Solomon Islands
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Solomon Islands. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a group in the South Pacific; lying S. E. of New Britain and E. of New Guinea; extending in a S. E. direction between lat. 5° and 11 S., and long. 154° to 162° E. These islands were first discovered and explored by the Spanish navigator Mendana in 1568. He named them Solomon Islands on the imagined idea that the riches of Solomon's temple had been brought from them. While on his way to colonize them in 1595, he died, and the islands were not again visited till they were rediscovered by Carteret in 1767. They were visited several times during the latter part of the 18th century, and parts of the coast line of the larger islands were surveyed, but between 1794 and 1838, they became almost forgotten. After the latter date the survey of the coast was renewed, and both traders and missionaries endeavored to settle on the islands. Neither met with much success, however, and little was heard of the islanders save accounts of the murders and plunders perpetrated by them. In 1845 some French missionaries went thither in charge of Mgr. Epaulle, a notable dignitary of the Church, but their leader was killed by the natives soon after landing. There is no doubt, from the accounts given, that the natives practiced cannibalism. In 1848 the French mission was abandoned. Some 12 or 14 years later, the English Church established a mission on the islands, in charge of native teachers from other islands that had been Christianized. In 1881 the French Catholic mission was again resumed. The British protectorate was extended in 1887-1898. In accordance with the Anglo-German agreement of 1899 the islands of Choiseul and Isabel, with their surrounding islets, were transferred to Great Britain, Germany retaining the islands of Bougainville and Buka until the World War, when they were captured by an Australian force in 1914. The population of the entire group of islands is about 600 whites and 150,000 natives.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, east of New Guinea . The islands are so numerous as to constitute an archipelago. The surface is mountainous and volcanic. The total area of the islands is about 12,500 square miles. About one-third of this area is claimed by Germany; the remainder forms a British protectorate. There are in all about 200,000 natives, noted formerly for cannibalism. There are plantations of cocoa trees, sweet potatoes, bananas, and coffee. The British portion of the islands exports copra, pearl shell, and ivory nuts to the value of possibly $250,000 a year.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote in 1921 the group was a British protectorate of "600 whites and 150,000 natives" known chiefly for missions and stories of cannibalism. It became world news in 1942-43, when the American landing on Guadalcanal and the naval battles off Savo Island made these islands one of the bloodiest theatres of the Pacific war. The British Solomon Islands became the independent state of Solomon Islands in 1978, with a population now over 700,000 and its capital at Honiara on Guadalcanal; ethnic conflict from 1998 brought an Australian-led regional assistance mission that stayed from 2003 to 2017. Bougainville and Buka, which Collier's notes were taken from Germany by Australian forces in 1914, never rejoined the group: they went to Papua New Guinea, and voted overwhelmingly for independence from it in a 2019 referendum.
Written for this edition, 2026.