POLYNESIAN MYTHOLOGY.

As furnished by their priests and chiefs

First edition: xvi, 333 pages frontispiece, 12 plates, title page vignette, musical appendix with examples, light foxing, rebound in quarter brown leather with matching paper covered boards, paper title label on the spine, a good copy.

Sir George Grey 1812 - 1898: While politics left him little time to devote to scholarship, he was a keen naturalist and an assiduous collector of manuscripts, incunabula and other rare books. He established important libraries at Cape Town and Auckland, presenting them with his collections of books. He was also a keen botanist and established extensive collections. He wrote books on Australian Aboriginal vocabularies and on his western Australian explorations. He took a scholarly interest in Maori language and culture.

He was the author of Ko nga mahinga a nga tupuna Maori (the deeds of the Maori ancestors) (London, 1854); Ko nga moteatea, me nga hakirara o nga Maori (the songs, chants and poetry of the Maori) (Wellington, 1853); Ko nga waiata Maori (the songs of the Maori) (prepared in Cape Town, 1857); and Ko nga whakapepeha me nga whakaahuareka a nga tipuna o Aotea-roa (proverbial and popular sayings of the ancestors of the New Zealand race) (Cape Town and London, 1857).Grey was one of the most remarkable nineteenth century British colonial governors, and one of the most remarkable people who have lived in New Zealand. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1g21/grey-george