Rules, Bye-Laws, Regulations and List of Members of The Empress Club -
1903London - First Edition
Rules. ‘1. The Club shall be for Ladies only, and shall be called THE EMPRESS CLUB.’
A rare and fine example of the member’s handbook for the most luxurious ladies club in London, founded in 1897 and blessed by Queen Victoria herself, by 1903 the club had moved into a purpose built premises at 35 Dover Street with another entrance on Berkley Street.
Containing a history of the club, details of charitable work with The Prince of Wales Hospital, Rules, Bye-Laws etc, details of charges and updated subscription fees, and a list of the members. Illustrated with a wonderful sectional drawing of the interior of The Empress Club, a ‘Sketch of the Gold Badge presented to Life Members, facsimile of the 1897 receipt from The Prince of Wales Hospital Fund for £105, and frontispiece ‘Bust of he Late Majesty’ ‘Executed for the Empress Club by Geflowski’.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1903London - First Edition
Rules. ‘1. The Club shall be for Ladies only, and shall be called THE EMPRESS CLUB.’A rare and fine example of the member’s handbook for the most luxurious ladies club in London, founded in 1897 and blessed by Queen Victoria herself, by 1903 the club had moved into a purpose built premises at 35 Dover Street with another entrance on Berkley Street.
Containing a history of the club, details of charitable work with The Prince of Wales Hospital, Rules, Bye-Laws etc, details of charges and updated subscription fees, and a list of the members. Illustrated with a wonderful sectional drawing of the interior of The Empress Club, a ‘Sketch of the Gold Badge presented to Life Members, facsimile of the 1897 receipt from The Prince of Wales Hospital Fund for £105, and frontispiece ‘Bust of he Late Majesty’ ‘Executed for the Empress Club by Geflowski’.
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Price HK$ 3,000
Narrative of the Voyages and Services of The Nemesis -
Commander W. H. Hall, W.D. Bernard ESQ., A.M., Oxon.
1844 - Henry Colburn, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition first hand account of a pivotal time in Anglo-Chinese relations, the first opium war, and the formation of Hong Kong. With strong association to three major figures of this era, being formerly from the library of Gilbert Elliot, Second Earl of Minto, who was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1835 to 1841. GIlbert’s brother, George Elliot was Commander-in-Chief at the East Indies and China Station during the First Opium War, and to add to that, Gilbert’s cousin, Charles Elliot, was the first administrator of Hong Kong.
Illustrated with three folding maps (a chart of the Nemesis voyage, Canton, and Hong Kong), six engraved plates and eight in-text woodcuts.
Referred to as the ‘devil ship’ by the Chinese, the Nemesis was the first British iron-clad warship, designed with a light draft and sliding keel for coastal and estuarine operations. Launched in 1839 for the East India Company, the British used her to great effect in the First Anglo-Chinese War under Hall.
‘Considered to be the best account of the Opium War (1839-1842)’ – Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Western Travellers in China.
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Price HK$ 26,000
1844 - Henry Colburn, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition first hand account of a pivotal time in Anglo-Chinese relations, the first opium war, and the formation of Hong Kong. With strong association to three major figures of this era, being formerly from the library of Gilbert Elliot, Second Earl of Minto, who was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1835 to 1841. GIlbert’s brother, George Elliot was Commander-in-Chief at the East Indies and China Station during the First Opium War, and to add to that, Gilbert’s cousin, Charles Elliot, was the first administrator of Hong Kong.Illustrated with three folding maps (a chart of the Nemesis voyage, Canton, and Hong Kong), six engraved plates and eight in-text woodcuts.
Referred to as the ‘devil ship’ by the Chinese, the Nemesis was the first British iron-clad warship, designed with a light draft and sliding keel for coastal and estuarine operations. Launched in 1839 for the East India Company, the British used her to great effect in the First Anglo-Chinese War under Hall.
‘Considered to be the best account of the Opium War (1839-1842)’ – Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Western Travellers in China.
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Price HK$ 26,000
Back Where I Came From -
A. J. Liebling
1938 - Sheridan House, New York - First Edition, First Issue
A first edition of this classic New York literature by the legendary New Yorker and New York journalist A. J. Liebling. In the complete thus rare pictorial jacket with wraparound scene.
A large collection of Liebling’s New Yorker columns describing the ups and downs of life in New York in the 1930s and some of the unusual people who made the city the way it was, written by one of the best-known and most widely admired journalists of his generation and times.
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Price HK$ 6,000
1938 - Sheridan House, New York - First Edition, First Issue
A first edition of this classic New York literature by the legendary New Yorker and New York journalist A. J. Liebling. In the complete thus rare pictorial jacket with wraparound scene.A large collection of Liebling’s New Yorker columns describing the ups and downs of life in New York in the 1930s and some of the unusual people who made the city the way it was, written by one of the best-known and most widely admired journalists of his generation and times.
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Price HK$ 6,000
The Sand Pebbles -
Richard McKenna
1963 - Victor Gollancz, London - First English Edition
Fine copy in nice bright unclipped and scarce dust jacket. The story of a US naval river boat based on the Yangtze river in 1925, the author served for ten years in the US Navy in the Far East, two of them on a Yangtze River gunboat.
The basis for the film starring Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna and Candice Bergen. Later republished by the U. S. Naval Institute as part of their ‘Classics of Naval Literature’ series.
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Price HK$ 2,500
1963 - Victor Gollancz, London - First English Edition
Fine copy in nice bright unclipped and scarce dust jacket. The story of a US naval river boat based on the Yangtze river in 1925, the author served for ten years in the US Navy in the Far East, two of them on a Yangtze River gunboat.The basis for the film starring Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna and Candice Bergen. Later republished by the U. S. Naval Institute as part of their ‘Classics of Naval Literature’ series.
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Price HK$ 2,500
Wanderings and Adventures in the Interior of Southern Africa -
Andrew Steedman
1835 - Longman & Co., London - First Edition
A remarkably fine and partially uncut two volume set of this important South African work, with nice provenance, Amy Steedman (born Cape Town 1867), the author’s niece. Illustrated with twelve engrave plates, two pictorial engraved titles, and a folding map (41.5x35.5cm).
“An account of travels in South Africa undertaken in the course of a residence in the Cape extending over a period of ten years. During his expeditions, Mr. Steedman traversed a great part of the Cape Colony and Kaffaria, penetrating the county up to Griqualand West. He was an industrious and able collector and naturalist, and the volumes contain much valuable information respecting the fauna of the country... The work gives many details respecting early travels in South Africa, with sketches of native races and their history and wars, the pioneer colonists of Natal. &c. The Appendices, which extend to 213 pages, also include a letter and journal by Mr. A. G. Bain, who accompanied Dr. (afterwards Sir A.) Smith's expedition into the interior as far as Philippolis, and gives an account of the journey, an interesting narrative of the wreck of the Grosvenor, and much valuable matter respecting the Kat River and other settlements in Kaffraria,and the Kaffir outbreaks and wars up to this period”. [Mendelssohn]
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Price HK$ 14,000
1835 - Longman & Co., London - First Edition
A remarkably fine and partially uncut two volume set of this important South African work, with nice provenance, Amy Steedman (born Cape Town 1867), the author’s niece. Illustrated with twelve engrave plates, two pictorial engraved titles, and a folding map (41.5x35.5cm).“An account of travels in South Africa undertaken in the course of a residence in the Cape extending over a period of ten years. During his expeditions, Mr. Steedman traversed a great part of the Cape Colony and Kaffaria, penetrating the county up to Griqualand West. He was an industrious and able collector and naturalist, and the volumes contain much valuable information respecting the fauna of the country... The work gives many details respecting early travels in South Africa, with sketches of native races and their history and wars, the pioneer colonists of Natal. &c. The Appendices, which extend to 213 pages, also include a letter and journal by Mr. A. G. Bain, who accompanied Dr. (afterwards Sir A.) Smith's expedition into the interior as far as Philippolis, and gives an account of the journey, an interesting narrative of the wreck of the Grosvenor, and much valuable matter respecting the Kat River and other settlements in Kaffraria,and the Kaffir outbreaks and wars up to this period”. [Mendelssohn]
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Price HK$ 14,000
A Handful of Dust -
Evelyn Waugh
1934 - Chapman and Hall Ltd., London - First Edition
All over England people were waking up, queasy and despondent.
‘Few writers have walked the line between farce and tragedy as nimbly as Evelyn Waugh, who employed the conventions of the comic novel to chip away at the already crumbling English class system. His 1934 novel, A Handful of Dust, is a sublime example of his bleak satirical style: a mordantly funny exposé of aristocratic decadence and ennui in England between the wars.’ - Simon Leake.
A fine first edition, and scarce thus.
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Price HK$ 8,000
1934 - Chapman and Hall Ltd., London - First Edition
All over England people were waking up, queasy and despondent.‘Few writers have walked the line between farce and tragedy as nimbly as Evelyn Waugh, who employed the conventions of the comic novel to chip away at the already crumbling English class system. His 1934 novel, A Handful of Dust, is a sublime example of his bleak satirical style: a mordantly funny exposé of aristocratic decadence and ennui in England between the wars.’ - Simon Leake.
A fine first edition, and scarce thus.
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Price HK$ 8,000