Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller - Old and Rare Books

A Defence of the Missions in the South Sea, and Sandwich Islands [WITH:] Postscript

Orme, William

London: for B. J. Holdsworth, 1827. First edition. Hardcover. Two parts, octavo (22.5 by 14 cm): iv, 142, 2, [2] pp. Original plain binder's boards (stained), with publisher's printed title label at front cover. Expertly rebacked. Light foxing/water staining at boards and outermost leaves, occasional touch of soiling at top margin; else text fine and crisp throughout. Complete with two sets of publisher's advertisements.

First and only edition of a very scarce work, written in response to the article "Sandwich Islanders," which appeared in the Quarterly Review (vol. XXXV, no. 70 - March, 1827). The Review article references two published works: The first, Voyage of H.M.S. Blonde to the Sandwich Islands, in the Years 1824-1825 (London: J. Murray, 1826), recounts a remarkable journey under the command of the naval officer George Anson Byron (1789-1868), cousin of the famous poet, and the 7th Lord Byron. He was given the responsiblility of returning the bodies of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu to Hawaii; both had died of measles while visiting London in 1824. The narrative is derived from various journals and notes made by some of the officers and other gentlemen who accompanied Lord Byron on the voyage, which were collected by the ship's chaplain, Richard Bloxam (1798-1877) and edited by Maria Graham (1785-1842), known later as Lady Callcott.

The second work referenced by the Quarterly Review is Narrative of a Tour through Hawaii (London: H. Fisher, Son, and P. Jackson, 1826), by the missionary, William Ellis (1794-1872). Ellis set sail from the Society Island (French Polynesia) in 1816. A skilled linguist and chronicler of Polynesian life and natural history, Ellis gave his first sermon in Tahitian on the island of Huahine in 1818. Along with nine Tahitian evangelists, Ellis relocated to the Hawaiian Islands in 1822. There he directed an effort in conjunction with the American Board of Commisoners for Foreign Missions to help standardize the orthography of the Hawaiian language and collect information on island life. Ellis gained admission to court circles and baptized the mother of King Kamehameha II. In 1830 he succeeded William Orme as secretary of the London Missionary Society in charge of foreign relations. The Quarterly review article also claims to draw upon certain unpublished letters of Captain Frederick William Beechey, an English naval officer, hydrographer, artist and writer. "On 25 January 1822 he was promoted commander, and in January 1825 he was appointed to command the Blossom, which was engaged for the next four years in the Pacific, and in endeavouring by passing through the Bering Strait to meet the polar expeditions from the Atlantic" (ODNB). The "Postscript" (pp. 81-142) is comprised of letters and press notices "which completely corraborate and authenticate the statements and reasonings of ... [Mr. Orme's] letter."

A protégé of James Alexander Haldane, William Orme (1787-1830) became in 1807 pastor of the Congregational Tabernacle at Perth, where he was ordained. He played a leading part in the development of Scottish Congregationalism.
After his move in 1824 to the Congregational church at Camberwell Green, Surrey, he was elected foreign secretary of the London Missionary Society. Orme was a leading biographer of seventeenth-century puritans; his works on John Owen and Richard Baxter were particularly influencial. His Bibliotheca Biblica (1827), a bibliography of Bible editions, commentaries, and study aids, with an emphasis on English-language works, remains a useful reference.

Provenance and annotations: Bookplate of the Baptist Missionary Society Mission House Library at the front paste-down; shelf number noted at the top margin of the title. Price (for copy in boards) noted in manuscript at the printed label. Very good. Item #55259

References: A. Gordon (revised by A. P. Baker), "Orme, William," ODNB (online); D. W. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, vol. 1 (Honolulu, 1999) 684. OCLC locates six copies: Univeristy of Hawaii; Alexander Turnbull Library (NZ); National Library of New Zealand; Aukland Museum Library; SOAS University, London; British Library (2).

Full title and imprint: A Defence of the Missions in the South Sea, and Sandwich Islands, Against the Misrepresentations Contained in a Late Number of the Quarterly Review, in a Letter to the Editor of that Journal. London: Printed for B. J. Holdsworth, 18, St. Paul's Church Yard. 1827. (Printed by S. Holdsworth, 66 Paternoster Row, London).

Price: $2,750.00