First Encounters memorably records the first impressions of Europeans in New Zealand

First Encounters: New Zealand 1642–1840  

Edited by Gordon Ell and Sarah Ell

Father-and-daughter authors Gordon Ell and Sarah Ell build on their impressive legacy of New Zealand books with First Encounters — the fourth in Oratia Book’s growing NZ Series.

This collaboration samples some of the amazing first impressions that Europeans formed when they landed in Aotearoa. 

 

They had no idea what they would find, and their journals are filled with wonder, curiosity and inevitable misunderstandings. 

First Encounters selects some of the key writings from these early traders, missionaries, explorers and surveyors. 

 

It covers nearly 200 years from Abel Tasman in 1642 and Joseph Banks in 1769, to early settlers such as John Logan Campbell in 1840 —in first-person accounts that preserve the English of the times.

The text is well illustrated with two-colour imagery and photos, alongside fact boxes explaining historical language, places and events.

 

The NZ Series now counts four titles, with the fifth, Matthew Wright’s The New Zealand Wars, to publish in July 2021. 

The series introduces New Zealand society, history, science and geography to general readers and students.

Click on these links to read about other titles in the series — Rush to Riches and Pioneer Women, and Volcanoes and Earthquakes.

The authors

Gordon Ell was a writer and publisher with a life-long interest in New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage. He wrote more than 30 books for adults and children during his distinguished career. He passed away last week, having just seen advance copies of his last book.

His daughter, Sarah Ell, is an editor, writer and journalist, who has written ten books, and inherited her father’s love of New Zealand history and the environment.

Publication: 8 April 2021  |  RRP $29.99  |  ISBN:  978-0-947506-90-2

Paperback, 240 x 160 mm, 108 pages, 2 colour

Vale Gordon Ell

It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of author, publisher and environmentalist Gordon Ell last Thursday after a short illness. 

Gordon was a noted writer and photographer on natural and human history, founder and publisher of the Bush Press, and recipient of an Order of New Zealand Merit for services to journalism and conservation.

Gordon had been a key contributor to Oratia's books in The NZ Series, together with his daughter Sarah — providing introductions to New Zealand history and geography for general and student readers. 

Their latest book in the series, First Encounters, will be published this Thursday 8 April, helping Gordon's legacy to live on in print. 

Everyone at Oratia extends their deepest sympathies to Gordon's family and friends.

Rush to Riches — capturing the essence of our great kauri and gold rushes

THIRD IN NON-FICTION SERIES RECOUNTS NZ’S TWO GREAT COMMODITY RUSHES 

Rush to Riches: Kauri and Gold – Gordon Ell 

Colonising New Zealand was as much a scramble for wealth as an imperial venture. The rush to exploit the country’s gold and kauri is a story of innovation and determination, as well as greed and thuggery.

Those stories are told in Rush to Riches: Kauri and Gold, the third book in The NZ Series — a fact-packed, smartly design collection on New Zealand society, history and geography for readers from intermediate school on up.

Rush to Riches tells how the discovery of gold in New Zealand in the 1800s led thousands of people to rush to overnight tent towns set among isolated mountains and rivers. 

Meanwhile in the north, vast forests of giant kauri trees cloaked the land. Yet now only a tiny fraction of the trees survive in threatened forests, and many gold-mining settlements are just ghost towns. 

The rushes of both industries drew Māori and British, and also Americans, Australians, Dalmatians and Chinese to these areas. 

They brought their cultures and adapted technology to extract their desired riches — kauri timber and gum from forests and fields in the north, gold from the rivers and mountains mostly in the South Island.

Rush to Riches explains gold and kauri extraction, and presents characters that became famous and infamous as they toiled to become rich. 

Plentiful illustrations and fact boxes show how these industries shaped our society and left their mark on our environment.

All the books in The NZ Series give readers a broad range of rich, visually stimulating introductions to what makes our country unique (read about the other titles here). 

The author

Gordon Ell is a well-known writer and publisher with a life-long interest in New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage. He has written more than 30 books for adults and children, and was the founder of the Bush Press. Originally from Christchurch, Gordon lives in Takapuna, Auckland. 

Publication: 8 May 2020  |  RRP $29.99  |  ISBN:  978-0-947506-70-4

Paperback, 240 x 160 mm, 100 pages, 2 colour

First two books announce the arrival of non-fiction series for young adults

Volcanoes and Earthquakes– Gordon Ell and Sarah Ell

Pioneer Women– edited by Sarah Ell

Recognising the need among readers from intermediate school up for attractive non-fiction books relating to their own experience, Oratia Books is today publishing the first of The NZ Series — a snappily designed and fact-packed collection on New Zealand society, history and geography.

The first two books in the series respectively plumb the mysteries of New Zealand’s earth movements and relate the history of early European settlers with easy-to-understand text accompanied by numerous photos, explanatory diagrams and ‘Fact File’ boxes. 

Volcanoes and Earthquakes investigates the causes and history of seismic activity in Aotearoa, taking in the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes and recent volcanic activity. Historical and contemporary photos and colour diagrams bring the whole field to life!

Pioneer Women presents extracts from diaries and letters by women who emigrated to New Zealand from Europe in the nineteenth century. These tales of hardship and happiness are accompanied by portraits , newspaper clippings, and markers like the Women’s Suffrage Petition.

With two books a year planned for 2020 and beyond, The NZ Series promises readers a broad range of rich, visually stimulating introductions to what makes New Zealand unique.  

The authors

Gordon Ell is a writer and publisher with a life-long interest in our natural and human heritage. He has written more than 30 books for adults and children. His daughter, Sarah Ell, is an editor, and journalist, who has written ten books, and inherited her father’s love of New Zealand history and the environment.

Publication: 9 July 2019  |  RRP $29.99 each

ISBNs: Pioneer Women 978-0-947506-59-9  | Volcanoes and Earthquakes 978-0-947506-60-5

Paperback, 240 x 160 mm, 100 pages colour