripts were not damaged, they were carefully arranged by technicians from New Zealand Micrographic Services. PHOTO: NZMS
Perfect angle. . . To ensure that the manuscripts were not damaged, they were carefully arranged by technicians from New Zealand Micrographic Services. PHOTO: NZMS
The digitization was carried out by a specialized team from New Zealand Micrographic Services.
New Zealand Micrographic Services Southern Regional Manager Stephen Hardman said every single page was carefully arranged to minimize potential damage.
Collection captured. . . dr. Stephen Hardman, New Zealand Micrographic Services’ southern regional manager, says it was a privilege to digitize the collection. PHOTO: SIMON HENDERSON
Collection captured. . . dr. Stephen Hardman, New Zealand Micrographic Services’ southern regional manager, says it was a privilege to digitize the collection. PHOTO: SIMON HENDERSON
The detail of the digitization was phenomenal, he said.
This allowed researchers to extract all kinds of information from every page.
You can go into almost as much detail as is physically possible.
Researchers could zoom in to see individual letters or words, such as to see if there were “typos” or changes to pages.