The Turnbull: A Library and Its World

by Rachel Barrowman

In 1918 Wellington merchant and book collector Alexander Turnbull left his private library to the nation. The Alexander Turnbull Library forms the cornerstone of New Zealand's national collection of historical and heritage material. Exploring the library's development in its cultural context, this is also a history of New Zealand's intellectual life in the twentieth century.

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Rachel Barrowman is an award-winning historian. Her publications include, The Turnbull: a library and its world (1995), and Mason: the life of R.A.K. Mason (2003), which won the biography category of the 2004 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. This biography also received a wealth of critical praise, and Kim Worthington described it as, ‘a superbly crafted biography’. Rachel Barrowman has worked as an editor for the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, and has been awarded key research fellowships.