Books about the Pacific Island nations, Polynesian, Micronesia, Oceania etc.
Flora, fauna, history, politics, ethnology, exploration, missionary orders.
A Popular Description of the Physical Features, Inhabitants, Natural History, and Productions of the Islands of the Pacific.
Includes the discovery and colonisation of New Zealand, Papua, New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Solomons and Easter Island, as well as others.
Facsimile of the original SPCK 1866 edition.
history, colonial, 19th centiry, nineteenth century, pacific, missionary
VG+ hardback in VG+ dust jacket.
$35 C/C
Capper Press 1973, xii 436pp + 4pp adverts, engraved illustrations within the text, folding map at rear.
[#3775 ]
Studies in Public Administration No 16.
Essays on Pacific geopolitics etc.
politics, trade, foreign aid, development, pasifika, urbanisation
VG hardback in VG dust jacket with some wear
$15 C/B
New Zealand Institute of Public Administration 1970 first edition,125pp.
[#5078 ]
This is a selection by Philip Edwards from Beagleholes four volume edition.
Cook led three famous expeditions to the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1779, ranging from the Antarctic to the Arctic Sea.
He charted Australia and the whole coast of New Zealand, and brought back detailed descriptions of the natural history of the Pacific.
It was not until the 20th century that the original journals were published in Beaglehole's definitive edition.
This edition of The Journals tells the story of these voyages as Cook wanted it to be told, radiating the ambition, courage and skill which enabled him to carry out an unrivalled series of expeditions in dangerous waters.
ISBN 9780140436471
Endeavour, Resolution, Discovery, first contact, British maritime
VG paperback
$12 C/B
Penguin 1999, 436pp + maps, glossary, indexes
[#4604 ]
A memoir by the wife of a Presbyterian missionary in the New Hebrides (now called Vanuatu).
She was there during WWII when American troops were stationed on the island.
ISBN9780958224307
pacific islands, missionary, new zealand, ww11, ww2, US troops
VG- softback, extremely minor water mark to top corner of first few pages.
$20 B/B
Ngaio Press 2000, 112pp.
[#3850 ]
A record of traditional Fijian, social and ceremonial protocols.
ISBN 0960627219
polynesia, etiquette, traditions, ceremony, melanesia
VG softback
$20 C/B
MacDuff Press 1985, 142pp
[#5526 ]
Wade Doak and his families boat travels about the Pacific, includes Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, diving expeditions etc.
ISBN 0340214511
marine biology, sea, ocean, yachting
VG hardback in VG dust jacket.
Gift inscription to half title, small chip head of jacket spine.
$20 B/C
Hodder 1976 first edition, 200pp + colour plates.
[#5352 ]
A history of New Zealand's 50 year colonial rule of Samoa, and of the non-violent freedom movement known as Mau.
ISBN9780908597079
pasifika, pacific, polynesia, imperialism, colonial
VG+ softback
$55 C/C
Pasifika Press 2008, reprint of revised 1991 edition, 262pp.
[#3740 ]
Discovery, first Europeans, Cakobau, Tongans, Foreign affairs etc.
Contrary to apperances there was only one volume ever issued.
VG hardback, red cloth, corners bumped, small pen name to fep.
$20 C/C
Suva: Printing and Stationery Department 1950 second revised edition, vii 250 xxviii pp +plates.
[#5644 ]
The Pacific endeavours of the Catholic order of Marist Brothers.
Sports, education etc.
church, religious orders
VG hardback in VG- dust jacket.
$25 C/B
Marist Brothers 1976 First Edition, 211pp + plates.
[#4721 ]
Colonial missionaries in the Pacific islands of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.
Includes Australia and New Zealand.
ISBN 0589006843
colonialism, christian, missionary, missions
VG hardback in VG dust jacket.
$25 C/B
Reed 1972 First Edition, 230pp+ plates.
[#4722 ]
Autobiography of a doctor in the Pacific Islands between the World Wars.
New Guinea, Fiji, Solomons, Gilbert and Ellice Islands.
VG hardback, textured cloth, no jacket.
Gift inscription to half-title.
$25 C/C
Dent / Jaboor 1943 third edition, 421pp+ plates
[#5350 ]
New Zealand born Catholic missionary to Tunuru, Northern Solomon Islands, he returned to Wellington to die of illness contracted in the Solomons, the letters cover 1929 to 1932.
G+ hardback in G dust jacket with edge wear and loss of lower half of spine. Book pages edges dust soiled and slightly foxed.
$20 C/C
Dominion Publishing Company 1935, 170pp + plates.
[#3332 ]
VG leatherette decorative binding
$10 C/C
Harrap 1929, 319pp. [#2631 pacific islands ]
The Story of the Scarlet Family in Papua New Guinea, 1962-1971. The wife and family of a New Zealand Presbyterian minister living and working in PNG during the transition to independence.
ISBN0476013852
VG+ softback
$30 B/C
Betty Scarlet 2005, 173 pp [#2905 new zealand, biography, pacific islands ]
Scott claims Cecil Hector Watson Larsen, Resident Commissioner of Niue, was murdered in an act of political assassination by men who believed he was a tyrant.
Scott alleges Larsen had jailed, beaten and abused hundreds of Niueans in the ten years of his residence.
ISBN0340599537
Pacific Islands, politics,
VG+ softback.
$40 B/B
Hodder/ Southern Cross Books 1993 first edition. 176 pages.
[#3514 ]
The history of New Zealand's annexation and colonial rule of the Cook Islands.
ISBN9780340554890
pacific, pasifika, history, nz colony, Takitimu
VG hardback in VG dust jacket
$55 B/D
Cook Islands Trading Corporation Ltd. / Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. 1991 first edition, 320pp.
[#4171 ]
A rewritten edition of Ancient Voyagers in the Pacific with rebuttals of his critics arguments.
Contents; A world perspective; How did the Polynesians navigate?; Stone Age vessels in the Pacific; Voyages of no return; The voyaging traditions; Migrants from three kingdoms; The lonely islands; Early man in New Zealand; The Polynesian migration trail.
polynesia, pacific islands, navigation, ancient voyages
VG hardback in VG- dust jacket with small repaired tear at head of spine.
Tape rust and small pen name to map end papers.
$25 C/B
Longman Paul 1963 first edition, 159pp.
[#3951 ]
G+ hardback in G+ dust jacket, ex-library with stamps, jacket with some edge wear rubbing and chipping, surface lifted at spine where label removed.
$15 C/B
Longman Paul 1963 first edition, 159pp.
[#5334 ]
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi's 16th century expedition to the Phillipines.
Spanish empire, exploration, nautical, Pacific exploration
VG+ hardback in VG+ dust jacket.
$25 C/B
Whitcombe & Tombs 1961 first edition, 214pp + frontis.
[#5333 ]
A text book for Oceanic studies.
Covers Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia and South East Asia.
Illustrated with examples of stone tools etc.
ISBN 0846519380
pacific
VG- softback
$10 C/B
Cummings 1975 first edition, 125pp.
[#5339 ]
Consists mainly of full page full colour photographs with an emphasis on young Tahitian maidens unclothed.
polynesia, photography, french polynesia
G+ hardback with some silverfish surface damage to spine, no jacket.
$10 B/C
Seven Seas 1965 first edition, approx 120pp
[#5377 ]
Combined in one volume; 'Adam with Arrows' and 'Adam in Plumes' and the New Guinea chapters of Islands of Men.
melanesia, papua, ethnology, tribal peoples
VG hardback with no jacket
$20 C/C
Angus and Robertson 1962 first thus combined edition, cloth, viii 407pp + plates in black and white and 35 in colour.
[#4898 ]
Writings from Stevenson's time in Samoa and the Pacific.
Includes Tutuila, Prayers for daily use at Vailima, Father Damien, A footnote to history, Letters from the South Seas.
Samoa, Lazaretto, politics, history
VG leather hardback with Otago Girls' High School arms embossed to cover, spine lightly sunned.
$10 C/B
Heinemann 1924 first edition thus as vol xxi in Tusitala edition of the works of RLS, 16mo 341pp blue leather top edge gilt and gilt to spine and cover.
[#5442 ]
Cook's great voyages marked the end of an era in world history. As he sailed into Hawaii in January 1778 he made contact with the last of the human civilizations to grow up independently of the rest of the world. But equally for the Polynesians and Melanesians of the Pacific, Cook's arrival in their midst merely marked a further (if disastrous) twist in diverse histories already many centuries old.
In this immensely enjoyable and absorbing book Cook's journeys are reimagined, attempting to leave behind our later preoccupations to let us see what Cook and his associates experienced and what the societies he encountered experienced - from the Beothuks of Newfoundland to the Tongans of the Friendly Islands.
ISBN9780141002798
exploration, 18th century, pacific, first contact, pacifica
VG softback, remainder striped to bottom edge.
$20 C/B
Penguin 2004 first softback printing, 468pp.
[#3503 ]
An autobiography of a patrol officer in New Guinea, includes Sepik river head-hunters, and Second World War service.
Kassa Townsend, Japanese, WWII, Pacific
VG hardback in VG dust jacket under plastic sleeve.
Ex-library with stamps etc.
$25 C/C
Pacific Publications 1968 first edition cloth, 271pp + plates, map endpapers.
[#5349 ]
S. L. Clemens made a journey to Hawaii in 1866 and wrote 25 travel sketches, including one on the death of Captain Cook.
ISBN0824802888
G+ softback with sunned spine
$10 C/B
University Press of Hawaii 1978, 298 pages. [#2303 pacific ]
The Story of David Pausu and the United Church of South Bougainville.
Includes some local legends as well as an account of the area during the Second World War.
Photo offset with poor quality photos in the text.
ISBN 0473001691
WWII, US, GI, Pacific
VG stapled softcover in dust jacket.
$25 C/B
Coroprint 1979 second edition, 95pp.
[#5346 ]
Contains word lists with correlation between the various Pacific and Polynesian languages that stem from these Proto-Polynesian roots.
maori, pasifika, te reo
VG+ softback with cloth spine over printed stiff paper wrappers.
$65 B/C
Linguistic Society of New Zealand 1966, xv 133pp.
[#4092 ]