"A GOOD PICTURE OF THE ISLANDS
AT THAT TIME."

CHEEVER, HENRY T. LIFE IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS: or, The Heart of the Pacific, As It Was And Is. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co.; Cincinnati: H. W. Derby & Co., 1851. 12mo. Original brown cloth, stamped in blind with gilt vignette on front cover. 355 pages. Six engraved plates, including frontispiece and vignette title, two engravings in the text. Slight wear to extremities, some foxing and darkening throughout, private ownership stamps on preliminaries. Very good or better.

FIRST EDITION. In the 1840s, Cheever (1814-1897) traveled extensively throughout the Pacific "before he settled down to the ministry" (Smith, American Travellers Abroad) and wrote several books about the Hawaiian Islands, Polynesia and whaling adventures. Cheever's descriptions are colored by his missionary zeal, but Life in the Sandwich Islands "gives a good picture of the islands at that time" (Id.). "Much interesting data is included on the history and native culture of the islands. . . . Chapters are given on the first Hawaiian college and on Hawaiian literature. Cheever predicted eventual American rule of the islands because fifty missionary families had settled there and owned extensive lands" (Hill).

Life in the Sandwich Islands contains one of the earliest engraved views of surfboarding in Hawaii (shown above). Although "[i]n 1821, surfing was banned by European missionaries who thought it immoral and was not officially revived until 1920" (Encyclopedia Britannica), Cheever observed local surfers engaging in the sport and envied their skills:

Hill, p. 51. Smith, American Travellers Abroad C45. Not in Howes or Sabin. BT000080.

$500

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