If you’re a preservation and history buff (and if you’re reading this we assume you are), you’ll be excited to add one or more of these recently published titles to your summer reading list. Happy Reading!
Tambi Larsen’s 100 Entertainments of Kauaʻi
Published by Kaua‘i Historical Society, 2023
Tambi Larsen was a Danish, Academy Award winning art director who married Barbara Dole (daughter of James Dole) and bought a home in Hā‘ena, Kaua‘i in 1961 where he would later spend several months of his retirement each year. During this time, Larsen decided to visually celebrate natural and man-made settings around the island and thus began a body of artwork he called “One Hundred Entertainments.” These whimsical colored drawings created with Prismacolor Pencils featuring buildings and architectural features and elements from the natural world, are a love letter to the Garden Island. Part art book and part history book, 100 Entertainments of Kauaʻi offers a charming, insightful, and enchanting vision of Kauaʻi’s places, nature, and lifestyle. Each illustration is accompanied with a brief history or anecdote written by five local historians of the Kaua‘i Historical Society. Tambi Larsen passed away in 2001, and in 2003, his wife Barbara bestowed the Kaua‘i Historical Society with the rights to publish these gems.
Available at the Kaua‘i Historical Society: https://kauaihistoricalsociety.org/product/tambi_larsens_100_entertainments_of_kauai/
Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands National Experiences and Practice
By John Stubbs, William Chapman, Julia Gatley, Ross King
Published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024
The fourth in a series that documents architectural conservation in different parts of the world, Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands: National Experiences and Practice addresses cultural heritage protection in a region which comprises one third of the Earth’s surface. Enriched with essays contributed from fifty-nine specialists and thought leaders in the field, this book contains an extraordinary breadth and depth of research and synthesis on the why’s and how’s of cultural heritage conservation. Its holistic approach provides an essential resource and reference for students, academics, researchers, policy makers, practitioners and all who are interested in conserving the built environment.
“Hawaiʻi has actually had a great impact on conservation practice throughout the Pacific,” William Chapman, Interim Dean, School of Architecture, and Professor, American Studies, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, a co-author, said. “The book also looks at the darker side of history, such as nuclear testing in Micronesia, which is part of a shared Pacific heritage.”
In response to local needs, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands have developed some of the most important and influential techniques, legislation, doctrine and theories in cultural heritage management in the world. The evolution of the heritage protection ethos and contemporary architectural conservation practices in Australia and Oceania are discussed on a national and regional basis using ample illustrations and examples. Accomplishments in architectural conservation are discussed in their national and international contexts, with an emphasis on original developments (solutions) and contributions made to the overall field.
Available at Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/Architectural-Conservation-in-Australia-New-Zealand-and-the-Pacific-Islands-National-Experiences-and-Practice/Stubbs-Chapman-Gatley-King/p/book/9780367654436
Honolulu 1854: The Drawings of Paul Emmert
By Gary R. Coover, Self-Published, June, 2023
Swiss-born Paul Emmert was the pre-eminent theatrical and architectural artist in Honolulu in the mid-1850’s. His sketches are among the first-known drawings of Honolulu’s early buildings, showcasing nearly 100 early structures, most of which are long gone. A full set of Emmert’s drawings was recently discovered in period color, and these color drawings are presented here for the first time in their entirety, along with descriptive notes, historical information, and site locations. Emmert’s “Views of Honolulu” consisting of 6 panels with panoramas and individual buildings, was published in 1854 and is incredibly rare today.
Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Honolulu-1854-Drawings-Paul-Emmert/dp/195320810X
Remembering History and Honoring Culture:
Statues, Monuments, and Memorials on Hawai‘i, Kaua‘i, Maui and Moloka‘i
By Cheryl D. Soon, Ph.D.
All across the Hawaiian Islands, historic statues, bronze plaques, and stone monuments can be seen in plain sight…or discovered in remote places. Each has a story. Who is responsible for placing these? What were their intentions? What do the artists say they were attempting to reveal about the honored heroes and their lives?
In Remembering and Honoring Culture, Soon explores the back stories and intrigue surrounding these statues and monuments beyond what can be gleaned from the nearby plaques. Illustrated with full color photo images, the book unravels what these statues and artifacts reveal collectively about the history of the islands, its inhabitants, and their values. And most poignantly, what they tell us about Hawai‘i today.
Available at Mutual Publishing LLC: https://mutualpublishing.com/product/remembering-history-honoring-culture/