Polo & Coaching -
1923 Circa - British Sports and Sportsmen, London - Royal Edition, limited to 250 copies, of which this is number 221.
A massive scarce and sumptuously bound work, one of only 250 copies of the ‘Royal Edition’, and enhanced by over 450 illustrations from photographs, paintings and sketches.
With contributions from Major-General Vaughan, T. Levins Moore, Gordon Withers, Major Hesseltine, Major-General Pitman, Keith Marsham, Lieut.-General Sir Michael Rimington, Lieut.-Colonel Nickalls, Osgold Cross, F.P.P. Rouse, “Bronco” and “Rissala”.
The majority of this work covers Polo, describing the origins of the game its history in India, Ireland, and England, tactics and rules, as well as short biographical notes on players. The last part gives a history of coaching, which, with the introduction of railways, had become more of a sporting recreation usually involving marathon distances with a carriage (coach) and team of horses.
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Price HK$ 5,500
1923 Circa - British Sports and Sportsmen, London - Royal Edition, limited to 250 copies, of which this is number 221.
A massive scarce and sumptuously bound work, one of only 250 copies of the ‘Royal Edition’, and enhanced by over 450 illustrations from photographs, paintings and sketches.With contributions from Major-General Vaughan, T. Levins Moore, Gordon Withers, Major Hesseltine, Major-General Pitman, Keith Marsham, Lieut.-General Sir Michael Rimington, Lieut.-Colonel Nickalls, Osgold Cross, F.P.P. Rouse, “Bronco” and “Rissala”.
The majority of this work covers Polo, describing the origins of the game its history in India, Ireland, and England, tactics and rules, as well as short biographical notes on players. The last part gives a history of coaching, which, with the introduction of railways, had become more of a sporting recreation usually involving marathon distances with a carriage (coach) and team of horses.
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Price HK$ 5,500
British Yachts and Yachtsmen. A Complete History of British Yachting from the Middle of the Sixteenth Century of the Present Day -
1907 - The Yachtsman Publishing Company, London - First Edition
This is a massive and luxurious tome, a comprehensive reference, illustrated with 58 plates and 500 valuable photographs.
Containing a lengthy history of yachting in the British Isles, from Elizabethan times, with coverage of the America’s cup, yachting in Canada and Australia, biographical sketches of many prominent yachtsmen, brief histories of yacht clubs, and an account of the founding and influence of the Yacht Racing Association. Indexes of personal, yacht, and club names are provided.’ [Toy].
In the publisher’s original navy blue leather and gilt binding, usually found in pieces or rebound in two volumes due to the size.
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Price HK$ 10,000
1907 - The Yachtsman Publishing Company, London - First Edition
This is a massive and luxurious tome, a comprehensive reference, illustrated with 58 plates and 500 valuable photographs.Containing a lengthy history of yachting in the British Isles, from Elizabethan times, with coverage of the America’s cup, yachting in Canada and Australia, biographical sketches of many prominent yachtsmen, brief histories of yacht clubs, and an account of the founding and influence of the Yacht Racing Association. Indexes of personal, yacht, and club names are provided.’ [Toy].
In the publisher’s original navy blue leather and gilt binding, usually found in pieces or rebound in two volumes due to the size.
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Price HK$ 10,000
Skiing: The International Sport -
Adolf Attenhofer, Count de Baillet Latour, Arnold Lunn et al., Roland Palmedo (editor)
1937 - The Derrydale Press, New York - First Edition - One of 950 copies
A magnificent, large and heavily illustrated work, authored by some of the most important international skiers of the time. In the scarce dust jacket, the book itself unopened and pages uncut.
With 275 illustrations by Jacques Charmoz, Carl von Diebitsch, W. Russell Flint, Edwin Henel, Max Martens, A. Sheldon Pennoyer, Toni Schoenecker, Dwight Shepler, Frederick B. Taylor, and etchings by Wayne Davis, including nine colour plates, 70 halftone plates from photographs, and seven plates from etchings and drawings.
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Price HK$ 8,500
1937 - The Derrydale Press, New York - First Edition - One of 950 copies
A magnificent, large and heavily illustrated work, authored by some of the most important international skiers of the time. In the scarce dust jacket, the book itself unopened and pages uncut.With 275 illustrations by Jacques Charmoz, Carl von Diebitsch, W. Russell Flint, Edwin Henel, Max Martens, A. Sheldon Pennoyer, Toni Schoenecker, Dwight Shepler, Frederick B. Taylor, and etchings by Wayne Davis, including nine colour plates, 70 halftone plates from photographs, and seven plates from etchings and drawings.
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Price HK$ 8,500
Avedon: Photographs, 1947-1977 - SIGNED -
Richard Avedon, Harold Brodkey
1978 - Farrar, New York - First Edition
A signed large folio of renowned portrait and fashion photographer Richard Avedon, published concurrently with the 1978 retrospective exhibition of his work at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the original publisher’s acetate (clear) jacket.
This selection of iconic black and white portraits includes the Duchess of Alba, Brigitte Bardot, Lauren Bacall, Cyd Charisse, Gabrielle Chanel, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Janis Joplin, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, and others.
With an introduction by Harold Brodkey.
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Price HK$ 4,800
1978 - Farrar, New York - First Edition
A signed large folio of renowned portrait and fashion photographer Richard Avedon, published concurrently with the 1978 retrospective exhibition of his work at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the original publisher’s acetate (clear) jacket.This selection of iconic black and white portraits includes the Duchess of Alba, Brigitte Bardot, Lauren Bacall, Cyd Charisse, Gabrielle Chanel, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Janis Joplin, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, and others.
With an introduction by Harold Brodkey.
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Price HK$ 4,800
The Book of the Sword -
Sir Richard Francis Burton
1884 - Chatto and Windus, London - First Edition
A magnificent work on edged weapons by Burton, who was a very skilled swordsman, and published an earlier practical work on military exercises for infantry in 1876. Profusely illustrated throughout.
Rarely encountered in such nice condition. This first part of a planned three volume work, ‘treats of the birth, parentage and early career of the sword. It begins with the very beginning, in pre-historic times and amongst proto-historic peoples; and it ends with the full growth of the Sword at the epoch of the early Roman Empire.’ Despite Lady Burton’s efforts to find someone to complete the next two volumes after Burton’s death, the haphazard collection of notes, partial manuscripts, and the commercial failure of the first volume, were enough to put off any publisher.
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Price HK$ 15,000
1884 - Chatto and Windus, London - First Edition
A magnificent work on edged weapons by Burton, who was a very skilled swordsman, and published an earlier practical work on military exercises for infantry in 1876. Profusely illustrated throughout.Rarely encountered in such nice condition. This first part of a planned three volume work, ‘treats of the birth, parentage and early career of the sword. It begins with the very beginning, in pre-historic times and amongst proto-historic peoples; and it ends with the full growth of the Sword at the epoch of the early Roman Empire.’ Despite Lady Burton’s efforts to find someone to complete the next two volumes after Burton’s death, the haphazard collection of notes, partial manuscripts, and the commercial failure of the first volume, were enough to put off any publisher.
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Price HK$ 15,000
The Anatomy of Melancholy -
Robert Burton, E. McKnight Kauffer (illustrator)
1925 - The Nonesuch Press, London - Limited edition of 750 sets of which this is number 373
A luxurious presentation of Burton’s masterpiece in two large volumes with 200 illustrations from zinc line blocks by E. McKnight Kauffer and printed by the Westminster Press on handmade Dutch paper.
‘The Anatomy of Melancholy is the vast and only work by Robert Burton, the 17th-century English priest and scholar. It 'opens and cuts up' the condition of melancholy, or depression as we know it today, and in doing so explores a dizzying range of additional topics, including goblins, beauty, the geography of America, digestion, the passions, alcohol and kissing. Burton believed that reading was a cure for melancholy, and so the book itself - one of the most unique and uncategorisable works of all time - can be seen as a tonic for the very condition it describes.’ [Penguin classics]
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Price HK$ 4,500
1925 - The Nonesuch Press, London - Limited edition of 750 sets of which this is number 373
A luxurious presentation of Burton’s masterpiece in two large volumes with 200 illustrations from zinc line blocks by E. McKnight Kauffer and printed by the Westminster Press on handmade Dutch paper.‘The Anatomy of Melancholy is the vast and only work by Robert Burton, the 17th-century English priest and scholar. It 'opens and cuts up' the condition of melancholy, or depression as we know it today, and in doing so explores a dizzying range of additional topics, including goblins, beauty, the geography of America, digestion, the passions, alcohol and kissing. Burton believed that reading was a cure for melancholy, and so the book itself - one of the most unique and uncategorisable works of all time - can be seen as a tonic for the very condition it describes.’ [Penguin classics]
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Price HK$ 4,500
Letters of Anton Pavlovitch Tchehov to to Olga Leonardovna Knipper -
Anton Chekhov, Constance Garnett (translator, editor)
1926 - Chatto & Windus, London - First Edition in English
‘Dear actress, I shall answer all your questions...’
Finely bound and with a mounted photograph of Tchehov and his wife, the actress Olga Leonardovna Knipper. The first complete authorised version in English of this collection which begins with ‘A Few Words About Tchehov’ by Olga Knipper-Tchehov, followed by 434 letters and telegraphs to Olga.
‘They met in September 1898 at a reading of his controversial new play, The Seagull. He was 38, she had just turned 30. He was a celebrated writer, she was a charismatic young actress in a fledgling theatre company. The story spans six short years, in which they play evolving roles - first as playwright and actress, then as lovers, then as husband and wife, and finally as invalid and caretaker, until Chekhov's untimely death at the age of 44.
Most of that time they spent apart by necessity - she in residence at the Moscow Art Theatre, he in exile in Yalta, suffering from consumption. Even when they were together during the summers, his ever-declining health marred the quality of their reunions. And yet they shared more than a full lifetime of love and theatre.
Those brief years are chronicled in a unique correspondence, consisting of roughly 400 letters each. Born of their enforced separation, the correspondence spans five of those six years (1899-1904) and a remarkable period in theatre history - the birth of the Moscow Art Theatre and its production of Chekhov's four major plays, all starring Olga.’ – Carol Rocamora, The Guardian
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Price HK$ 3,900
1926 - Chatto & Windus, London - First Edition in English
‘Dear actress, I shall answer all your questions...’Finely bound and with a mounted photograph of Tchehov and his wife, the actress Olga Leonardovna Knipper. The first complete authorised version in English of this collection which begins with ‘A Few Words About Tchehov’ by Olga Knipper-Tchehov, followed by 434 letters and telegraphs to Olga.
‘They met in September 1898 at a reading of his controversial new play, The Seagull. He was 38, she had just turned 30. He was a celebrated writer, she was a charismatic young actress in a fledgling theatre company. The story spans six short years, in which they play evolving roles - first as playwright and actress, then as lovers, then as husband and wife, and finally as invalid and caretaker, until Chekhov's untimely death at the age of 44.
Most of that time they spent apart by necessity - she in residence at the Moscow Art Theatre, he in exile in Yalta, suffering from consumption. Even when they were together during the summers, his ever-declining health marred the quality of their reunions. And yet they shared more than a full lifetime of love and theatre.
Those brief years are chronicled in a unique correspondence, consisting of roughly 400 letters each. Born of their enforced separation, the correspondence spans five of those six years (1899-1904) and a remarkable period in theatre history - the birth of the Moscow Art Theatre and its production of Chekhov's four major plays, all starring Olga.’ – Carol Rocamora, The Guardian
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Price HK$ 3,900
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