Collections of letters written by or about James Hector
As part of a biographical study of James Hector (1834-1907), several collections of letters have been transcribed. These are a valuable research tool for researchers in a variety of fields, so they are being published by the Geoscience Society of New Zealand as parts of GSNZ Miscellaneous Publication 133, available as free downloadable PDF files from the GSNZ website, www.gsnz.org.nz – click on Publications, then Misc. Pub. Series – or use the links given below.
"My Dearest Georgie": transcriptions of 22 letters from James Hector to his wife Georgiana written in 1890, by Judith Nathan & Simon Nathan. Geoscience Society of New Zealand miscellaneous publication 133A, 35 pages
"My Dear Hooker": transcriptions of letters from James Hector to Joseph Dalton Hooker between 1860 & 1898, by Rowan Burns & Simon Nathan. Geoscience Society of New Zealand miscellaneous publication 133B, 208 pages
“My Dear Dr Haast”: transcriptions of selected letters from Robert Langley Holmes to Julius Haast between 1864-65 and 1868-70, by Rowan Burns & Simon Nathan. Geoscience Society of New Zealand miscellaneous publication 133C, 53 pages.
The correspondence of Julius Haast and James Hector, 1862-1887, by Sascha Nolden, Rowan Burns & Simon Nathan. Geoscience Society of New Zealand miscellaneous publication 133D, 315 pages.
"A Quick Run Home": Correspondence while James Hector was overseas in 1875-1876, by Rowan Burns & Simon Nathan. Geoscience Society of New Zealand miscellaneous publication 133E, 144 pages.
Transcriptions of selected letters from Frederick Wollaston Hutton to James Hector and Julius Haast, by Esme Mildenhall, Rowan Burns & Simon Nathan. Geoscience Society of New Zealand miscellaneous publication 133F, 141 pages.
Several more collections are in preparation, including an account of Hector’s travels in Northland in 1865-66, a collection of miscellaneous letters and a bibliography of Hector’s publications. It is hoped that these will be published in early 2013.
For more information, please contact Simon Nathan – s.nathan@xtra.co.nz
We would appreciate feedback from readers, information on more letters written by or relating to James Hector that may come to light, and notification of the inevitable corrections that will be discovered.