B. E. Baughan, Studies in New Zealand Scenery, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1916, 1st Edition

This fabulous account of New Zealand's scenic beauty is fascinating. It is increasingly scarce, particularly in this condition. It still has its dust jacket, which is rare - though sadly it is in poor condition. The book itself is in excellent condition. There is a small area of rubbing on the top left side of the front cover at the spine. It has the details of its original owner on the front endpaper and the echoes of a later owner, whose name in pencil has been erased. The binding is tight. There is some minor foxing on the first and last few pages, but the text itself is clean. The book is very well illustrated throughout with monochrome plates.

The text presents studies of seven regions around New Zealand including:
The finest walk in the world (the Milford Track)
Snow kings of the Southern Alps
Uncanny country
A river of pictures and peace
Summit Road
Forest and ice
Stars under the earth

Blanche Edith Baughan (1870-1958) was born in England and first travelled to New Zealand in 1900. After further travels in the Pacific and beyond, she returned to New Zealand in 1902 and made her home in Chorlton, a tiny isolated community on Banks Peninsula. Initially Baughan dedicated herself to poetry and then prose sketches before recording her accounts of her new home. About 1910, she moved to a cottage at the top of Clifton spur, near Sumner, Christchurch, where she lived until 1930. Baughan's essay on the Milford Track, 'Finest walk in the world', was printed in the London Spectator in 1908; it led to a commission for a series of similar essays to be published in booklet form. Extensive walking and alpine climbing trips throughout New Zealand preceded the writing. In 1916 these popular essays were collected together and published as Studies in New Zealand Scenery, and in 1922 they were reprinted, with one additional essay, under the title Glimpses of New Zealand scenery. In the essays Baughan displays a considerable knowledge of indigenous plants. Her interest in natural history had put her in touch with the eminent botanists Robert Laing and Leonard Cockayne, and she made a significant collection of  unrecorded plants from the Westland slopes of Copland Pass. From about 1920 Baughan's focus shifted from writing to promoting a more humane and effective treatment of prisoners and those deemed at the time 'society's misfits'. Baughan moved from Clifton to Akaroa in 1930. She made her home an unofficial halfway house, frequently giving shelter and financial assistance to ex-prisoners and others on the fringe of society.

Please look closely at the photographs as they form an important part of the description. If you are based in Wellington, free delivery is available in the central, southern and eastern suburbs, or for $5 in the northern and western suburbs. If you would like further information, please get in touch directly (contact@eldercroftandsons.co.nz).