Alexander Turnbull Library is a research library in Wellington, on the North Island of New Zealand. Its collection includes hundreds of thousands of books, as well as thousands of maps, photographs, manuscripts, sound recordings, and other materials. It specializes in works on New Zealand, the Pacific, the English poet John Milton, and English literature of the mid-1600’s. The library also has a collection of early printed books. In addition, the Turnbull Library researches the development of the art of printing. The original collection of Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull, a Wellington merchant, consisted of about 55,000 volumes. The collection was bequeathed to the nation following Turnbull’s death in 1918. The library opened in 1920. In 1965, the library became a division of the National Library of New Zealand.
