John Moffat

Dr John L Moffat took his MA, degree in French at Canterbury University and studied to be a teacher at Canterbury Teachers College leading to positions at Riccarton Primary School and Christchurch Boys High. In 1954 he was appointed to the post primary language section of the Christchurch Teachers College after serving in the Second World War and two and a half years at Bristol University researching for a PhD in modern French literature.

His extensive library was bequest to the University of Canterbury in 2007, much of which contains personal inscriptions and a variety of purchased and ‘homemade’ bookplates. He was also an amateur bookbinder, many of which, including the 1600 Livy, have been bound in an attempt to be sympathetic to the age of the work but the majority can be described as ‘craft binding’ using fabrics which has resulted in a very colourful and identifiable library.

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