Among Papuan Headhunters…
Among Papuan Headhunters. An account of the manners & customs of the old Fly River headhunters, with a description of the secrets of the initiation ceremonies divulged by those who have passed through all the different orders of the craft, by one who has spent many years in their midst.
London: Seeley, Service, 1925.
Octavo, black and white photographic plates, text illustrations and two maps (one folding); a good copy in the original decorated cloth, gilt.
Ethnography of the Kiwai with remarkable photographic plates
Edward Baxter Riley (1868–1929) was placed in charge of the London Missionary Society's Fly River Mission on Daru Island in 1901, after Scottish-born missionary James Chalmers was killed by men from Goarbari Island while trying to expand the Mission's territory. Originally trained as a pharmacist, Riley became an expert on Papuan languages, contributing a lengthy vocabulary to A grammar of the Kiwai Language, Fly Delta, Papua, 1832 (published posthumously).
Edward Baxter Riley (1868–1929) was placed in charge of the London Missionary Society's Fly River Mission on Daru Island in 1901, after Scottish-born missionary James Chalmers was killed by men from Goarbari Island while trying to expand the Mission's territory. Originally trained as a pharmacist, Riley became an expert on Papuan languages, contributing a lengthy vocabulary to A grammar of the Kiwai Language, Fly Delta, Papua, 1832 (published posthumously).
The eminent anthropologist A.C. Haddon in Reports on the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, vol. 1. (1935) noted Baxter Riley's "valuable contribution" to the "ethnography of the Kiwai" represented by the present work.
Condition Report: Head and tail of spine very slightly chipped.
Price (AUD): $290.00
US$187.96 Other currencies