Printing press' history treated to very modern preservation

A pioneer printing press at Pompallier Mission in Russell, which began its glory days right after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, is entering the 21st century by way of an electronic database this week.
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust has started a project to electronically catalogue historic items held throughout the country at its properties. Five cataloguers started work at Pompallier Mission last Monday.
The data will be made available online when the project is completed, meaning artefacts like the press will be accessible to New Zealanders as never before.
Thousands of items relating to the Pompallier Mission printery and to the people who later occupied the building when it became a private home are held in the historic building on the Russell waterfront, now restored to its original purpose.
Pompallier Mission manager Kate Martin yesterday described the press - called the Gaveaux Press - as "a national treasure".
French missionaries had brought the state-of-the-art press out from Paris brand-new in 1840, along with all the equipment necessary to set up a printing operation in a frontier situation.
The voyage across two oceans had taken over a year, delayed by various problems including storms.
Another delay followed while the missionaries designed and built the rammed-earth printery, a distinctively French provincial building which was architecturally unique in Australasia.
The operation was closed down only eight years later when the French church authorities diverted the missionaries to looking after the Catholics in the growing urban populations.
All the printery equipment was sold or given away.
Ms Martin said in eight years of operation the Gaveaux Press produced nearly 40,000 books in the Maori language, despite production being disrupted for a year by warfare. "This was a huge contribution to the introduction of print culture and literacy to Maori."
The story of the press had not ended there. The Gaveaux had "found its way" to the Waikato where the Kingitanga (the king movement) used the press to print its newspaper Te Paki O Matariki.
More than 100 years after it had left Russell, the Gaveaux Press was returned to Pompallier Mission by the late Maori Queen, Dame Te Ataiirangi Kahu to be held in trust, but still belongs to the Kingitanga.
Ms Martin said the press had been beautifully preserved at Ngaruawahia marae.
The trust's heritage destinations manager Elizabeth Cox said having a full electronic catalogue of collections would improve the trust's ability to manage preservation and use them better.