They were celebrated at a function at the library last night to thank those who had given to the institution.
Library curator of archives and manuscripts Anna Blackman, on behalf of librarian Sharon Dell, whose travel plans were disrupted by the Chilean ash cloud, said the value of what had been bought for, given or deposited with the library came to $1.4 million in the past year.
Among the given were glass plate negatives depicting interior views of New Zealand's first international exhibition in Dunedin in 1865, rated as three of the most significant images to come into the library's photograph collection in the last decade. They were given by a descendant of Alfred Eccles, the main organiser of the exhibition and came with labelled wrappings in his son's hand.
The family of Jack Lethbridge, of Wanaka, formalised a long-standing loan by giving the Goldie portrait Wiripine Ninia - a Ngatiawa Chieftainess.
Other items included former New Zealand Cricket president Arthur Ibbotson's blues blazer, sketches and photographs by David Ogilvie Robertson, papers from Dunedin poet and musician Gaylene, 235 Joanna Paul works on paper and 64 sketchbooks from her estate, and a set of the Evening Star from 1865-1976 and Star Sports from 1946-75, given by Julian Smith.
