Edward Lucatt, 1851

LUCATT, Edward (1815-1853). Rovings in the Pacific, from 1837 to 1849; with a Glance at California. By a Merchant long resident at Tahiti. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1851.

First edition, in original cloth. The author visited the Bay of Islands, Auckland, New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands, Pitcairn Island, the Philippines, and others. He also travelled in California, and is critical of California living during the height of the Gold Rush. Hill calls this narrative "a rather spirited one of adventure in almost every island of the Pacific, and an excellent account of the troubles in Tahiti and its annexation by the French." Pages 293-96 in volume one contain a critique of Herman Melville's Omoo, Typee and Mardi describing their author as "a most reckless loafer." The plates show the Valley of Oponohu, the Papeeti harbor, Moorea island, and the native church on Moorea.

Two volumes bound together, octavo (196 x 120 mm). 4 colored lithographed plates (light spotting to first frontispiece). Original blind-stamped cloth (sunning, spine ends and corners worn, upper joint cracked through with text block starting to detach). Provenance: Lord George Lennox (bookplate).