David W. Forbes
Hawaiian National Bibliography 1780-1900 Volume II: 1831-1850
The second volume covers the period during which the Hawaiian monarchical form of government was established and its sovereignty became recognised internationally.
Quarto (250 x 205 mm.), 599 pages with 20 illustrations; printed in black and red, bound in fine-weave green cloth.
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About the Book
The long-awaited bibliography of Hawaiiana, many years in the making. This first volume deals with the earliest period of European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands, and rewrites much of the bibliography of Cook, La Pérouse, and many other voyagers. The first printing in the Islands is covered in this volume, as is the coming of the missionaries, and the development of a political history.
The second volume covers the period during which the Hawaiian monarchical form of government was established and its sovereignty became recognised internationally. Also recorded is the passing of the Hawaiian Bill of Rights, and the establishment of a legislative form of government by which the voice of the people was heard for the first time. Great attention has been given to the listing of all Hawaiian government documents in the form that they appeared. Many of these were first published as broadsides; some were offprints from the government newspaper, the Polynesian.
The third volume is devoted to a period which saw the creation of the constitutional monarchy in alignment with the 1864 constitution of Kamehameha V. It also saw the decline of the whaling industry, replaced by sugar, a move which ultimately resulted in the reciprocity treaty with the United States in 1875.
The fourth and final volume covers the years 1881-1900 which were without a doubt the most politically charged, unstable and volatile period in Hawaiian history. While reciprocity agreements with the United States had resulted in prosperity, sugar politics and the interests of Island businessmen were pitted against a monarch desirous of extending his power beyond the constraints of a constitutional monarchy.
Extensive annotations provide a summary of the published works in the bibliography. All known editions of each work are listed, together with the exact title, date of publication, size of the volume, collation of pages, number and type of plates and maps, references, and location of copies. Extensive well-informed notes describe the significance of each work.
Hawaiian National Bibliography wins prestigious award
MLA AWARDS PRIZE FOR A DISTINGUISHED BIBLIOGRAPHY
TO DAVID W. FORBES FOR Hawaiian National Bibliography, 1780-1900:
Volume 1, 1780-1830
New York, NY-December 3, 2000-The Modern Language Association of America has announced the winner of the second Modern Language Association Prize for a Distinguished Bibliography. The prize will be presented to David W. Forbes for his book Hawaiian National Bibliography, 1780-1900: Volume 1, 1780-1830, published by the University of Hawaii Press. Mr. Forbes will receive a certificate and a check for $1,000.
The MLA Prize for a Distinguished Bibliography was established by the MLA Executive Council in 1997 in response to a proposal from the association's Advisory Committee on the MLA International Bibliography. The competition in 2000 was open to bibliographies published in 1998 or 1999. Awarded each even-numbered year, the prize is one of fourteen awards that will be presented on 28 December 2000 during the association's annual convention, held this year in Washington, DC. The selection committee for the current prize included David William Foster (Arizona State Univ.), Gail E. Hawisher (Univ. of Illinois, Urbana), and David L. Vander Meulen (Univ. of Virginia), chair. The committee's citation for the winning bibliography reads:
In this attractive volume David W. Forbes provides the first comprehensive record of "all printed works on some aspect of the political, religious, social, cultural, and scientific history of the Hawaiian Islands" from 1780 to 1830. Gleaned from public and private collections on three continents, these meticulous accounts range across genres and languages as they combine sophisticated bibliographical descriptions with clear summaries of the works' contents and with helpful explanations of the items' significance. By detailed reports of these artifacts the author illuminates both the history of the islands and the role they played in European consciousness. In its breadth, depth, clarity, and care, this first volume of an ongoing project provides a paradigm for subject-based bibliographies.
Mr. Forbes is currently working on the fourth and final volume of the Hawaiian National Bibliography, 1780-1900, at the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society Library located in the Mission Houses Museum in Honolulu. Volume two of the bibliography, which covers the period 1831-50, was released this year; the third volume is scheduled for publication sometime in 2001. He has worked in the rare-book field for over thirty years, with a specialisation in voyages and travels to the Pacific and numerous years of experience with the pictorial and written history of the region. In addition to his prizewinning work, Mr. Forbes is the author of Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and Its People (University of Hawaii Press, 1992) as well as numerous articles and essays.
The Modern Language Association of America, the largest and one of the oldest of American learned societies in the humanities (est. 1883), promotes the advancement of literary and linguistic studies. The 30,000 members of the association come from each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia, as well as from Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. PMLA, the journal of the association, has published distinguished scholarly articles for over one hundred years. Each December, the association's annual convention is attended by approximately 9,500 members of the MLA and allied groups. The MLA is a constituent of the American Council of Learned Societies and the International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures.
David Forbes's extensively annotated bibliography of Hawaii will eventually run to four volumes, to be published over about five years. The work as a whole will be an indispensable tool for the historian, researcher, librarian, collector, student or enthusiast, and the first two volumes will be of special interest to anyone interested in the history of voyages from the Cook period onwards.
This comprehensive, annotated, multi-volume bibliography sets out to be a record of all printed works touching on some aspect of the political, religious, cultural, or social history of the Hawaiian Islands. In addition to books and pamphlets, the bibliography includes newspaper and periodical accounts and single sheet publications such as broadsides, circulars, playbills and handbills because they often contain the only eyewitness or contemporary descriptions of an important event or individual.
About the Author
David Forbes, who lives in San Francisco and Hawaii, has long been recognised as the world's expert on the bibliography of Hawaii. He is well known to all collectors, dealers, librarians and historians working in the area of historical Hawaiiana. His numerous publications include several works on Hawaii: especially noteworthy are his Treasures of Hawaiian History published in 1992 for the exhibition to honour the centennial year of the Hawaiian Historical Society, and his superb exhibition catalogue Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and its People 1778-1941, published by the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1992.
Reviews
Reviews for Volume II
Antiquarian Book Monthly & Biblionews
2001
Review by Colin Steele, The Australian National University Library, Canberra, Australia.
Reprinted by kind permission of the author.
The first volume of David Forbes's Hawaiian National Bibliography 1780-1900 appeared in 1999 and was universally acclaimed as an outstanding bibliography of Hawaiiana and won the Modern Language Association prize for Distinguished Bibliography. As before the Bibliography contains extensive details including all known editions, collation and historical annotations. Black and white illustrations complement the well set out text in two colours.
The second volume covers the period 1831-1850 when Hawaii established its form of monarchical government and covers a fascinating period in its history under Kamehameha III who attained his majority in 1831. Particular attention is paid in this period to listing of all the printed Hawaiian documents which appeared in a variety of forms such as broadsides and offprints of government newspapers. The listing from 1845 of the Hawaiian government reports is particularly relevant as many were ephemeral items, as were the broadside announcements and programs for public servants such as theatre and the circus. As before Forbes has attempted wherever possible to examine at least one copy of each item listed.
These two volumes to date already constitute an invaluable reference resource on Hawaii. The third volume is scheduled for publication later this year and the fourth and final volume is in preparation. The Bibliography should be in all major research collections which have an interest in the area in particular and the Pacific in general.