b'104481480 481ANGUS CORNISH, CASTLEMAINE BOROUGH ENGINEERNEW ZEALAND FERNS by ERIC CRAIG, circa 1880. & INSPECTOR OF WORKS, circa 1870s - 1900s: A bulgingA stunning tome of pressed New Zealand fern specimens file of hand-written and illustrated specification documentsattractively displayed and captioned. Title page includes Maori and surveyors reports for works completed or required in andcartes-de-visite portraits and lithograph view SCENE IN around Castlemaine; including C. Hansan and 15 prisonersTIKITAPU BUSH NEAR OHINEMUTU. Retailers ink stamp are employed in forming the new Lake in the BotanicalERIC CRAIG, PRINCES ST. AUCKLAND. Finely carved Gardens., For making three hundred and fifty more or lessmottle kauri boards with title and red morocco spine with gilt holes within the Borough for receiving trees, for Kerbingembossing. 19th century.the Borough footpath, for painting and white-washing theEric Craig (1829-1923) was a collector, publisher and dealer Town Hall, for fencing the old cemetery at Pennyweightin natural history and ethnography, who ran a curio business Flat, Kerbing and flagging the footpath in front of the Newcalled The fern and curiosity dealer near to the old Auckland Post Office, and many, many more. A fascinating archive ofMuseum. The fashion to collect, cultivate and display ferns original documents, most signed by the relevant parties. (known at the time as the fern craze or Pteridomania) had $5001,000spread to New Zealand from Victorian England. From his shop Craig sold (amongst other things) books of pressed ferns, specimens of which he had sourced from a string of suppliers he had in various parts of the country.$2,0003,000'