Bartimeus of the Sandwich Islands by Bingham, Rev. H - 1845

Boston: American Tract Society, 1844. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good. N.d. (c. 1844). Slim 24mo. in dark brown blindstamped cloth, spine lettered and decorated in gilt. 58 pp. plus 4 pp. publisher's ads at rear. Frontispiece engraving. One of the earliest American books concerning the Hawaiian Islands. In the original deep brown blindstamed cloth hardcovers, aprox. 1/3 of the spine strip lacking and other stained areas. The text is heavily stained particularly the first several pages, gradually but never entirely fading. Rev. Hiram Bingham (1789-1869) was the leader of the first group of Protestant missionaries to the Kingdom of Hawaii (then known as the Sandwich Islands), leaving Boston by boat in late 1819. The subject of this little book was a young, blind Hawaiian native who converted to Christianity after the arrival of the missionaries.

New York: American Tract Society. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 32mo - over 4 - 5" tall. N.d., [ca. 1868 per WorldCat]. Orig. brown blind stamped cloth. 58 pp., [4] pp. ads. Frontis. engraving w/ tissue guard. Printer's error to title, reading Bartimeus, "or" instead of "of." Boards sunned to spine and extremities. Moderate foxing to text block. Ink ownership inscription to ffep. Creasing to a few corners. The story of Christian convert and evangelist Bartimeus, born Puaaiki on Maui, probably around the year 1785. "Though the islands had, by Capt. Cook, been discovered, and introduced to the Christian world in 1778, yet for half of 'threescore years and ten,' darkness and the undiminished pollution of Hawaiian heathenism, and trained under the baleful influences of a senseless and cruel superstition." It follows the blind, middle-aged man from his "heathen" origins through his appointment as Deacon and evangelist labours. 0.