Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - December - 2006 Issue
Pacific Voyages and Other Historical Works from Hordern House
Gould's Australian mammals; Boki and Liliha.
Here is a one-of-a-kind from Cook's final voyage. Item 35 is a collection of six original drawings made by John Webber on Cook's third journey. Webber provided the illustrations for the official account (above). These six illustrations constitute the largest collection of Cook original drawings in private hands. They are mostly of natives from the Kamchatka Peninsula of Pacific Russia. One is the inside of a building used for winter habitation. Kamchatka was the last main stop on the journey, reached after Cook's death in Hawaii, with the expedition now under the command of Captain James King. From there, the weary voyagers headed back to England. Webber's six drawings are priced at AU $685,000 (US $524,458).
Artist John Gould is known for his drawing of European birds, but here is a double exception – Australian mammals. Early in his career, Gould had set out for Australia to collect material for a book on its birds. However, he was also astonished by the exotic mammals he found on that continent. He would write to an associate about the mammals, saying that he "found myself surrounded by objects as strange as if I had been transported to another planet..." Once he completed his book on its birds, he began The Mammals of Australia, which would be published in three volumes beginning in 1845. Item 21. Price on request.
In 1824, the Hawaiian King Kamehameha II, his wife, many officials, and Oahu Governor Boki and his wife Liliha undertook a journey to Britain to secure that nation's protection for their islands. It was a tragic journey. The Hawaiians had never been exposed to measles, so when the disease hit, many, including the King, died. Boki was forced to take over the mission, which he completed successfully, before returning home with the King's remains. While in England, a portrait was drawn of Boki and Liliha by artist John Hayter. Item 23 is one of those lithographic portraits from 1824. Deeply in debt, Boki would undertake a voyage to harvest sandalwood in the New Hebrides in 1829, never to return. Presumably, he and his mates were lost at sea. He had left Liliha in charge of his responsibilities, so she became the Governor. However, she would eventually lose her authority as a result of a power struggle between Protestant and Catholic missionaries (she sided with the losing Catholics) and her unwillingness to enforce the new "morals" they brought with them. She died suddenly in 1839. AU $ 19,850 (US $15,203).
You may find Hordern House online at www.hordern.com, telephone (02) 9356 4411.
