no title-Natives of the Society islands

Title

no title-Natives of the Society islands

The upper illustration shows a portrait of two indigenous people of the Society Islands. The lower illustration depicts a canoe and two rowers. Page 88. Bottom left: Carlo Bottigelli from 1800; bottom right: a print stamp. From "Il Costume Antico e Moderno …, l’America," by Giulio Ferrario, published in Milan in 21 volumes by Antonio Fortunato Stella in 1827 (first edition, second issue). The 17 volumes of the first edition were published sequentially between approximately 1815/1816 and 1826, after initially appearing in 143 weekly issues. The work was published in both Italian and French. Smaller editions with less elaborate plates were also published in Florence (1823–1838), Naples (1831–1842), and even a 16mo edition in Livorno (1830). The original bears a blind stamp in the lower right corner of the image. The sources used for this work are diverse.

ca. 1820

Artist

Biasioli (1790-1830)

Historical Description

Records of the Society Islands begin when Ferdinand Magellan discovers the Tuamotu Archipelago in 1521. In June 1767, the archipelago is discovered and recorded by Samuel Wallis. The latter named the main island, today's Tahiti, after the client and sponsor of his circumnavigation. From then on, the island was called King George Island. In April 1768, Louis Antoine de Bougainville reached the Society Islands, unaware that he was encountering a group of islands that had already been discovered. The islands were reliably mapped in 1777 by James Cook, who named the archipelago "Society" because of the arrangement of the islands into a "society". Colonization by France began in 1843, when the Society Islands first became a French protectorate and then a French colony in 1880.