Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$512.35 + shipping
Description: 8vo, pp. [10], [3]-442; with folding frontispiece map and 7 plates; some foxing and browning to plates; otherwise very good in recent quarter calf over tan cloth, gilt-lettered spine, marbled endpapers; light spotting to covers.First edition. 'The Narrative of English missionary William Ellis is particularly important, as it was the first book written about the Hawaiian Islands and the first serious notice of the Islands since Captain Cook's discovery of them forty-eight years earlier. It may be called the first scientific book on Hawaii: although its main purpose was to report on mission progress, and Ellis was primarily interested in local manners and traditions, he was sufficiently expansive to include observations on such natural and cultural history topics as volcanoes, antiquities, and the anthropology of the Islands . The poet Coleridge is reported to have stated that he considered Ellis's Narrative . to be the most interesting and instructive book of travel that he had ever read' (Hill).Forbes, Hawaiian national bibliography 634; Hill, Pacific voyages 545.
Seller: Bernard Quaritch Ltd ABA ILAB, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$576.39 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: [.] with remarks on the history, traditions, manners, customs, and language of the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands. 8vo. Hardcover. Pp. 442. First Edition. In very good condition; professionally rebound in half-leather over marbled boards; raised bands, with gilt title on label. Minor shelf-wear such as faint marks and scratches, as expected with handling. Pages themselves are clean and unmarked with light foxing. Some ghosting on the title page. Occasionally small stains, including a line mark running onto the text on page 38. But the text is still readable. Also small stain in the margin of page 408, but without obstructing the text. Complete with 7 plates and a fold-out map of Hawaii. William Ellis was a British missionary and author, who travelled through the Society Islands, Hawaiian Islands, and Madagascar. He wrote several books describing his experiences. In June 1823 Ellis joined the American Missionaries Asa Thurston, Artemas Bishop, and Joseph Goodrich on a tour of the island of Hawaii, to investigate suitable sites for mission stations.
Seller: Henry Pordes Books Ltd, London, United Kingdom
ELLIS, William. NARRATIVE OF A TOUR THROUGH HAWAII, OR OWHYHEE; WITH REMARKS ON THE. , 1826.
Price: US$975.00 + shipping
Description: ELLIS, William. NARRATIVE OF A TOUR THROUGH HAWAII, OR OWHYHEE; WITH REMARKS ON THE HISTORY, TRADITIONS, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND LANGUAGE OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. London: H. Fisher, Son, and P. Jackson, 1826. [8] + 442 pp. 8vo., 3/4 green leather with gilt red morroco spine label and marbled paper covered boards. Folding frontispiece engraving (map of Hawaii) engr. by J. Tyrer. Ex-library with no external markings (bookplate only). Moderate rubbing and shelfwear to boards, spine lightened, a few scrapes to raised bands. Slight offset tanning to endpapers.B/w engraved plates, minor foxing to edges, and occasional light foxing in the text. A solidly pleasing copy.
Seller: Boston Book Company, Inc. ABAA, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Original boards with rubbed corners, scuffing, and upper joint repaired. Spine slightly chipped, remains of title label unreadable and lower board cracking. Fold-out map frontis, 7 engraved plates, ills. [Without pp.153-4, but complete as issued, signatures follow on]. Some light, sporadic foxing, untrimmed. Inscribed on the title plate, "Robert Southey, Keswick 15 Sept. 1826". Held in a custom-made, protective clamshell box. Southey's library at Greta Hall, many of Keswick's collection were covered in decorative fabric for their protection. Both pastedowns in this volume have beautiful material laid down, along with a loose strip laid in, in all likelihood added by the poet or his family. Size: Octavo
Seller: Contact Editions, ABAC, ILAB, Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Description: First edition. Rare, especially in this condition. Pp. [10], 3-442. Folding frontis map, 7 engraved plates. Newly bound in 2007 in light greenish-tan boards, brown silk cloth spine, gilt-lettered leather spine label. An exceptional copy, very fine, tall, clean throughout and with the text block untrimmed! Ellis was an early Protestant missionary to the Polynesian Islands, especially in the Society and Hawaiian Islands. This Narrative is "particularly important, as it was the first book written about the Hawaiian Islands and the first serious notice of the Islands since Captain Cook's discovery of them forty-eight years earlier. It may be called the scientific book on Hawaii: although its main purpose was to report on mission progress, and Ellis was primarily interested in local manners and traditions, he was sufficiently expansive to include observations on such natural and cultural topics as volcanoes, antiquities, and the anthropology of the Islands the book became quite popular almost immediately. The poet Coleridge is reported to have stated that he considered Ellis's Narrative of a Tour Through Hawaii to be the most interesting and instructive book of travel that he had ever read. Ellis is also remembered for setting up the first printing press in the South Seas. In 1823, while he was still in Hawaii, Ellis and American missionary Hiram Bingham printed the first Hawaiian book, a hymnal" (Hill). The appendix contains, "Remarks on the Hawaiian language." "Due to his long service in Tahiti and fluency in that language, [Ellis] was of great assistance to the Hawaiian Mission. [and] was able to give a more accurate narrative of the traditions and customs of the Hawaiian people" (Forbes). The large folding map is titled, "Map of Hawaii, the Largest of the Sandwich Islands; Improved from Vancouver's Survey." [Forbes: 634; Hill 2 : 545].
Seller: Argonaut Book Shop, ABAA, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.