BYRON, George Anson. GRAHAM, Maria, compiler

Voyage of H.M.S. Blonde to the Sandwich Islands...

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John Murray London, 1826. Quarto, with folding aquatint frontispiece, chart of the voyage, eight other aquatint plates, three engraved portraits, plan of Kilauea volcano and a woodcut; sporadic light foxing and toning mostly, but not exclusively, in the margins; a very good large copy, edges rough-trimmed only, in the original plain boards, rebacked long ago, original cloth spine and remnants of printed paper label laid down. First edition. Kamehameha II of Hawaii and his Queen Kamamalu were on a visit to London in 1824, when they both died of measles, against which they had no immunity. This voyage - 'one of the most gracious acts that one country has ever extended to another' (Buck) - was commissioned by the British government specifically to return their bodies to the Hawaiian Islands, with the cousin of the poet Byron in command. The book contains a history of their visit to London, a résumé of the discovery, and visits to Hawaii by British explorers, as well as the main narrative, compiled by Maria Graham from journals kept by the naturalist Bloxam as well as from official papers.

The stay in Hawaii - discussed at length by Forbes in the Hawaiian National Bibliography - contains an interesting account of travels to Hilo, and the volcano, Kealakekua, Lahaina and Honolulu. The fine aquatint views by Robert Dampier include a large view of Kilauea crater, two of Honolulu, four of Hilo, and one each of the City of Refuge near Kealakekua, and Lahaina on Maui.
Borba de Moraes, p. 139; 'Hawaii One Hundred', 37; Hill, 231; Judd, 76.

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