Skrifter fra Universitetsbiblioteket i Oslo 5 Svein A.H. Engelstad Catalogue of the “Kroepelien collection” or “Bibliotheca Polynesiana”, owned by the Oslo University Library, deposited at the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo Catalogue of the “Kroepelien collection” or “Bibliotheca Polynesiana”, owned by the Oslo University Library, deposited at the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo Svein A.H. Engelstad Universitetsbiblioteket i Oslo 2008 © Universitetsbiblioteket i Oslo 2008 ISSN 1504-9876 (trykt) ISSN 1890-3614 (online) ISBN 978-82-8037-017-4 (trykt) ISBN 978-82-8037-018-1 (online) Ansvarlig redaktør: Bente R. Andreassen Redaksjon: Jan Engh (leder) Bjørn Bandlien Per Morten Bryhn Anne-Mette Vibe Trykk og innbinding: AIT e-dit 2008 Produsert i samarbeid med Unipub AS Det må ikke kopieres fra denne boka i strid med åndsverkloven eller med andre avtaler om kopiering inngått med Kopinor, interesseorgan for rettighetshavere til åndsverk. Introduction The late Bjarne Kroepelien was a great collector of books and other printed material from the Polynesia, and specifically the Tahiti. Kroepelien stayed at Tahiti for about a year in 1918 and 1919. He was married there with a Tahitian woman. He was also adopted as a son of the chief in Papenoo, Teriieroo, and given his name. During his stay at Tahiti, the island was hit by the Spanish flu and about forty percent of the inhabitants lost their lives, among them his dear wife. Kroepelien organised the health services of the victims and the burials of the deceased, he was afterwards decorated with the French Order of Merit. He went back to Norway, but his heart was lost to Tahiti, but he chose never to return to his lost paradise, and he never remarried. Instead, he started to collect books about Polynesia. His collection is probably the largest private collection of Polynesian literature. His collection was, after Kroepelien’s death, acquired by The University Library. Bjarne Kroepelien was born in Bergen on 3 May 1890 and died in Oslo on 28 April 1966. As a profession he was a wine merchant, but his spare time was devoted to the collection of Polynesian literature. The Kroepelien collection or Bibliotheca Polynesiana is a very valuable collection of literature from and about the Pacific, and related areas. The collection consists of about 4500 numbered objects; most of these are printed material. There are some manuscripts and letters, now in the Department of manuscripts at the National Library in Oslo, call numbers Ms.4o 3685 & Ms.4o 3686, as well as several photos in the Special Collections at the National Library in Oslo. Very many objects in the collection are extremely rare; they are either old, or printed in very limited copies, where the objects in this collection are the only known surviving copies. The collection contains some of the first printed material issued in the Pacific. The most rare and valuable object in the collection is the journal “Le Sourire” by Paul Gauguin. This is now digitalised and available on the web of the University Library. The collection was acquired, by the University Library, from the heirs of Bjarne Kroepelien in 1973. The most important parts of the collection were thoroughly catalogued and commented by Rolf du Rietz in 1969. His book also includes a brief orientation about Bjarne Kroepelien himself as well as the collection’s history: Du Rietz, Rolf, Bibliotheca Polynesiana : A catalogue of some of the books in the Polynesian collection formed by the late Bjarne Kroepelien and now in the Oslo University Library. Oslo & Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell, 1969 - lxviii, 455 p. 1 Other sources of information about the collection and about Kroepelien are: Kroepelien, Bjarne: Tuimata, Oslo, J.W. Cappelens forlag, 1944. Heyedahl, Thor: Fathuhiva, Oslo, Gyldendal Norsk forlag, 1974. Skolmen, Roar, I skyggen av Kon-Tiki, Oslo, Damm, 2000. Ytteborg, Edgar: Kroepelien-samlingen in Bokhistoriske foredrag, Festskrift i anledning bibliotekdirektør Jan Erik Røeds avgang, Skrifter fra Universitets- biblioteket i Oslo, Oslo 2007. The collection was acquired for the amount of NOK 1.220.940 in 1973; at that time it was considered a moderate price for such a unique collection, even though, this was a large expenditure for the University Library. The acquisition was financed in cooperation between the library and different public and private sponsors. The library paid about 55% of the bill, different public funding 26%, private donors 11% and the Kon Tiki Museum 8%. The main part of the collection has since 1981 been deposited at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo. The most valuable items of the collection are however, still being kept, in the Rare Books Collection at the University Library. The collection is not available in any of the catalogues of the University Library, and the catalogue of the Kon-Tiki Museum’s library is only available locally. For a long time it has, therefore, been a need for a catalogue of this unique collection. It is not within the scope of this publication to give a detailed description of every single item in the collection. As far as I know, du Rietz has chosen the most important items to be included in his thoroughly annotated catalogue. The aim of this catalogue is merely to give a complete overview of the collection. The catalogue has been compiled on the basis of data from the library at the Kon-Tiki Museum, several catalogues and lists by Kroepelien and du Rietz, and further additions and corrections by the author. The catalogue contains information about author, title, publisher, place, time and pages, when available. Notes are set in brackets. Uncertain information is placed between sharp brackets. The signature KRO-0000 refers to the shelf number in the Kon-Tiki Museum library’s catalogue. It is the same numbers that Kroepelien used himself for his catalogue. Kroepelien was concerned about making a very detailed catalogue of his collection, he registered e.g. nearly every article in some of the journals in the collection. Bulletin de la Société des Etudes Océaniennes has 381 entries in this catalogue, while it is No. 1052 in du Rietz’ catalogue. 2 Likewise the Annales des Sacrés-Coeurs has 253 entries in this catalogue, while it is No. 32 in du Rietz’ catalogue. Kroepelien’s own catalogues and lists are however also rather intriguing, because he sometimes made an entry for books he wished to acquire, but had not yet received. When an item is missing it is therefore impossible to tell if it ever had arrived in his collection, or if it has disappeared during the time after his death in 1966 and the present date. Missing items are not included in this catalogue, even if information about the titles is available. It was unfortunately never taken a complete inventory of his collection when it was acquired by the University Library. The signature duRietz-000 refers to the number that appears in the catalogue prepared by Rolf du Rietz. Items in the collection are sometimes referred to by the signature BK-000; this signature is the same as duRietz-000. The signature UBO refers to the University Library; and the signature NBO refers to the National Library in Oslo. This catalogue is organised in the following way: Alphabetic Catalogue of the Kroepelien collection without author, pp. 4 – 26 Alphabetic Catalogue of the Kroepelien collection with author, pp. 27 – 201 Numeric Catalogue of the Kroepelien collection, pp. 202 – 301 The numeric catalogue is sorted by KRO-numbers, title information in this part is incomplete, one has to consult the alphabetic part for complete information. I hope that this complete catalogue can be useful for everyone interested in literature about Polynesia from the early ages until the 1960s when this collection ends. 3 Alphabetic Catalogue of the Kroepelien collection, without author: An Account of the Mutinous Seizure of the Bounty; with the succeeding hardships of the crew. To which are added Secret Anecdotes of the Otaheitan Females. E. Bentley, London., [1794], duRietz: 2, KRO 0059 An Account of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's Ship, ‘Bounty’, commanded by Lieutnant Bligh, and the passage of the Ship's Launch, from the South Seas to the Island of Timor. London, [1790], duRietz: 3, KRO 0060 Adoption spirituelle de la Mission de Tahiti par les ‘Sacramentines de Carpentras’, et de la Mission des Iles Cook par la ‘Visitation de Cambéry’: in Annales des Sacrés-Coeurs, Février 1928, pp. 381-383., Au bureau des Annales, Braine-le-Comte, 1928, duRietz: 32, KRO 0325 Adventures in the South Pacific: [s.l., s.n.], [s.d.], KRO 0022 Adventures of British Seamen in the Southern Ocean, displaying the striking contrasts which the human character exhibits in an uncivilized state.: in Constable's Miscellany of Original and Selected Publications in the various departments Literature, Science and the Arts, vol. IV., Constable & Co., Edinburgh., 1827, KRO 0025 Affiches, Annonces et Avis divers.: in Feuille Hebdomadaire, no 17, 1777 + no 11, 1779., Bureau des Affiches, Paris., 1777-1779, KRO 0027 Affiches, Annonces et Avis divers.: in Feuille Hebdomadaire, no 25, 1771., Bureau des Affiches, Paris., 1771, KRO 0026 Album de vues et paysages. De paris aux iles Marquises.: Bureaux du Magasin des familles, Paris, 1850, KRO 1430 Almanach 1911, Taiohaé, Iles Marquises, Océanie.: [s.l., s.n.], 1911, KRO 0049 Almanach 1912, Taiohaé, Iles Marquises, Océanie.: [s.l., s.n.], 1912, KRO 0050 Almanach 1913, Taiohaé, Iles Marquises, Océanie.: [s.l., s.n.], 1913, KRO 0051 Almanach 1914, Taiohaé, Iles Marquises, Océanie.: [s.l., s.n.], 1914, KRO 0052 Almanach 1915, Taiohaé, Iles Marquises, Océanie.: [s.l., s.n.], 1915, KRO 0053 Almanach 1916, Taiohaé, Iles Marquises, Océanie.: [s.l., s.n.], 1916, KRO 0054 L'Almanach de l'illustration: in L'illustration 1865., Aug.