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Milton's 400th Birthday

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Friends’ bulletin board

  • Bequest to assist conservation work
  • Milton's 400th anniversary, (born 9 December 1608)
  • Milton Essay Competition
  • 2008 Research grant for ballet biography
  • Bequests and donations
  • Turnbull's classic yacht Rona purchased
  • Call for papers: Turnbull Library Record

Bequest to assist conservation work

The Friends have been successful in obtaining a grant of $10,000 from the National Library's Macklin Bequest to be used towards the restoration of several oil paintings in the Turnbull Library's collections.

The first painting to be restored is a portrait of Walter Turnbull - father of Alexander Turnbull - which was part of Alexander's own collection. Some 40 years after Alexander's death, the painting suffered water damage while stored in the attic of the old Turnbull House.

Conference marking the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Milton (9 December 1608)

The Friends of the Turnbull Library are planning a conference in association with the Alexander Turnbull Library to mark the 400th anniversary of Milton's birth.

It will be held in Wellington at the National Library Auditorium on Friday and Saturday, 5-6 December 2008, opening with the keynote lecture at 6.00pm on Friday 5 December.

The theme of the conference will be Miltonic Origins/Miltonic Innovations: Milton's poetry and thought in New World societies and cultures

The keynote speaker will be John Rumrich, Thaman Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, who will speak on Reading Him Now.

Professor Rumrich is author of Matter of Glory: A New Preface to Paradise Lost (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1987) and Milton Unbound: Controversy and Reinterpretation (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996), and is one of the three editors of The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton (The Modern Library, 2007).

Invited speaker: Dr Juliet Lucy will speak on Milton and Ecology. Dr Lucy is honorary research adviser, School of English, Media Studies and Art History, University of Queensland. She is also a practising lawyer in the areas of water law, privacy law and administrative law.

Offers of papers (20 minutes) are welcome. Please write to Dr Brian Opie (admin@humanities.org.nz) with a title and brief abstract.

Milton Essay Competition

The Friends of the Turnbull Library have organised an essay competition for New Zealand secondary school students to mark the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Milton. It carries a prize of $1500 for the best original essay of up to 1500 words discussing the contribution Milton made in his lifetime and the continuing influence of his ideas and writing. Entries have now closed, but details may be found here.

The Turnbull Library has a special association with John Milton, as it contains one of the world's most notable collections of his works and of reference materials relevant to him. Milton's quatercentenary is being marked by special events in many countries.

Research grant for ballet biography

Jennifer Shennan, respected dance teacher, writer and lecturer in dance studies, has been awarded the Friends of the Turnbull Library Research Grant for 2008. The award is for research towards a book on the life of the celebrated Danish dancer Poul Gnatt, who formed this country's first professional dance company, The New Zealand Ballet, in 1953. With life-long experience in dance, as performer, teacher and critic, Jennifer Shennan is considered an ideal person to undertake this significant biography.

The research grant of up to $10,000 is awarded annually by the Friends of the Turnbull Library to a researcher proposing to use the resources of the Alexander Turnbull Library for an important research project in New Zealand history and culture.

Rachel Underwood, President of the Friends of the Turnbull Library, said Jennifer Shennan's research will draw on the extensive resources in the collections of the Library, including the Royal NZ Ballet collection, the NZ music archive, the drawings, paintings and prints collection, the photographic collection and material from the family of Poul Gnatt.

"We are very pleased that the grant will support research in the field of dance in New Zealand and result in a biography of such an influential man," Mrs Underwood said.

Poul Gnatt, who became a naturalised New Zealander, had been a celebrated principal artist with The Royal Danish Ballet before he arrived in New Zealand in the early 1950s and his international reputation in ballet remained strong throughout his life.

The $10,000 grant will enable Ms Shennan to continue research and interviews in New Zealand and overseas. A book of some 300 pages is planned, with up to 50 black and white photographic illustrations.

Jennifer Shennan is the fifth recipient of the Friends' research grant. Previous grants have been awarded to Philip Norman for a biography of Douglas Lilburn; Tim Beaglehole for a biography of his father, the late historian J. C. Beaglehole; Alex Bremner for a study of colonial Anglican architecture; and Paul Diamond for his photo-biography of Makareti (Maggie Papakura) published last month.

Bequests and Donations

Bequests and donations are very effective ways of supporting the Alexander Turnbull Library. The Library always welcomes bequests that may be of historical value, including books, documents, paintings, drawings, family papers and photographs. Financial bequests - made direct to the Alexander Turnbull Library Endowment Trust or to the Friends of the Turnbull Library - are used to support the Library's work of collecting, preserving, and improving the dissemination of knowledge of New Zealand's heritage.

The Friends of the Turnbull Library also seeks donations to assist in special projects. In 2006, members made generous contributions towards the cost of commissioning a bronze portrait of the late historian, Michael King, which was then presented to the Library. In 2007, donations were received to assist in the conservation of one of the oil paintings in the Drawings and Prints Collection.

In 2008 the Friends of the Turnbull Library was registered by the Charities Commission (registration number CC22660), confirming our eligibility to issue tax-deductible receipts for charitable donations.

Turnbull's classic yacht Rona purchased

The yacht Rona, built for Alexander Turnbull by Robert Logan in Auckland in 1892, has recently been purchased by a charitable trust set up by members of the sailing fraternity to ensure her continued maintenance and preservation in sailing condition as the centrepiece of a classic yacht fleet in Wellington. She was offered for sale in meticulously restored condition by her Nelson owner. Rona is still in top sailing condition and participated in an Auckland regatta in 2003.

Call for papers: Turnbull Library Record

The Turnbull Library Record is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal in the humanities, published annually by the Alexander Turnbull Library in association with the Friends of the Turnbull Library. Contributions that have not been previously published are welcomed and, before acceptance, will be evaluated by independent referees. For details of forthcoming issues and submission requirements, contact: The Editorial Board, Turnbull Library Record, PO Box 12 349, Wellington, New Zealand.

Friends of the Turnbull Library 2008