The 150 or so black-and-white images in this book are mostly full-page size, give a taste of life around the province over the period of a century and, I am pleased to observe, include a good range of pictures illustrating social changes.
The one I have chosen to illustrate this note is an example; however, it also provides plenty of opportunities for readers to explore further.
The caption in total reads: "Until 1966, Newbolds was a Dunedin institution, offering the public three floors and a cellar of second-hand books piled high in every room.
In 1917, health problems forced the Rev. T. W. Newbold to retire from preaching to take up bookselling.
In 1934 Newbolds moved to this site at the intersection of George and Frederick streets.
A Wellington bibliophile praised the `fascinating scene of disorder . . . thousands and thousands of dusty books! Books in sacks, books in cases, books in old trunks, books bursting to life from tattered parcels.' The old building, modernised but still recognisable, survives."
Indeed it does, as a bank. All perfectly accurate, so far as it goes.
But what are all the people on the footpath doing? Well, if I recall my ODT/Otago Witness files correctly, they are not queuing to get into Newbolds but to the little Holsum bread shop sandwiched (!) between Newbolds and Kelvinator House.
They are waiting to buy their bread (hence the bags, even suitcases) before a long weekend - I think Easter - before the days of seven-day shopping.
• Bryan James is the Books Editor.
