Auckland Libraries have recently acquired, digitised, and catalogued four chromolithographic posters from the late nineteenth century.

In this track we hear Andrew Henry, Principal Aotearoa NZ Collections, share the story behind the creation of these artful 1890s advertising newspaper supplements.

The posters feature views, taken from different elevated spots around the Tāmaki Makaurau central isthmus, surrounded by vignettes of local businesses who had paid to be included in the posters. The interior views of shops, hotels, and factories are particularly intriguing.

Printed by Wilson and Horton's Lithographic and Colour Printery, in Auckland, in 1895, the chromolithographs were included as a supplement to the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Weekly News.

The digitised posters are available to view via Kura Heritage Collections Online.

https://tinyurl.com/327ssn7j

Learn more about them in a Heritage et AL blog post by Andrew Henry, Principal Aotearoa New Zealand Collections Librarian: https://bit.ly/ArtfulAdvertising

On view for June 2023 in the Kura Tūturu | Real Gold case in the Reading Room Level 2 Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library or by request at any time.

Image: View of Auckland from Harbour, 1895, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Eph-Post00426.