Being Incidents of Native Customs and Character in the Old Times

London: Smith, Elder & Co, 1863. First English edition. Very Good-. This first London edition was preceded by an edition published in Auckland in the same year Both editions are considered quite scarce
First published anonymously in 1863, this classic book recounts the experiences of Frederick Edward Maning (c1811â€"83), an Anglo-Irish trader who emigrated to Tasmania with his family as a boy and later relocated to New Zealand A self-styled 'Pakeha-Maori' ('Pakeha' is the Maori word for a white New Zealander), Manning acquired land and settled down with a Maori woman, occupying a tenuous position between the two cultures Observing that the old Maori way of life was rapidly disappearing due to the increased European presence in New Zealand, Maning endeavored to record Maori customs and material culture before all knowledge of them disappeared Old New Zealand is a mixture of history, autobiography and anecdote, and the author insists all the incidents and people described are real The language is informal, and the narrative vigorous and rapid, with lively dialogues and occasional Maori phrases A glossary explains Maori words and concepts

This copy is in good to very good condition with scored out in ink to title, occasional faint spotting and finger-soiling, ex-library with ink-stamp to p1, original cloth, rebacked with remnants of original spine laid down, rubbed, bumping to corners and spine extremities
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