Early Visitors to Easter Island, 1864-1877. The Reports of Eugene Eyraud, Hippolyte Roussel, Pierre Loti and Alphonse Pinart (Review)

TWELVE YEARS AGO the Easter Island Foundation undertook its first voyage into book publishing; a voyage that would bring to Rapanuiphiles and scientists an unprecedented look at Easter Island and the realms of Oceania; a voyage that one could conceivably trace to the first visitors on Easter Island who described what they saw. For, in the words of Eyraud, Roussel, Loti, and Pinart, the world first became aware of this remarkable little island. And because of the dedicated efforts of Georgia Lee, Frank Morin, and Ann Altman, we can all share those words, that awareness, and those first voyages.