Case W6
- Association Books 2
George A. Lawrence. Silverland. London: Chapman and Hall, 1873.
The Reed Collection’s copy of George A. Lawrence’s Silverland, (a little-known account of the novelist’s travels in America) contains the bookplate of Dunedin businessman and politician William James Mudie Larnach (1833-1898). Larnach is famed for his residence The Camp (popularly known as Larnach’s Castle) and for his death by suicide at Parliament Buildings.
Larnach’s library was sold by auction at Dunedin in April 1900. His substantial collection included rare and valuable books on the early history of Australia and New Zealand and attracted widespread interest from representatives of both countries.
The short history Larnach and his castle, published in 1950, was one of several Otago-themed historical works written and published by A.H. Reed in the post-war years. It was soon after this that Silverland was gifted to the Reed Collection by Reed’s friend and fellow Dickens enthusiast Brian McPherson.
The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. Oxford: Printed at the University Press for the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1854.
This 1854 Holy Bible, purchased by A.H. Reed in 1962, was the personal Bible of David Livingstone (1813-1873), the Scottish explorer and missionary famed for his extensive pioneer explorations in Africa.
This Bible was given to Livingstone before his departure for his expedition to the Zambezi, as a parting gift on the occasion of his resignation from the London Missionary Society. It bears his signature in three places. One inscription reads “David Livingstone, London, 1857” and another “David Livingstone, Tette, 1859.” Tette (modern spelling Tete, now in Mozambique) is a town located on the Zambezi River which for a time Livingstone used as his headquarters while he pushed farther into the interior. This inscription suggests that this Bible travelled with Livingstone to Africa.
The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. Oxford: Printed at the University Press for the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1854.
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