The Second World War -
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill
1948 to 1954 - Cassell and Co. Ltd., London - First Editions
‘I will leave judgements on this matter to history – but I will be one of the historians.’ - Winston Churchill.
Churchill’s complete six volume classic history on World War II - The Gathering Storm, Their Finest Hour, The Grant Alliance, The Hinge of Fate, Closing the Ring and Triumph and Tragedy.
Not since Julius Caesar and his Gallic Wars has there been a case of a great leader in war also being an able writer.
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Price HK$ 12,500
1948 to 1954 - Cassell and Co. Ltd., London - First Editions
‘I will leave judgements on this matter to history – but I will be one of the historians.’ - Winston Churchill. Churchill’s complete six volume classic history on World War II - The Gathering Storm, Their Finest Hour, The Grant Alliance, The Hinge of Fate, Closing the Ring and Triumph and Tragedy.
Not since Julius Caesar and his Gallic Wars has there been a case of a great leader in war also being an able writer.
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Price HK$ 12,500
The Woman in White -
Wilkie Collins, Lynton Lamb (illustrator)
1956 - Folio Society, London - First Edition Illustrated by Lamb
Elegantly bound and finely illustrated edition of what is considered to be one of the first murder mystery titles ever written, with twelve full page lithographs by influential artist and illustrator Lynton Lamb.
‘The best men are not consistent in good—why should the worst men be consistent in evil?’
Hailed by Margaret Oliphant as ‘a new beginning in fiction’. The Woman in White is a dazzling display of literary prowess, causing a flurry of excitement upon its publication. By the time the novel had finished its first print run, Collins was earning a yearly income of over £10,000 pounds. It features a cast of unforgettable characters, including the plain, but brilliant ‘spinster’ Marian Halcome, and the nefarious Count Fosco, whose schemes and plots have earned him a place among the ranks of the best fictional villains.
The book has since been adapted into countless radio-shows, screenplays, television series, and movies, and is listed by The Mystery Writers of America, The Crime Writer’s Association, The Telegraph, Julian Symons, and Haycraft Queen as one of the best Crime/Mystery Novels.
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Price HK$ 4,500
1956 - Folio Society, London - First Edition Illustrated by Lamb
Elegantly bound and finely illustrated edition of what is considered to be one of the first murder mystery titles ever written, with twelve full page lithographs by influential artist and illustrator Lynton Lamb.‘The best men are not consistent in good—why should the worst men be consistent in evil?’
Hailed by Margaret Oliphant as ‘a new beginning in fiction’. The Woman in White is a dazzling display of literary prowess, causing a flurry of excitement upon its publication. By the time the novel had finished its first print run, Collins was earning a yearly income of over £10,000 pounds. It features a cast of unforgettable characters, including the plain, but brilliant ‘spinster’ Marian Halcome, and the nefarious Count Fosco, whose schemes and plots have earned him a place among the ranks of the best fictional villains.
The book has since been adapted into countless radio-shows, screenplays, television series, and movies, and is listed by The Mystery Writers of America, The Crime Writer’s Association, The Telegraph, Julian Symons, and Haycraft Queen as one of the best Crime/Mystery Novels.
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Price HK$ 4,500
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$ 62,000
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$ 62,000
The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook, with "The Death of Captain Cook" Plate -
James Cook, John Hawkesworth, James King
1773 - Strahan, London - Second Edition, First Edition, Second Edition
A complete set of the best possible editions, superbly bound in full tree calf and with the additional ‘Death of Captain Cook’ drawn by the John Weber who witnessed the dispute and ensuing fight. Eight quarto volumes and the elephant folio volume of plates. Magnificently illustrated with two hundred and five engraved charts and plates, many of which are double page or larger.
There is no greater set of travel works, Cook was the first scientific navigator, these three voyages made great contributions to numerous fields of knowledge,, and did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than his predecessors had done together [Hill].
The first voyage is in its second and best edition, complete with the ‘Directions for placing the cuts’ and the ‘Chart of the Straights of Magellan’, and with the new Preface containing Hawkesworth's virulent eight-page reply to Dalrymple's whining reviews of the first edition, and the whole volume revised by the voyage's astronomer William Wales.
The third voyage is in its second and best edition, with the printing by Hughs (rather than Strahan who printed the first edition) with the text itself entirely re-set. Isaac Smith presenting a set on behalf of Cook's widow in 1821 noted that 'I am desired by Mrs Cook to request your acceptance of the 4 books sent herewith being her Husbands last Voyage round the World, as a mark of her respect the letter press of the second edition being much superior to the first both in paper & letter press' (quoted by Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, 85). King George III's copy of the official account, preserved in the British Library, is also an example of this second edition. This particular set with variant title pages, dated correctly, but without edition statement or vignette of Royal Society medal.
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Price HK$ 430,000
1773 - Strahan, London - Second Edition, First Edition, Second Edition
A complete set of the best possible editions, superbly bound in full tree calf and with the additional ‘Death of Captain Cook’ drawn by the John Weber who witnessed the dispute and ensuing fight. Eight quarto volumes and the elephant folio volume of plates. Magnificently illustrated with two hundred and five engraved charts and plates, many of which are double page or larger.There is no greater set of travel works, Cook was the first scientific navigator, these three voyages made great contributions to numerous fields of knowledge,, and did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than his predecessors had done together [Hill].
The first voyage is in its second and best edition, complete with the ‘Directions for placing the cuts’ and the ‘Chart of the Straights of Magellan’, and with the new Preface containing Hawkesworth's virulent eight-page reply to Dalrymple's whining reviews of the first edition, and the whole volume revised by the voyage's astronomer William Wales.
The third voyage is in its second and best edition, with the printing by Hughs (rather than Strahan who printed the first edition) with the text itself entirely re-set. Isaac Smith presenting a set on behalf of Cook's widow in 1821 noted that 'I am desired by Mrs Cook to request your acceptance of the 4 books sent herewith being her Husbands last Voyage round the World, as a mark of her respect the letter press of the second edition being much superior to the first both in paper & letter press' (quoted by Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, 85). King George III's copy of the official account, preserved in the British Library, is also an example of this second edition. This particular set with variant title pages, dated correctly, but without edition statement or vignette of Royal Society medal.
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Price HK$ 430,000
The Poetical Works -
William Cowper, H.S. Milford (editor)
1934 - Oxford University Press, London - Fourth Edition
‘Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness,
Some boundless contiguity of shade,
Where rumour of oppression and deceit,
Of unsuccessful or successful war,
Might never reach me more.’
A excellent copy – finely bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe – of the poetical works of William Cowper, including his poems ‘Epitaph on a Hare’ and ‘The Task’, together with his Olney Hymns and his translations from classical Latin and Greek verses. Edited and with a preface by H.S. Milford.
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Price HK$ 1,600
1934 - Oxford University Press, London - Fourth Edition
‘Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness,Some boundless contiguity of shade,
Where rumour of oppression and deceit,
Of unsuccessful or successful war,
Might never reach me more.’
A excellent copy – finely bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe – of the poetical works of William Cowper, including his poems ‘Epitaph on a Hare’ and ‘The Task’, together with his Olney Hymns and his translations from classical Latin and Greek verses. Edited and with a preface by H.S. Milford.
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Price HK$ 1,600
Golf Between Two Wars -
Bernard Darwin
1944 - Chatto & Windus, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of Darwin’s recollections of the great golf and golfers, champions and championships, covering two of the most interesting decades in the history of the game. The 1920s and ‘30s were a time when, Darwin realised upon reflection, 'almost everything happened'. Illustrated with nineteen black and white photographs.
‘One of Mr. D’s most famous books’ – Joseph S. F. Murdoch, The Library of Golf.
Golf’s finest scribe, Bernard Darwin, whose grandfather was Charles Darwin, never trained as a journalist. He studied law at Cambridge, but was unhappy as a Barrister. "Once Darwin dipped his toe into golf writing, the reports he produced regularly for The Times of London over a 45 year period and his ruminative essays for the weekly Country Life possessed a quality that no one else has ever approached." – Herbert Warren Wind.
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Price HK$ 7,800
1944 - Chatto & Windus, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of Darwin’s recollections of the great golf and golfers, champions and championships, covering two of the most interesting decades in the history of the game. The 1920s and ‘30s were a time when, Darwin realised upon reflection, 'almost everything happened'. Illustrated with nineteen black and white photographs.‘One of Mr. D’s most famous books’ – Joseph S. F. Murdoch, The Library of Golf.
Golf’s finest scribe, Bernard Darwin, whose grandfather was Charles Darwin, never trained as a journalist. He studied law at Cambridge, but was unhappy as a Barrister. "Once Darwin dipped his toe into golf writing, the reports he produced regularly for The Times of London over a 45 year period and his ruminative essays for the weekly Country Life possessed a quality that no one else has ever approached." – Herbert Warren Wind.
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Price HK$ 7,800
The Christmas Stories: A Christmas Carol; The Chimes; The Cricket on the Hearth; The Battle of Life; The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain. -
Charles Dickens
1844 to 1848 - Chapman & Hall [or] Bradbury & Evans, London - Mixed first and early editions
A beautifully bound five volume set of Dickens’ Christmas Stories, fine copies housed in a custom made slipcase. With illustrated title pages, full plate and in-text illustrations throughout.
‘After the success attained with A Christmas Carol in 1843 Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840s, maintaining what he called "the Carol philosophy" to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed. In typical Dickens fashion he drove his message home with a mixture of humor and good cheer’. - David Purdue.
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Price HK$ 35,000
1844 to 1848 - Chapman & Hall [or] Bradbury & Evans, London - Mixed first and early editions
A beautifully bound five volume set of Dickens’ Christmas Stories, fine copies housed in a custom made slipcase. With illustrated title pages, full plate and in-text illustrations throughout.‘After the success attained with A Christmas Carol in 1843 Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840s, maintaining what he called "the Carol philosophy" to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed. In typical Dickens fashion he drove his message home with a mixture of humor and good cheer’. - David Purdue.
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Price HK$ 35,000
The Ballad of Beau Brocade and other Poems of the XVIIIth Century -
Austin Dobson, Hugh Thomson (illustrator)
1892 - Kegan Paul, London - Large Paper Edition. Number 30 of 450 copies
‘And of all the knights of the gentle trade
Nobody bolder than Beau Brocade.’
An excellent copy of this 18th century-style ballad, one of Dobson’s most spirited works of verse, handsomely bound by Ramage, and charmingly illustrated with fifty black and white drawings by Hugh Thomson, printed on Japanese vellum.
This collection also includes the poems ‘A Gentleman of the Old School’, ‘A Dead Letter’, ‘The Old Sedan Chair’, ‘The Ladies of St. James’, ‘Molly Trefusis’, and ‘A Chapter on Froissart’.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1892 - Kegan Paul, London - Large Paper Edition. Number 30 of 450 copies
‘And of all the knights of the gentle tradeNobody bolder than Beau Brocade.’
An excellent copy of this 18th century-style ballad, one of Dobson’s most spirited works of verse, handsomely bound by Ramage, and charmingly illustrated with fifty black and white drawings by Hugh Thomson, printed on Japanese vellum.
This collection also includes the poems ‘A Gentleman of the Old School’, ‘A Dead Letter’, ‘The Old Sedan Chair’, ‘The Ladies of St. James’, ‘Molly Trefusis’, and ‘A Chapter on Froissart’.
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Price HK$ 3,000