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Abbey's Road - Inscribed -
Edward Abbey, Jean Pruchnik (illustrator)
1979 - E. P. Dutton, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition, illustrated by Jean Pruchnik, signed and inscribed ‘all the best! Edward Abbey Santa Fe 11/56/88’
‘In the spirit of Desert Solitaire and The Journey Home, Abbey's Road is a personal odyssey. Edward Abbey's explorations include the familiar territory of the Rio Grande in Texas and Canyonlands National Park and Lake Powell in Utah. He also takes us to such varied places as Scotland, the interior of Australia, and the Sierra Madre and Isla de la Sombra in Mexico.’
‘I've been along a few of Mr. Abbey's roads. He sees much more than I did. Indeed, reading him is often better than being there was.’ – John Leonard.
‘Abbey's the original fly in the ointment. Give him money and prizes. Don't let anything happen to him.’ – Thomas McGuane.
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Price HK$ 6,000
1979 - E. P. Dutton, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition, illustrated by Jean Pruchnik, signed and inscribed ‘all the best! Edward Abbey Santa Fe 11/56/88’‘In the spirit of Desert Solitaire and The Journey Home, Abbey's Road is a personal odyssey. Edward Abbey's explorations include the familiar territory of the Rio Grande in Texas and Canyonlands National Park and Lake Powell in Utah. He also takes us to such varied places as Scotland, the interior of Australia, and the Sierra Madre and Isla de la Sombra in Mexico.’
‘I've been along a few of Mr. Abbey's roads. He sees much more than I did. Indeed, reading him is often better than being there was.’ – John Leonard.
‘Abbey's the original fly in the ointment. Give him money and prizes. Don't let anything happen to him.’ – Thomas McGuane.
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Price HK$ 6,000
A History of the University of Oxford, Its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings -
R. Ackermann
1814 - R. Ackermann, London - First Edition
An excellent set of this monumental work, profusely illustrated throughout and presented in two large and majestically bound quarto volumes by Sangorski & Suctliffe of London. Includes the thirty three plates of the college founders that are often omitted
Containing the list of subscribers, engraved portrait of Lord Grenville, sixty-four hand-coloured aquatint plates after Pugin, Mackenzie, Westall, Nash, and others, seventeen stipple-engraved costume plates, and thirty-three hand-coloured founders plates.
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Price HK$ 50,000
1814 - R. Ackermann, London - First Edition
An excellent set of this monumental work, profusely illustrated throughout and presented in two large and majestically bound quarto volumes by Sangorski & Suctliffe of London. Includes the thirty three plates of the college founders that are often omittedContaining the list of subscribers, engraved portrait of Lord Grenville, sixty-four hand-coloured aquatint plates after Pugin, Mackenzie, Westall, Nash, and others, seventeen stipple-engraved costume plates, and thirty-three hand-coloured founders plates.
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Price HK$ 50,000
The Okavango River -
Charles John Andersson
1861 - Hurst and Blackett, London - First Edition
A scarce example of the first edition in original publisher’s cloth, with engraved frontispiece, engraved extra title page, and fifteen further engraved plates.
Swedish explorer, hunter, trader and naturalist Charles Andersson describes his expeditions through Namaqualand and Damaraland (Namibia). He intended to explore these countries right up to Cunene or Nourse River but the difficulties of the expedition, though encountered with indomitable courage, proved to be insuperable, and he had to turn back. He obtained, however, much valuable information and his success as a hunter and collector was unique in this part of the continent. The coast-line of South-West Africa is carefully described and there is an interesting account of the once-famed guano island, Ichaboe.’ [Mendelssohn]
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Price HK$ 15,000
1861 - Hurst and Blackett, London - First Edition
A scarce example of the first edition in original publisher’s cloth, with engraved frontispiece, engraved extra title page, and fifteen further engraved plates.Swedish explorer, hunter, trader and naturalist Charles Andersson describes his expeditions through Namaqualand and Damaraland (Namibia). He intended to explore these countries right up to Cunene or Nourse River but the difficulties of the expedition, though encountered with indomitable courage, proved to be insuperable, and he had to turn back. He obtained, however, much valuable information and his success as a hunter and collector was unique in this part of the continent. The coast-line of South-West Africa is carefully described and there is an interesting account of the once-famed guano island, Ichaboe.’ [Mendelssohn]
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Price HK$ 15,000
A Voyage Round the World, In the Years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV. -
George Anson, Richard Walter
1748 - Printed for the Author, London - First Edition
A finely bound ‘Royal Paper’ copy of this beautifully illustrated work which ‘has long occupied a distinguished position as a masterpiece of descriptive travel’ (Hill), and ‘a model of what such literature should be’ (Cox).
Containing forty-two copper-engraved maps, charts, views, and coastal profiles, all but one folding, including views of Brazilian harbours and cities, Acapulco, Tenian, Port St. Julian, Magellan’s Straits, the Bay of Manila, Saipan, Lama, Lantau, Chinese junks, and others, and large folding maps of South America, the Philippines, and the Pacific Ocean, as well as a twelve-page subscriber list, and the two-page instructions to the binder.
England, at war with Spain in 1739, equipped eight ships under the command of George Anson to harass the Spaniards on the western coast of South America for the purpose of cutting off Spanish supplies of wealth from the Pacific area. Seven ships were lost and of 900 men 600 perished. As usual, scurvy took an appalling toll.
The Spanish fleet sent to oppose the British ran into storms; provisions ran out and many ships were wrecked. Thus the primary objective of the expedition was not attained. Anson, however, continued taking prizes off the Pacific coast during 1741-42, and in June 1743, near the Philippines, he captured the Spanish galleon Nostra Seigniora de Cabadonga and its treasure of £400,000 sterling, which allowed Anson and the surviving members of his crew to reach England much the richer.
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Price HK$ 59,000
1748 - Printed for the Author, London - First Edition
A finely bound ‘Royal Paper’ copy of this beautifully illustrated work which ‘has long occupied a distinguished position as a masterpiece of descriptive travel’ (Hill), and ‘a model of what such literature should be’ (Cox).Containing forty-two copper-engraved maps, charts, views, and coastal profiles, all but one folding, including views of Brazilian harbours and cities, Acapulco, Tenian, Port St. Julian, Magellan’s Straits, the Bay of Manila, Saipan, Lama, Lantau, Chinese junks, and others, and large folding maps of South America, the Philippines, and the Pacific Ocean, as well as a twelve-page subscriber list, and the two-page instructions to the binder.
England, at war with Spain in 1739, equipped eight ships under the command of George Anson to harass the Spaniards on the western coast of South America for the purpose of cutting off Spanish supplies of wealth from the Pacific area. Seven ships were lost and of 900 men 600 perished. As usual, scurvy took an appalling toll.
The Spanish fleet sent to oppose the British ran into storms; provisions ran out and many ships were wrecked. Thus the primary objective of the expedition was not attained. Anson, however, continued taking prizes off the Pacific coast during 1741-42, and in June 1743, near the Philippines, he captured the Spanish galleon Nostra Seigniora de Cabadonga and its treasure of £400,000 sterling, which allowed Anson and the surviving members of his crew to reach England much the richer.
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Price HK$ 59,000
The Italian Lakes -
Richard Bagot, Ella Du Cane (artist)
1905 - Adam and Charles Black, London - First Edition
An exquisitely presented work on the Italian Lakes by the English writer Richard Bagot (1860-1921) who was invested as a Grand Officer in the Order of the Crown of Italy, and as a Knight in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for his works on Italy.
Wonderfully illustrated throughout with sixty-eight colour plates and descriptive tissue-guards from water colours by British watercolorist Ella Du Cane (1874-1943).
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Price HK$ 3,000
1905 - Adam and Charles Black, London - First Edition
An exquisitely presented work on the Italian Lakes by the English writer Richard Bagot (1860-1921) who was invested as a Grand Officer in the Order of the Crown of Italy, and as a Knight in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for his works on Italy.Wonderfully illustrated throughout with sixty-eight colour plates and descriptive tissue-guards from water colours by British watercolorist Ella Du Cane (1874-1943).
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Price HK$ 3,000
Ismailia. A Narrative of The Expedition to Central Africa for the Suppression of the Slave Trade. Organized by Ismail, Khedive of Egypt -
Sir Samuel W. Baker, Pacha
1874 - Macmillan And Co., London - First Edition
A near fine two-volume first edition by one of the great explorers of the era, in which Sir Samuel White Baker describes leading a military expedition beginning in 1869 to annex the lawless upper Nile, suppress its barbaric slave trade, establish trade routes and open up navigation on the Great Lakes for the cotton trade.
Profusely illustrated with fifty two full-page plates and two maps in colour, one folding.
Tasked with the assignment by the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt at a ball in Cairo, Baker was given four years, the rank of major-general, and the title of pasha – the most senior positions ever given to a European under an Egyptian administration. The books begin in the same way as the expedition: with the commission of four boats, including a 251-ton paddle steamer that were shipped from England, and with hundreds of camels and an additional nine steamers and 55 sailing boats in Egypt.
In Baker’s view the slave trade led to ‘treachery, devastation and ruin.’ ‘It is impossible to know the actual number of slaves taken from Central Africa annually; but I should imagine that at least fifty thousand…the loss of life attendant upon the capture and subsequent treatment of the slaves is frightful.’
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Price HK$ 11,000
1874 - Macmillan And Co., London - First Edition
A near fine two-volume first edition by one of the great explorers of the era, in which Sir Samuel White Baker describes leading a military expedition beginning in 1869 to annex the lawless upper Nile, suppress its barbaric slave trade, establish trade routes and open up navigation on the Great Lakes for the cotton trade.Profusely illustrated with fifty two full-page plates and two maps in colour, one folding.
Tasked with the assignment by the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt at a ball in Cairo, Baker was given four years, the rank of major-general, and the title of pasha – the most senior positions ever given to a European under an Egyptian administration. The books begin in the same way as the expedition: with the commission of four boats, including a 251-ton paddle steamer that were shipped from England, and with hundreds of camels and an additional nine steamers and 55 sailing boats in Egypt.
In Baker’s view the slave trade led to ‘treachery, devastation and ruin.’ ‘It is impossible to know the actual number of slaves taken from Central Africa annually; but I should imagine that at least fifty thousand…the loss of life attendant upon the capture and subsequent treatment of the slaves is frightful.’
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Price HK$ 11,000
Drums -
James Boyd, N. C. Wyeth (Illustrator)
1928 - Charles Scribner's Sons, New York - First Edition, Second Issue
Finely bound copy of Boyd’s epic novel of the American Revolution, highlighted by N. C. Wyeth’s iconic illustrations, black and white pen drawings, colour title page and fourteen full-page colour plates.
One of Life magazine’s 100 most outstanding books for 1924-1944.
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Price HK$ 4,000
1928 - Charles Scribner's Sons, New York - First Edition, Second Issue
Finely bound copy of Boyd’s epic novel of the American Revolution, highlighted by N. C. Wyeth’s iconic illustrations, black and white pen drawings, colour title page and fourteen full-page colour plates.One of Life magazine’s 100 most outstanding books for 1924-1944.
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Price HK$ 4,000
Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773 -
James Bruce of Kinnaird
1790 - Printed by J. Ruthven, Edinburgh - First Edition
A superior set of the first edition in five large and finely bound volumes, one of the great annals of travel and explorations in Africa, a cornerstone of any collection of Africana. In addition to the three large folding copper-engraved maps, there are fifty-eight copper-engraved plates (four of which are maps or battle plans) and seven pages of Ethiopic language.
A Scotsman with ability and education, James Bruce, 1730-1794, was appointed the English consul to Algiers, serving for two years before resigning to roam North Africa investigating architectural ruins. Following this preparation, he set off to fulfil his great ambition, to discover the source of the Nile. His travels into Abyssinia, a remarkable solo undertaking, resulted in the present body of work which not only includes the narrative of his travels but also comments on the history and religion of Egypt, an account of Indian trade, a history of Abyssinia and other such material.
The DNB notes that while Bruce would not be confused with "a great scholar or a judicious critic..., few books of equal compass are equally entertaining; and few such monuments exist of the energy and enterprise of a single traveller." The many engraved plates are finely executed, and present primarily the flora and fauna encountered by Bruce on his travels.
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Price HK$ 42,000
1790 - Printed by J. Ruthven, Edinburgh - First Edition
A superior set of the first edition in five large and finely bound volumes, one of the great annals of travel and explorations in Africa, a cornerstone of any collection of Africana. In addition to the three large folding copper-engraved maps, there are fifty-eight copper-engraved plates (four of which are maps or battle plans) and seven pages of Ethiopic language.A Scotsman with ability and education, James Bruce, 1730-1794, was appointed the English consul to Algiers, serving for two years before resigning to roam North Africa investigating architectural ruins. Following this preparation, he set off to fulfil his great ambition, to discover the source of the Nile. His travels into Abyssinia, a remarkable solo undertaking, resulted in the present body of work which not only includes the narrative of his travels but also comments on the history and religion of Egypt, an account of Indian trade, a history of Abyssinia and other such material.
The DNB notes that while Bruce would not be confused with "a great scholar or a judicious critic..., few books of equal compass are equally entertaining; and few such monuments exist of the energy and enterprise of a single traveller." The many engraved plates are finely executed, and present primarily the flora and fauna encountered by Bruce on his travels.
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Price HK$ 42,000