Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd (formerly A. H. Reed Ltd and A. H. and A. W. Reed Ltd) was one of the leading publishers in New Zealand. It was founded by

Alfred Hamish Reed Sir Alfred Hamish Reed (30 December 1875 – 15 January 1975), generally known as A.H. Reed, was a New Zealand publisher, author and entrepreneur. Early life Alfred Hamish Reed was born at Hayes, Middlesex, in England on 30 December 1875, the ...

and his wife Isabel in 1907. Reed's nephew

Alexander Wyclif Reed Alexander Wyclif Reed (7 March 1908 – 19 October 1979), also known as Clif Reed and A. W. Reed, was a prolific New Zealand publisher and author. Biography Alexander Wyclif Reed, along with his uncle Alfred Hamish Reed, established the publish ...

joined the firm in 1925. It was a

New Zealand literature New Zealand literature is literature, both oral and written, produced by the people of New Zealand. It often deals with New Zealand themes, people or places, is written predominantly in New Zealand English, and features Māori culture and the u ...

specialist and general titles publisher, releasing over 100 titles a year including a number of significant New Zealand authors such as

Barry Crump John Barrie Crump (15 May 1935 – 3 July 1996) was a New Zealand author of semi-autobiographical comic novels based on his image as a rugged outdoors man. Taken together his novels have sold more than a million copies domestically. Crump's 19 ...

Janet Frame Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She was internationally renowned for her work, which included novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous awar ...

and

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in literat ...

History

The Reed firm was founded in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, in 1907 by Alfred Hamish Reed and his wife Isabel as a mail-order Sunday school supply business that became called Sunday School Supply Stores. In 1925 Reed's nephew Alexander Wyclif (Clif) Reed joined the firm. In 1932 Clif opened a branch in Wellington. Also in 1932 the firm expanded into publishing, an activity that grew quickly, taking advantage of the shortage of imported books during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1934 the firm, called A. H. Reed, adopted the imprint A. H. & A. W. Reed. In 1941 the firm became a limited liability company as A. H. Reed Ltd. In the 1950s and 1960s A. H. & A. W. Reed issued a number of bestsellers, including books by Barry Crump, and became New Zealand's foremost educational publisher. In the late 1960s the firm was the largest publisher in Australasia and changed its name to A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. In the 1970s Reed had its head office in Wellington and branches in Auckland, Christchurch, Sydney and London. The firm published many popular non-fiction books that "celebrated a distinctly New Zealand way of life", including works in the fields of "back-country tales, books on sport, gardening, cooking and crafts" and illustrated books of "natural history and books of landscape photographs and painting". Books on

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

topics were one of Reed's specialities. In the 1970s the firm faced growing problems of shrinking markets and increased competition. It was sold to Associated Book Publishers (ABP) in 1983 and, with Methuen Publishing also part of ABP, became "Reed Methuen". In 1987 it became Octopus Publishing (NZ) and published under the Heinemann Reed imprint from 1988. In 1992 British firm Reed International (UK) took over Octopus and the New Zealand company was renamed "Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd". In 2006 it won the Thorpe Bowker Award for Outstanding Achievement in New Zealand Book Publishing. In 2007 it changed its name to "Raupo Publishing (NZ)". ''Raupo'' is Maori for bulrush (''

Typha orientalis ''Typha orientalis'', commonly known as bulrush, cumbungi, or raupō, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus ''Typha''. It is native to Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, China and the ...

''), a type of reed. Raupo is currently an imprint of the

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initi ...

Book series

Book series published by Reed included: * Know Your Garden Series * Mobil New Zealand Nature Series * New Zealand Art Series * New Zealand Profile Series * Pacific Writers Series * Pageant of the Pacific * Raupo Books * Reed Colourbook Series * Reed Practical Gardening Series * The Silver Fern Series

Kiwi Pacific Records and Hibiscus Records

In 1957 A.H. & A.W. Reed began producing records "to support the company's Maori language, physical education and folk-dancing school texts". This division of Reed became known as "Kiwi Pacific Records International Limited" and is no longer part of the former company. Hibiscus Records is a division of Kiwi Pacific Records International and has many Polynesia and Maori titles on CD, specialised in mainly authentic Polynesian music. Many Maori and Pacific Island recordings were released via Kiwi Pacific Records International in Hastings, New Zealand. Many of the recordings were produced and recorded by author James Siers. An example of James Siers work is ''Bora Bora – Island of Dreams'' by the Hotel Bora Bora Entertainers, released on Hibiscus HLS-22. Other authentic recordings are Western Samoa Festival Performers, ''The Festival Music From Western Samoa'' released on Hibiscus HLS-72 in 1976, and Western Samoa Teachers Training College – ''Samoa Song And Rhythm'' Hibiscus TC HLS-24 in 1972.

Selected releases

;EP * The Beachcombers, ''Songs For Beachcombers'' – Hibiscus Records HE.5 * Jerome Grey, ''Jerome Grey at the Intercontinental, Songs of Samoa'' – Hibiscus Records HE.6 ;LP "Adventures in Sound" Series, HLS-1 – HLS-6 * Hibiscus HLS-1 – Cawaci-Loreto Combined Choirs – ''Echoes of the Islands'' * Hibiscus HLS-2 – Navuavu Village Entertainers – ''Fiji – Isles of Enchantment'' * Hibiscus HLS-3 – Ann's Betela Dancers and Drummers, Johnny and Alice Vahua, etc. – ''Rarotonga Festival'' * Hibiscus HLS-4 – Tongan Entertainers, Queen Salote College Choir, Tui Mala Group – ''Destination Tonga'' * Hibiscus HLS-5 – Voqa Kei Turaki – ''The Lure Of Fiji'' Discog
Hibiscus
/ref> * Hibiscus HLS-6 – The Girls Of Matautu – ''Samoa Sings'' * Hibiscus HLS-11 – Talofa Village Entertainers – ''The Best Of Samoa'' * Hibiscus HLS-12 – Tradewinds Boys at the Tradewinds Hotel, Bay Of Islands, Suva – ''Where The Tradewinds Blow'' * Hibiscus HLS-15 – Nawaka Village Entertainers – ''Meke Fiji'' * Hibiscus HLS-18 – Fiji Police Band – ''Pacific Brass'' National Library of New Zealan

/ref> * Hibiscus HLS-20 – The Fijians – ''The Rhythm Of Fiji'' * Hibiscus HLS-21 – Western Samoa Teachers Training College – ''Samoa I Sisifo'' * Hibiscus HLS-26 – Choir of the Western Samoa Teachers Training college – ''Samoan Songs of Worship'' * Hibiscus HLS-34 – The Beachcombers – ''Songs From A Paradise Isle'' * Hibiscus HLS-43 – ''Music From Rakavono A Fijian Folk Opera for Children'', Presentation and performance by pupils and staff of Levuka Public School, Hibiscus (1972) * Hibiscus HLS-87 – The Five Stars – ''Fetu e Lima'' (1981) * Hibiscus HLS-49 – The Gilbert & Ellice Festival Company – ''Te Bino/TeTinere/Te Kawawa/Te Kamei/TeBuki/Ellice Fatele''(1972) * Hibiscus HLS-72 – ''Unknown – Festival Music From Western Samoa''

References

Citations

Works cited

* *

External links

Reed Books
- Reed's website (prior to domain name expiration in ca. 2008)

at the

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre The New Zealand Electronic Text Collection (NZETC; mi, Te Pūhikotuhi o Aotearoa) is a freely accessible online archive of New Zealand and Pacific Islands texts and heritage materials that are held by the Victoria University of Wellington Librar ...

Kiwi Records
(Kiwi Pacific Records International Ltd) {{Authority control Book publishing companies of New Zealand Mass media in Auckland New Zealand record labels Ethnic music record labels New Zealand independent record labels 1907 establishments in New Zealand