He Lei no ʻEmalani: Chants for Queen Emma Kaleleonālani

This book presents the largest collection of Hawaiian poetic compositions written for Queen Emma Kaleleonālani, the wife of Kamehameha IV. The 204 mele give readers invaluable and unique perspectives into the life and times of the queen. The songs were gathered from nineteenth-century Hawaiian-language newspapers, as well as unpublished collections in the Bishop Museum and Hawaiʻi State Archives, many handwritten on loose sheaves of paper dating back over one and a half centuries.