Linda McCullough Decker

Hardcover, 352 pp.

The significance for Maui of Edward Bailey can hardly be overestimated but has been ignored. His detailed paintings of Maui in the 19th Century charm visitors to the Bailey House Museum, and Ka'ahumanu Church -which he designed- blesses Wailuku High Street; but his specimens of island plants at the Bishop Museum, the roads he laid out, and his role in the education of Hawaiian women are hardly known. Bailey served as ABCFM missionary for ten years on Maui but lived there for another forty years as an unsuccessful entrepreneur.

Drawing heavily on letters and journals of the Baileys and their circle, Decker presents Edward and Caroline largely in their own words and those of their friends and neighbors. Detailed and vivid, Baileys words draw us into the world he helped shape, and we can share his hopes and his misgivings about those changes. The book is fully footnoted and includes bibliography and index. There are 79 illustrations; the book is 4-color throughout. Foreword by UH professor Davianna Pomaikai McGregor. Other than his obituary, this biography is the first story to be written of the life of this humble, versatile, charming man.