Author:
Sold
Within Australia
All orders free shipping
Rest of the World
Orders over A$300 ship free worldwide
Full Title:
Date:
Author:
Condition:
Technique:
Image Size:
Paper Size:
Genuine antique
dated:
Description:
First edition of this important early account of New Zealand, by the artist Augustus Earle, who sailed from Sydney aboard the brig Governor Macquarie on 20 October 1827, arriving at Hokianga on the west coast of the North Island. Earle describes Māori life, religion and customs with the sympathetic eye of a professional artist, offering vivid accounts of tattooing, ceremonial dance, warfare and settlement at Hokianga and the Bay of Islands, together with accounts of the massacres of Captain Marion du Fresne’s crew (1772):
“The French navigator, Marion, he recollected perfectly; and made one of the party that murdered him and his people. His observation was, ‘They were all brave men; but they were killed and eaten.’ He assured us that the catastrophe was quite unpremeditated.” (pp. 148–149)
Earle also recounts the destruction of the ship Boyd at Whangaroa in 1809, one of the defining events in the early history of European contact with New Zealand, recording both Māori and European interpretations of the tragedy. His narrative is distinguished by its measured tone and willingness to present Māori customs and traditions within their own cultural context, making the work one of the most important contemporary accounts of New Zealand before large-scale British settlement. Pages 285–371 contain Earle’s separate narrative of his residence on Tristan da Cunha, one of the earliest published descriptions of life on the remote South Atlantic island.
The work is illustrated with seven plates after Earle’s own drawings, including two folding aquatints, two engraved portraits—among them the celebrated frontispiece, “Aranghie, The Tattooer of New Zealand”—and views of Māori ceremonial life together with scenes of the settlement on Tristan da Cunha.
Octavo. Two engraved portraits (frontispiece “Aranghie, The Tattooer of New Zealand” and “A New Zealand Girl”, drawn by A. Earle and engraved by J. Stewart); five aquatint plates after Earle’s drawings, including two folding (“A Dance of New Zealanders” and “A New Zealand War Speech”); pp. [i–x], editor’s introduction; pp. 1–284, New Zealand narrative; pp. [285]–371, Tristan da Cunha narrative; printer’s colophon on the verso of the final leaf.
Painter and lithographer, born in London on 1 June 1793, son of an American Tory portrait painter who fled to England in 1778. His uncle, Ralph Earl, was an eminent American portrait painter, his older sister, Phoebe, became flower painter to Queen Victoria, while her husband, Denis Dighton, was a printer who later lithographed some of Earle’s watercolours. Earle reached Hobart in 1825 on the Admiral Cockburn after being rescued from the remote island of Tristan da Cunha, and spent three years in Australia painting portraits of ‘exclusives’, landscapes and the Aborigines. He spent four months in Van Diemen’s Land and then left in May 1825 for Sydney. There he quickly established himself as the colony’s leading artist and on the 8 July 1826, Earle advertised the opening of his art gallery at 10 George Street, Sydney, where he offered painting lessons and ‘a large assortment of every description of articles used in Drawing, Painting &c.’ as well as his own pictures. In August 1826 Earle was given a lithographic press by the astronomer James Dunlop that had been brought out by Governor Brisbane, which was probably the first lithographic press in the colony. Earle’s first lithographic attempt was a portrait of the Sydney Aborigine Bungaree. By November he had published the first part of his lithographed views of Sydney, Views in Australia and the second part was issued the following month. Earle’s views were not a success as no further parts were issued as had been his original intention. There are three known sets of the Sydney printing of these lithographs, all are in institutional collections. On 20 October 1827 he sailed for New Zealand on board the Governor Macquarie, with a view to record its landscape and inhabitants. Earle wanted to know more about the Maori, some of whom he had met in Sydney. He spent eight months in Hokianga and the Bay of Islands. No native race he had studied on his travels could compare with the New Zealanders, that ‘splendid race of men’ with ‘a natural elegance and ease of manner’. Earle painted dozens of accurate representations of Maori customs, occasions and domestic scenes. He left Northland in May 1828 to continue his travels. He was the first European artist to establish himself for a time in New Zealand and make a prolonged study of a part of the country and a number of its people. Back in London in the 1830s, he exhibited and published his views of New Zealand, New South Wales, and Van Diemen’s Land.
$A 650
Exchange rates are only indicative. All orders will be processed in Australian dollars. The actual amount charged may vary depending on the exchange rate and conversion fees applied by your credit card issuer.
Join our exclusive mailing list for first access to new acquisitions and special offers.
