Godley Gifts

On 15 September, at Buckingham Palace in London, the gift of the prize-winning New Zealand bookset, Godley Gifts, was accepted, on behalf of the Queen, by the Palace's Director of Records, Mr David Ryan. The bookset will be placed in perpetuity in the Royal Library of Windsor Castle, once Her Majesty has had occasion to read the books.

Mr Ryan said that it was rare indeed for a book to be accepted into the Royal Library.

Mr Ryan observed that although his research visit to the Godley Gift's website had given him a fine impression of the quality of the bookset, the site still had not prepared him for the true beauty of the set itself. He praised the attention to detail and the masterly craftsmanship.

It was then pointed out to Mr Ryan that the bookbinder of Godley Gifts, Cantabrian Matthew Hinman, had apprenticed in London with the Royal printers, Sangorski and Sutcliffe, to which Mr Ryan simply replied: 'Say no more!'

The Queen, born in 1926, was gifted number 26 from the limited, hand-dedicated and hand-numbered edition of 100 sets.