Voyager Rare Books Maps & Prints » Products » Non-fiction » Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

Pages: « First < Previous 15 16 17 1819 20 21 Next >Last »

Early Observations of Marquesan Culture 1595-1813 – Edwin Ferdon

First published University of Arizona, 1993. Octavo, 184 pages in very good if not fine condition.

A scholarly work by Edwin Ferdon who as a young man was archaeologist on the Thor Heyerdahl 1955 expedition to Easter Island. The notes and bibliography make it extra useful for those that want to more broadly study the history of the Marquesas.

Ferdon was thorough

$40.00

Updating cart…
Captain Henry Byam Martin R.N. – Polynesian Journal

Published by the Peabody Museum in 1981, Octavo 192 pages beautifully illustrated. A very good copy in a complete dust jacket.

Captain Martin’s first command, H.M.S. Grampus with orders to sail for Hawaii to await further orders which were to sail for Tahiti the French planning to subjugate the island, which they did by “bloody force”.

The actual journal was in the bowels of the British Museum … it is characterised by in the moment observations and a sense of humour regarding the struggle between the French and the British and the oft hopeless position the islanders found themselves in.

The text of an important one time “lost” journal .

$40.00

Updating cart…
Sailor and Beachcomber – Safroni-Middleton – First Edition 1915

“Confessions of a Life at Sea, In Australia and amid the Islands of the Pacific”. Published by Grant Richards, London a first edition 1915.

Thick octavo, 304 pages private library stamp at front and rear of Thomas Kinmore of Cork, Ireland. Nicely illustrated with 23 images from photographs. Pretty good condition.

An unusual book starting with “I run away to sea” but finds himself stranded in Brisbane and then off to the bush before leaving for the South Sea Islands. The usual chapter on cannibalism with much time spent in Samoa and Fiji, then Tahiti (and the usual chapter on morals) and the Marquesan Queens and back to Samoa before returning to Australia. Lost in the bush and on to the Gold Fields and Coolgardie. References to the Bounty and of course R.L.S. And quite a bit of violin playing – see his biography below.

Written in an interesting somewhat casual style but packed with observation if not sometimes a bit puffed up.

The author George Arnold Haynes Safroni-Middleton (1873-1950), also known as Count Safroni, was a British Composer, violinist, harpist, writer and astronomer. Born in Kent he studied violin with Pablo de Sarasate and later played with the orchestra at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney. He toured Australia and explored Borneo, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia (and also obviously the Pacific). He composed “Imperial Echoes” in 1913 which for many years was the theme of “Radio Newsreel” on the BBC. Quite an odd chap.

In Australian and (mainly) in the Pacific – entertaining

$80.00

Updating cart…
Bounty / Pitcairn Item – Harper’s New Monthly Magazine – 1871

Bound as one volume Harper’s Magazine from December 1870 to May 1871. Small quarto, 952 pages bound in half black leather worn but strong, page edges speckled red.

The usual smorgasbord of 19th century articles. The star is a 15 page illustrated article on the Pitcairn Islanders largely based on Lady Belchers book

Unusual Bounty/ Pitcairn item often overlooked

$85.00

Updating cart…
Papuan Epic – Keith Bushell – 1930

Keith Bushell was a Patrol Officer and Magistrate in New Guinea. His book is an extremely personal account at times drifting to dialogue, Skirmished and cannibalism abound as does “white savagery”.

The battles of Pai-Wa and Ebadidi are recorded. The questionable taming of the sorcerer “Donovan”. Nicely illustrated as usual for New Guinea items.

Bushell – Kiap Recollections

$70.00

Updating cart…
No Image Available

The Black Musketeers – Marshall – 1937

First edition 1937 The New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and one of the most readable Pacific Island accounts because of the skill and humour of the author Jock Marshall. From the Oxford University Exploring Committee. The introduction by his colleague Tom Harrison sets the scene better than many.

The musketeers use guns taken there in the 19th century by sandalwood and slave trader … they still work.

Well illustrated … Interesting story behind the “red flag”.

Marshall among the Musketeers of Vanuatu

$60.00

Updating cart…

Updating…

Pages: « First < Previous 15 16 17 1819 20 21 Next >Last »

Pacific Islands

Early Observations of Marquesan Culture 1595-1813 – Edwin Ferdon

Captain Henry Byam Martin R.N. – Polynesian Journal

Sailor and Beachcomber – Safroni-Middleton – First Edition 1915

Bounty / Pitcairn Item – Harper’s New Monthly Magazine – 1871

Papuan Epic – Keith Bushell – 1930

The Black Musketeers – Marshall – 1937

Product Categories