Her research for this book was made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Foundation and the Andrew. W. Mellon Foundation. Tattooing the World: Pacific Designs in Print and Skin is the first book on Tattoo literature and culture. She traces the origins and significance of modern in the works of nineteenth and twentieth century artists and travelers, missionaries, scientists and writers like Herman Melville, Margaret Mead, Albert Wendt and Sia Figiel. Tattooing produces and proclaims the psychological and social place of the tattoo bearer.