Voyage éducatif de Johann Reinhold Forster dans le Mémoire sur Waïhou ou l’Isle de Pâques
Educational Journey of Johann Reinhold Forster in Mémoire sur Waïhou ou l’Isle de Pâques

Summary/Abstract: The manuscript entitled Mémoire sur Waïhou ou l’Isle de Pâques comes from the Berlin Collection of the Jagiellonian Library and it is a lesser known work by Johann Reinhold Forster, who was a well-known naturalist and a member of the second trip around the world under the command of James Cook. This is an excellent example of travel literature, a mature and well thought-out work, in which the author publishes detailed descriptions and necessary information concerning the Easter Island. Forster compares the behavior and customs of the ‘savages’ and the ‘civilized people’. As a scientist, he is disappointed with Europe, and uses the myth of a ‘noble savage’ to idealize the world being discovered by the Europeans. However, he often presents curious observations describing the language and the great statues of the island.

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