PBA Galleries

Photogravure reproduction. 38x68 cm (15x26¾"), laid down on backing board, matted.

One of 150 photogravure reproductions made in 1919 by British publisher Francis Edwards of an original field drawing by John Webber. The drawing was made to record a boxing match that took place on the island of Oahu on January 28, 1779, as entertainment for Captain James Cook during this third voyage to the Pacific. However, the drawing was never included in the published voyage atlas. On this print someone has used  pen & ink to change the erroneous date in the title from 1770  to 1779.

Statement by Lahaina Printsellers Ltd.:  "This rare photogravure, published by Francis Edwards of Marylebone, London, from a previously unpublished field drawing by John Webber, is one of 150 issued in 1919. The records show that 50 were on India paper and 100 on fine art paper of which this is one. The prestigious London Booksellers, Francis Edwards, had in their possession the original field drawing (now in the collection of the Bishop Museum). Why the British Admiralty chose not to include this magnificent image in Cook's Third Voyage Atlas, we will never know. But fortunately for us, Edwards decided to reproduce it as this superb photo-engraving. What happened next is a publisher's nightmare. The description cutline was botched by the copywriter/typesetter. The date, 1770, should read 1779, and the attribution to James (sic) Webber should actually read John Webber. We can only imagine the embarrassment of the top brass at Francis Edwards. So much so in fact, that after selling around twenty they removed this item from stock and relegated the remainder to the basement. Fifty years passed, and on a trip to London in the late 1970's a friend told me of this wonderful large print of Hawaii in Francis Edwards' window in Marylebone. Upon investigating this phenomenon my wife and I purchased the last three from the managing director of the company. He intimated that he had sold almost all of them to Americans, mostly from Hawaii. So there you have it - by a strange coincidence, a typesetter's error, a wonderful print which might have been dispersed World wide was held off the market for over fifty years and has found a home here in Hawaii."