THE 'UKULELE: A Portuguese Gift to Hawaii

Honolulu: Published by the authors, 1980. First Edition. Trade paperback. Near fine. The first book on the history of the 'ukulele, accompanied by A Tradition in Hawaiian Music: The 'Ukulele (1980), the guide to the 'ukulele exhibit at Honolulu's Bishop Museum - the first museum exhibition devoted to the 'ukulele.

Despite its iconic status in Hawaiian music, the 'ukulele was never the subject of a book until the 1979 centennial of the arrival of the Madeiran machete (the immediate ancestor of the 'ukulele) in Hawai'i prompted the Bishop Museum exhibit and this book. The driving force behind both was Leslie Nunes (1916-98) of Waialua, a great-grandson of Manuel Nunes (1843-1922), one of the three original Madeiran 'ukulele makers in Hawai'i. Leslie Nunes assembled an important collection of early Hawaiian 'ukulele and other instruments, some of which are featured in this book and served as the basis for the Bishop exhibition. Short on text and long on photographs, The 'Ukulele was followed by more substantial accounts: Jim Beloff's The Ukulele: A Visual History (1997) and Jim Tranquada and John King's The 'Ukulele: A History (2012). The Bishop exhibit was the first museum exhibit devoted solely to the history and development of the 'ukulele in Hawai'i and on the mainland. Subsequent exhibits included that of the Tsumura Collection at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1993; Fullerton Museum Center in 2001; Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum in 2005; and Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California and Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco in 2007.

Octavo: 63 p. with numerous textual illustrations. Original printed tan paper wrappers. Near fine.