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In My Fashion -
Bettina Ballard
1960 - David McKay Company, New York - First Edition
The scarce for edition of this ‘A Moveable Feast’ for the fashion connoisseur, from the woman who, before reporting for duty with the Red Cross, included in her pack ‘a shocking-pink shantung Chinese-y jacket and apple-green pajamas’ and ‘a black jersey Norell dress with a dramatic black pailletted scarf’.
Bettina Ballard, Paris-based correspondent and later Fashion Editor for US Vogue, was at the centre of the fashion world from the 1930s to the ’50s and an intimate of Coco Chanel, Cristóbal Balenciaga and Elsa Schiaparelli. With journalistic flair, she captures the spirit of pre-war Paris, the working methods of the fashion greats and the transformation of the post-war fashion industry with the arrival of Dior.
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Price HK$ 6,500
1960 - David McKay Company, New York - First Edition
The scarce for edition of this ‘A Moveable Feast’ for the fashion connoisseur, from the woman who, before reporting for duty with the Red Cross, included in her pack ‘a shocking-pink shantung Chinese-y jacket and apple-green pajamas’ and ‘a black jersey Norell dress with a dramatic black pailletted scarf’.Bettina Ballard, Paris-based correspondent and later Fashion Editor for US Vogue, was at the centre of the fashion world from the 1930s to the ’50s and an intimate of Coco Chanel, Cristóbal Balenciaga and Elsa Schiaparelli. With journalistic flair, she captures the spirit of pre-war Paris, the working methods of the fashion greats and the transformation of the post-war fashion industry with the arrival of Dior.
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Price HK$ 6,500
Espedair Street – with – Canal Dreams -
Iain Banks
1987 - MacMillan, London - First Editions
‘The great white hope of contemporary British literature’ – Fay Weldon
Two fine first editions of Iain Banks’ early novels, both with musical overtones – Espedair Street the story of one-time rock star Daniel Weir who after being abandoned by his friends, contemplates his past and looks toward his future, presented together with Canal Dreams, the tale of world famous cellist Hisako Onoda who, refusing to fly, travels to Europe as a passenger on a tanker bound through the Panama Canal, only to find herself giving an impromptu recital in the shadow of a loaded Kalashnikov...
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Price HK$ 1,800
1987 - MacMillan, London - First Editions
‘The great white hope of contemporary British literature’ – Fay WeldonTwo fine first editions of Iain Banks’ early novels, both with musical overtones – Espedair Street the story of one-time rock star Daniel Weir who after being abandoned by his friends, contemplates his past and looks toward his future, presented together with Canal Dreams, the tale of world famous cellist Hisako Onoda who, refusing to fly, travels to Europe as a passenger on a tanker bound through the Panama Canal, only to find herself giving an impromptu recital in the shadow of a loaded Kalashnikov...
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Price HK$ 1,800
Les grands vins de Bordeaux. -
M. P. Biarnez, Professeur Babrius [Psued. Dr. Jules Arthaud]
1870 - Féret, Bordeaux - Second Edition revised and enlarged
‘Biarnez takes us on a poetic tour of the Médoc, 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’.
A finely bound second edition 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.
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
1870 - Féret, Bordeaux - Second Edition revised and enlarged
‘Biarnez takes us on a poetic tour of the Médoc, 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’.A finely bound second edition 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.
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
A Practical Treatise on Brewing -
William Black
1844 - Longman, London - Third Edition, ‘Much Enlarged and Improved’
A near fine, and unopened copy, of this important and popular treatise, first published in 1835
Folding plate ‘Delineation of the New Improved Saccharometer’ to the rear.
The Spectator in it’s review notes that this is ‘A new edition of a book we formerly noticed as a useful and original-minded treatise. The additional matter has been revised by Professor Graham, of the London University.’
Perhaps the most well known historical Scottish brewing firm was that of William Black & Company of Aberdeen believed to have been established in 1803, and his ‘Devanha Brewery’ used the former Paper Mills by the Wellington Suspension Bridge in Aberdeen. Black’s Devanha Porter - a dark beer resembling stout - became famous throughout the UK, the Brewery being conveniently close to the railway halt at the Cattle Bank. The firm itself was laterally acquired in 1819 to become the Gilcomston Brewery and again by the Devanha Brewery Company Limited, registered as a limited liability company in 1910. Brewing finally ceased in 1930 after the firm was acquired by Thomas Usher & Son Ltd. of Edinburgh. William Black & Co. also ran the Devanha Distillery, built about a mile upstream from the Brewery in 1825. [Durden Park Beer Circle / The Doric Columns].
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Price HK$ 3,500
1844 - Longman, London - Third Edition, ‘Much Enlarged and Improved’
A near fine, and unopened copy, of this important and popular treatise, first published in 1835 Folding plate ‘Delineation of the New Improved Saccharometer’ to the rear.
The Spectator in it’s review notes that this is ‘A new edition of a book we formerly noticed as a useful and original-minded treatise. The additional matter has been revised by Professor Graham, of the London University.’
Perhaps the most well known historical Scottish brewing firm was that of William Black & Company of Aberdeen believed to have been established in 1803, and his ‘Devanha Brewery’ used the former Paper Mills by the Wellington Suspension Bridge in Aberdeen. Black’s Devanha Porter - a dark beer resembling stout - became famous throughout the UK, the Brewery being conveniently close to the railway halt at the Cattle Bank. The firm itself was laterally acquired in 1819 to become the Gilcomston Brewery and again by the Devanha Brewery Company Limited, registered as a limited liability company in 1910. Brewing finally ceased in 1930 after the firm was acquired by Thomas Usher & Son Ltd. of Edinburgh. William Black & Co. also ran the Devanha Distillery, built about a mile upstream from the Brewery in 1825. [Durden Park Beer Circle / The Doric Columns].
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Price HK$ 3,500
Chafing-Dish Dainties -
Mrs. Sarah Brownson How
1896 - Self Published. Printed by E. C. Lockwood, Brooklyn - First Edition
'At once a stove and kitchen - the chief recommendation of the Chafing-dish is that it may be brought into use at a moment's notice.’
A rare and delightful guide to the benefits of the chafing-dish, with numerous recipes for eggs and omelettes, caramels, corned beef, lobster, macaroni, oysters, turkey, veal and sweetbreads.
‘There are all possibilities within the chafing dish, providing there is a cordon blue, who gives herself up to the task of managing it. If the cook be a novice, Mrs. Sarah Brownson How of Brooklyn in her pretty book “Chafing Dish Dainties” will explain all the niceties and there is also to be found an extensive menu, all to be cooked with a chafing dish.’ - New York Times, New Book Review, 1897.
Mrs. Sarah Brownson How, a New York socialite gave frequent lectures on the art of housewifery as well as the history of New York.
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Price HK$ 2,000
1896 - Self Published. Printed by E. C. Lockwood, Brooklyn - First Edition
'At once a stove and kitchen - the chief recommendation of the Chafing-dish is that it may be brought into use at a moment's notice.’A rare and delightful guide to the benefits of the chafing-dish, with numerous recipes for eggs and omelettes, caramels, corned beef, lobster, macaroni, oysters, turkey, veal and sweetbreads.
‘There are all possibilities within the chafing dish, providing there is a cordon blue, who gives herself up to the task of managing it. If the cook be a novice, Mrs. Sarah Brownson How of Brooklyn in her pretty book “Chafing Dish Dainties” will explain all the niceties and there is also to be found an extensive menu, all to be cooked with a chafing dish.’ - New York Times, New Book Review, 1897.
Mrs. Sarah Brownson How, a New York socialite gave frequent lectures on the art of housewifery as well as the history of New York.
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Price HK$ 2,000
Death in the Making -
Robert Capa, Gerda Taro
1938 - Covici Friede, New York - First Edition
'If the photo isn't good enough, it's because you're not close enough.' – Robert Capa
A stunning copy of Robert Capa’s first published monograph – a landmark of 20th century war photography – in the rare dust jacket depicting a Loyalist soldier falling to his death, gun in hand, after being shot – a now iconic image of the Spanish Civil War Featuring 145 photographs by Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, captions by Robert Capa, translated and with a preface by Jay Allen, and arranged by André Kertesz. Housed in a custom clamshell case of fine black morocco leather over matching cloth, velvet lined, and lettered in gilt to the spine.
From 1936 onwards, Capa's coverage of the Spanish Civil War appeared regularly. His picture of a Loyalist soldier who had just been fatally wounded earned him his international reputation and became a powerful symbol of war. After his companion, Gerda Taro, was killed in Spain, Capa travelled to China in 1938 and emigrated to New York a year later. As a correspondent in Europe, he photographed the Second World War, covering the landing of American troops on Omaha beach on D-Day, the liberation of Paris and the Battle of the Bulge
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Price HK$ 60,000
1938 - Covici Friede, New York - First Edition
'If the photo isn't good enough, it's because you're not close enough.' – Robert CapaA stunning copy of Robert Capa’s first published monograph – a landmark of 20th century war photography – in the rare dust jacket depicting a Loyalist soldier falling to his death, gun in hand, after being shot – a now iconic image of the Spanish Civil War Featuring 145 photographs by Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, captions by Robert Capa, translated and with a preface by Jay Allen, and arranged by André Kertesz. Housed in a custom clamshell case of fine black morocco leather over matching cloth, velvet lined, and lettered in gilt to the spine.
From 1936 onwards, Capa's coverage of the Spanish Civil War appeared regularly. His picture of a Loyalist soldier who had just been fatally wounded earned him his international reputation and became a powerful symbol of war. After his companion, Gerda Taro, was killed in Spain, Capa travelled to China in 1938 and emigrated to New York a year later. As a correspondent in Europe, he photographed the Second World War, covering the landing of American troops on Omaha beach on D-Day, the liberation of Paris and the Battle of the Bulge
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Price HK$ 60,000
The Life of Benvenuto Cellini written by Himself. -
Benvenuto Cellini, John Addington Symonds, Royal Cortissoz
1906 - Brentano's, New York - First Brentano Edition
An elegantly bound two volume set of the most important autobiography from Renaissance Italy and one of the most spirited and colourful from any time or place. Illustrated ‘with reproductions of forty original portraits and views’.
‘Benvenuto Cellini was both a beloved artist in sixteenth-century Florence and a passionate and temperamental man of action who was capable of brawling, theft, and murder. He counted popes, cardinals, kings, and dukes among his patrons and was the adoring friend of - as he described them - the “divine” Michelangelo and the “marvellous” Titian, but was as well known for his violent feuds. At age twenty-seven he helped defend the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, and his account of his imprisonment there (under a mad castellan who thought he was a bat), his escape, recapture, and confinement in “a cell of tarantulas and venomous worms” is an adventure equal to any other in fact or fiction. But it is only one in a long life lived on a grand scale.’
‘Cellini’s autobiography is not merely the record of an extraordinary life but also a dramatic and evocative account of daily life in Renaissance Italy, from its lowest taverns to its highest royal courts’ – James Fenton
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Price HK$ 2,000
1906 - Brentano's, New York - First Brentano Edition
An elegantly bound two volume set of the most important autobiography from Renaissance Italy and one of the most spirited and colourful from any time or place. Illustrated ‘with reproductions of forty original portraits and views’.‘Benvenuto Cellini was both a beloved artist in sixteenth-century Florence and a passionate and temperamental man of action who was capable of brawling, theft, and murder. He counted popes, cardinals, kings, and dukes among his patrons and was the adoring friend of - as he described them - the “divine” Michelangelo and the “marvellous” Titian, but was as well known for his violent feuds. At age twenty-seven he helped defend the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, and his account of his imprisonment there (under a mad castellan who thought he was a bat), his escape, recapture, and confinement in “a cell of tarantulas and venomous worms” is an adventure equal to any other in fact or fiction. But it is only one in a long life lived on a grand scale.’
‘Cellini’s autobiography is not merely the record of an extraordinary life but also a dramatic and evocative account of daily life in Renaissance Italy, from its lowest taverns to its highest royal courts’ – James Fenton
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Price HK$ 2,000
Bordeaux and its Wines, classed by order of merit. by Édouard Féret, author of the Statistique Générale de la Gironde, Laureate of the Academy and of Agricultural and Geographical Societies. Illustrated by Eug. Vergez. -
Charles Cocks, Édouard Féret
1899 - Féret & Fils, Bordeaux - Third English Edition Improved
‘The classic reference work on Bordeaux wines’ - Jancis Robinson, The Oxford Companion to Wine.
A comprehensive and thoroughly illustrated third English edition of ‘The Bordeaux Bible’, with eleven colour maps (nine of which are folding), and 374 in-text engravings of the Châteaux. Also included are numerous tables, lists, and comprehensive indices of principal proprietors, villages and communes, and principal growths.
A presentation copy from the great Bordeaux wine merchants Nath. Johnston & Fils.
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Price HK$ 5,000
1899 - Féret & Fils, Bordeaux - Third English Edition Improved
‘The classic reference work on Bordeaux wines’ - Jancis Robinson, The Oxford Companion to Wine.A comprehensive and thoroughly illustrated third English edition of ‘The Bordeaux Bible’, with eleven colour maps (nine of which are folding), and 374 in-text engravings of the Châteaux. Also included are numerous tables, lists, and comprehensive indices of principal proprietors, villages and communes, and principal growths.
A presentation copy from the great Bordeaux wine merchants Nath. Johnston & Fils.
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Price HK$ 5,000