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Baronagium Genealogicum: or the Pedigrees of the English Peers -
Sir William Segar, Joseph Edmondson
1764-84 - Engraved and printed for the author, London - First Editions
The most beautifully illustrated and comprehensive record of 18th century Heraldry. A magnificent and extremely rare complete set of six enormous uncut folio volumes, with 658 copperplate engravings (104 of which are double page) many by the master engraver Francesco Bartolozzi a founder member of the Royal Academy. The plates consist of 279 coats-of-arms (3 double-page), 364 genealogical tables (101 double-page), six titles, six dedication pages, and three specific family dedication pages.
Ranked to begin with Royalty, this massive work took 20 years to produce, making it necessary to publish a supplement with new peerages. Provenance - Sir John Smith, Bart., F.R.S. of Sydling St.Nicholas, Dorset, whose initials JS are gilt-stamped to the morocco spine labels and engraved bookplates to the front pastedowns.
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Price HK$ 150,000
1764-84 - Engraved and printed for the author, London - First Editions
The most beautifully illustrated and comprehensive record of 18th century Heraldry. A magnificent and extremely rare complete set of six enormous uncut folio volumes, with 658 copperplate engravings (104 of which are double page) many by the master engraver Francesco Bartolozzi a founder member of the Royal Academy. The plates consist of 279 coats-of-arms (3 double-page), 364 genealogical tables (101 double-page), six titles, six dedication pages, and three specific family dedication pages.Ranked to begin with Royalty, this massive work took 20 years to produce, making it necessary to publish a supplement with new peerages. Provenance - Sir John Smith, Bart., F.R.S. of Sydling St.Nicholas, Dorset, whose initials JS are gilt-stamped to the morocco spine labels and engraved bookplates to the front pastedowns.
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Price HK$ 150,000
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.
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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.
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Price HK$ 5,000
Maus. A Survivor's Tale in RAW Magazine - Signed -
Art Spiegelman
1980-86 - Raw Magazine, New York - First Editions
The true first appearance in print in RAW magazine of Art Spiegelman’s groundbreaking and Pulitzer winning ‘Maus. A Survivor's Tale’, the first chapter inserted into issue two is signed and dated by Spiegelman. Housed in two bespoke black cloth clamshell cases with red morocco labels lettered and ruled in gilt.
American cartoonist Art Spiegelman’s graphic retelling of his parents’ experience as Jews in Hitler’s Europe as well as an exploration of his own relationship with his father and his experience as the son of a survivor.
Maus won the cartoonist a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 – the first time the award had been given to a graphic novel, which was initially serialised as a little insert in RAW Magazine as presented here. Spiegelman depicted the Nazis as cats and the Jews as mice and was considered “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” by the Wall Street Journal.
Consisting of seven large folio issues of RAW Magazine, 1980-1986, containing the first edition, first appearance of the first seven chapters, in seven issues (volume 1, nos. 2-8) of RAW magazine (Maus is produced as a separate small publication tipped into RAW, as issued (volume 1, no. 1 of RAW is not present as it did not contain Maus).
Together with: Three thick quarto issues of RAW Magazine, 1989-1991, containing chapters eight, nine, and ten of Maus, in three issues (volume 2, nos. 1-3), volume 2 issue 4, which presumably would have the last chapter of Maus, was never published.
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Price HK$ 20,000
1980-86 - Raw Magazine, New York - First Editions
The true first appearance in print in RAW magazine of Art Spiegelman’s groundbreaking and Pulitzer winning ‘Maus. A Survivor's Tale’, the first chapter inserted into issue two is signed and dated by Spiegelman. Housed in two bespoke black cloth clamshell cases with red morocco labels lettered and ruled in gilt.American cartoonist Art Spiegelman’s graphic retelling of his parents’ experience as Jews in Hitler’s Europe as well as an exploration of his own relationship with his father and his experience as the son of a survivor.
Maus won the cartoonist a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 – the first time the award had been given to a graphic novel, which was initially serialised as a little insert in RAW Magazine as presented here. Spiegelman depicted the Nazis as cats and the Jews as mice and was considered “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” by the Wall Street Journal.
Consisting of seven large folio issues of RAW Magazine, 1980-1986, containing the first edition, first appearance of the first seven chapters, in seven issues (volume 1, nos. 2-8) of RAW magazine (Maus is produced as a separate small publication tipped into RAW, as issued (volume 1, no. 1 of RAW is not present as it did not contain Maus).
Together with: Three thick quarto issues of RAW Magazine, 1989-1991, containing chapters eight, nine, and ten of Maus, in three issues (volume 2, nos. 1-3), volume 2 issue 4, which presumably would have the last chapter of Maus, was never published.
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Price HK$ 20,000
Traveller s Prelude, Beyond Euphrates, The Coast of Incense, Dust in the Lion's Paw -
Freya Stark
1950 - John Murray, London - First Editions
A complete and finely bound four volume first edition set of the autobiographies by the ‘Grande Old Lady’ of travellers, the intrepid and pioneering Freya Stark (1893-1993).
Dame Freya Stark’s ‘figure has become the image for an archetypal British eccentric abroad – comfortable and regal, colourfully draped, and invariably topped with an elaborate titfer, perhaps astride a camel (’always so obliging’) or bobbing up-river on an inflated goatskin waving serenely to passers-by – but there is a far more serious side to her career. In all her journeys she has been able to distil and communicate a rich philosophy of travel and to illustrate the art of travelling in time as well as place. She carries the past with her, whether discovering long-buried fortresses in the Valley of the Assassins in Luristan, or tracing the footsteps of the ancient incense traders of Arabia, always teaching and learning at the same time. She is, quite simply, a classic.’ – Jane Robinson, Wayward Women.
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Price HK$ 9,000
1950 - John Murray, London - First Editions
A complete and finely bound four volume first edition set of the autobiographies by the ‘Grande Old Lady’ of travellers, the intrepid and pioneering Freya Stark (1893-1993).Dame Freya Stark’s ‘figure has become the image for an archetypal British eccentric abroad – comfortable and regal, colourfully draped, and invariably topped with an elaborate titfer, perhaps astride a camel (’always so obliging’) or bobbing up-river on an inflated goatskin waving serenely to passers-by – but there is a far more serious side to her career. In all her journeys she has been able to distil and communicate a rich philosophy of travel and to illustrate the art of travelling in time as well as place. She carries the past with her, whether discovering long-buried fortresses in the Valley of the Assassins in Luristan, or tracing the footsteps of the ancient incense traders of Arabia, always teaching and learning at the same time. She is, quite simply, a classic.’ – Jane Robinson, Wayward Women.
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Price HK$ 9,000
Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West -
Wallace Stegner, Bernard DeVoto
1954 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston - First Edition
A fine first edition of Wallace Stegner’s epic work, with an introduction by Bernard DeVoto.
With a large folding panoramic frontispiece painting of the Grand Canyon by William H. Holmes, and illustrated throughout from engravings, paintings, sketches, maps, and photographs.
Stegner recounts the successes and frustrations of John Wesley Powell, the distinguished ethnologist and geologist who explored the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, and the homeland of Indian tribes of the American Southwest.
‘This book goes far beyond biography, into the nature and soul of the American West. It is Stegner at his best, assaying an entire era of our history, packing his pages with insights as shrewd as his prose.’ – Ivan Doig.
‘Wallace Stegner ... has summarized the frontier story and interpreted it as only one who was a part of it could do. The result is a memorable and rewarding book.’ – Hal Borland, New York Times Book Review.
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Price HK$ 6,000
1954 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston - First Edition
A fine first edition of Wallace Stegner’s epic work, with an introduction by Bernard DeVoto.With a large folding panoramic frontispiece painting of the Grand Canyon by William H. Holmes, and illustrated throughout from engravings, paintings, sketches, maps, and photographs.
Stegner recounts the successes and frustrations of John Wesley Powell, the distinguished ethnologist and geologist who explored the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, and the homeland of Indian tribes of the American Southwest.
‘This book goes far beyond biography, into the nature and soul of the American West. It is Stegner at his best, assaying an entire era of our history, packing his pages with insights as shrewd as his prose.’ – Ivan Doig.
‘Wallace Stegner ... has summarized the frontier story and interpreted it as only one who was a part of it could do. The result is a memorable and rewarding book.’ – Hal Borland, New York Times Book Review.
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Price HK$ 6,000
A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean, Performed in the Years 1796, 1797, 1798, -
Captain James Wilson, Wlliam Wilson, James Morrison, Samuel Greatheed
1799 - Printed for T. Chapman by T. Gillet, London - First Edition [The Gillet Edition]
Account of the first missionary voyage to the South Seas, and an important work in relation to Australia as well. A large quarto volume with six engraved plates and seven folding engraved maps, in contemporary binding.
‘The London Missionary Society was founded in 1795, mainly to send missions to Polynesia. The voyage of the Duff was undertaken for the purpose of establishing a mission in Tahiti, and a settlement of twenty-five persons was formed. Apart from the missionary interest of this account, the voyagers made many important discoveries of islands, including Timoe, Mangareva, and Pakarua in the Tuamoto Archipelago; Ongea and Fulanga Islands; Vanua Mbalavu, and Satawal, Lamotrek, Elato, Ifalik, and Woleai atolls in the Western Carolines, before putting in at Macao. A new group of islands, named the Duff Group, was discovered among the Santa Cruz Islands. On the outward voyage, the expedition visited Rio de Janeiro.
The narrative is fresh, although sometimes naive, and provides a glimpse of everyday life on the islands that the mariner or naturalist didn't consider worth reporting.’ -Hill, Pacific Voyages.
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Price HK$ 6,000
1799 - Printed for T. Chapman by T. Gillet, London - First Edition [The Gillet Edition]
Account of the first missionary voyage to the South Seas, and an important work in relation to Australia as well. A large quarto volume with six engraved plates and seven folding engraved maps, in contemporary binding.‘The London Missionary Society was founded in 1795, mainly to send missions to Polynesia. The voyage of the Duff was undertaken for the purpose of establishing a mission in Tahiti, and a settlement of twenty-five persons was formed. Apart from the missionary interest of this account, the voyagers made many important discoveries of islands, including Timoe, Mangareva, and Pakarua in the Tuamoto Archipelago; Ongea and Fulanga Islands; Vanua Mbalavu, and Satawal, Lamotrek, Elato, Ifalik, and Woleai atolls in the Western Carolines, before putting in at Macao. A new group of islands, named the Duff Group, was discovered among the Santa Cruz Islands. On the outward voyage, the expedition visited Rio de Janeiro.
The narrative is fresh, although sometimes naive, and provides a glimpse of everyday life on the islands that the mariner or naturalist didn't consider worth reporting.’ -Hill, Pacific Voyages.
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Price HK$ 6,000