Author: Imaginary Voyage.
Title: The History of Bullanabee and Clinkataboo, Two Recently Discovered Islands in the Pacific.
Description: London: printed for Longman &c 1828. Duodecimo in sixes, publisher's cloth backed boards, printed paper spine label; 216pp. Endpapers spotted but an outstanding, fresh copy. 1829 inscription of C.H. Cruttwell, most likely Clement Henry Cruttwell, master (later headmaster) of Hertford Grammar School. ¶ Quite a rare imaginary voyage. The Islands of Bullanabee and Clinkataboo, though close to Hawaii, remain unknown to European navigators but have been trading for centuries with Japan, whose religion the islanders had embraced. As Japan was even more a mystery than Hawaii and other Pacific cultures this all allows a curious mix of supposition drawn from Asia and elsewhere, and imagination. This imaginary Japanese religion bears a remarkable likeness to Catholicism with its idol worship, the priesthood's love of gold and the supremacy of the head of the church, the sole link of communication to the Goddess Verginee. From the tyranny of this religion comes strife and civil war of course, until sense prevailed and the priests of Verginee were expelled. The cunning and cupidity of the priesthood was relentess though and trouble returns. Again, at last, sense prevails and though devotees of Verginee may persist in their worship they are wisely barred from holding any office of power. And yet again the Verginees wormed their way inside the defences of the too tolerant islanders, this during the author's two year stay, and "in consequence of these sudden and dangerous changes in the affairs of the islands I took the opportunity of leaving them and of leaving them clandestinely for; as all liberality of sentiment was gone and the introduction of a new sort of punishment was in contemplation ... I deemed it prudent to make my escape".

Keywords: literature fiction utopia imaginary voyages c19th England Pacific Hawaii Japan satire religion fantasy Asia