Account of the Pelew Islands, situated in the Western Pacific Ocean.: Composed from Journals and Communications of Captain Henry Wilson, and some of his Officers, who, in August 1783, were there shipwrecked, in Antelope, a Packet belonging to the Hon. East India Company

UNCOMMON IRISH EDITION - A PACIFIC EXPLORATION CLASSIC

first Irish edition tall 8vo. xxx, 378pp., large folding map, 16 engraved plates (1 folding), contemporary calf, smooth spine panelled by gilt fillets and with a plum red morocco label gilt, some scattered light dusty fingering in margins, minor wear and bruising to binding, but generally a very good copy in original condition.

Contemporary signatures of John Mahony on title and of Richard Mahony on endpaper.

ESTC t121530 locating copies in B.L., Cambridge, Dublin City, N.L.I., Oxford, National Trust; Berlin; 8 locations in U.S.A and 5 in Australasia. Some copies with 4 advertisement leaves at the end.
After their ship was wrecked on the Pelew or Palau islands in the western Pacific the crew succeeded in reaching the shore where they were well treated by the natives who had not previously encountered Europeans. Using a small boat built from the wreckage the crew got to Macao and thence to England, taking with them Prince Lee Boo, the son of King Abba Thule. Lee Boo became a celebrated figure in England but he soon died from smallpox. This book describes Micronesian life, culture, religious customs, and language before they were altered by European contacts. The plates show their houses and villages, boats, weapons, tools, personal ornaments, household utensils and implements, items of dress, etc. Includes a vocabulary of the Pelew language.
Keate (1729-97), man of letters, author of several books of poetry and history, and friend of Voltaire in the 1750s, was well aware of the idealised 'noble savage' concept that contemporary Enlightenment thinkers had introduced into European culture. In this book, first published in London in 1788, he wove together a detailed description of a 'savage' civilization and a tale of adventure to create an instant success that was to become a classic. The first London edition was quickly followed by this Dublin edition with the plates engraved by H. Brocas, and it was followed in turn by further London editions and by translations into several European languages. This edition not in Hill Pacific Voyages (but cf. nos. 907 -912, first and other editions 1783 - 1802)