[BRUNEL, Antoine de.]

A journey into Spain.

London, printed for Henry Herringman, 1670.

First edition in English. A free and abridged translation of Voyage d’Espagne curieux, historique et politique, first published anonymously in 1665. Setting out from the Netherlands in 1651 in the company of François van Aerssen, Brunel toured France, Germany and Italy before travelling to...

£950

MONETA, José Manuel, and Robert Keith HEADLAND, (ed.).

Four Antarctic Years in the South Orkney Islands: an Annotated...

London, Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 2017.

One man’s fascinating record of four winters in the Antarctic during the 1920s, the period of transition from the isolation of the Heroic Age to the beginnings of radio communication with the world outside.

£50

SWIFT, Jonathan.

The Posthumous Works … Volume I [–III].

Edinburgh: Printed for John Balfour. 1766

Very rare, a reissue, with cancel title-pages, of the similarly rare vols. 9-11 of Balfour’s edition of Swift’s Works (also 1766, BL and NLS only). The first ‘Scotch’ edition of 1752 had been in ten volumes, reduced to eight in 1757 (Printed for Hamilton, Balfour and Hunter). Balfour alone published...

£450

SCOTT, Sir Walter.

The Lady of the Lake … with all his Introductions and Notes, various Readings, and the Editor’s Notes.

Edinburgh, Robert Cadell, 1851.

An attractive Scottish 'Mauchline ware' tartan binding. Mauchline ware bindings – the name comes from Smith’s boxware factory at Mauchline in Ayrshire – were made from thin wooden boards (often sycamore) decorated with tartan or pictorial designs, heavily varnished, and attached to the text...

£750

GRASSINEAU, James.

A Musical Dictionary; being a Collection of Terms and Characters, as well ancient as modern; including the historical,...

… London: Printed for J. Wilcox … 1740.

First edition, based largely on the Dictionnaire de Musique of Sébastien de Brossard and the musical articles in Chambers’s Cyclopaedia, with some original material. One of two variant issues, this has ‘A’ on the title-page above the ‘i’ in ‘Dictionary’.

£650

ECCLES, Mary, Viscountess, and Gordon TURNBULL, eds..

James Boswell’s Book of Company at Auchinleck.

The Roxburghe Club, 1995.

The Book of Company is much more than a visitor’s book, since James Boswell comments on the men and women he met and entertained, and the occasions of his doing so, are all his own. It is therefore an important addition to his many-sided self-portrait. Beginning in 1782, two years before Samuel Johnson...

£260

GOUNOD, Charles François.

A volume of ten songs bound together, all signed and inscribed by Gounod to Arthur Cecil Blunt (1832–96).

A specially bound volume containing ten of Gounod’s London-published songs, all signed and inscribed in pencil on the upper wrapper to the English actor Arthur Cecil Blunt (stage name Arthur Cecil, 1843–1896): ‘To my friend Arthur C. Blunt. Ch, Gounod’. The songs, of which eight are in English,...

£2000

[SUEZ CANAL.]

Vade-mecum des porteurs de Suez. Extrait du numéro du 4 mars 1882 du Courrier des Tirages financiers. Propriété...

. Paris, [1882].

Scarce pamphlet, signed ‘J. R.’, advising investors in the Suez Canal – referred to as ‘capitalistes intelligents’ – on the likely return on their investments over the coming 10 years.

£50

CHOLERA – KÖNIGLICHES MEDICINAL COLLEGIUM.

Bekanntmachung in Betreff der Asiatischen Cholera.

Stuttgart: [n.p.], 20 September 1831 [offprint from Schwäbischer Merkur, 26 September 1831].

As both advice and rumours about the so-called ‘Asian’ cholera epidemic circulated in Prussia in 1831, this pamphlet was issued to counteract harmful and erroneous information with sensible advice. It was issued and distributed by Königliches Medicinal Collegium on behalf of the state of Baden-Württemberg,...

£275

DUNDAS, Charles Cecil Farquharson.

Kilimanjaro and Its People. A History of the Wachagga, Their Laws, Customs and Legends, Together...

London: Northumberland Press for H.F. & G. Witherby, 1924.

First edition. Charles Dundas (1884-1956), son of the 6th Viscount Melville of Melville, was an influential figure in the British East African territories in the early twentieth century: he held the office of District Commissioner of British East African Protectorate (1908-1915), was then Political Officer...

£350

HERNANDEZ, Joseph François Didace.

Essai sur le typhus ou sur les fièvres dites malignes, putrides, bilieuses, muqueuses, jaune,...

Paris, Cellot for Méquignon-Marvis, 1816.

First edition by the physiologist and pathologist Hernandez (1769–1835). In Essai sur le typhus he rejects traditional book learning (especially humoral theories) and proposes an empirical approach for investigating the origin, epidemiology, contagion patterns and treatment of inflammatory...

£550

[THAMES ESTUARY.]

Coloured chart of the Thames Estuary extending to Harwich and Ramsgate with map of the river from London to Gravesend.

London, Edward Stanford, 16 May 1927.

Attractive maps with plenty of accompanying information.

£90

[NORTH, Roger].

A Discourse of Fish and Fish-Ponds ... Done by a Person of Honour.

London: E. Curll, 1713.

First edition. Written by the polymathematical lawyer, politician, and writer Roger North (1653-1734), A Discourse of Fish and Fish-Ponds was based on the author’s own experience, gained at his estate in Rougham, Norfolk. North had a very practical disposition, was a skilled mathematician and friend...

£500

BRASSEY, Anna [‘Annie’], Lady BRASSEY.

In the Trades, the Tropics, & the Roaring Forties.

London: Spottiswoode & Co. for Longmans, Green, & Co., 1885.

First edition, no. 226 of 250 large-paper copies with illustrations on india. In the Trades, Tropics, & the Roaring Forties, the last work to be published during her lifetime by Annie Brassey, describes a voyage undertaken with her husband Thomas, Baron Brassey in 1883. They travelled from Dartmouth...

£550

HEDIN, Sven Anders.

Öfver Land till Indien. Genom Persien, Seistan och Belutjistan.

Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag, 1910.

First edition, first to fourth thousand copies. Hedin’s account of his 1905-1906 journey across the northern Persian deserts from Teheran to India; as he explains in the preface, ‘Den egentliga resan börjar först från Teheran, och utanför Teherans portar börjar också öknen. Sedan är det intet...

£575

UNSWORTH, Walt.

Everest.

London: Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press) Ltd for Allen Lane, 1981.

First edition. ‘This is the story of Man’s attempts to climb a very special mountain’ begins Unsworth’s book, which was very well reviewed when first published in 1981, thanks to his depth of knowledge of his subject, and his original contributions to the historical retrospective of the adventures...

£500

SMYTHE, Francis Sydney.

The Kangchenjunga Adventure.

London: The Camelot Press Ltd. for Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1930.

First edition. Francis (‘Frank’) Smythe (1900-1949), was an English mountaineer, photographer, and botanist, and one of three British members of the Professor G. Dyrenfurth’s 1930 Kangchenjunga expedition. The expedition was unsuccessful, and tragically resulted in the deaths of three climbers;...

£750

HUNT, John.

Typed letter signed (‘John Hunt’) to Paul J. Hill (‘Dear Mr. Hill’).

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Westminster, London, 2 November 1962.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for Boys was established by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh in 1956, and Sir John (later Baron) Hunt, the leader of the 1953 Everest expedition, was appointed Director. By 1959 the Award had become a charitable trust; by 1960, 35,000 boys and 7,000 girls were participating in...

£200

CHOLERA – KÖNIGLICHES MEDICINAL COLLEGIUM.

Verhaltungs Maβregeln für das Publikum in Beziehung auf die Asiatische Brechruhr.

Stuttgart: Buckdruckerei des Schwabischen Merkurs, 10 November 1836 [offprint from Schwäbischer Merkur].

By 1836 the propagation of health advice concerning the ‘Asian’ cholera epidemic (which had spread to Prussia from Russia five years previously) had become a genre of medical publishing, and this text was prepared by the Königliches Medicinal Collegium, and then published both in the regional Stuttgart...

£300

CUVIGLIA, Ambrogio.

...

Naples, 27 June 1837.

A fascinating letter reporting on the disastrous impact of cholera in Naples and the surrounding countryside in 1837, during the second global cholera pandemic (1829-51), and warning of the possible spread of the disease from one port to another. The letter was written from Naples by the consul general...

£150