Skip to main content

Story: Arts reviewing

Dieffenbach's Travels in New Zealand, 1843

Image
Dieffenbach's <em>Travels in New Zealand</em>, 1843

The New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator of 30 August 1843 carried a review of Ernest Dieffenbach's Travels in New Zealand: 'the author ... addresses himself to what he saw, not to what he did or sufferedin the course of his travels... We confess these passages would have been more agreeable, if diversified with a little of that chit-chat with which well travelled book-makers are in the habit of diversifying their subjects; at the same time there is an air of truth and an absence of prejudice, which would perhaps have been less apparent if more personal adventure had been found in these volumes.'

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Reference: E. Dieffenbach, Travels in New Zealand. London: J. Murray, 1843

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Peter Clayworth, Arts reviewing – Colonial critics, 19th century, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/45115/dieffenbachs-travels-in-new-zealand-1843 (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Peter Clayworth, published 6 May 2014, updated 1 April 2020.