The Press was established in 1947 at the initiative of University of Hawaii President Gregg M. Sinclair. Its first publications included a reprint of "The Hawaiian Kingdom" by Ralph Kuykendall and "Insects of Hawaii," by Elwood C. Zimmerman, both of which have become classics. Other enduring classics from its early years include the "Hawaiian-English Dictionary," by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Elbert, first published in 1957, last revised and enlarged in 1986, then reprinted 16 times; and "Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands," by Gavan Daws, whose Press edition was first published in 1974 and reprinted 19 times.