Arts and Crafts of Hawaii stands alone as the definitive work on Hawaiian material culture. Sir Peter H. Buck (Te Rangi Hiroa), director of Bishop Museum from 1936 until his death in 1951, divided Hawaiian material culture into 13 major groupings, each meticulously detailed and well illustrated. He guides the reader through every major element of Hawaiian life, providing descriptions of traditional objects, methods of construction, and traditional use. As a testimony of Buck’s scholarship and attention to detail, many descriptions are specific enough to allow modern artisans to recreate these works.

This long awaited 2024 reprint features newly rescanned photos and art prints— a significant improvement in image quality— restoration of the original foreword, dust jacket design, and endpapers, and new front matter with gorgeous new portraits of the author.