Pacific Islands

Islands of Men – Inside Melanesia – Colin Simpson.

Another good book about Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Hebrides and our favourite regional island Mer – by the knowledgeable Colin Simpson.

A first edition published in 1955 by Angus and Robertson. Octavo, 248 pages, nicely illustrated from photographs, some in colour, with decorative end papers. Dust jacket a little worn – still a very good copy.

Ion Idriess wrote about Mer and here we have Simpson putting his own keenly observed view of the island and the culture of its inhabitants.

Simpson in the broader Melanesia – unique view of customs – great images.

$30.00

Updating cart…

No Image Available

Together Alone (In the Pacific) – Ron Falconer.

Published by Bantam in 2004, an only softcover. A super story about a great man and his family.

Ron Falconer born in Scotland joined the RAF, became an architectural draftsman and then designed and built his one boat. A special yacht he named Fleur d’Ecosse. He went sailing, alone, perhaps, we are told, 50,000 miles. He met the beautiful Anne and he took her to the Caroline Atoll in the northern reaches of French Polynesia. There they had a family, built their Robinson Crusoe style house and lived the life we all dream of.

Octavo, 255 pages, with maps and a handful of nice images from photographs taken in their heavenly Paradise.

We think Ron now lives in France but until recently lived at Moorea … and could be heard singing at the Kareka Bar … he has a super voice in the Simon and Garfunkel sort of style … check him out on Youtube,

A Scotsman in Paradise with the voice of an Angel.

$25.00

Updating cart…

Polynesian Navigation – A Symposium on Andrew Sharp’s Thoery of Accidental Voyages – Edited by Jack Golson

Andrew Sharpe certainly stirred up the debate as to hoe the Pacific Islands may have been settled.

A symposium in the 1960’s brought together some pretty good minds on the subject.

Published by the Polynesian Society, Wellington, New Zealand in 1963. Being Memoir No 34, a Supplement to the Journal of the Society. Softcover, octavo, 153 pages plus bibliography. Three useful maps, two of which are folding. A little age, still a very good copy.

Cartographic expert, Thomas M Perry’s copy with his discrete stamp top of front cover.

The body of the work review the “Accidental Voyage Theory”’ – Parsonson; Primitive Navigation – Captain Hayen and Captain Hilder; Sailing Characteristics of Oceanic Canoes – Bechton; The Geographical Knowledge of the Polynesians and the Nature of Inter-Island Contact – Dening; Geographical Knowledge of Tahitian etc etc

The Pacific Solved – Maybe

$35.00

Updating cart…

No Image Available

The Mutineer – A Romance of Pitcairn Island – Louis Becke and Walter Jeffrey – First Colonial (Australian) Edition 1898.

Likely technically the first edition is the London issue of that year. The first and this issue the first Colonial issue by Angus & Robertson both extremely scarce.

Octavo, 298 pages plus Publishers catalogue. Original dark green cloth covered binding, gilt title to spine. The odd mark to the boards, missing front free end paper and occasional light ageing. Otherwise really not bad and, try to find another one.

George Lewis Becke (1855-1913) was born at Port Macquarie and must be regarded as the best Australian author of the period in the genre adventure … South Seas … historical based fiction. He has been compared with Robert Louis Stevenson, Melville, Kipling, Conrad etc exalted company indeed.

Becke had the pedigree – from an early age he escaped to the South Pacific … ferried vessels to Bully Hayes, was tried (and acquitted) as a pirate at Brisbane at the age of 19 etc etc.

Prolific writer once he settled down. This Bounty Mutiny based story one of the later works and a collaboration. Didn’t get into print in the USA as a relationship between different races didn’t fit the then standards.

With a novel we at Voyager always like a good short helpful first sentence. We have the first paragraph here just to get you into the mood.

“It was night at Tahiti, in the Society Islands. The trade-wind had died away, and a bright flood of shimmering moonlight poured down upon the slumbering waters of a little harbour a few miles distant from Matavia Bay, and the white curve of beach that fringed the darkened line of palms shone and glistened like a belt of ivory under the effulgence of its rays. For nearly half a mile the broad sweep of dazzling sand showed no interruption nor break upon its surface save at one spot; there it ran out into a long narrow point, on which, under a small cluster of graceful cocos, growing almost at the water’s edge, a canoe was drawn up”.

Louis Becke’s scarce and somewhat controversial South Seas story.

$120.00

Updating cart…

Lure of the Southern Seas – The Voyages of Dumont D’Urville 1826-1840

Large perfect bound soft cover (30cm x 24cm) a good size for showing off the many illustrations from artwork created at the time and photographs of displays from the voyage collection held in France.

Published by the Historic Housed Trust of NSW in association of a exhibition held at the Sydney Museum in 2003.

Well researched and produced making an important contribution to works on the two voyages undertaken by Dumont D’Urvillle in the first half of the 19th Century.

Following and introductory chapter “Southern Discomfort” and excellent map, we gain an understanding of the man and what drove him. His voyage towards the Polar Ice; the Anthropology and “Harvest of Curiosities” and the more defined Natural History Catalogue. Some notes on the artists without whom the wonder could not have been so well revealed. Data back up in the form of routes and statistics of the Voyage are followed by the great man’s correspondence and of all things “his will” … references, bibliography.

Dumont D’Urville well presented historical account, some new information and special images.

$35.00

Updating cart…

The Tregurtha Log – Relating the Adventurous Life of Capt Edward Primrose Tregurtha.

A pretty sumptuous production by Published and Editor Dan Sprod. Published under his Blubber Press in 1980.

Folio, 166 pages, illustrated, tipped in volured plate and tipped in frontispiece, elaborate design to title page, end paper maps. A fine copy.

Limited to six hundred numbered copies, in this form, of which this is numbered 474, signed by Dan Sprod.

Cornishman Tregurtha led an adventurous life for sure. Started out in the Navy at none years old in the Napoleonic Wars. Then to East Indiamen to China. As a grown man to Hobart and Captain of the Caroline and South Sea Whaling. His Log the subject of this book was in the possession of Norman Whettenhall [a surname we know well] of Melbourne … we can’s imagine the excitement of Dan Sprod when he first read this treasure.

A rather stunning book and one hell of a story

$90.00

Updating cart…

Islands of Men – Inside Melanesia – Colin Simpson.

Together Alone (In the Pacific) – Ron Falconer.

Polynesian Navigation – A Symposium on Andrew Sharp’s Thoery of Accidental Voyages – Edited by Jack Golson

The Mutineer – A Romance of Pitcairn Island – Louis Becke and Walter Jeffrey – First Colonial (Australian) Edition 1898.

Lure of the Southern Seas – The Voyages of Dumont D’Urville 1826-1840

The Tregurtha Log – Relating the Adventurous Life of Capt Edward Primrose Tregurtha.

Product Categories