OCEANIC ART. 71 Plates In Full Color. Translated From The Original Italian By Rachel Montgomery

small grey hardcover 8vo. (octavo). dustwrapper in protective brodart book jacket cover. remainder copy in fine cond. binding square & tight. small spot on rear cover. red remainder dot on top edge, other edges clean. contents free of markings. dustwrapper in fine cond. not worn or torn or price clipped(no price listed). nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking, underlining, remainder markings etc~. first edition. first printing (nap). 159p. glossy pages throughout. 71 full color glossy full page plates. detailed list of illustrations. religion. mythology. psychic phenomena. spiritism. art history. world history. archaeology. art books. ~ From the time of the first Pacific explorers, the Western World has been fascinated by the romance of the South Seas. Sophisticated men have longed to return to the simple, primitive life epitomised by those enchanted islands. In fact, the natives of this earthly paradise inhabit a world of surprising complexity. Their lives are bounded by myths and legends which may vary from area to area but are intimately dependent on the power of supernatural forces. The art of Oceania is the key to this enthralling world where a prow ornament becomes the guardian spirit of a ship, a statuette becomes an ever~watchful ancestor and a painted mask becomes the temporary residence of a god. The seventy~one marvellous colour plates in this book vividly depict the drama and mystery which are the essentials of Oceanic art.…