Kaupeepee, an idyll of Hawaii,

Kaupeepee - "A Story of Old Hawaii" & "An Idyll of Hawaii" - Leopold Blackman - Mercantile Printing Company, LTD, Honolulu, Hawaii - 1902 - 54 pages

The first edition has the word 'Story' on the front cover and 'Idyll' on the title page.

This little book tells in prose/verse a legend of Hawaii. This is the story of Kaupe'epe'-nui-kauila, the Prince of Molokai & Hina, the queen of Hilo and the wars that resulted from her abduction. Sometimes compared with the story of Paris and Helen this Hawaiian story dates to the 12th Century AD.

Wikipedia states, "their story is dramatic record of the love and hate, wrong and revenge, courage and custom, passion and superstition, of mythical times."

The only words on the internet I could find ABOUT this book (Searched for 'reviews' and this was the closest I could find...) was from a book seller who stated, "Of all the bad verse inflicted on the world by amateur Victorian syntax-twisters, this epic of ancient Hawaii may be the best example. Judge for yourself."

I think this book is well written and reads easily although I will admit I'm not an expert on English writing and sentence structure (please don't grade this review). In fact I had to look up 'syntax' to make sure I understood the book seller's comment, which he may have felt to be honest but won't help him to sell his copy. All I can say is I read the book and had no problem understanding or enjoying it. Maybe because I don't tear apart sentence structure.

The original first edition, printed by Mercantile Printing Company, LTD, Honolulu, Hawaii has a kapa (aka tapa - bark cloth) covering the paper wraps which is a sturdy cloth but the edges are wrinkled through time and handling. I would not expect to find a true 1st edition without the wrinkled edges.