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A Collection of eight early Tasmanian Almanacs - consisting of - The Tasmanian Royal Kalendar, Colonial Register, and Almanack. 1849 compiled by James Wood - with - seven editions of Walch’s Tasmanian Almanac, and Guide to Tasmania for 1866, 1871, 1872, 1874, 1882, 1885, and 1887 -

1849 - Henry Dowling, Launceston - First Editions
Eight of these scarce little Almanacs, beginning with James Wood’s 1849 ‘Tasmanian Royal Kalendar’. The first to be produced by Wood after James Ross’ 1848 printing.

Following on from Wood in 1863, J. Walch produced their ‘
Tasmanian Almanac’, presented here are seven of these, from the fourth issue of 1866 in a later binding, and six further printings all in their original gilt and red cloth covers, so commonly referred to as the ‘red book’, each housed in a custom clamshell case. Regularly referenced and shelved in the tough climate of Tasmania over 150 years ago, examples in original bright cloth are exceptionally scarce. 
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Price HK$ 15,000



The Hobart Town Almanack for the Year 1832. With Embellishments -

1831-2 - Printed by James Ross, Hobart Town - Only Edition
A fine and extremely rare example of this 1832 Tasmanian almanac, the fourth the to be printed by the enterprising James Ross, all of which are scarce. Ross competed continuously with Andrew Bent, who, in 1824 produced the first Almanack in Tasmania with Andrew Sorrell. From 1929 to Ross took over, producing these annuals which where essential for the development of local agricultural and trading enterprises. See the attached biography for the full details of Ross’s extraordinary life.

Illustrated with a folding colour ‘
Plan of Lanceston and its Vicinity’ (21.2x32cm), an engraved title page with vignette of cockatoos, a hand-coloured folding plate of flag signals, four single page black and white engravings, together with several wood engraved vignettes. 
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Price HK$ 12,000



1870 - Feret, Bordeaux - Second Edition revised and enlarged
A finely bound revised and enlarged second edition, the text in French, profusely illustrated with four engraved frontispieces and twenty full-page engravings of people in various social “wine” situations related to the text. The engravings are after designs by Pauquet.

‘Biarnez takes us on a poetic tour of the Médoc, in French, singing the praises of the classified growths (pages 17-93) and ends with a paean to the white wines of Bordeaux (pages 97-123) and the effect they have on the imbiber: “
C'est une ivresse sainte, un sublime délire, Et, parmi tous les vins, notre vin seul l'inspire!. To the rear is Dr. Arthaud’s 51 page essay ‘De L’influence du vin sur la civilisation’.

Published 20 years after the first, this edition adds further lines to the verses, an enlarged preface, and includes an additional engraved frontispiece, and the original engraved plate from the first edition. The ‘hanging plate’ opposite page 73 has been replaced with the man being led to the gallows, perhaps readers had complained that it spoilt their enjoyment of a decent glass of claret.
 
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Price HK$ 7,000



Nova Express - William S. Burroughs

1964 - Grove Press, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition, with strong bright red lettering to the spine, unlike most examples.

‘A masterpiece of fantasy and reality, a carnival of horrors, a doomsday confrontation of man and his world.’

Burroughs’ ferociously political and prophetic novel – a parody of bureaucracy and human frailty, and the third in his linguistically ‘
cut-up’ trilogy, following The Soft Machine and The Ticket That Exploded –fires the reader into the diabolical world of the Nova Mob, poised to wreak havoc and destruction upon the planet. Can Inspector J. Lee of the Nova Police stop them before it’s too late…? 
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Price HK$ 2,000



The First Saint Omnibus. An Anthology of Saintly Adventures - Leslie Charteris

1939 - Hodder & Stoughton Limited, London - First Edition of this Collection
A finely bound selection of thirteen short stories featuring 'The Robin Hood of Modern Crime'.

Simon Templar, ‘The Saint’, ‘is a rambunctious adventurer who believes in old-fashioned romantic ideals, alter-ego perhaps of his Singaporean born creator Leslie Charles Bowyer Yin Charteris. Templar is prepared to lay down his life for these ideals, using considerable wit and intelligence, the Saint has a preference for avenging innocent victims.
 
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Price HK$ 4,000



Artemis Fowl; The Arctic Incident; The Eternity Code; The Opal Deception; The Lost Colony; The Time Paradox; The Atlantis Complex; The Last Guardian - Eoin Colfer

2001-12 - Viking / Puffin, London - First Editions
A complete first edition set of the eight volume Artemis Fowl series.

Following elf Holly Short, officer of the Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance (LEPRecon), as she faces the forces of criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl II; later on in the cycle the adversaries are forced to work together, gradually becoming firm friends/brief love interests while saving the world.

In the first book ‘Twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has discovered a world below ground of armed and dangerous— and extremely high-tech — fairies. He kidnaps one of them, Holly Short, and holds her for ransom in an effort to restore his family’s fortune. But he may have underestimated the fairies’ powers. Is he about to trigger a cross-species war?’
 
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Price HK$ 5,000



The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook Round the World. - Captain James Cook

1821 - Longman, London -
A handsomely bound seven volume set of all of Cook’s three voyages. Illustrated with twenty five striking aquatint plates, including frontispieces in each volume, large folding map, and a table.

‘The famous accounts of Captain Cook’s three voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific books. In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than all his predecessors had done together. He was really the first scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge’. [Hill]

On his first voyage, 25 August 1768 to 12 July 1771, Cook circumnavigated New Zealand and for the first time explored the east coast of Australia, of which he took possession for Great Britain; he also sailed through the straits separating New Guinea and Australia. On the second, and historically most important, voyage (13 July 1772 to 30 July 1775) he began by cruising as far south as possible around the edge of the antarctic ice. He again visited New Zealand and, cruising through the Pacific, discovered, or explored again, many of the islands, in particular New Caledonia, Palmerston and Norfolk Islands, Easter Island, the Marquesas, New Hebrides, Tonga, the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia. The third voyage (11 July 1776 to 4 October 1780) was undertaken to find the North-West Passage from Europe to the East. After again visiting Tasmania, New Zealand and many Pacific Islands, Cook sailed on to North America, discovering on the way the Cook Islands and the Hawaiian group. He charted the North American coast from Oregon as far north as the Bering Strait, where ice turned him back. On the way back the great explorer was killed [in 1779] in a fight with natives in Hawaii.
 
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Price HK$ 52,000



Natural History of the Strait of Magellan and West Coast of Patagonia - Robert O. Cunningham

1871 - Edmonston and Douglas, Edinburgh - First Edition
A superior example of the first edition, illustrated with folding colour map and 21 lithograph plates, some in colour.

‘The Scottish naturalist Robert O. Cunningham (1841-1918) began his 1866 voyage to South America in inclement weather, and, by the eleventh day of travel, noted a 'pond' forming in his tiny cabin aboard HMS Nassau. With never-failing humour, Cunningham presents here a record of the zoological, botanical and geological observations made across the three years he spent at sea.

As the ship's naturalist (recommended for the post by Joseph D. Hooker), his time was given wholly to research and exploration, and his findings are both fascinating and thorough. Included are his anecdotal records of seamen's slang, research into the history of the changing landscapes he visited, which had been previously documented by travellers as diverse as Drake and Darwin, statistical data on various species of animals and plants, and numerous original images. An absorbing testament of the breadth of the explorer-naturalist's interests. [C.U.P.]
 
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Price HK$ 10,000



 
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