Extremely rare survivals: these are among the earliest Tahitian imprints and one of the few from the first years that weren't either a gospel translation or a dictionary. These hymns were issued for the coronation of Pomate II on 21 April, 1824.
Tahitian was the first Pacific language to be rendered in writing, and the first printing of that (or any Pacific) language occurred in London in 1810: a 48pp. spelling book by the missionary, John Davies. Further Tahitian printings were made in 1813 and 1814, but it was only when William Ellis reached Tahiti in 1817 that a press arrived on the island. On 30 June of that year the first sheets were pulled by Pomare II himself on Eimeo.
Although Pomare III reigned Tahiti from 1821-1827, he was only crowned in 1824. This is largely explained by him being born in 1820. These two hymns to Pomare III celebrate him and Tahiti's good fortune.
We locate a single copy at the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, see OCLC 1411870346.
Not in O'Reilly & Reitman; Harding, G.L., "Tahitian Imprints, 1817-1833" in The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Vol. 35, No. 1 (First Quarter, 1941), pp.48-57; Harding, G.L. & Kroepelien, R., Tahitian Imprints of the London Missionary Society, no. 36.
