1848 Sandwich Islands Hawaii 2nd Ed Illustrated For Sale

A scarce and historically important 1848 second edition of Hiram Bingham\'s A Residence of Twenty-One Years in the Sandwich Islands.Hiram Bingham was one of the most important early American missionaries to Hawaii. His detailed account provides an extensive first-hand perspective on Hawaiian society, politics, religion and the development of the Christian missionary movement during the first half of the nineteenth century.This edition contains a portrait of the author, engraved illustrations and a folding map of the Hawaiian Islands, making it particularly appealing to collectors of Hawaiian history, Pacific exploration, missionary history and early travel literature. The Library of Congress describes the edition as containing a portrait, plates and a folding map.One of the illustrated plates depicts the Stone Church at Honolulu, identified as the Fifth Kawaiahaʻo Church. The church was associated with Bingham\'s missionary work and the early Christian history of Honolulu. The Hawaiian Mission Houses archive specifically identifies the image as “Stone Church at Honolulu. The Fifth Kawaiahao Church” and notes that it derives from a Hiram Bingham sketch of 1840.
Remarkably, Kawaiahaʻo Church still stands in Honolulu today, giving the engraving an especially interesting historical dimension: the building shown in this nineteenth-century illustration can still be visited more than 180 years later.Condition / Binding
Condition: Good overall, with an attractive later binding and evidence of restoration.
The book has been rebound in a decorative half-leather binding, with raised bands, gilt tooling, contrasting leather spine labels and textured light-coloured boards. The binding is not contemporary with the 1848 publication and is a later rebinding.
The text block retains considerable age and character, with foxing, age toning and occasional staining, particularly to some preliminary leaves and plates.
The folding map of the Hawaiian Islands has been restored. It remains present and complete, but the restoration should be noted as part of the book\'s condition. The map shows evidence of previous folding and handling, consistent with its age.
The illustrated plates and portrait are also present.