Dendroglyphs of the Chatham Islands (Books), Tauranga in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty for sale
In early 1947 Christina Jefferson made the first of six visits to the Chatham Islands. Her mission was to locate and study the unique and ancient art forms of the Moriori found there. (In ancient Greek Dendro=tree, glyph=carving.) This Chatham's art was carvings into the bark of the island's Karaka trees. Dr Roger Duff, then acting-Director of th Canterbury Museum, encouraged the author to undertake the study which eventrually was to find dendroglyphs"in hundreds"whereas they were"previously known in tens,"Duff wrote in his foreward to the book. Christina Jefferson's studies on the Chathams ended in mid-1955. By then she had spent one year and nine months on field trips. In one series of visits she spent 72 nights alone in a tent, huts or old dwellings and travelled 700 miles on horseback, according to Dr Duff. Discomfort and islolation ashore were not the only difficulties she faced --- each two-way visit to the Chathams involved crossing usually stormy seas in a small steamer. She discovered 1145 dendroglyphs and made copies of 549 of the glyphs. These were the basis for many of the illustrations in the book is not simply an academic story of locating and recording the unique art form of the ancient Mariori, but also of the dedication and determination of the author to reveal these previously little-known artistic treasures. First published in Vol 64 of the Journal of the Polynesian Society, with this first edition in book form published by the society in 1956. This copy from a tertiary institution library, 81 pages including addenda, two appendices, bibliography and index, illustrated with 13 b/w photos and one sketch, two b/w plates showing glyph examples made by earlier Chathams explorers, two maps one a fold-out, 132 b/w figures showing glyphs of various re-drawn the author The glyph drawings are preceded by 11 pages of tables giving the locations and details of each figure. Red hard covers with black front/spine titles are VG with hint wear spine top, crossed library stamp top FFEP, two stamps top half- title (one crossed), library stamps/codes title page verso, library stamp top edge contents page repeated top page 41, two library stamps and issue sheet on RFEP, crossed bar-code, few ink letters/numerals rear paste-down and small area adhesion residue. Apart from the one library stamp the text block is excellent. The original glyphs art dust jacket is plastic protected and VG with two white labels at the spine area. The jacket is lightly taped to both pastedowns. A scarce book. Size: 25cm By16cm
Author
Christina Jefferson
Title
Dendroglyphs of the Chatham Islands
Publisher name
Polynesian Society, Wellington
Shipping time
2 - 4 days
Publication year
1956
Edition
First edition
Binding type
Hard cover
Listing condition
Used
Item condition
Very good
Vendor name
BOPBooks
Vendor rating
Key words
New Zealand, Chatham Islands, Moriori, Dendroglyphs, Ancient Tree Carvings
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