Force, Roland W.; Maryanne Force, The Fuller Collection of Pacific Artifacts, Praeger Publishers New York, 1971. One of the most extensive and valuable collections of Pacific artifacts ever assembled; a collection of 6,884 objects of material culture. Hardcover. Burgundy cloth, gilt letters on spine, gilt decoration on front cover, orange & illus. dust jacket. First Edition. xvi, 360 pages of text including a bibliography and an index. Profusely illustrated, one tipped-in color plate. Contains many BW illustrations of hundreds of artifacts. Polynesia; Melanesia; Australia; New Zealand; Solomon Islands. A geographical format to present the details of the artifacts. Uncommon. A great copy, clean and unmarked. Size: Quarto (4to). Alfred Walter Francis Fuller was born in England in 1882, the son of clergyman Reverend Alfred Fuller. In 1896 his father purchased his first object, a Fijian club, and was most likely from whom he inherited his interest in natural history, collecting, and the pursuit of knowledge. After serving as a Captain in the military during World War I, Fuller was later transferred to the Army Reserves on due to a hearing impairment. After retiring from this service in 1921, and on account that he could not pursue his legal career as a solicitor due to his partial deafness, Fuller decided to devote himself entirely to his collection, one that, not even in death, would he become separated from. This important volume documents the collection of Captain Fuller, who never had a chance to visit the islands "that played such an important part in his life''. In 1958 The Field Museum in Chicago purchased Fuller's life's work; one of the most extensive and valuable collections of Pacific artifacts ever assembled; a collection of 6,884 objects of material culture. This collection included 3,517 items from Melanesia, 2,509 items from Polynesia, 671 items from Australia, 184 items from Micronesia, and 3 items from general Oceania. The acquisition significantly expanded the Museum’s Pacific holdings and in subsequent years, Fuller’s wife Estelle would donate an additional 334 items that her husband had collected. Fuller and his wife also compiled a library, now located at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, of over 20,000 volumes. Although the Fuller Collection is pan-Pacific in scope, its three main segments are derived from Polynesia, Melanesia, and Australia. The areas most amply represented -- and consequented, those treated most extensively in this volume -- are New Zealand and the Solomon Islands." Condition: Book and DJ; very good+ condition. Hardcover binding in almost new condition. Light foxing to top and fore edges and first few pages; further the usual signs of age and use. Dustjacket with minimal sunning to spine and minimal shelfwear; protected in archival mylar. The reflections on the cover/dj as seen on the last seven images is the shiny surface of the protective archival mylar. Shipping with insurance and track & trace. Shipping costs include packing material and packing labor. The tracking information of your shipment will be updated in your Catawiki account once your package has been submitted for shipment to the shipping office. Please check this regularly to prevent returns.