Crooked House -
Agatha Christie
1949 - Published for The Crime Club by Collins, London - First English Edition
‘Curious thing, rooms. Tell you quite a lot about the people who live in them’ – Chief Inspector Taverner.
Three generations of the Leonides family have live under the same roof of Three Gables, a large household over which the very old and very rich Aristide Leonides has long presided. However he was murdered by a poisoner, perhaps a member of his own family?
Agatha Christie once said ‘Writing Crooked House was pure pleasure and I feel justified in my belief that it is one of my best.’
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
1949 - Published for The Crime Club by Collins, London - First English Edition
‘Curious thing, rooms. Tell you quite a lot about the people who live in them’ – Chief Inspector Taverner.Three generations of the Leonides family have live under the same roof of Three Gables, a large household over which the very old and very rich Aristide Leonides has long presided. However he was murdered by a poisoner, perhaps a member of his own family?
Agatha Christie once said ‘Writing Crooked House was pure pleasure and I feel justified in my belief that it is one of my best.’
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
Crime Collection - 24 Volumes -
Agatha Christie
1969-1972 - Paul Hamlyn, London - First Edition Thus
The works by the ‘Queen of Crime’ - 72 novels and short story collections stunningly hand-bound in twenty four volumes (three titles per volume). An eye-catching and comprehensive set including all the elusive early titles, from The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to Hallowe'en Party and Passenger to Frankfurt.
The only major collection of Christie's novels to date, issued as a set for subscribers and endorsed by Agatha Christie. It includes all the published crime novels up to 1970, and features Agatha Christie’s foreword and facsimile signature in the first volume.
Christie’s works have stood the test of time. In 2013, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was voted the best crime novel ever by 600 fellow writers of the Crime Writers' Association, and she is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling novelist of all time, her novels have sold an estimated two billion copies, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books, behind Shakespeare's works and the Bible. They have been translated into over 100 languages, with and Then There Were None selling over 100 million copies (as at 2014), making it the world’s best selling mystery ever.
Reference: Haycraft, Murder for Pleasure 129.
More details
Price HK$ 50,000
1969-1972 - Paul Hamlyn, London - First Edition Thus
The works by the ‘Queen of Crime’ - 72 novels and short story collections stunningly hand-bound in twenty four volumes (three titles per volume). An eye-catching and comprehensive set including all the elusive early titles, from The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to Hallowe'en Party and Passenger to Frankfurt.The only major collection of Christie's novels to date, issued as a set for subscribers and endorsed by Agatha Christie. It includes all the published crime novels up to 1970, and features Agatha Christie’s foreword and facsimile signature in the first volume.
Christie’s works have stood the test of time. In 2013, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was voted the best crime novel ever by 600 fellow writers of the Crime Writers' Association, and she is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling novelist of all time, her novels have sold an estimated two billion copies, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books, behind Shakespeare's works and the Bible. They have been translated into over 100 languages, with and Then There Were None selling over 100 million copies (as at 2014), making it the world’s best selling mystery ever.
Reference: Haycraft, Murder for Pleasure 129.
More details
Price HK$ 50,000
Les Grand Crus Bordelais -
Alfred Danflou
1867 - Librairie Goudin & Typ. Au. Lavertujon, Bordeaux - First Edition in this format (a smaller work was published in 1866 with only 19 photographs of the 1st and 2nd growths)
A rare and remarkable work on Bordeaux, in beautiful condition, two large volumes bound in one, containing fifty-five 19th century photographs of the great Châteaux of Bordeaux, together with their history, vintages and other contributions, text in French.
Of superb quality, the plates of the Châteaux include Lafite, Latour, Mouton, all accompanied by a history and contemporary description of the Châteaux and wine vintages. With a long and interesting commentary on the classifications of first and second Crû, strongly in favour of reclassifying to Premier Cru, Branne-Mouton (purchased and renamed Mouton-Rothschild in 1853 by Baron Rothschild but herein referred to by it’s former name), for which they would have to wait a further century until 1973, and referring to both the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, and London’s Great Exhibition in 1851. There are additional chapters on ‘La Système Féodal Appliqué Aux Vins du Médoc’ and ‘Les Grand Vins de Saint-Émilion’.
A truly important and visually imposing work on Bordeaux and a vital part of any wine book or photographic collection.
More details
Price HK$ 100,000
1867 - Librairie Goudin & Typ. Au. Lavertujon, Bordeaux - First Edition in this format (a smaller work was published in 1866 with only 19 photographs of the 1st and 2nd growths)
A rare and remarkable work on Bordeaux, in beautiful condition, two large volumes bound in one, containing fifty-five 19th century photographs of the great Châteaux of Bordeaux, together with their history, vintages and other contributions, text in French.Of superb quality, the plates of the Châteaux include Lafite, Latour, Mouton, all accompanied by a history and contemporary description of the Châteaux and wine vintages. With a long and interesting commentary on the classifications of first and second Crû, strongly in favour of reclassifying to Premier Cru, Branne-Mouton (purchased and renamed Mouton-Rothschild in 1853 by Baron Rothschild but herein referred to by it’s former name), for which they would have to wait a further century until 1973, and referring to both the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, and London’s Great Exhibition in 1851. There are additional chapters on ‘La Système Féodal Appliqué Aux Vins du Médoc’ and ‘Les Grand Vins de Saint-Émilion’.
A truly important and visually imposing work on Bordeaux and a vital part of any wine book or photographic collection.
More details
Price HK$ 100,000
Rebecca -
Daphne Du Maurier
1938 - Victor Gollancz Limited, London - First Edition
‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.’
First edition – with the fragile dust jacket in near fine, unrestored, and thus scarce condition – of this iconic gothic mystery.
Considered du Maurier’s finest work, the novel is narrated by the second Mrs de Winters, the naive second wife of wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter, owner of the renowned estate, Manderley. As the story unfolds, the second Mrs de Winter increasingly finds herself haunted by her glamorous predecessor, Rebecca, and tormented by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, subsequently leading her to uncover an unexpected tragedy...
Hauntingly adapted for the 1940 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
More details
Price HK$ 55,000
1938 - Victor Gollancz Limited, London - First Edition
‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.’First edition – with the fragile dust jacket in near fine, unrestored, and thus scarce condition – of this iconic gothic mystery.
Considered du Maurier’s finest work, the novel is narrated by the second Mrs de Winters, the naive second wife of wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter, owner of the renowned estate, Manderley. As the story unfolds, the second Mrs de Winter increasingly finds herself haunted by her glamorous predecessor, Rebecca, and tormented by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, subsequently leading her to uncover an unexpected tragedy...
Hauntingly adapted for the 1940 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
More details
Price HK$ 55,000
Jamaica Inn -
Daphne Du Maurier
1936 - Victor Gollancz Ltd, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of Du Maurier's first commercially successful novel, a famous gothic masterpiece.
Jamaica Inn stands alone, stark and forbidding, on bleak Bodmin Moor, its very walls tainted with corruption. Its name was evil, and no man knew what horrors its dark shutters hid.
Turned into film and directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1939.
More details
Price HK$ 10,000
1936 - Victor Gollancz Ltd, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of Du Maurier's first commercially successful novel, a famous gothic masterpiece.Jamaica Inn stands alone, stark and forbidding, on bleak Bodmin Moor, its very walls tainted with corruption. Its name was evil, and no man knew what horrors its dark shutters hid.
Turned into film and directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1939.
More details
Price HK$ 10,000
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy -
Hannah Glasse
1788 - Printed for J. Rivington and Sons, London - A New Edition, with all the Modern Improvements: And also the Order of a Bill of Fare for each Month, in the Manner of Dishes are to be placed upon the Table, in the present Taste
An early edition of this classic 18th century cookbook, which ‘revolutionised the way the British cook’.
With the large folding ‘Order of a Modern Bill of Fare, for each month’ which is often lacking.
‘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).
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
1788 - Printed for J. Rivington and Sons, London - A New Edition, with all the Modern Improvements: And also the Order of a Bill of Fare for each Month, in the Manner of Dishes are to be placed upon the Table, in the present Taste
An early edition of this classic 18th century cookbook, which ‘revolutionised the way the British cook’.With the large folding ‘Order of a Modern Bill of Fare, for each month’ which is often lacking.
‘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).
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, Executed from Designs -
Thomas Hope
1807 - T. Bensley for Longman, London - First Edition
A large folio first edition of the “most important English furniture design book of the early nineteenth century” [Musgrave]. The first to document Regency style, it contains what is considered the earliest use of the term “interior decoration” introduced into the English language.
Illustrated throughout with sixty copper engraved plates from drawings by Hope, and an additional engraved title page, this work contributed to the fashion for mixing styles (Greek, Roman, Turkish, Chinese, etc.) eclectically by depicting the furnishings, made to his own designs, in his Duchess Street house.
Dedicated to the classical ideal, Hope (1769-1831) used his considerable fortune to influence taste, specifically to influence modern design according to classical standards. The publication of ‘Household Furniture’ successfully served his didactic aims, and influenced subsequent generations of designers up to the modern day.
More details
Price HK$ 18,000
1807 - T. Bensley for Longman, London - First Edition
A large folio first edition of the “most important English furniture design book of the early nineteenth century” [Musgrave]. The first to document Regency style, it contains what is considered the earliest use of the term “interior decoration” introduced into the English language.Illustrated throughout with sixty copper engraved plates from drawings by Hope, and an additional engraved title page, this work contributed to the fashion for mixing styles (Greek, Roman, Turkish, Chinese, etc.) eclectically by depicting the furnishings, made to his own designs, in his Duchess Street house.
Dedicated to the classical ideal, Hope (1769-1831) used his considerable fortune to influence taste, specifically to influence modern design according to classical standards. The publication of ‘Household Furniture’ successfully served his didactic aims, and influenced subsequent generations of designers up to the modern day.
More details
Price HK$ 18,000
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald -
Omar Khayyám, Edmund Dulac (illustrator)
Circa 1909 - Hodder and Stoughton, London - First Dulac Illustrated Edition
A fine example of this large and intricately decorated edition of the Persian poem of life by the renowned 11th century philosopher, poet, mathematician, and astronomer Omar Khayyám, beautifully illustrated with twenty tipped-in colour plates by Edmund Dulac.
Come fill the cup, and in the fire of spring
Your winter garment of repentance fling:
The bird of time has but a little way
To flutter – and the bird is on the wing.
More details
Price HK$ 5,000
Circa 1909 - Hodder and Stoughton, London - First Dulac Illustrated Edition
A fine example of this large and intricately decorated edition of the Persian poem of life by the renowned 11th century philosopher, poet, mathematician, and astronomer Omar Khayyám, beautifully illustrated with twenty tipped-in colour plates by Edmund Dulac.Come fill the cup, and in the fire of spring
Your winter garment of repentance fling:
The bird of time has but a little way
To flutter – and the bird is on the wing.
More details
Price HK$ 5,000