Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Missionaries and idols in Polynesia / guest curator, David Shaw King. "The first Europeans to follow the explorers of the eighteenth century into the South Pacific were missionaries. They were sent by an Evangelical Christian organization called The London Missionary Society, whose aim was to bring the word of the Bible to all peoples - "to illume a dark and sinful world". Their first target was Tahiti, an island of extravagant beauty, inhabited by a people of astonishing sophistication. The missionaries settled down, learned the language and stayed for decades. Although their aim was to Christianize the islanders and eradicate the traditional religion along with its pagan idols, they ended up recording a good deal about Polynesian culture and even saving a large number of the very idols they came 12,000 miles to destroy. Accompanying an exhibition at the University of London's Brunei Gallery, this beautifully illustrated catalogue documents the London Missionary Society from its formation to its initial 'success' in Polynesia. The period covered spans roughly 1792 to 1825. Along with historical graphics and archive material - paintings, engravings, books, journals and correspondence of the missionaries - this publication shows some of the idols and artefacts that the missionaries brought back - feather gods and spirit images, necklaces, instruments and tools. In the words of missionary Rev. John Williams, it puts on view an historical "ocular demonstration" of The London Missionary Society. Most objects shown here have not been on public display since the nineteenth century. After the initial and very difficult spiritual conquest of Tahiti - the "night of toil" that took 15 years - the English missionaries turned the thorny job of Christianization over to Polynesian 'teachers', who, in the words of Rev. John Williams, knew how to clear away "the rubbish of idolatry & superstition far better than newly arrived or even Old Missionaries". The best teacher of all was Papeiha, who was energetic, purposeful and a native speaker of Tahitian. His account of events while Christianizing Rarotonga - published here for the first time - is probably the most personal, immediate and detailed description of a conversion in the South Sea. Missionaries are roundly criticized for their unrelenting determination to alter traditional Polynesian religion and customs. In what they referred to as the "bloodless victory", they largely succeeded. Yet in many ways Evangelicals were progressive. They were vehemently opposed to slavery, infanticide, human sacrifice and warfare. They brought writing, taught literacy, and printed books; in doing so they fixed the Polynesian languages. They urged the elevation of women in Polynesian society. Unlike the American missionaries in Hawai'i, for example, their aim was to establish spiritual rather than territorial or economic dominion. However questionable the missionary endeavour, the writings and collections presented here show that the missionaries were also agents of cultural preservation."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 910.4:266

The power of the sea : making waves in British art 1790-2014 /edited by Janette Kerr and Christiana Payne "Artists in Britain have long been fascinated by the sea, the spectacle of waves crashing on the shore, and the destructive power of the ocean. Since the early nineteenth century, the sea has been an important focus for painters relishing the challenge of working directly from nature, often in inhospitable conditions. Such work has gained a new urgency with current concerns about climate change and rising sea levels. Danger is a recurrent theme; Morland, Danby, Brett and Langley emphasized the human costs of shipwrecks, Turner concentrated on elemental fury, and Constable on the sea's breezy freshness. Late nineteenth century depictions seem more benign, a source of leisure and health. Moore, James, and Laurence sought ways to capture the movement of waves. Twentieth century artists Nash, Wadsworth and Feiler found reassurance in the simple geometry of sea walls and boats, while Lanyon, Piper and Eardley portrayed the coast as a place of swirling winds and shifting moods, emblematic of the artist's own subjective experience. Arguably artists working today and engaging with the sea have (inevitably) the contemporary concerns associated with environmental changes and challenges as either the focus or the backdrop to their practice. This universal and global experience resulting from climatic change manifests itself in the destructive force of the sea and the inundation of the land. Kurt Jackson takes this environmental agenda as the springboard for many of his works. Simon Read, Michael Porter, and Jethro Brice portray coastal erosion and rising sea levels, while Peter Matthews and Andrew Friend immerse work in the sea or create devices to disappear below its surface. History, myth and maritime tradition inhabit the works of Hugh O'Donoghue and Will Maclean. Monochromatic photographs and etchings by James Beale, Norman Ackroyd and Thomas Joshua Cooper capture its moods, beauty and movement. Maggi Hambling, recognised for her celebrated series of North Sea Paintings, has depicted the power and energy of the sea in both paint and bronze. Gail Harvey creates colourful waves, while Len Tabner, and Janette Kerr depict seas that foam and froth furiously."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 75.047(26:42)"1790/2014"

Crisis in the Mediterranean : naval competition and great power politics, 1904-1914 /Jon K. Hendrickson. "The geopolitical situation in the Mediterranean before the First World War has been generally ignored by historians. However, in the years before the War, the fact that the Mediterranean was shifting from British control to a wide open, anarchic state occupied the minds of many leaders in Austria-Hungary, Italy, France and Great Britain. This change was driven by three largely understudied events: the weakening of the British Mediterranean Fleet to provide more ships for the North Sea, Austria-Hungary's decision to build a navy capable of operating in the Mediterranean, and Italy's decision to seek naval security in the Triple Alliance after the Italo-Turkish War. These three factors radically altered the Mediterranean situation in the years leading up to the First World War, forcing Britain and France to seek accommodation with each other and France to begin rapidly building ships to defend both British and French interests. However, all of this activity has been largely obscured by the July Crisis of 1914 and the ensuing World War. Traditional history has looked backward from these events, and, in so doing, ignored the turbulent seas building in the Mediterranean. Conversely, this dissertation seeks to understand these events as they unfolded, to understand how policymakers understood the changing Mediterranean world. Ultimately, this dissertation seeks to redress the imbalance between historians, who have viewed the history of the Mediterranean in the early 20th century as a largely stable one, and policymakers in the Great Powers, who viewed the Mediterranean as a highly unstable region, and struggled to come to terms with that instability."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.02(4-015)"1904/1914"

Reappraisals of British colonisation in Atlantic Canada, 1700-1930 / edited by S. Karly Kehoe and Michael E. Vance. "Investigates the contested legacies of British colonisation on Canada's Atlantic coast. Engages with the legacy of British colonisation in Atlantic Canada across three sections. Situates the Scottish experience within process of British colonisation, challenging the tendency to omit the Scots from critical explorations of the colonisation process in this region. Exposes the reader to a range of experiences from across the four Atlantic Provinces, which will encourage more exciting new research. Chapters are grouped in three main sections: Dispossession and Settlement; Religion and Identity; Reappraising Memory. This collection offers new perspectives on the legacy of British colonisation by concentrating on Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island), a region that was pivotal to safeguarding Britain's imperial ambitions, between 1750 and 1930. New and established researchers from Canada, Scotland and the United States engage with the core themes of migration, dispossession, religion, identity, and commemoration in a way that diverges markedly from existing scholarship. The research shines much-needed light on groups traditionally excluded from Britain's broader imperial narrative, highlighting the indigenous experience and the presence and agency of slaves, free people of colour and religious minorities"--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 971.502

To exist is to resist : black feminism in Europe /edited by Akwugo Emejulu and Francesca Sobande. "This book brings together activists, artists and scholars of colour to show how Black feminism and Afrofeminism are being practiced in Europe today, exploring their differing social positions in various countries, and how they organise and mobilise to imagine a Black feminist Europe. Deeply aware that they are constructed as 'Others' living in a racialised and hierarchical continent, the contibutors explore gender, class, sexuality and legal status to show that they are both invisible - presumed to be absent from and irrelevant to European societies - and hyper-visible - assumed to be passive and sexualised, angry and irrational. Through imagining a future outside the neocolonial frames and practices of contemporary Europe, this book explores a variety of critical spaces including motherhood and the home, friendships and intimate relationships, activism and community, and literature, dance and film."--Provided by the publisher. 2019. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 305.4/8896

The Caird collection of maritime antiquities Callender, Geoffrey, 1933-1937 • FOLIO • 31 copies available. 069(26:421.6)

The cyclopaedia : or universal dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature /by Abraham Rees. Rees, Abraham 1819. • RARE-BOOK • 44 copies available.

Concise catalogue of oil paintings in the National Maritime Museum / compiled by the staff of the National Maritime Museum ; [introduction by Stephen Deuchar]. National Maritime Museum (Great Britain) 1988. • FOLIO • 25 copies available. 069(26:421.6)

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