Today, a collection of over 600 rare books—what some are calling "the last great private library "—will be auctioned off in New Zealand.  The books were collected by Arthur Pycroft, a prominent Auckland naturalist and scholar.  Pycroft earned his living as a senior manager of NZ Railways, but his passions were ornithology and natural history, which he delved into with dedicated research and during personal explorations of Hen Island, Little Barrier, the Kermadecs, and Melanesia.  At the age of 50, Pycroft received a hefty inheritance and was able to retire and devote himself to his passions full time.  He became a member of the "Moa Searching Committee", a group that searched for skeletons at specific sites.  He even had a newly discovered species of petrel named after him. Now let's get down to business—what are some of the treasures in this collection?

• A complete set of Cook's Voyages, published in the 1770s
• A first edition of the first novel published in New Zealand, Taranaki: A Tale of the War by Henry Stoney (1861)
• A 2-volume set of Captain Scott's journals from his last expedition, published in 1914
• Early Maori language publications, including an 1838 New Testament and an 1852 translated version of Robinson Crusoe
• Te Tohunga, a 1907 German translation of ancient Maori legends and traditions by Wilhelm Dittmer, which features a leather cover adorned with a color illustration

Also included are numerous titles about exploration, shipping and maritime history, natural history and botany, Maori history, and chronicles of the NZ Company.  The Pycroft Collection of Rare Books will be auctioned off today  and tomorrow at Art + Object, 3 Abbey St, Newton at 6.30pm.  

'Last great private library' under hammer