Heritage Collections

Heritage Collections is part of Dunedin Public Libraries, situated on the 3rd floor of Dunedin City Library. Within Heritage Collections sits the McNab New Zealand Collection, the Alfred and Isabel Reed Collection, and Special Collections.

The McNab New Zealand Collection numbers over 100,000 items and continues to grow through purchase and donation. It comprises books, periodicals, newspapers, maps, troopship journals, genealogical resources, government publications, school magazines and newspaper indices. With such a rich variety of New Zealand material, the McNab Collection ranks as one of the best in the country.

The Reed Collection numbers about 10,000 items and includes more than just books. Letters, microfilms, records, pictures, glass transparencies, document drafts and items of memorabilia are also held. There are approximately 400 pre-1801 imprints of which seven are incunabula (books printed before 1501). Eleven manuscript volumes and over 60 manuscript leaves and fragments date from as far back as the tenth century.

In addition to the Alfred and Isabel Reed Collection, and the McNab New Zealand Collection, the Dunedin Public Library’s Heritage Collections have been augmented by a number of other significant donations made since 1927.

Inventory of McNab Archives at Heritage Collections