 Dust jacket front cover | |
| Editor | A. H. McLintock |
|---|---|
| Country | New Zealand |
| Language | English |
| Subject | New Zealand – Encyclopedias |
| Publisher | R.E. Owen, Government Printer |
Publication date | 1966 |
| Media type | 3 volumes, hardbound; republished online |
| OCLC | 1014037525 |
| 993.003 | |
| LC Class | DU405 .E5 |
| Text | An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand online |
An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand was an official encyclopaedia about New Zealand, published in three volumes by the Government of New Zealand in 1966. Edited by Dr. Alexander Hare McLintock, the parliamentary historian, and assisted by two others, the encyclopaedia included over 1,800 articles and 900 biographies, written by 359 contributing authors. [1]
The Government of New Zealand, or New Zealand Government, is the administrative complex through which authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifically to the collective ministry directing the executive. Based on the principle of responsible government, it operates within the framework that "the Queen reigns, but the government rules, so long as it has the support of the House of Representatives".
Alexander Hare McLintock was a New Zealand teacher, university lecturer, historian and artist. He edited and authored the three-volume Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, published in 1966, his final and perhaps his most remembered work.
The encyclopaedia is more comprehensive and more representative of minorities than previous New Zealand reference works such as the vanity press The Cyclopedia of New Zealand published around sixty years earlier, but not as representative as the more modern Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . A number of women were present as representing firsts, including Kate Edger.
The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: industrial, descriptive, historical, biographical facts, figures, illustrations was an encyclopaedia published in New Zealand between 1897 and 1908 by the Cyclopedia Company Ltd. Arthur McKee was one of the original directors of the company that published The Cyclopedia, and his business partner H. Gamble worked with him on the first volume. Six volumes were published on the people, places and organisations of provinces of New Zealand. Despite being vanity press and almost wholly restricted to white male European colonists to the exclusion of Māori, women and other minorities, the Cyclopedia is now a key historical resource because of its breadth of coverage. Many small towns and social institutions were covered which were poorly covered by contemporary newspapers. The first volume, which covered Wellington, also included the colonial government, politicians, governors, and public servants. The first volume was produced in Wellington, and the remaining volumes were produced in Christchurch.
The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (DNZB) is an encyclopedia or biographical dictionary containing biographies of over 3,000 deceased New Zealanders. It was first published as a series of print volumes from 1990 to 2000, and then on a website from 2002. The dictionary superseded An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand of 1966, which had 900 biographies. The dictionary is managed by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage of the Government of New Zealand. An earlier work of the same name in two volumes, published in 1940 by Guy Scholefield with government assistance, is unrelated.
Kate Milligan Evans was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree.
Its publication met with an enthusiastic response; within two months almost all of its initial print run of 34,000 copies had sold. After the last 3,000 copies were sold it was never reprinted, more due to the non-commercial priorities of the government-run printing office than any lack of demand or interest from the general public. [2] The encyclopaedia was well received by scholars and teachers, and it is still regarded as an important New Zealand reference work, even considering its errors and omissions, and the biases of its time. Jock Phillips, writing in 2003 about his editorship of its successor Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand , considers it an "illustrious predecessor" and describes it as
John Oliver Crompton (Jock) Phillips is a New Zealand historian, author and encyclopedist. He is the general editor of Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, the official encyclopedia of New Zealand.
Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand is an online encyclopedia established in 2001 by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage of the New Zealand Government. The web-based content was developed in stages over the next several years; the first sections were published in 2005, and the last in 2014 marking its completion. Te Ara means "the pathway" in the Māori language, and contains over three million words in articles from over 450 authors. Over 30,000 images and video clips are included from thousands of contributors.
even now, a most impressive work. It remains an essential source of reference for students and scholars of New Zealand [...] But it is very much a creature of a particular time and place. [2]
The work's importance, both as a reference and as an historical snapshot of mid-20th century New Zealand, motivated the Ministry for Culture and Heritage to digitise and republish the work online. [3] The text and images have been made available, without corrections or updates, as a separate resource within its successor Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. [4]
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatū Taonga (MCH) is the public-service department of the New Zealand government charged with advising the government on policies and issues involving the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors, and participating in functions that advance or promote those sectors.
