Abstract
DR. WILLIAMS' bibliography of printed Maori publications contains nearly uoo items. The mere number, however, does not nearly represent the amount of labour which has been expended in its compilation, as each entry is annotated with information additional to the formal particulars, and in many cases some indication is given of the character of the contents. The author has departed from the strict rule followed by many bibliographers and has included items which he has not personally examined, but as such entries are indicated, those who use the bibliography will in these cases be on their guard. The entries are in chronological order a disadvantage if the date of the book about which information is sought is not known, or if it is undated but as the entries are naturally of a very miscellaneous character, ranging from Bibles and prayers to newspapers, dictionaries, and government documents, any satisfactory classification would be a matter of extreme difficulty. Further, the deficiency is to some extent made good by a very full index and a list of authors and translators. In the preface, Dr. Williams reviews previous attempts at Maori bibliography, and his introduction is a valuable account of Maori presses in which the work of the various missionary societies, both in reducing Maori to a written language and in printing it, is fully recognised. The first book to be printed in the language was 'The New Zealander's First Book, by Thomas Kendall, the missionary (1815), for the instruction of the natives. It is, Mr. Williams says, scarcely to be recognised as Maori at all.
A Bibliography of Printed Maori to 1900.
By Dr. H. W. Williams. (Dominion Museum Monograph, No. 7.) Pp. xvi + 198. (Wellington, N.Z.: W. A. G. Skinner, 1924.) n.p.
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[Book Reviews]. Nature 115, 296 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/115296c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/115296c0