Description
Book SynopsisAdorable and sometimes surprising historic images of New Zealand dogs and their owners. This entertaining selection of over 100 photos of New Zealand dogs reveals some of the more curious ways in which they have appeared in photographic collections from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dogs named Terror, Betsey Jane, Floss and Erebus appear alongside canines whose names are no longer known. The photos range from carefully staged studio portraits to New Zealand landscapes. This book also shines a light on some significant dogs, from Scott of the Antarctic's favourite sled dog to the talented mascot of the New Zealand Army rugby team. The photographs take the reader across the towns and landscapes of Aotearoa New Zealand, and the text profiles many of the photographers and studios that flourished prior to the First World War. It also pays tribute to the museums and galleries that now care for these delightful collections.
Trade Review"Barking mad, it has to be said. That an institution as august as Te Papa can devote time and funds to assembling a miscellany of canine portraits from colonial times is testament to the museum’s easily overlooked sense of fun. This is a completely unnecessary book, and all the more enjoyable for that. As well as the portraits, a portion of the pooches earn mini-biographies, such as Erebus, the matchmaking Samoyed who was born in the Antarctic on Shackleton’s South Pole expedition. Party member Ernest Joyce presented Erebus to one Beatrice Curlett of Christchurch. Romance ensued." - Paul Little, North & South, March 2022.
