A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations for the Government of the Royal Household, made in divers reigns. From King Edward III to King William and Queen Mary. Also Receipts in Ancient Cookery -
1790 - Printed for the Society of Antiquaries by John Nichols, London - First Edition
A fine example of this important collection of ordinances and regulations on the stewardship of the Royal House of England.
‘Most of these texts appear here for the first time from manuscripts preserved in various English libraries (Harleian, Cotton, the Society of Antique Dealers, Thomas Astle, etc). They form a source of first-rate information about table manners, protocol, menus, feasts, official holidays, table and cellar service, expense accounts, lists of the officers of fine dining, of the wardrobe, etc. and contain numerous pieces of information about all the products used in the royal kitchens, the grocery stores, kitchen gardens, farmyards, Crown breweries, about the composition of breakfasts, dinners, suppers and princes’ snacks, about the names, salaries and roles of the staff.
At the end of these prescriptions, pages 423 to 476 are dedicated to a ‘Collection of Old English Recipes’, extracts from a manuscript from the Arundel Collection, kept in the Royal Society library. This manuscript dates from the 15th century but the recipes could be a lot older. It is undoubtedly the ‘Oldest Culinary Recipe Book’ in England. The spelling of the manuscript has been preserved.
This important and rare publication was carried out at the expense of the Society of Antique Dealers in London. It is a collection of 20 texts, ordinances, edicts etc, from the 15th century to the end of the 17th century, concerning the functioning of the English Royal Household from the reign of Edward III until 1689, by way of Henry VI (1455), Prince Edward (1474), Edward IV’s Black Book of the Royal Household, the house of George Duke of Clarence in 1469, Henry VIII in 1526; Queen Elizabeth, King James in 1604, etc.’ [Oberlé]
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Price HK$ 5,000
1790 - Printed for the Society of Antiquaries by John Nichols, London - First Edition
A fine example of this important collection of ordinances and regulations on the stewardship of the Royal House of England.‘Most of these texts appear here for the first time from manuscripts preserved in various English libraries (Harleian, Cotton, the Society of Antique Dealers, Thomas Astle, etc). They form a source of first-rate information about table manners, protocol, menus, feasts, official holidays, table and cellar service, expense accounts, lists of the officers of fine dining, of the wardrobe, etc. and contain numerous pieces of information about all the products used in the royal kitchens, the grocery stores, kitchen gardens, farmyards, Crown breweries, about the composition of breakfasts, dinners, suppers and princes’ snacks, about the names, salaries and roles of the staff.
At the end of these prescriptions, pages 423 to 476 are dedicated to a ‘Collection of Old English Recipes’, extracts from a manuscript from the Arundel Collection, kept in the Royal Society library. This manuscript dates from the 15th century but the recipes could be a lot older. It is undoubtedly the ‘Oldest Culinary Recipe Book’ in England. The spelling of the manuscript has been preserved.
This important and rare publication was carried out at the expense of the Society of Antique Dealers in London. It is a collection of 20 texts, ordinances, edicts etc, from the 15th century to the end of the 17th century, concerning the functioning of the English Royal Household from the reign of Edward III until 1689, by way of Henry VI (1455), Prince Edward (1474), Edward IV’s Black Book of the Royal Household, the house of George Duke of Clarence in 1469, Henry VIII in 1526; Queen Elizabeth, King James in 1604, etc.’ [Oberlé]
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Price HK$ 5,000
The Universal Bible: or, Every Christian Family's Best Treasure. Containing the Sacred Text of the Old and New Testament at Large. Illustrated with Notes and Comments; Whereby the difficult passages are explained; the mistranslations corrected; and the seeming contradictions found in the oracles of truth, reconciled. -
, Samuel Nelson (notes, comments, and explanations)
1758 - J. Coote, London
A massive (42.4x29x11.5cm) eighteenth century folio Bible, in a contemporary binding, with title page in red and black.
Magnificently illustrated with forty-six engraved plates including three maps, separate titles dated 1759 for the New Testament and 'Apocrypha'. With a twenty-six page index.
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Price HK$ 10,000
1758 - J. Coote, London
A massive (42.4x29x11.5cm) eighteenth century folio Bible, in a contemporary binding, with title page in red and black.Magnificently illustrated with forty-six engraved plates including three maps, separate titles dated 1759 for the New Testament and 'Apocrypha'. With a twenty-six page index.
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Price HK$ 10,000
The Monkey Wrench Gang -
Edward Abbey
1975 - J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York - First Edition
‘Hell of a place to lose a cow,’ Smith thinks to himself while roaming through the canyonlands of southern Utah. ‘Hell of a place to lose your heart. Hell of a place... to lose. Period’.
‘Since the publication of The Monkey Wrench Gang, Mr. Abbey has become an underground cult hero.’ - New York Times
A fine first edition of this inspirational and incendiary call to protect the American wilderness, by its prickliest and most outspoken environmentalist. A ‘comic extravaganza’ based on a group of misfits who join forces with a Vietnam vet on a rafting trip down the Colorado River, and together they wander off to wage war on the big yellow machines.
‘Ribald, outrageous and, in fact, scandalous.’ - Smithsonian.
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Price HK$ 6,000
1975 - J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York - First Edition
‘Hell of a place to lose a cow,’ Smith thinks to himself while roaming through the canyonlands of southern Utah. ‘Hell of a place to lose your heart. Hell of a place... to lose. Period’. ‘Since the publication of The Monkey Wrench Gang, Mr. Abbey has become an underground cult hero.’ - New York Times
A fine first edition of this inspirational and incendiary call to protect the American wilderness, by its prickliest and most outspoken environmentalist. A ‘comic extravaganza’ based on a group of misfits who join forces with a Vietnam vet on a rafting trip down the Colorado River, and together they wander off to wage war on the big yellow machines.
‘Ribald, outrageous and, in fact, scandalous.’ - Smithsonian.
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Price HK$ 6,000
Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness -
Edward Abbey, Peter Parnall (illustrator)
1968 - McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York - First Edition
A bright first edition of Abbey’s powerful work of nature writing and environmental concern, based on the inner and outer observations Abbey made during three summers at Arches National Park, Utah. His first book of non-fiction and most famous and defining work. Only 5000 copies of the first edition were printed, it has since sold more than 2,000,000 copies.
‘Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.’
With drawings throughout by Peter Parnell.
‘The desert is... atonal, cruel, clear, neither romantic nor classical, motionless and emotionless at one and the same time... Like death? Perhaps. And perhaps that is why life nowhere appears so brave, so bright, so full of oracle and miracle as in the desert.’
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Price HK$ 7,000
1968 - McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York - First Edition
A bright first edition of Abbey’s powerful work of nature writing and environmental concern, based on the inner and outer observations Abbey made during three summers at Arches National Park, Utah. His first book of non-fiction and most famous and defining work. Only 5000 copies of the first edition were printed, it has since sold more than 2,000,000 copies.‘Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.’
With drawings throughout by Peter Parnell.
‘The desert is... atonal, cruel, clear, neither romantic nor classical, motionless and emotionless at one and the same time... Like death? Perhaps. And perhaps that is why life nowhere appears so brave, so bright, so full of oracle and miracle as in the desert.’
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Price HK$ 7,000
The Player of Games -
Iain M. Banks
1988 - Macmillan, London - First Edition
A fine first edition of the second volume in Banks’ acclaimed ‘Culture Series’ (published at the same time as a limited edition of 400 in slipcase but which did not have iconic dust jacket illustrated by Richard Hopkinson / The Garden Studio).
The story of Gurgeh, one of the Culture’s greatest game masters who, bored with success, travels to the cruel and wealthy Empire of Azad, where he becomes entangled in the most dangerous and complex game he has ever played.
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Price HK$ 4,500
1988 - Macmillan, London - First Edition
A fine first edition of the second volume in Banks’ acclaimed ‘Culture Series’ (published at the same time as a limited edition of 400 in slipcase but which did not have iconic dust jacket illustrated by Richard Hopkinson / The Garden Studio).The story of Gurgeh, one of the Culture’s greatest game masters who, bored with success, travels to the cruel and wealthy Empire of Azad, where he becomes entangled in the most dangerous and complex game he has ever played.
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Price HK$ 4,500
Wuthering Heights -
Emily Bront
1955 - The Zodiac Press, London - Third Impression Thus
An elegant edition of the classic gothic romance, set on the bleak Yorkshire moors. Finely bound in blue crushed morocco, by Frost & Co. of Bath.
‘My greatest thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be;’
Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure... but as my own being.’
Wuthering Heights is the only novel of Emily Brontë, who died a year after its publication, at the age of thirty. A brooding Yorkshire tale of a love that is stronger than death, it is also a fierce vision of metaphysical passion, in which heaven and hell, nature and society, are powerfully juxtaposed. Unique, mystical, with a timeless appeal, it has become a highlight of English literature.
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Price HK$ 5,000
1955 - The Zodiac Press, London - Third Impression Thus
An elegant edition of the classic gothic romance, set on the bleak Yorkshire moors. Finely bound in blue crushed morocco, by Frost & Co. of Bath.‘My greatest thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be;’
Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure... but as my own being.’
Wuthering Heights is the only novel of Emily Brontë, who died a year after its publication, at the age of thirty. A brooding Yorkshire tale of a love that is stronger than death, it is also a fierce vision of metaphysical passion, in which heaven and hell, nature and society, are powerfully juxtaposed. Unique, mystical, with a timeless appeal, it has become a highlight of English literature.
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Price HK$ 5,000
The Chinese Novel. Nobel Lecture Delivered Before the Swedish Academy at Stockholm, December 12, 1938. - Signed -
Pearl S. Buck
1939 - The John Day Company, New York - First Edition
Signed by Pearl S. Buck on front free endpaper, a fine copy in a superior example of the delicate black and gilt foil dust jacket.
This lecture, presented on receipt of the 1938 Nobel Prize for Literature, detailed Buck's thoughts on the history, evolution, and impact of the Chinese novel, as well as her perception of its effects on her writing style.
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Price HK$ 5,000
1939 - The John Day Company, New York - First Edition
Signed by Pearl S. Buck on front free endpaper, a fine copy in a superior example of the delicate black and gilt foil dust jacket.This lecture, presented on receipt of the 1938 Nobel Prize for Literature, detailed Buck's thoughts on the history, evolution, and impact of the Chinese novel, as well as her perception of its effects on her writing style.
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Price HK$ 5,000
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - with - Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There -
Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]
1867 - Macmillan and Co., London - Third Edition (a year after the First Edition)
“Whilst Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were intended for children “fresh from God’s hand”, it is equally enthralling and delightfully magical for adults as they follow Alice on her vibrant adventures escorted by her famous companions. Who can possibly not have been carried away into the fantastically crazy world of the Mad Hatter? Or never have heard of Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Who cannot have been struck by Carroll’s love for sophisticated play with words?.” - Stephanie Chan.
A finely bound pair, in which Tenniel’s illustrations, 42 in Wonderland and 50 in Looking-Glass, perfectly capture Alice’s upside-down world and are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement.
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Price HK$ 60,000
1867 - Macmillan and Co., London - Third Edition (a year after the First Edition)
“Whilst Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were intended for children “fresh from God’s hand”, it is equally enthralling and delightfully magical for adults as they follow Alice on her vibrant adventures escorted by her famous companions. Who can possibly not have been carried away into the fantastically crazy world of the Mad Hatter? Or never have heard of Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Who cannot have been struck by Carroll’s love for sophisticated play with words?.” - Stephanie Chan.A finely bound pair, in which Tenniel’s illustrations, 42 in Wonderland and 50 in Looking-Glass, perfectly capture Alice’s upside-down world and are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement.
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Price HK$ 60,000