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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 four volume first edition set of the autobiographies by the ‘Grande Old Lady’ of travellers, the intrepid and pioneering Freya Stark (1893-1993). Each volume with a green sketch-map and numerous black and white photographic plates.
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$ 12,000
1950 - John Murray, London - First Editions
A complete four volume first edition set of the autobiographies by the ‘Grande Old Lady’ of travellers, the intrepid and pioneering Freya Stark (1893-1993). Each volume with a green sketch-map and numerous black and white photographic plates.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$ 12,000
A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro -
Alfred Russel Wallace
1853 - Reeve and Co., London - First Edition
First edition, finely bound, illustrated with one colour lithographed frontispiece, eight lithographic plates by and after Wallace, one map, and a folding letterpress vocabulary table.
In 1848, spurred by their shared reading interests in natural history, Wallace, 25 years old at the time, and Henry Walter Bates boarded a ship for the Amazon basin and his first fieldwork expedition to the Amazon, 1848-1852.
Upon Wallace's return in 1852, his ship caught fire and sunk in the Atlantic, destroying all of his notes and collections. Remarkably, he was able to compile both works, Palm Trees and this narrative of his journey. “That one might demonstrate the fact of evolution through a detailed tracing out of individual phylogenies over time and space was apparent to [Wallace] early on, and the Amazon was to afford a natural laboratory to this end" [ODNB]
‘Meticulous in its detail and impressive in its scope, Wallace’s Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro documents a four-year expedition that launched his scientific career. Wallace's sharp observations of Amazonian geology, topography, flora, fauna and peoples provide a stimulating account of the region.’ [OUP]
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Price HK$ 28,000
1853 - Reeve and Co., London - First Edition
First edition, finely bound, illustrated with one colour lithographed frontispiece, eight lithographic plates by and after Wallace, one map, and a folding letterpress vocabulary table. In 1848, spurred by their shared reading interests in natural history, Wallace, 25 years old at the time, and Henry Walter Bates boarded a ship for the Amazon basin and his first fieldwork expedition to the Amazon, 1848-1852.
Upon Wallace's return in 1852, his ship caught fire and sunk in the Atlantic, destroying all of his notes and collections. Remarkably, he was able to compile both works, Palm Trees and this narrative of his journey. “That one might demonstrate the fact of evolution through a detailed tracing out of individual phylogenies over time and space was apparent to [Wallace] early on, and the Amazon was to afford a natural laboratory to this end" [ODNB]
‘Meticulous in its detail and impressive in its scope, Wallace’s Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro documents a four-year expedition that launched his scientific career. Wallace's sharp observations of Amazonian geology, topography, flora, fauna and peoples provide a stimulating account of the region.’ [OUP]
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Price HK$ 28,000
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