Lieutenant Hornblower -
C. S. Forester
1952 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
The nineteenth century dawns and the Napoleonic Wars rage as Horatio Hornblower faces the fury of the French and Spanish fleets combined. Amidst the hissing of wet wads, the stifling heat of white-hot cannonshot and the clamour of a mutinous crew, new Lieutenant Hornblower will need all of his seafaring cunning to overcome his first challenge in independent command on the high seas.
‘I find Hornblower admirable, vastly entertaining’ - Sir Winston Churchill.
‘I recommend Forester to every literate I know’ - Ernest Hemingway.
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Price HK$ 1,800
1952 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
The nineteenth century dawns and the Napoleonic Wars rage as Horatio Hornblower faces the fury of the French and Spanish fleets combined. Amidst the hissing of wet wads, the stifling heat of white-hot cannonshot and the clamour of a mutinous crew, new Lieutenant Hornblower will need all of his seafaring cunning to overcome his first challenge in independent command on the high seas.‘I find Hornblower admirable, vastly entertaining’ - Sir Winston Churchill.
‘I recommend Forester to every literate I know’ - Ernest Hemingway.
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Price HK$ 1,800
Hornblower and the Atropos -
C. S. Forester
1953 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
In the wake of a humbling incident aboard a canal boat in the Cotswolds, young Captain Horatio Hornblower arrives in London to take command of the Atropos, a 22-gun sloop barely large enough to require a captain. Her first assignment under Hornblower's command is as flagship for the funeral procession of Lord Nelson. Soon Atropos is part of the Mediterranean Fleet's harassment of Napoleon, recovering treasure that lies deep in Turkish waters and boldly challenging a Spanish frigate several times her size.
‘I recommend Forester to every literate I know’ - Ernest Hemingway.
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Price HK$ 2,000
1953 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
In the wake of a humbling incident aboard a canal boat in the Cotswolds, young Captain Horatio Hornblower arrives in London to take command of the Atropos, a 22-gun sloop barely large enough to require a captain. Her first assignment under Hornblower's command is as flagship for the funeral procession of Lord Nelson. Soon Atropos is part of the Mediterranean Fleet's harassment of Napoleon, recovering treasure that lies deep in Turkish waters and boldly challenging a Spanish frigate several times her size.‘I recommend Forester to every literate I know’ - Ernest Hemingway.
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Price HK$ 2,000
Hornblower and the Hotspur -
C. S. Forester
1962 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
April 1803, and the Peace of Amiens is failing as Horatio Hornblower takes a three-master on a vital reconnaissance mission … Hornblower is ordered to take the Hotspur and head for Brest – war is coming and Napoleon will not catch His Majesty’s navy with its britches round its ankles. Hornblower must prove himself to be not only the most capable commander in the fleet, but also its most daring if he is to stop the French gaining the upper hand.
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Price HK$ 1,500
1962 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
April 1803, and the Peace of Amiens is failing as Horatio Hornblower takes a three-master on a vital reconnaissance mission … Hornblower is ordered to take the Hotspur and head for Brest – war is coming and Napoleon will not catch His Majesty’s navy with its britches round its ankles. Hornblower must prove himself to be not only the most capable commander in the fleet, but also its most daring if he is to stop the French gaining the upper hand.
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Price HK$ 1,500
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy -
Mrs. Hannah Glasse
1796 - Printed for T. Longman, London - A New Edition, with all the Modern Improvements. In which are included One Hundred and Fifty new and useful Receipts, not inserted in any former Edition
A finely bound early edition of this classic 18th century cookbook, which ‘revolutionised the way the British cook’.
‘She's the first domestic goddess, the queen of the dinner party and the most important cookery writer to know about. No, not Isabella Beeton; not Delia Smith nor Nigella Lawson, but an earlier incarnation of a kitchen trouble-shooter, Hannah Glasse’ - Rose Prince, The Independent (2006).
‘The Art of Cookery has a River Cafe Cookbook quality - in fact her excessive use of butter, which can have a lovely clear flavour, can be likened to the liberal dribbling of olive oil in Rogers' and Gray's recipes. The power of the book, though, is the clarity of the writing. She's authoritative but she is also intimate, treating you as an equal’ – Bee Wilson (food journalist and author).
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Price HK$ 4,500
1796 - Printed for T. Longman, London - A New Edition, with all the Modern Improvements. In which are included One Hundred and Fifty new and useful Receipts, not inserted in any former Edition
A finely bound early edition of this classic 18th century cookbook, which ‘revolutionised the way the British cook’.‘She's the first domestic goddess, the queen of the dinner party and the most important cookery writer to know about. No, not Isabella Beeton; not Delia Smith nor Nigella Lawson, but an earlier incarnation of a kitchen trouble-shooter, Hannah Glasse’ - Rose Prince, The Independent (2006).
‘The Art of Cookery has a River Cafe Cookbook quality - in fact her excessive use of butter, which can have a lovely clear flavour, can be likened to the liberal dribbling of olive oil in Rogers' and Gray's recipes. The power of the book, though, is the clarity of the writing. She's authoritative but she is also intimate, treating you as an equal’ – Bee Wilson (food journalist and author).
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Price HK$ 4,500
At the Wheel - Ashore and Afloat -
Lt.-Cmdr. Montague Grahame-White
Circa 1935 - G. T. Foulis & Co., London - First Edition
Montague Grahame-White [1877-1961] - A founder member of the Royal Automobile Club, brother of the famous aviator Claude Grahame-White, and owner and connoisseur of fine cars and boats. Having owned some of the finest machines of the day from Hispano Suizas and Rolls Royce to the two largest private yachts (one later being owned by Mussolini).
In with the right set, he once drove an Indian Raja for a trip to France in a Mors racer that the Rajah was going to buy for his own ‘Bombay to Poonha ‘race. According to Car magazine ‘Grahame-White was gratified to find that the Mors was up to the top of its form, but the Rajah’s hair stood on end, and he abandoned racing on the spot.
This wonderful book is full of similar anecdotes, from Monte-Carlo to the Suez, and some great classifications of road users, discourteous uses of a car, pedestrians and so on.
With 65 black and white photographs and 9 facsimile letters and illustrated endpapers, a superb copy in publishers decorated cloth.
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Price HK$ 2,600
Circa 1935 - G. T. Foulis & Co., London - First Edition
Montague Grahame-White [1877-1961] - A founder member of the Royal Automobile Club, brother of the famous aviator Claude Grahame-White, and owner and connoisseur of fine cars and boats. Having owned some of the finest machines of the day from Hispano Suizas and Rolls Royce to the two largest private yachts (one later being owned by Mussolini). In with the right set, he once drove an Indian Raja for a trip to France in a Mors racer that the Rajah was going to buy for his own ‘Bombay to Poonha ‘race. According to Car magazine ‘Grahame-White was gratified to find that the Mors was up to the top of its form, but the Rajah’s hair stood on end, and he abandoned racing on the spot.
This wonderful book is full of similar anecdotes, from Monte-Carlo to the Suez, and some great classifications of road users, discourteous uses of a car, pedestrians and so on.
With 65 black and white photographs and 9 facsimile letters and illustrated endpapers, a superb copy in publishers decorated cloth.
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Price HK$ 2,600
I Leap Before I Look -
David Haig-Thomas
1936 - Putnam, London - First Edition
Haig-Thomas (1908-44), Cambridge blue (1930, 1931,1932), Olympic rower, traced the route of the Awash River with Wilfred Thesiger, arctic explorer, ornithologist, member of Special Commando Boating Group in WWII specialising in using canoes and kayaks for limpet attacks in arctic waters, and he could write.
A fine copy in the scarce dust jacket of what the Spectator magazine in 1937 perfectly describes as an ‘account of the more exciting moments of [Haig-Thomas’] youth, mostly passed in the pursuit of thrills. He found them in raiding the printers at Eton for examination papers, tying umbrellas to the spires of King's College chapel, rowing in the University boat-race, poaching ibex in the Pyrenees and photographing wild geese on the Fens - his favourite occupation. Being in America for the Olympic games, he decided to visit friends in Canada, and having no money made the journey by "jumping" a freight train, and then kept himself by odd jobs on farms. All this is amusingly described. But it is his passion for the solitude of the marshes and the call of fighting geese that leavens the toughness of his outlook and distinguishes his book from the usual records of thrill-hunters’.
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Price HK$ 5,800
1936 - Putnam, London - First Edition
Haig-Thomas (1908-44), Cambridge blue (1930, 1931,1932), Olympic rower, traced the route of the Awash River with Wilfred Thesiger, arctic explorer, ornithologist, member of Special Commando Boating Group in WWII specialising in using canoes and kayaks for limpet attacks in arctic waters, and he could write.A fine copy in the scarce dust jacket of what the Spectator magazine in 1937 perfectly describes as an ‘account of the more exciting moments of [Haig-Thomas’] youth, mostly passed in the pursuit of thrills. He found them in raiding the printers at Eton for examination papers, tying umbrellas to the spires of King's College chapel, rowing in the University boat-race, poaching ibex in the Pyrenees and photographing wild geese on the Fens - his favourite occupation. Being in America for the Olympic games, he decided to visit friends in Canada, and having no money made the journey by "jumping" a freight train, and then kept himself by odd jobs on farms. All this is amusingly described. But it is his passion for the solitude of the marshes and the call of fighting geese that leavens the toughness of his outlook and distinguishes his book from the usual records of thrill-hunters’.
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Price HK$ 5,800
Dune -
Frank Herbert
1965 - Chilton Book Company, Philadelphia & New York - First Edition, First Printing in First Issue Dust Jacket
A fine first edition in exceptional example of the notoriously and ironically sun sensitive dust jacket, not designed for harsh environments.
‘Set on a desert planet named Arrakis that is the sole source of the universe’s most valued substance, “Dune” is an epic of political betrayal, ecological brinkmanship, and messianic deliverance. It won science fiction’s highest awards—the Hugo and the Nebula—and went on to sell more than twelve million copies during Herbert’s lifetime. As recently as last year, it was named the top science-fiction novel of all time in a Wired reader’s poll.’ - The New Yorker, 2013.
‘I know nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings.’ - Arthur C. Clarke.
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Price HK$ 60,000
1965 - Chilton Book Company, Philadelphia & New York - First Edition, First Printing in First Issue Dust Jacket
A fine first edition in exceptional example of the notoriously and ironically sun sensitive dust jacket, not designed for harsh environments.‘Set on a desert planet named Arrakis that is the sole source of the universe’s most valued substance, “Dune” is an epic of political betrayal, ecological brinkmanship, and messianic deliverance. It won science fiction’s highest awards—the Hugo and the Nebula—and went on to sell more than twelve million copies during Herbert’s lifetime. As recently as last year, it was named the top science-fiction novel of all time in a Wired reader’s poll.’ - The New Yorker, 2013.
‘I know nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings.’ - Arthur C. Clarke.
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Price HK$ 60,000
The Lacquer Lady -
Fryniwyd Tennyson Jesse
1930 - The MacMillan Company, New York - First Edition
‘Fanny, white, draggled, and almost speechless, arrived to find a Mission House already frantic with alarm. No reliable news had escaped the Palace, but everyone in the kalā town knew that murder and perhaps wholesale massacre was abroad’
A lovely copy in an uncommonly bright dust jacket, the novel was inspired by the author’s trip to Burma, and based on the true story of King Thibaw’s downfall in 1870. Seen through the eyes of naive, yet destructive, Fanny Patterson, we witness the decay of an empire, as the king brings a crucial ultimatum to the British army, resulting in the occupation of Mandalay a fortnight later, with devastating consequences for all of Burma.
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Price HK$ 4,000
1930 - The MacMillan Company, New York - First Edition
‘Fanny, white, draggled, and almost speechless, arrived to find a Mission House already frantic with alarm. No reliable news had escaped the Palace, but everyone in the kalā town knew that murder and perhaps wholesale massacre was abroad’A lovely copy in an uncommonly bright dust jacket, the novel was inspired by the author’s trip to Burma, and based on the true story of King Thibaw’s downfall in 1870. Seen through the eyes of naive, yet destructive, Fanny Patterson, we witness the decay of an empire, as the king brings a crucial ultimatum to the British army, resulting in the occupation of Mandalay a fortnight later, with devastating consequences for all of Burma.
More details
Price HK$ 4,000