Life and Writings of Thomas Paine -
Thomas Paine, Daniel Edwin Wheeler (editor)
1908 - Vincent Parke and Company, New York - Independence Edition of the Centenary Issue
‘These are the times that try men's souls’
Elegantly bound ten volume set of the de luxe independence edition, number 166 of just 500 hand-numbered sets signed by the editor Daniel Edwin Wheeler, published to celebrate the centenary of Paine's death.
Included are Paine’s ‘Common Sense’, ‘The American Crises’, ‘The Rights of Man’, and ‘The Age of Reason’, as well as essays, letters and speeches. Each volume with three photogravure or facsimile plates, as well as a frontispiece, title-pages printed in two colours, autographed limitation leaf to volume one.
‘On January 10, 1776, an obscure immigrant published a small pamphlet that ignited independence in America and shifted the political landscape of the patriot movement from reform within the British imperial system to independence from it. One hundred twenty thousand copies sold in the first three months in a nation of three million people, making Common Sense the best-selling printed work by a single author in American history up to that time. Never before had a personally written work appealed to all classes of colonists. Never before had a pamphlet been written in an inspiring style so accessible to the “common” folk of America.’ - Jack Miller Center.
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Price HK$ 35,000
1908 - Vincent Parke and Company, New York - Independence Edition of the Centenary Issue
‘These are the times that try men's souls’Elegantly bound ten volume set of the de luxe independence edition, number 166 of just 500 hand-numbered sets signed by the editor Daniel Edwin Wheeler, published to celebrate the centenary of Paine's death.
Included are Paine’s ‘Common Sense’, ‘The American Crises’, ‘The Rights of Man’, and ‘The Age of Reason’, as well as essays, letters and speeches. Each volume with three photogravure or facsimile plates, as well as a frontispiece, title-pages printed in two colours, autographed limitation leaf to volume one.
‘On January 10, 1776, an obscure immigrant published a small pamphlet that ignited independence in America and shifted the political landscape of the patriot movement from reform within the British imperial system to independence from it. One hundred twenty thousand copies sold in the first three months in a nation of three million people, making Common Sense the best-selling printed work by a single author in American history up to that time. Never before had a personally written work appealed to all classes of colonists. Never before had a pamphlet been written in an inspiring style so accessible to the “common” folk of America.’ - Jack Miller Center.
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Price HK$ 35,000
Cups and Their Customs -
George Edwin Roberts
1863 - John Van Vorst, London - First Edition
First edition of this wonderful little work by George Edwin Roberts (1831-65) on ‘Bacchanology’ (his term), penned the same year as the first work on Cocktails was published in America by the great Professor Jerry Thomas, possibly in response to that growing threat to the English way of life.
In the original gilt illustrated boards, with hand coloured wood engraved title page, and wood engraved vignette of drinking skull to last page.
‘a tantalising collection of drinking lore and legend with several dozen recipes for cups and other tasty (or not so tasty) beverages as they were served in the mid-nineteenth century’ [Kalevala, Classic Cocktail Guides]
‘This history of cups and other vessels, the kinds of drinks they contained, and the various customs associated with drinking them, begins with Noah and continues through the Greeks and Romans and on to the middle ages and ‘modern times’. Personalities mentioned in the course of this very interesting commentary include Sir Kenelm Digby (1603-65). It ends with recipes for various “cups” prepared with a variety of ingredients, including honey mixed with herbs and spices (metheglin), ale and apples, punches with oranges, lemons, rum, brandy and green tea, and so on.
One particularly appetising drink, the “Wassail Bowl” (for Christmas Eve) contains beer, sugar, nutmeg, ginger, sherry, and slices of toasted bread floating on top. A typical wine drink is the “Claret Cup” which adds to a bottle of Bordeaux two glasses of sherry, one of Maraschino and some sugar. After icing, add a bottle of soda-water and two sprigs of borage. Since we know that these and similar concoctions are still happily consumed by beautiful people everywhere, we must conclude that they taste much better than they sound and no doubt their after-effects have been artfully neutralised by the judicious use of herbs and spices, from centuries of experience. An enjoyable book for anyone who has ever been happily punch-drunk at least once in his life.’ [Buehler, Viniana]
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Price HK$ 5,000
1863 - John Van Vorst, London - First Edition
First edition of this wonderful little work by George Edwin Roberts (1831-65) on ‘Bacchanology’ (his term), penned the same year as the first work on Cocktails was published in America by the great Professor Jerry Thomas, possibly in response to that growing threat to the English way of life.In the original gilt illustrated boards, with hand coloured wood engraved title page, and wood engraved vignette of drinking skull to last page.
‘a tantalising collection of drinking lore and legend with several dozen recipes for cups and other tasty (or not so tasty) beverages as they were served in the mid-nineteenth century’ [Kalevala, Classic Cocktail Guides]
‘This history of cups and other vessels, the kinds of drinks they contained, and the various customs associated with drinking them, begins with Noah and continues through the Greeks and Romans and on to the middle ages and ‘modern times’. Personalities mentioned in the course of this very interesting commentary include Sir Kenelm Digby (1603-65). It ends with recipes for various “cups” prepared with a variety of ingredients, including honey mixed with herbs and spices (metheglin), ale and apples, punches with oranges, lemons, rum, brandy and green tea, and so on.
One particularly appetising drink, the “Wassail Bowl” (for Christmas Eve) contains beer, sugar, nutmeg, ginger, sherry, and slices of toasted bread floating on top. A typical wine drink is the “Claret Cup” which adds to a bottle of Bordeaux two glasses of sherry, one of Maraschino and some sugar. After icing, add a bottle of soda-water and two sprigs of borage. Since we know that these and similar concoctions are still happily consumed by beautiful people everywhere, we must conclude that they taste much better than they sound and no doubt their after-effects have been artfully neutralised by the judicious use of herbs and spices, from centuries of experience. An enjoyable book for anyone who has ever been happily punch-drunk at least once in his life.’ [Buehler, Viniana]
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Price HK$ 5,000
Sandow on Physical Training -
Eugen Sandow
1894 - Gale &, London - First Edition
A scarce and remarkably clean copy of the rare first edition in it’s original pictorial covers, by the ‘Father of Bodybuilding’, who still sits atop the Mr Olympia trophy. ‘Sandow The Magnificent’ also opened one of the first ‘health clubs’ in the world. He was friends with Conan-Doyle, Thomas Edison and King George V. A large volume richly illustrated from photographs, drawings and diagrams.
Sandow's resemblance to the physiques found on classical Greek and Roman sculpture was no accident, as he measured the statues in museums and helped to develop "The Grecian Ideal" as a formula for the "perfect physique." He is seen as one of the first athletes to intentionally develop his musculature to predetermined dimensions. In Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow lays out specific prescriptions of weights and repetitions in order to achieve his ideal proportion.
Sandow was the promoter and judge at the first bodybuilding contest ever held, at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 14, 1901, and his importance was such that the trophy for Mr. Olympia is a statuette of Sandow, one could even say that Sandow was the inspiration for a later Governor of California.
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Price HK$ 9,000
1894 - Gale &, London - First Edition
A scarce and remarkably clean copy of the rare first edition in it’s original pictorial covers, by the ‘Father of Bodybuilding’, who still sits atop the Mr Olympia trophy. ‘Sandow The Magnificent’ also opened one of the first ‘health clubs’ in the world. He was friends with Conan-Doyle, Thomas Edison and King George V. A large volume richly illustrated from photographs, drawings and diagrams.Sandow's resemblance to the physiques found on classical Greek and Roman sculpture was no accident, as he measured the statues in museums and helped to develop "The Grecian Ideal" as a formula for the "perfect physique." He is seen as one of the first athletes to intentionally develop his musculature to predetermined dimensions. In Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow lays out specific prescriptions of weights and repetitions in order to achieve his ideal proportion.
Sandow was the promoter and judge at the first bodybuilding contest ever held, at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 14, 1901, and his importance was such that the trophy for Mr. Olympia is a statuette of Sandow, one could even say that Sandow was the inspiration for a later Governor of California.
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Price HK$ 9,000
Maskee - A Shanghai Sketchbook by Schiff - Signed -
Friedrich Schiff
Circa 1938Shanghai - First Edition. Number A407 of an unspecified Limited Edition
A fine thus scarce example together with the rare matching silk slipcase.
Fabulously Shanghai Art-Deco 15 foot long accordion folio in original silk covers, folding out to show 21 illustrated panels each hand-coloured by Schiff. Each panel depicting a view of 1930’s expatriate life in Shanghai through the unique eyes of Schiff. More a folio of art-deco artwork than a book, although many of the panels include amusing comments and rhymes for example:
Miss Shanghai
Me No Worry– Me No Care!
Me Go Marry Millionaire!
If He Die – Me No Cry!
Me Go Marry Other Guy!!
Signed to the first panel by Friedrich Schiff (1908-68), an Austrian Jewish artist who moved to Shanghai in 1930 after an invite to visit from a cousin and lived there for 17 years. He had worked as a newspaper cartoonist in Vienna and continued this line of work in Shanghai, soon becoming famous for his amusing caricatures of the city's inhabitants. Prolific, Schiff’s cartoons appeared in books, newspapers, magazines and advertisements throughout China and the Far East, and collaborations with Ellen Thorbecke (Peking Studies; People in China; Hong Kong; and Shanghai).
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Price HK$ 30,000
Circa 1938Shanghai - First Edition. Number A407 of an unspecified Limited Edition
A fine thus scarce example together with the rare matching silk slipcase.Fabulously Shanghai Art-Deco 15 foot long accordion folio in original silk covers, folding out to show 21 illustrated panels each hand-coloured by Schiff. Each panel depicting a view of 1930’s expatriate life in Shanghai through the unique eyes of Schiff. More a folio of art-deco artwork than a book, although many of the panels include amusing comments and rhymes for example:
Miss Shanghai
Me No Worry– Me No Care!
Me Go Marry Millionaire!
If He Die – Me No Cry!
Me Go Marry Other Guy!!
Signed to the first panel by Friedrich Schiff (1908-68), an Austrian Jewish artist who moved to Shanghai in 1930 after an invite to visit from a cousin and lived there for 17 years. He had worked as a newspaper cartoonist in Vienna and continued this line of work in Shanghai, soon becoming famous for his amusing caricatures of the city's inhabitants. Prolific, Schiff’s cartoons appeared in books, newspapers, magazines and advertisements throughout China and the Far East, and collaborations with Ellen Thorbecke (Peking Studies; People in China; Hong Kong; and Shanghai).
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Price HK$ 30,000
South - The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917 -
Sir Ernest Shackleton
1919 - William Heinemann, London - First Edition, First Impression
A superior example of this legendary account of leadership. It was on this expedition that the marooned Shackleton made his famous voyage in a 22-foot boat with five companions through 800 miles of some of the stormiest seas in the world, finally reaching South Georgia and a Norwegian whaling station [Spence].
With 86 full page plates, and large folding map to the rear, many classic photographs existing only due to the stubbornness of Hurley, Shackleton’s photographer, in refusing to leave the plates behind to conserve energy and food.
An exceptionally fine and thus scarce first edition of this large book that is notorious for its poor quality of paper and binding, the silver to spine and covers is bright and sharp, paper less toned than normally found.
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Price HK$ 45,000
1919 - William Heinemann, London - First Edition, First Impression
A superior example of this legendary account of leadership. It was on this expedition that the marooned Shackleton made his famous voyage in a 22-foot boat with five companions through 800 miles of some of the stormiest seas in the world, finally reaching South Georgia and a Norwegian whaling station [Spence].With 86 full page plates, and large folding map to the rear, many classic photographs existing only due to the stubbornness of Hurley, Shackleton’s photographer, in refusing to leave the plates behind to conserve energy and food.
An exceptionally fine and thus scarce first edition of this large book that is notorious for its poor quality of paper and binding, the silver to spine and covers is bright and sharp, paper less toned than normally found.
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Price HK$ 45,000
A Practical Treatise on Brewing, Distilling, and Rectification -
Robert Shannon
1805 - Robert Scholey, London - First and Only Edition
Rare first edition of this comprehensive and landmark work on wines, spirits, and beers, that ‘may be considered the first modern book in English treating the subject’ of distillation’ [Buxton & Hughes] and the second book in English to discuss ‘modern wines’. [Gabler]
A finely bound large thick quarto volume of over 900 pages split into four parts: Book I: Brewing for Malt Liquors (beer); Book II: Brewing for Distilling (spirits e.g. Gin, whisky, rum, brandy); Book III: Made Wines, Vinegar, Cider, and Perry; Appendix: Wines, Brandies, and Vinegars (mostly descriptions of foreign wines from Spain, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, and South Africa).
Illustrated with eight engraved plates and six tables.
According to Buxton and Hughes, ‘Shannon is credited with taking a recognisably systematic approach to the subject aiming, as he says to ‘shew the distiller how he may proceed on rational principles’. ’Curiously for such a comprehensive work there appears to only ever have been one edition’.
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Price HK$ 45,000
1805 - Robert Scholey, London - First and Only Edition
Rare first edition of this comprehensive and landmark work on wines, spirits, and beers, that ‘may be considered the first modern book in English treating the subject’ of distillation’ [Buxton & Hughes] and the second book in English to discuss ‘modern wines’. [Gabler]A finely bound large thick quarto volume of over 900 pages split into four parts: Book I: Brewing for Malt Liquors (beer); Book II: Brewing for Distilling (spirits e.g. Gin, whisky, rum, brandy); Book III: Made Wines, Vinegar, Cider, and Perry; Appendix: Wines, Brandies, and Vinegars (mostly descriptions of foreign wines from Spain, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, and South Africa).
Illustrated with eight engraved plates and six tables.
According to Buxton and Hughes, ‘Shannon is credited with taking a recognisably systematic approach to the subject aiming, as he says to ‘shew the distiller how he may proceed on rational principles’. ’Curiously for such a comprehensive work there appears to only ever have been one edition’.
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Price HK$ 45,000
The Art of Golf -
Sir W. G. Simpson, Bart.
1887 - David Douglas, Edinburgh - First Edition
‘One of the great classic books on golf literature, it includes the first use of photographs to demonstrate the swing.’- Joseph Murdoch, The Library of Golf.
Dedicated to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Fully illustrated with photographic plates of old Tom Morris Jim Morris and Ben Sayers, and with figure drawings. Scarce copy with the original spine, and without being rebacked.
‘One of the classics of golf literature... a book of great charm and wit, one of the few of the very early books that can be read today with as much pleasure as the latest best seller.’ Cecil Hopkinson said, ‘It contained many diagrams and illustrations from instantaneous photographs, which was the first occasion on which the camera was called in to demonstrate correct methods of play.’ Bernard Darwin said of this book ‘one of the earliest and still the best book on golf.’
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Price HK$ 10,000
1887 - David Douglas, Edinburgh - First Edition
‘One of the great classic books on golf literature, it includes the first use of photographs to demonstrate the swing.’- Joseph Murdoch, The Library of Golf.Dedicated to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Fully illustrated with photographic plates of old Tom Morris Jim Morris and Ben Sayers, and with figure drawings. Scarce copy with the original spine, and without being rebacked.
‘One of the classics of golf literature... a book of great charm and wit, one of the few of the very early books that can be read today with as much pleasure as the latest best seller.’ Cecil Hopkinson said, ‘It contained many diagrams and illustrations from instantaneous photographs, which was the first occasion on which the camera was called in to demonstrate correct methods of play.’ Bernard Darwin said of this book ‘one of the earliest and still the best book on golf.’
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Price HK$ 10,000
A Treatise on Cyder-Making -
Hugh Stafford, Anonymous
1753 - Printed for E. Cave, London - First Edition
Legendary and rare first edition of this anonymous work, all of which is generally but erroneously attributed to Hugh Stafford who contributed the sixteen page ‘Dissertation on Cyder and Cyder-Fruit’ at the beginning.
Covering the entire process from identifying and growing the best cider apples, collection, pressing, fermentation, racking, preserving and remedial action for a variety of issues ‘which are incident to Cyder’. With fold-out engraving of cider press (opp. p.32), in-text wood-cut diagrams to pages 43 and 68 (‘One side of the framed Press...’.) and wood-cut decorations to pages v, 47, and 61.
‘As Cyder therefore is generally allowed to be an wholesome drink, and as it is the natural product of our own country, he will surely be thought to contribute something towards the good of the public, who gives infallible directions for making it universally agreeable by varrying it so as to suit every palate, and by improving the flavour and the quality, both of the rough and the smooth, divesting it of its tendency to produce cholics, and giving it the sparkle of Champaign, without an eager and windy fermentation, and rendering it more spirituous than a small wine tho' less inflaming’. [Preface]
An influential work, Benjamin Franklin, who was partial to a drop himself, ordered three copies to be reprinted as pamphlets and distributed amongst the New England farmers after failing with their vineyards. It was plagiarised into various publications including encyclopaedias, cookbooks and later reference works related to cider.
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Price HK$ 42,000
1753 - Printed for E. Cave, London - First Edition
Legendary and rare first edition of this anonymous work, all of which is generally but erroneously attributed to Hugh Stafford who contributed the sixteen page ‘Dissertation on Cyder and Cyder-Fruit’ at the beginning.Covering the entire process from identifying and growing the best cider apples, collection, pressing, fermentation, racking, preserving and remedial action for a variety of issues ‘which are incident to Cyder’. With fold-out engraving of cider press (opp. p.32), in-text wood-cut diagrams to pages 43 and 68 (‘One side of the framed Press...’.) and wood-cut decorations to pages v, 47, and 61.
‘As Cyder therefore is generally allowed to be an wholesome drink, and as it is the natural product of our own country, he will surely be thought to contribute something towards the good of the public, who gives infallible directions for making it universally agreeable by varrying it so as to suit every palate, and by improving the flavour and the quality, both of the rough and the smooth, divesting it of its tendency to produce cholics, and giving it the sparkle of Champaign, without an eager and windy fermentation, and rendering it more spirituous than a small wine tho' less inflaming’. [Preface]
An influential work, Benjamin Franklin, who was partial to a drop himself, ordered three copies to be reprinted as pamphlets and distributed amongst the New England farmers after failing with their vineyards. It was plagiarised into various publications including encyclopaedias, cookbooks and later reference works related to cider.
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Price HK$ 42,000