[EXPLORATION -- AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND]. HAMILTON, Augustus (1853-1913). Maori Art. [The Art Workmanship of the Maori Race in New Zealand]. Dunedin & Wellington, New Zealand: The Governors of the New Zealand Institute, 1896-1901.

5 original parts in one volume, 4to (303 x 246 mm). Portrait frontispiece, facsimile title-page from 1896 edition, numerous illustrations (some double-page), 3pp. notices bound-in. Original black art canvas gilt, decoratively stained edges, by Fergusson & Mitchell with their ticket (light rubbing, a few corners bumped); original printed wrappers bound in.

Second edition of Hamilton's work. New Zealand Parliament passed the Maori Antiquities act in 1901, arousing interest in the preservation of Maori relics. Hamilton was named director of the Colonial (later Dominion) Museum in 1903 after they decided they needed to emphasize the preservation of Maori material.


Property from the Collection of Dorothy and Richard Fitch