John King’s Bible is a link to the very earliest days of the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand The Kinder Library records of the Church Missionary Society’s earliest days in New Zealand, have been strengthened with the recent gift of John King’s Bible by descendants of John King, for… Read More »Gifted: John King’s Bible
Māori New Testament and its Revision The New Testament in Māori was first published by William Colenso at Paihia in 1838. 5,000 copies were produced of this first edition, which was translated mainly by William Williams. The second edition of the complete New Testament in Māori, published in 1841, was… Read More »Revision of the Māori New Testament, St Matthew and St Mark, 1843
When the book ‘Origines Britannicae’ was found in an upright piano We occasionally gratefully receive donations of pre-1800 books, which move into air-conditioned comfort in our special collections room. You often wonder about the journey that led them to our door and what interesting tales they could tell. Luckily for… Read More »‘Origines Britannicae’ Found in an Upright Piano
John Baskett and the Vinegar Bible was a ‘basketful of errors’ The history of the printed Bible has been marked by many misprints. Poor printers have been fined, struck down by charges of heresy, and even doomed to a life of destitution in a debtor’s prison. One such printer came… Read More »“Basketful of Errors” : John Baskett and the Vinegar Bible
The Reformation and the Printing Press The Reformation and the Printing Press go hand-in-hand. The spread of the Reformation was in part facilitated by the recent invention of the printing press, which led to a growing volume of printed materials and increased the availability of the written word. “[W]e haue… Read More »Martin Luther in Print: The Reformation and the Printing Press
Ever seen a Silver Book of Common Prayer? A recent addition to the Kinder Library is a curious copy of a silver ‘The Book of Common Prayer’ which was found online by one of our eagle-eyed librarians. If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid… Read More »Silver Version of ‘The Book of Common Prayer’
‘The Powder Plot’ from a bound edition of ‘The Book of Common Prayer’ On the 5th of November 1605, a group of English Catholics attempted to blow up the House of Lords with 36 barrels of gunpowder. It became known as the Powder Plot. Catholics in England had faced heavy persecution… Read More »The Powder Plot
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A gifted letter to John Kinder was discovered in the archives In 1855 John Kinder was appointed to the position of Headmaster at the Church of England Grammar School in Auckland, which was then part of St John’s College. He previously was the Master at Alleyne’s Grammar School at Uttoxeter… Read More »A Letter to John Kinder
The parish of St Thomas’ in Tamaki, located on the northeast boundary of the original grounds of St John’s College, was built in 1842 with the foundation stone laid in 1843 by Acting Governor Willoughby Shortland. The building was designed by Sampson Kempthorne, who was known as the “Workhouse Architect”… Read More »“Borrow Bravely”: The Lending Library at St Thomas’, Tamaki
The Cornelius Jansen Paraphrases Among the early printed books in the Kinder Library is a copy of Cornelius Jansen Paraphrases in omnes Psalmos Davidicos, printed by Peter Zangrius Tiletanus of Louvain in 1574 (call number: R0456). This work of scriptural exegesis is not by the famous Roman Catholic theologian Cornelius… Read More »Uncovering Manuscript Waste in the Rare Books Collection
