Item #74387 LIFE IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS: or, The Heart of the Pacific, As It Was and Is. Henry Theodore Cheever.
LIFE IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS: or, The Heart of the Pacific, As It Was and Is
LIFE IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS: or, The Heart of the Pacific, As It Was and Is

LIFE IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS: or, The Heart of the Pacific, As It Was and Is

New York: A.S. Barnes, 1851. First Edition. Hardcover. “Much interesting data is included on the history and native culture of the islands. Missionary endeavor in Hawaii is also a favorite topic. Cheever was fascinated by the Hawaiian surfers at Lahaina on Maui, and chapters are devoted to the first Hawaiian college and to Hawaiian literature. Cheever predicted eventual American rule of the islands because fifty American missionary families had settled there and owned extensive lands” (Hill Collection 287).

Born and educated in Maine, Cheever (1814-97) was an American Congregational minister who sailed to the Hawaiian Islands to improve his health, which enabled him to gather material for several of his books. His return voyage aboard the whaleship Commodore Preble is described in The Whale and His Captors (1850), a major source for Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851).

Octavo: 355 p. with six wood-engraved plates, including the frontispiece and added title, as well as two textual engravings and a map. The “Hawaiian Sport of Surf Playing” plate – one of the earliest depictions of the sport – appears opposite p.68. Original green cloth binding, with decorative gilt and blind stamping. Some periodic mild foxing to the contents, with a previous owner’s ink signature and a bit of minor soiling to a prefatory blank leaf. Short tear to the bottom of the front flyleaf. Period bookplate to the front pastedown. The spine is a moderately sun faded, with some minor wear to the corners and tips; else very good. Very good. Item #74387

Price: $200.00

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