Ko te Kawenata Hou (New Testament)

A copy of the first edition 'Ko te Kawenata Hou' (The New Testament), printed by William Colenso for the Church Missionary Society at Paihia in 1837, bound in blue printed cloth.

The cloth was probably originally intended for use in an item of clothing. The volume is inscribed on the flyleaf in ink "James Ballingall, Cloudy Bay, 24 November 183[?]'.

This copy of 'Ko the Kawenata Hou' is evidence of the rapid circulation of the New Testament in Te Reo to distant localities following its initial printing at Paihia in the Bay of Islands in 1837. The use of a piece of cloth originally intended for use in an item of costume is an interesting example of a makeshift substitute due to a shortage of suitable leather in early colonial New Zealand.