Asia
Australia
Borneo
Burma
Cambodia
China
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Japan
Macao
Malaysia
Nepal
New Zealand
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Tibet
Vietnam
The Critic in the Orient -
George Hamlin Fitch
1913 - Paul Elder and Company, San Francisco - First Edition
An account of the authors travels through Asia and Egypt, with chapters on Japan; Manila; Hong Kong, Canton, Singapore & Rangoon; India and Egypt; followed by Some Suggestions That May Save the Tourist Time and Money, and a bibliography of Books Which Help One to Understand the Orient and Its People.
Profusely illustrated with nine tipped in photographs and 64 full page photographic plates.
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1913 - Paul Elder and Company, San Francisco - First Edition
An account of the authors travels through Asia and Egypt, with chapters on Japan; Manila; Hong Kong, Canton, Singapore & Rangoon; India and Egypt; followed by Some Suggestions That May Save the Tourist Time and Money, and a bibliography of Books Which Help One to Understand the Orient and Its People.Profusely illustrated with nine tipped in photographs and 64 full page photographic plates.
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The Far Eastern Tropics: Studies in the Administration of Tropical Dependencies - SIGNED -
Alleyne Ireland
1905 - Houghton, Boston and New York - First Edition
A near fine copy, with chapters on Hong Kong, Borne, Sarawak, Burma, French Indo-China, Jave, the Philippine Islands, etc.
Inscribed by the author and dated 1908. With colour fold out map of ‘The Far Eastern Tropics’ in fine condition housed in pocket at rear.
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1905 - Houghton, Boston and New York - First Edition
A near fine copy, with chapters on Hong Kong, Borne, Sarawak, Burma, French Indo-China, Jave, the Philippine Islands, etc.Inscribed by the author and dated 1908. With colour fold out map of ‘The Far Eastern Tropics’ in fine condition housed in pocket at rear.
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The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido -
Captain the Hon. Henry Keppel
1846 - Chapman and Hall, London - Second Edition
‘Keppel, a British naval officer who had served in the Opium War, participated in the campaign against the Borneo pirates in 1843-44. During the execution of his orders to protect trade and suppress piracy in the Malacca Straits, he met James Brooke who had received the title of rajah of Sarawak, in perpetuity, from the Sultan of Brunei. ‘ [Hill]
In two volumes. Illustrated with lithographed frontispiece, nine tinted lithographic plates, three engraved folding plans, three folding engraved maps, and a folding table. Published in the same year as the first but with a large additional appendix and many revisions.
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1846 - Chapman and Hall, London - Second Edition
‘Keppel, a British naval officer who had served in the Opium War, participated in the campaign against the Borneo pirates in 1843-44. During the execution of his orders to protect trade and suppress piracy in the Malacca Straits, he met James Brooke who had received the title of rajah of Sarawak, in perpetuity, from the Sultan of Brunei. ‘ [Hill]In two volumes. Illustrated with lithographed frontispiece, nine tinted lithographic plates, three engraved folding plans, three folding engraved maps, and a folding table. Published in the same year as the first but with a large additional appendix and many revisions.
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A Visit to the Indian Archipelago -
Henry Keppel
1853 - Richard Bentley, London - First Edition
A lovely clean two volumes in original publisher’s gilt decorated cloth bindings, illustrated by Oswald W. Brierley with eight tinted chromolithograph plates, and the scarce folding ‘Chart of the Indian Archipelago Shewing the Track of H.M. Ship Mæander’ in pocket of volume I.
‘Keppel returned to the China Station in 1847, and was appointed to convey Sir James Brooke to Labuan, an island off Borneo. At Brooke's suggestion, Labuan was ceded to Great Britain in 1846 by the Sultan of Brunei; it was made a crown colony, and Brooke was named governor. Keppel's book treats of the voyage to Labuan, incidents there, piracy in the South China Sea, and gives a description of Manila.’ - [Hill 920, Abbey Travel 550]
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1853 - Richard Bentley, London - First Edition
A lovely clean two volumes in original publisher’s gilt decorated cloth bindings, illustrated by Oswald W. Brierley with eight tinted chromolithograph plates, and the scarce folding ‘Chart of the Indian Archipelago Shewing the Track of H.M. Ship Mæander’ in pocket of volume I.‘Keppel returned to the China Station in 1847, and was appointed to convey Sir James Brooke to Labuan, an island off Borneo. At Brooke's suggestion, Labuan was ceded to Great Britain in 1846 by the Sultan of Brunei; it was made a crown colony, and Brooke was named governor. Keppel's book treats of the voyage to Labuan, incidents there, piracy in the South China Sea, and gives a description of Manila.’ - [Hill 920, Abbey Travel 550]
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The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám -
Omar Khayyam
Circa 1918 - Fraser & Neave Ltd., Singapore - Limited edition number 456 of 1000 copies
Uncommon and quite charming edition of the Rubaiyat, the Illustrated with very unusual Chinese influenced drawings, with focus of opium not wine. The symbolism and style are typical of Will Gordon Mein, and the wording on the page after the title page ‘New Lamps for Old - Lit By’ is followed by the stylised initials W and G and although the last initial looks like an S not an M it was typical of Mein to only show the W and G followed by an underline of sorts.
Taken from the text of Fitzgerald’s first edition, with full page illustrations facing the relevant quatrain, and devices in a Chinese style throughout the text. In the original soft folio boards [28.5x22cm]
In the definitive bibliography of The Rubaiyat, Ambrose Potter dates this publication as circa 1918 and a limitation of 1,000 copies [Potter 173]. The title also presents this as Lotus Library Publications No.1, there where no further publications. This may have been a small offshoot of the Lotus Library Series by the British publisher Greening & Co., Ltd. who also used Mein to illustrate their books.
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Circa 1918 - Fraser & Neave Ltd., Singapore - Limited edition number 456 of 1000 copies
Uncommon and quite charming edition of the Rubaiyat, the Illustrated with very unusual Chinese influenced drawings, with focus of opium not wine. The symbolism and style are typical of Will Gordon Mein, and the wording on the page after the title page ‘New Lamps for Old - Lit By’ is followed by the stylised initials W and G and although the last initial looks like an S not an M it was typical of Mein to only show the W and G followed by an underline of sorts.Taken from the text of Fitzgerald’s first edition, with full page illustrations facing the relevant quatrain, and devices in a Chinese style throughout the text. In the original soft folio boards [28.5x22cm]
In the definitive bibliography of The Rubaiyat, Ambrose Potter dates this publication as circa 1918 and a limitation of 1,000 copies [Potter 173]. The title also presents this as Lotus Library Publications No.1, there where no further publications. This may have been a small offshoot of the Lotus Library Series by the British publisher Greening & Co., Ltd. who also used Mein to illustrate their books.
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Sixty Years: Life and Adventure in the Far East -
John Dill Ross
1911 - E.P. Dutton & Company, New York - First US Edition [simultaneously with UK edition, Hutchison title page replaced with Dutton]
The wonderful autobiography of a young man coming to the far east to seek his fortune, beginning in Singapore and later through Borneo, The Philippines and other islands of the Eastern seas. In two volumes, with three photogravure plates, 21 black and white photographic plates, and folding map of ‘Malay, or East Indian Archipelago with Burma and Siam’.
Although the pen name is John Dill Ross, by all accounts (including those in the 1911 book review in the ’Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser’) this is actually the autobiography of John Dillon Northwood.
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1911 - E.P. Dutton & Company, New York - First US Edition [simultaneously with UK edition, Hutchison title page replaced with Dutton]
The wonderful autobiography of a young man coming to the far east to seek his fortune, beginning in Singapore and later through Borneo, The Philippines and other islands of the Eastern seas. In two volumes, with three photogravure plates, 21 black and white photographic plates, and folding map of ‘Malay, or East Indian Archipelago with Burma and Siam’.Although the pen name is John Dill Ross, by all accounts (including those in the 1911 book review in the ’Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser’) this is actually the autobiography of John Dillon Northwood.
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Malay Magic - being - An Introduction to the Folklore and Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsula -
Walter William Skeat
1900 - Macmillan & Co., London - First Edition
A clean and bright copy of this significant study on the folklore of the Malay including creation stories, magic rites, ghosts, spirits, and demons.
Illustrated with with 28 black and white photographic plates, and seven in text figures.
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1900 - Macmillan & Co., London - First Edition
A clean and bright copy of this significant study on the folklore of the Malay including creation stories, magic rites, ghosts, spirits, and demons.Illustrated with with 28 black and white photographic plates, and seven in text figures.
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Saint Jack - SIGNED -
Paul Theroux
1973 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston - First Edition
‘Jack Flowers, saint or sinner, found a new lease on life when he jumped off the Allegro in the Straits of Malacca, caught a passing bumboat to Singapore and got a job as a water-clerk to a Chinese ship chandler. Soon he executed a brilliant idea, which resulted in his fame throughout the Far East.
These outrageous confessions of an ingenious and thoughtful con man and pimp (idealistic missionary) admit the reader into the seedy and unforgettable world of expatriates among imperial ruins.’ - Paul Theroux.
The basis for a movie Peter Bogdanovich directed movie starring Ben Gazzara.
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1973 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston - First Edition
‘Jack Flowers, saint or sinner, found a new lease on life when he jumped off the Allegro in the Straits of Malacca, caught a passing bumboat to Singapore and got a job as a water-clerk to a Chinese ship chandler. Soon he executed a brilliant idea, which resulted in his fame throughout the Far East.These outrageous confessions of an ingenious and thoughtful con man and pimp (idealistic missionary) admit the reader into the seedy and unforgettable world of expatriates among imperial ruins.’ - Paul Theroux.
The basis for a movie Peter Bogdanovich directed movie starring Ben Gazzara.
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