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Past books

  • Book cover for An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes
    An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes

    An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes

    An indispensable guide to hebes – among New Zealand’s best known native plants. Finalist in the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2007 – Reference & Anthology.

  • Art at Te Papa
    Art at Te Papa

    Art at Te Papa

    Art at Te Papa, a major book from Te Papa Press showcasing the best of New Zealand’s national art collection, from the iconic to the little-known.

  • Audrey Eagle Botanical Art Stationery
    Audrey Eagle Botanical Art Stationery

    Audrey Eagle Botanical Art Stationery

    A stunning range of personal notebooks and boxed cards, featuring a popular selection of Audrey Eagle’s celebrated botanical artwork of New Zealand flora. This beautifully produced range of products accompanies Te Papa Press’s new The Essential Audrey Eagle: Botanical Art of New Zealand.

  • Awesome Forces book cover
    Awesome Forces: The Natural Hazards that Threaten New Zealand

    Awesome Forces: The Natural Hazards that Threaten New Zealand

    Massively updated, the new edition of Te Papa Press’s bestselling introduction to New Zealand’s natural hazards and disasters is more relevant than ever.

  • Aztecs: Conquest and Glory
    Aztecs: Conquest and Glory

    Aztecs: Conquest and Glory

    Prophecy, empire, and sacrifice – enter the dramatic world of the Aztecs!

  • Berry Boys: Portraits of First World War Soldiers and Families
    Berry Boys: Portraits of First World War Soldiers and Families

    Berry Boys: Portraits of First World War Soldiers and Families

    A powerful book of portraits offering an extraordinary, evocative snapshot of New Zealanders facing the First World War.

  • Book of New Zealand Words
    Book of New Zealand Words

    Book of New Zealand Words

    This elegant, expert, and utterly up-to-date book contains over 1,500 samples from New Zealand's distinctive vocabulary.

  • Buller’s Birds of New Zealand Stationery
    Buller’s Birds of New Zealand Stationery

    Buller’s Birds of New Zealand Stationery

    A lavish range of stationery featuring a selection of all-new reproductions of JG Keulemans’ classic artworks of New Zealand native birds.

  • Māui's Taonga Tales_David Brechin-Smith
    Māui’s Taonga Tales: A Treasury of Stories from Aotearoa and the Pacific

    Māui’s Taonga Tales: A Treasury of Stories from Aotearoa and the Pacific

    Join Māui as he shares stories for tamariki based on taonga from the Te Papa collection

  • Buller's Birds of New Zealand 2012
    Buller’s Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans

    Buller’s Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans

    A complete, all-new edition of the classic 19th century ornithological paintings of John Gerrard Keulemans for Walter Buller’s iconic A History of the Birds of New Zealand, featuring fresh reproductions of the original watercolour paintings

  • Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand
    Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand

    Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand

    Greatly revised and expanded, the latest edition of this highly respected guide is the must-have reference for birds in the New Zealand region.

  • The Curioseum: Collected stories of the odd and marvellous
    The Curioseum: Collected Stories of the Odd and Marvellous

    The Curioseum: Collected Stories of the Odd and Marvellous

    A truly original compendium of stories and poems for 8–12 year olds, by New Zealand's best children's authors and with whimsical illustrations from award-winning Sarah Laing.

  • Eagle’s Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand - book cover
    Eagle’s Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand

    Eagle’s Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand

    Every known native New Zealand tree and shrub – in colour and life size. Winner of the Montana Medal for Non-fiction 2007 and winner of the Illustrative section of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2007.

  • Fishing Methods and Devices of the Maori
    Elsdon Best titles

    Elsdon Best titles

    Now back in print for the first time in 20 years. Elsdon Best (1856–1931) was New Zealand’s foremost ethnographer of Māori social life and customs. Today, his work remains a unique and valuable record of Māori tradition.

  • E Tū Ake: Māori Standing Strong
    E Tū Ake: Māori Standing Strong

    E Tū Ake: Māori Standing Strong

    Explore the richness of Māori culture – dynamic, diverse, and politically strong – through the ancestral treasures, contemporary art, and stories of New Zealand’s indigenous people.

  • Extinct Birds of New Zealand
    Extinct Birds of New Zealand

    Extinct Birds of New Zealand

    A richly illustrated view into the world of New Zealand’s lost birds. Finalist in the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2007 – Environment.

  • The Fishes of New Zealand
    The Fishes of New Zealand

    The Fishes of New Zealand

    The most detailed reference to the fishes of New Zealand ever published – definitive and completely illustrated.

  • Game Masters
    Game Masters

    Game Masters

    An inside look at the art of the world's biggest entertainment and creative industry.

  • Book cover
    The Genius of Bugs Activity Book

    The Genius of Bugs Activity Book

    Test your genius in these awesome bug activities.

  • Book cover
    The Genius of Bugs

    The Genius of Bugs

    They may be small, they may be creepy, but bugs have super-sized powers!

  • High Country New Zealand: The Land, the People, the Seasons
    High Country New Zealand: The Land, the People, the Seasons

    High Country New Zealand: The Land, the People, the Seasons

    Majestically beautiful, remote and rugged, the high country of New Zealand is central to the country’s history and identity. This visually stunning book, High Country New Zealand, documents and celebrates the land, its people, and their way of life through the changing seasons.

  • Holding on to Home: New Zealand Stories and Objects of the First World War
    Holding on to Home: New Zealand Stories and Objects of the First World War

    Holding on to Home: New Zealand Stories and Objects of the First World War

    A powerfully human and compelling illustrated history of New Zealand’s war experience.

  • Icons Ngā Tonga from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
    Icons Ngā Taonga

    Icons Ngā Taonga

    A significant and bold selection from the collections of New Zealand’s national museum. Beautifully illustrated with engaging essays and commentary, both in English and Māori.

  • Icons series
    Icons series

    Icons series

    These five stylish books introduce fascinating objects from Te Papa’s art, history, natural history, Pacific and Māori collections.

  • Identification of Seabirds of the Southern Ocean
    Identification of Seabirds of the Southern Ocean

    Identification of Seabirds of the Southern Ocean

    The definitive guide to identifying seabirds in the oceans around New Zealand.

  • Judy Darragh: So...You Made It?
    Judy Darragh: So...You Made It?

    Judy Darragh: So...You Made It?

    Judy Darragh: So…You Made It? profiles the recent work and ongoing career of artist 'Queen of Kitsch' Judy Darragh.

  • The Māori Meeting House: Introducing the Whare Whakairo
    The Māori Meeting House: Introducing the Whare Whakairo

    The Māori Meeting House: Introducing the Whare Whakairo

    An accessible, illustrated guide to the history, artistry and cultural significance of the whare whakairo or Māori meeting house.

  • The New Photography_Athol McCredie
    The New Photography: New Zealand's First-Generation Contemporary Photographers

    The New Photography: New Zealand's First-Generation Contemporary Photographers

    New Zealand’s photographer pioneers of the 1960s and 1970s.

  • The New Zealand Art Activity Book: 100+ Ideas for Creative Kids
    The New Zealand Art Activity Book: 100+ Ideas for Creative Kids

    The New Zealand Art Activity Book: 100+ Ideas for Creative Kids

    Forget old-fashioned colouring books! Let the world of New Zealand art unleash your children’s imaginations in The NZ Art Activity Book: 100+ Ideas for Creative Kids.

  • New Zealand Art: From Cook to Contemporary
    New Zealand Art: From Cook to Contemporary

    New Zealand Art: From Cook to Contemporary

    This stunning book, New Zealand Art: From Cook to Contemporary, uses colour reproductions and essays from New Zealand’s top curators to take the reader on a lively tour of Te Papa’s best-loved artworks.

  • New Zealand Fashion Design
    New Zealand Fashion Design

    New Zealand Fashion Design

    New Zealand Fashion Design is a big, beautifully designed book profiling 25 top New Zealand fashion designers from the past 30 years. It is lavishly illustrated with over 500 stunning photographs, featuring insights into the designers’ own archives and private collections.

  • New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History
    New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History

    New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History

    New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History is the first comprehensive, illustrated, and locally authored New Zealand film history, celebrating over 100 years of our film industry.

  • New Zealand Photography Collected
    New Zealand Photography Collected

    New Zealand Photography Collected

    From the sublime to the surreal, the familiar to the forgotten and the 1850s to the present – see New Zealand photography like never before in this unique visual history.

  • New Zealand Seaweeds: An Illustrated Guide
    New Zealand Seaweeds: An Illustrated Guide

    New Zealand Seaweeds: An Illustrated Guide

    New Zealand Seaweeds is the first photographic identification guide to New Zealand’s unique marine algae, by the country’s pre-eminent seaweed expert Wendy Nelson.

  • Pacific Art in Detail
    Pacific Art in Detail

    Pacific Art in Detail

    This beautiful book, Pacific Art in Detail, takes a fresh look at the wealth of art from the Pacific – from simple to ornate, domestic to sacred, traditional to contemporary.

  • Pacific Art Niu Sila: The Pacific Dimension of Contemporary New Zealand Arts
    Pacific Art Niu Sila: The Pacific Dimension of Contemporary New Zealand Arts

    Pacific Art Niu Sila: The Pacific Dimension of Contemporary New Zealand Arts

    Pacific Art Niu Sila is essential reading for all those interested in the contemporary arts of both New Zealand and the Pacific.

  • Pacific Encounters: Art & Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860
    Pacific Encounters: Art & Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860

    Pacific Encounters: Art & Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860

    Highly illustrated catalogue of hundreds of rare art and artefacts from all over the Pacific.

  • Pōhutukawa & Rātā: New Zealand's Iron-hearted Trees
    Pōhutukawa & Rātā: New Zealand's Iron-hearted Trees

    Pōhutukawa & Rātā: New Zealand's Iron-hearted Trees

    Winner in the Environment category of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2006.

  • Rita Angus: An Artist’s Life
    Rita Angus: An Artist’s Life

    Rita Angus: An Artist’s Life

    Rita Angus: An Artist's Life is the first biography of this significant and much-loved New Zealand artist

  • Rita Angus: Life & Vision
    Rita Angus: Life & Vision (exhibition catalogue)

    Rita Angus: Life & Vision (exhibition catalogue)

    Rita Angus: Life & Vision is the accompanying catalogue to the Te Papa exhibition and which marks the centenary of Rita Angus’s birth.

  • Rita Angus catalogue tile
    Rita Angus: New Zealand Modernist | He Ringatoi Hou o Aotearoa

    Rita Angus: New Zealand Modernist | He Ringatoi Hou o Aotearoa

    The companion catalogue to the major Rita Angus show at Te Papa.

  • Sage tea: an autobiography
    Sage tea: an autobiography

    Sage tea: an autobiography

    Sage tea: an autobiography is an intimate first-person portrayal of the early life of the New Zealand landscape artist Toss Woollaston.

  • Speaking in Colour: Conversations with artists of Pacific Island heritage
    Speaking in Colour: Conversations with artists of Pacific Island heritage

    Speaking in Colour: Conversations with artists of Pacific Island heritage

    Speaking in Colour is a breakthrough art book, in which ten artists of Pacific Island descent talk candidly about their lives and work.

  • surrealist art
    Surrealist Art | He Toi Pohewa

    Surrealist Art | He Toi Pohewa

    The catalogue of the major 2021 Surrealism show at Te Papa

  • Taiāwhio: Conversations with Contemporary Māori Artists
    Taiāwhio: Conversations with Contemporary Māori Artists

    Taiāwhio: Conversations with Contemporary Māori Artists

    Taiāwhio is a collection of fascinating profiles of more than 20 Māori artists working in various media.

  • Taiāwhio II: Contemporary Māori Artists, 18 New Conversations
    Taiāwhio II : Contemporary Māori Artists, 18 New Conversations

    Taiāwhio II : Contemporary Māori Artists, 18 New Conversations

    Taiāwhio II: Conversations with Contemporary Māori Artists has proven invaluable to art lovers, students, teachers, and those with a passion for New Zealand art. This volume profiles a fresh range of contemporary Māori artists.

  • Taonga Māori: A Spiritual Journey Expressed Through Māori Art
    Taonga Māori: A Spiritual Journey Expressed Through Māori Art

    Taonga Māori: A Spiritual Journey Expressed Through Māori Art

    A superb reminder of the treasures that were shown to national and international acclaim in the Te Māori exhibition 1983-87.

  • Taonga Māori in the British Museum
    Taonga Māori in the British Museum

    Taonga Māori in the British Museum

    This highly illustrated book reveals the most extensive collection of Māori taonga (treasures) held outside of New Zealand – those in the British Museum.

  • Tatau: Samoan Tattoo, New Zealand Art, Global Culture
    Tatau: Samoan Tattoo, New Zealand Art, Global Culture

    Tatau: Samoan Tattoo, New Zealand Art, Global Culture

    This powerful series of photographs documents the story of Samoan tattoo art, and the work of world-renowned and controversial tattoo artist Su’a Sulu’ape Paulo II.

  • Te Papa: Your essential guide.
    Te Papa: Your Essential Guide

    Te Papa: Your Essential Guide

    This compact book full of beautiful images is the complete guide to, and memento of, your visit to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

  • Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality
    Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality

    Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality

    A companion book to the magnificent exhibition of the treasures from the tomb of the First Emperor of China.

  • Tivaivai: The Social Fabric of the Cook Islands
    Tivaivai: The Social Fabric of the Cook Islands

    Tivaivai: The Social Fabric of the Cook Islands

    Beautifully illustrated and informative, this book gives the reader a unique insight into the tradition of tivaivai in the Cook Islands

  • Toi Ora: Ancestral Māori Treasures
    Toi Ora: Ancestral Māori Treasures

    Toi Ora: Ancestral Māori Treasures

    From Te Papa’s collections comes an illuminating introduction to not only Māori art, but also Māori life, culture and beliefs.

  • Toss Woollaston: A Life in Letters
    Toss Woollaston: A Life in Letters

    Toss Woollaston: A Life in Letters

    The revealing letters of a great New Zealand landscape artist – riveting to read and generously illustrated.

  • The Wedding Dress: 300 Years of Bridal Fashions
    The Wedding Dress: 300 Years of Bridal Fashions

    The Wedding Dress: 300 Years of Bridal Fashions

    A spectacular look at the history and traditions of the wedding dress. This book is an excellent accompaniment to Te Papa's exhibition, Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Dresses from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

  • Whatu Kākahu: Māori Cloaks
    Whatu Kākahu: Māori Cloaks

    Whatu Kākahu: Māori Cloaks

    This sumptuous book opens Te Papa’s storeroom doors to reveal its magnificent collection of kākahu (cloaks), and the art and traditions of weaving.