Crusader Castles - I. The Thesis & II. The Letters -
T. E. Lawrence
1936 - The Golden Cockerel Press, London - Number 924 of 1000 copies
‘I will have such difficulty in becoming English again: here I am Arab in habits, and slip in talking from English to French and Arabic unnoticing.'
T. E. Lawrence travelled through Britain, France, Syria and Palestine to research his undergraduate thesis on ‘The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture to the End of the Twelfth Century’. Lawrence’s brilliant observations have since been confirmed by modern research. Moreover, the thesis and correspondence that make up Crusader Castles give us an insight into both Lawrence’s fascination with the Crusades and his origins as an adventurer.
After visiting the major sites in England and Wales, Lawrence crossed Ottoman-controlled Syria on foot and by bicycle. He wanted to prove that, contrary to the received wisdom of the time, the castles built by the Normans during their campaigns were not influenced by Byzantine architecture, but conformed to a purely Western model. In 1909, Syria and the Holy Land were remote and dangerous destinations, and few historians had actually seen a crusader castle. His 1,100-mile journey was arduous in the extreme, but Lawrence succeeded in seeing 36 of the 50 castles on his itinerary.
Finely bound first editions, number 924 of a limited 1,000 copies, illustrated throughout with numerous plates, and facsimiles, maps and plans, including two large loose maps in separate sleeve.
More details
Price HK$ 20,000
1936 - The Golden Cockerel Press, London - Number 924 of 1000 copies
‘I will have such difficulty in becoming English again: here I am Arab in habits, and slip in talking from English to French and Arabic unnoticing.'T. E. Lawrence travelled through Britain, France, Syria and Palestine to research his undergraduate thesis on ‘The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture to the End of the Twelfth Century’. Lawrence’s brilliant observations have since been confirmed by modern research. Moreover, the thesis and correspondence that make up Crusader Castles give us an insight into both Lawrence’s fascination with the Crusades and his origins as an adventurer.
After visiting the major sites in England and Wales, Lawrence crossed Ottoman-controlled Syria on foot and by bicycle. He wanted to prove that, contrary to the received wisdom of the time, the castles built by the Normans during their campaigns were not influenced by Byzantine architecture, but conformed to a purely Western model. In 1909, Syria and the Holy Land were remote and dangerous destinations, and few historians had actually seen a crusader castle. His 1,100-mile journey was arduous in the extreme, but Lawrence succeeded in seeing 36 of the 50 castles on his itinerary.
Finely bound first editions, number 924 of a limited 1,000 copies, illustrated throughout with numerous plates, and facsimiles, maps and plans, including two large loose maps in separate sleeve.
More details
Price HK$ 20,000
Grasses and Pastures of South Africa -
D. Meredith (editor)
1955 - Central News Agency, Johannesburg - First Edition
A large and comprehensive work in two parts - ‘A Guide to the Identification of Grasses in South Africa’ by Lucy Chippindall, and ‘Pasture Management in South Africa’ by J. D. Scott, J. J. Theron, D. Meredith and others.
In a unique and elegant binding, initially ‘J.K. 97’, with what appear to be handmade paper end leaves incorporating wild grasses. Housed in matching bespoke marbled slipcase.
Illustrated throughout with full page colour plates and in-text black and white photographs, folding colour maps bound in at the rear.
More details
Price HK$ 6,000
1955 - Central News Agency, Johannesburg - First Edition
A large and comprehensive work in two parts - ‘A Guide to the Identification of Grasses in South Africa’ by Lucy Chippindall, and ‘Pasture Management in South Africa’ by J. D. Scott, J. J. Theron, D. Meredith and others.In a unique and elegant binding, initially ‘J.K. 97’, with what appear to be handmade paper end leaves incorporating wild grasses. Housed in matching bespoke marbled slipcase.
Illustrated throughout with full page colour plates and in-text black and white photographs, folding colour maps bound in at the rear.
More details
Price HK$ 6,000
The Christopher Robin Story Book -
A. A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard (illustrator)
1929 - Methuen & Co. Ltd., London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of this wonderful collection of poems and stories compiled from the four Winnie-the-Pooh books, together with Milne’s masterful introductory essay.
Illustrated throughout with Ernest Shephard’s delightful drawings.
Winnie was the name of the Canadian Black Bear at London Zoo, befriended by Christopher Robin, and originally the Mascot of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade. The Pooh is believed to have come from the name of a royal swan in the park and the two combined by Christopher Robin himself.
More details
Price HK$ 4,500
1929 - Methuen & Co. Ltd., London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of this wonderful collection of poems and stories compiled from the four Winnie-the-Pooh books, together with Milne’s masterful introductory essay.Illustrated throughout with Ernest Shephard’s delightful drawings.
Winnie was the name of the Canadian Black Bear at London Zoo, befriended by Christopher Robin, and originally the Mascot of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade. The Pooh is believed to have come from the name of a royal swan in the park and the two combined by Christopher Robin himself.
More details
Price HK$ 4,500
Doctor Zhivago -
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, Max Hayward, Manya Harari (translators)
1958 - Collins and Harvill Press, London - First Edition in English
Finely bound first edition in English.
Loosely based on Pasternak’s life after moving out of Moscow, Lara being modelled on his mistress, Olga Ivinskaya. The manuscript was being smuggled out of Russia in 1957 - ’You are hereby invited to watch me face the firing squad.’ said Pasternak on handing the manuscript over. After the publication of the English translation in 1958 Doctor Zhivago spent 26 weeks on the New York times bestseller list. This is the first edition of that translation.
The epic film adaptation by David Lean, starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, won 5 Oscars and 3 Baftas, and cemented Doctor Zhivago’s place in film folklore.
More details
Price HK$ 8,000
1958 - Collins and Harvill Press, London - First Edition in English
Finely bound first edition in English.Loosely based on Pasternak’s life after moving out of Moscow, Lara being modelled on his mistress, Olga Ivinskaya. The manuscript was being smuggled out of Russia in 1957 - ’You are hereby invited to watch me face the firing squad.’ said Pasternak on handing the manuscript over. After the publication of the English translation in 1958 Doctor Zhivago spent 26 weeks on the New York times bestseller list. This is the first edition of that translation.
The epic film adaptation by David Lean, starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, won 5 Oscars and 3 Baftas, and cemented Doctor Zhivago’s place in film folklore.
More details
Price HK$ 8,000
The Colour of Chivalry -
Harold B. Pereira, Gerald Cobb (illustrator)
1950 - Imperial Chemical Industries, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of this wonderful book, describing the history of thirty selected Lords and Ladies from the age of chivalry, which covered the four hundred years from about 1150 to 1550, with the emphasis on the reigns of Edward III and Richard III.
Beautifully illustrated with thirty tipped-in and mounted vivd colour plates showing Knights and Ladies by Gerald Cobb after tomb effigies from the cathedrals in which they were buried.
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
1950 - Imperial Chemical Industries, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of this wonderful book, describing the history of thirty selected Lords and Ladies from the age of chivalry, which covered the four hundred years from about 1150 to 1550, with the emphasis on the reigns of Edward III and Richard III.Beautifully illustrated with thirty tipped-in and mounted vivd colour plates showing Knights and Ladies by Gerald Cobb after tomb effigies from the cathedrals in which they were buried.
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
History of the Royal Residences -
William Henry Pyne
1819 - Printed for A. Dry, London - First Edition
A beautiful and luxurious first edition of one of the most ambitious aquatint books to be published on English interiors. Three finely bound volumes containing one hundred exquisite hand-coloured plates with accompanying text.
This celebrated work was the first to illustrate royal palaces and houses in any detail: volume I is a valuable record of the state rooms of Windsor Castle formed for Charles II, and concludes with the more domestic scenes of Frogmore, purchased by Queen Charlotte as a country retreat in 1793; volume II is devoted to Hampton Court, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace; volume III's subjects are St James's Palace and Carlton House; the twenty plates devoted to the Prince Regent's residence depict what were regarded as the most spectacular interiors in Regency London.
More details
Price HK$ 80,000
1819 - Printed for A. Dry, London - First Edition
A beautiful and luxurious first edition of one of the most ambitious aquatint books to be published on English interiors. Three finely bound volumes containing one hundred exquisite hand-coloured plates with accompanying text.This celebrated work was the first to illustrate royal palaces and houses in any detail: volume I is a valuable record of the state rooms of Windsor Castle formed for Charles II, and concludes with the more domestic scenes of Frogmore, purchased by Queen Charlotte as a country retreat in 1793; volume II is devoted to Hampton Court, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace; volume III's subjects are St James's Palace and Carlton House; the twenty plates devoted to the Prince Regent's residence depict what were regarded as the most spectacular interiors in Regency London.
More details
Price HK$ 80,000
A Trilogy of Epic Historic Poems - Marmion; The Lady of the Lake; Rokeby -
Sir Walter Scott
1808 - Archibald Constable & John Ballantyne, Edinburgh - Fourth, Twelfth, and Second Editions respectively
An early trilogy of three of Sir Walter Scott’s most popular epic historical poems, uniformly bound in contemporary tan tree-calf.
‘Marmion; A Tale of Flodden Field’ – ‘Marmion was Walter Scott’s second historical romance and one of his most popular epic poems. The chivalric tale of love, betrayal, loyalty and honour ends with the English victory over James IV of Scotland at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.’
‘The Lady of the Lake, A Poem’ – ‘Scott’s Highland poem concerning the struggle between King James V and the powerful clan Douglas. Composed of six cantos, and set in the Trossachs of the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century, it mines Gaelic history to retell a well-known legend of graceful, feudal heroine, Ellen Douglas, and the contest between three young men to win her love.
A huge critical and commercial success at the time of its first publication, breaking all records for the sale of poetry, and cementing Scott’s fame and reputation as a poet in both Britain and the United States.
‘Rokeby; A Poem’ – ‘After the monumental success of his Highland poem The Lady of the Lake (1810), for his next historical epic poem, Walter Scott moved the setting to England, perhaps to appease his increasing English readership. Set in County Durham during the English Civil Wars, in the immediate aftermath of the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644.’
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
1808 - Archibald Constable & John Ballantyne, Edinburgh - Fourth, Twelfth, and Second Editions respectively
An early trilogy of three of Sir Walter Scott’s most popular epic historical poems, uniformly bound in contemporary tan tree-calf.‘Marmion; A Tale of Flodden Field’ – ‘Marmion was Walter Scott’s second historical romance and one of his most popular epic poems. The chivalric tale of love, betrayal, loyalty and honour ends with the English victory over James IV of Scotland at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.’
‘The Lady of the Lake, A Poem’ – ‘Scott’s Highland poem concerning the struggle between King James V and the powerful clan Douglas. Composed of six cantos, and set in the Trossachs of the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century, it mines Gaelic history to retell a well-known legend of graceful, feudal heroine, Ellen Douglas, and the contest between three young men to win her love.
A huge critical and commercial success at the time of its first publication, breaking all records for the sale of poetry, and cementing Scott’s fame and reputation as a poet in both Britain and the United States.
‘Rokeby; A Poem’ – ‘After the monumental success of his Highland poem The Lady of the Lake (1810), for his next historical epic poem, Walter Scott moved the setting to England, perhaps to appease his increasing English readership. Set in County Durham during the English Civil Wars, in the immediate aftermath of the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644.’
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
A Ballad Book -
Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Sir Walter Scott, David Laing (editor)
1880 - William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London - First Edition
‘I think you do me much honour by preserving my scribbles’ writes the colourful and eccentric Sharpe in the tipped in letter that accompanies his finely bound Ballad Book, re-edited by David Laing, with additions from Sharpe's manuscripts, and which he first printed only 30 copies in 1823, although according to Henderson, the majority of the added ballads in 1880 were of more or less questionable authenticity (ODNB). The final portion of the book prints Sir Walter Scott’s commentary on the original poems, and is taken from correspondence between Scott and his friend Sharpe.
Scarce. Illustrated with a colour frontispiece portrait, woodblock engraving plate and headpiece (as used for the original 1823 edition).
A speculative note regarding the letter - As stated in the editor’s introduction (ix) ‘Mr Sharpe’s own annotated copy’ was carefully followed to produce this work, a copy that was ‘in the possession of Sir James Gibson-Craig’. Gibson-Craig had one of the finest collection of Scottish works ever assembled, and other correspondence from Sharpe to Gibson-Craig did begin with ‘Signor Mio’, leading us to speculate that this letter accompanied the original and rare 1823 printing of which only 30 were produced, and which in this case was later given by Sharpe to Gibson-Craig.
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
1880 - William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London - First Edition
‘I think you do me much honour by preserving my scribbles’ writes the colourful and eccentric Sharpe in the tipped in letter that accompanies his finely bound Ballad Book, re-edited by David Laing, with additions from Sharpe's manuscripts, and which he first printed only 30 copies in 1823, although according to Henderson, the majority of the added ballads in 1880 were of more or less questionable authenticity (ODNB). The final portion of the book prints Sir Walter Scott’s commentary on the original poems, and is taken from correspondence between Scott and his friend Sharpe.Scarce. Illustrated with a colour frontispiece portrait, woodblock engraving plate and headpiece (as used for the original 1823 edition).
A speculative note regarding the letter - As stated in the editor’s introduction (ix) ‘Mr Sharpe’s own annotated copy’ was carefully followed to produce this work, a copy that was ‘in the possession of Sir James Gibson-Craig’. Gibson-Craig had one of the finest collection of Scottish works ever assembled, and other correspondence from Sharpe to Gibson-Craig did begin with ‘Signor Mio’, leading us to speculate that this letter accompanied the original and rare 1823 printing of which only 30 were produced, and which in this case was later given by Sharpe to Gibson-Craig.
More details
Price HK$ 5,000