Asia
Australia
Borneo
Burma
Cambodia
China
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Japan
Macao
Malaysia
Nepal
New Zealand
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Tibet
Vietnam
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.
‘Considered to be the best account of the Opium War (1839-1842)’ – Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Western Travellers in China.
Illustrated with three folding maps (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.
More details
Price HK$ 22,000
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.‘Considered to be the best account of the Opium War (1839-1842)’ – Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Western Travellers in China.
Illustrated with three folding maps (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.
More details
Price HK$ 22,000
The Lady and the Panda: An Adventure -
Ruth Harkness
1938 - Carrick &, New York - First Edition
A bright copy – in the rare original dust jacket – of this uncommon book, American socialite Ruth Harkness’ account of her panda-hunting expedition to China in 1936. Successfully – and unexpectedly – capturing an infant panda, which she named Su-Lin,
Harkness brazenly side-stepped Chinese bureaucracy, and garbed in fur with a cigarette dangling from her lipsticked mouth and a baby bottle propped in hand, she waged a savvy public battle to extricate Su-Lin from his native land, eventually finding a home for him at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, where he attracted record crowds: 53,000 visitors the first day, a number yet to be matched.
Wonderfully illustrated throughout with 16 pages of black and white photographs taken during Harkness’ journey and of panda, Su-Lin.
More details
Price HK$ 9,000
1938 - Carrick &, New York - First Edition
A bright copy – in the rare original dust jacket – of this uncommon book, American socialite Ruth Harkness’ account of her panda-hunting expedition to China in 1936. Successfully – and unexpectedly – capturing an infant panda, which she named Su-Lin, Harkness brazenly side-stepped Chinese bureaucracy, and garbed in fur with a cigarette dangling from her lipsticked mouth and a baby bottle propped in hand, she waged a savvy public battle to extricate Su-Lin from his native land, eventually finding a home for him at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, where he attracted record crowds: 53,000 visitors the first day, a number yet to be matched.
Wonderfully illustrated throughout with 16 pages of black and white photographs taken during Harkness’ journey and of panda, Su-Lin.
More details
Price HK$ 9,000
The Later Ceramic Wares of China -
Robert Lockhart Hobson
1925 - Ernest Benn, London - First Edition. Deluxe Issue. Number 28 of 250 signed copies
A fine copy of the limited edition which was signed by Hobson and contains five additional colour plates (plates A to E), in the publisher’s deluxe full glazed pigskin binding.
Hobson’s exhaustive and scholarly work, is a natural sequel to Wares of the Ming Dynasty, carrying on the history of Chinese pottery and porcelain and completing the trilogy that began with Early Ceramic Wares of China. Chapters include general history, detailed studies of various periods, European influences on Chinese porcelain, as well as explanations of shapes, designs, and marks.
Profusely illustrated with twenty four full page colour plates, eight folding colour plates, and fifty full page monochrome plates. There are also a small number of in-text emblems, symbols, and the final chapter on potter’s marks provides five pages of examples.
More details
Price HK$ 18,000
1925 - Ernest Benn, London - First Edition. Deluxe Issue. Number 28 of 250 signed copies
A fine copy of the limited edition which was signed by Hobson and contains five additional colour plates (plates A to E), in the publisher’s deluxe full glazed pigskin binding.Hobson’s exhaustive and scholarly work, is a natural sequel to Wares of the Ming Dynasty, carrying on the history of Chinese pottery and porcelain and completing the trilogy that began with Early Ceramic Wares of China. Chapters include general history, detailed studies of various periods, European influences on Chinese porcelain, as well as explanations of shapes, designs, and marks.
Profusely illustrated with twenty four full page colour plates, eight folding colour plates, and fifty full page monochrome plates. There are also a small number of in-text emblems, symbols, and the final chapter on potter’s marks provides five pages of examples.
More details
Price HK$ 18,000
Private Journal -
Captain Robert Jenkins [1825-94]
1857 to 1858
The original 320 page hand-written journal of Captain Robert Jenkins, during his time as Commander of HMS Actaeon for the year 1857 and HMS Comus in 1857, both ships active off the coast of China, mostly around Canton. Included is a hand drawn and water coloured sketch of Chinese villagers being forced to kowtow to the Union Jack. Finely bound in contemporary black calf and brass locks.
HMS Actaeon was commissioned in 1857 to serve as a survey vessel off the coast of China, under the command of Captain William Thornton Bate. She was present at the bombardment of Canton in 1857,where Bate was shot and killed on 29th. December. Captain Robert Jenkins took over the command of the ship and his journal refers to the bombardment of Canton, surveying factories, disputes over land between British and Chinese merchants. It also covers skirmishes with armed junks and defence of the Barrier. Locations include Hong Kong ,Canton, Macao and Amoy.
According to the Journal it appears that Jenkins was wounded seriously on June 30th 1858, and on September 16th ‘Joined Commander J Ward, [vice?] Captain R Jenkins discharged to Half Pay’, September 18th ‘I went to Shanghai with Commander Ward’, from whence Jenkins travelled to Hong Kong, Singapore, Penang, Galli, Aden, Alexandria, Malta, Gibralter, Falmouth, arriving in Southampton 19th November, one month after leaving Shanghai.
Journal Size 29 x 23.5 cm. pp. [4] [144 (1st January to 31st December 1857 as Commander of HMS Comus)] [9 (Summary of year 1857 as Commander of HMS Comus)] [1]; [7(January 1-19th, last days as Commander of HMS Comus)] [1] [92 (January 20th to 19th November as Commander of HMS Actaeon)] [4] [8 (Summary of year 1857 as Commander of HMS Actaeon)] [50]. Paper watermarked ‘1852’ ‘Fellows’.
More details
Price HK$ 130,000
1857 to 1858
The original 320 page hand-written journal of Captain Robert Jenkins, during his time as Commander of HMS Actaeon for the year 1857 and HMS Comus in 1857, both ships active off the coast of China, mostly around Canton. Included is a hand drawn and water coloured sketch of Chinese villagers being forced to kowtow to the Union Jack. Finely bound in contemporary black calf and brass locks.HMS Actaeon was commissioned in 1857 to serve as a survey vessel off the coast of China, under the command of Captain William Thornton Bate. She was present at the bombardment of Canton in 1857,where Bate was shot and killed on 29th. December. Captain Robert Jenkins took over the command of the ship and his journal refers to the bombardment of Canton, surveying factories, disputes over land between British and Chinese merchants. It also covers skirmishes with armed junks and defence of the Barrier. Locations include Hong Kong ,Canton, Macao and Amoy.
According to the Journal it appears that Jenkins was wounded seriously on June 30th 1858, and on September 16th ‘Joined Commander J Ward, [vice?] Captain R Jenkins discharged to Half Pay’, September 18th ‘I went to Shanghai with Commander Ward’, from whence Jenkins travelled to Hong Kong, Singapore, Penang, Galli, Aden, Alexandria, Malta, Gibralter, Falmouth, arriving in Southampton 19th November, one month after leaving Shanghai.
Journal Size 29 x 23.5 cm. pp. [4] [144 (1st January to 31st December 1857 as Commander of HMS Comus)] [9 (Summary of year 1857 as Commander of HMS Comus)] [1]; [7(January 1-19th, last days as Commander of HMS Comus)] [1] [92 (January 20th to 19th November as Commander of HMS Actaeon)] [4] [8 (Summary of year 1857 as Commander of HMS Actaeon)] [50]. Paper watermarked ‘1852’ ‘Fellows’.
More details
Price HK$ 130,000
Shooting in China -
Thomas R. Jernigan
1908 - Methodist Publishing House, Shanghai - First and Only Edition
The rare first edition of this work on wildfowl shooting in China, and one of only a small number of eighteenth and early nineteenth century books written on the subject by expatriates based in China. Illustrated with 23 full page plates of 26 images, mostly from photographs (including the Snipe plate opposite page 77 which is not listed).
‘I remember my first shooting trip in China as clearly and distinctly as if it were but an event of yesterday, It was in December 1866, a few days after my arrival in Shanghai...’ - thus begins ‘Notes by an Old Sportsman’, a chapter of reminisces contributed by Jernigan’s friend H. T. Wade.
Jernigan (1847-1920) was US consul general in Shanghai, attorney in China for Standard Oil Company, chairman of the Shanghai International Settlement, and on publication of this work he was in private practice. In this work Jernigan provides long chapters on houseboating for waterfowl and small game shooting, there are also separate sections on shooting along the ‘Yang-tze River’, the ‘Ch’ien-Tang River’ and the ‘Lakes near Ningpo’. Other chapters cover ‘Customs’, ‘Government’, and to the rear is a short ‘Vocabulary’ of Chinese hunting terms. While Jernigan does not hunt big game himself, he does include a chapter describing big game that he has been informed of, including lion, tiger, leopard, bear and wild boar.
More details
Price HK$ 6,000
1908 - Methodist Publishing House, Shanghai - First and Only Edition
The rare first edition of this work on wildfowl shooting in China, and one of only a small number of eighteenth and early nineteenth century books written on the subject by expatriates based in China. Illustrated with 23 full page plates of 26 images, mostly from photographs (including the Snipe plate opposite page 77 which is not listed).‘I remember my first shooting trip in China as clearly and distinctly as if it were but an event of yesterday, It was in December 1866, a few days after my arrival in Shanghai...’ - thus begins ‘Notes by an Old Sportsman’, a chapter of reminisces contributed by Jernigan’s friend H. T. Wade.
Jernigan (1847-1920) was US consul general in Shanghai, attorney in China for Standard Oil Company, chairman of the Shanghai International Settlement, and on publication of this work he was in private practice. In this work Jernigan provides long chapters on houseboating for waterfowl and small game shooting, there are also separate sections on shooting along the ‘Yang-tze River’, the ‘Ch’ien-Tang River’ and the ‘Lakes near Ningpo’. Other chapters cover ‘Customs’, ‘Government’, and to the rear is a short ‘Vocabulary’ of Chinese hunting terms. While Jernigan does not hunt big game himself, he does include a chapter describing big game that he has been informed of, including lion, tiger, leopard, bear and wild boar.
More details
Price HK$ 6,000
Thirty Years with the Philippine Head-Hunters -
Samuel E. Kane
1934 - Jarrolds Publishers, London - First English Edition
Handsomely bound and entertaining memoir, which begins with Kane arriving in Manila as a sergeant in the Twenty-third United States Volunteers... how he ended up as Governor of the vast ‘Mountain Provence’ in 1907, home to the Bontoc Kankana-ey and Balangao people, only these pages will tell.
Adding to the narrative are the many illustrations from photographs taken by Kane.
More details
Price HK$ 4,000
1934 - Jarrolds Publishers, London - First English Edition
Handsomely bound and entertaining memoir, which begins with Kane arriving in Manila as a sergeant in the Twenty-third United States Volunteers... how he ended up as Governor of the vast ‘Mountain Provence’ in 1907, home to the Bontoc Kankana-ey and Balangao people, only these pages will tell.Adding to the narrative are the many illustrations from photographs taken by Kane.
More details
Price HK$ 4,000
Culinary Jottings: A Treatise in Thirty Chapters on Reformed Cookery for Anglo-Indian Exiles -
Colonel Kenney-Herbert Wyvern
1885 - Higginbotham &, Madras - Fifth Edition
A scarce example of this popular cook book by ‘Wyvern’, expanded and revised from the first edition (’Culinary Jottings for Madras) published seven years earlier. All early editions are scarce because being a working cook book it is prone to all the usual issues that modern cookbooks are also in danger of, combined with the original cheap paper and glues used for its production in Madras.
With numerous chapters including two on ‘Our Curries’ and ‘Curries and Mulligatunny’, as well as ‘Camp Cookery’, ending with a fascinating essay about the British kitchens of India.
Recipes include helpful hints and advice, for example ‘Potted Prawns ought to be oftener seen at Madras than they are’ and suggestions on where to purchase the best potted meats, anecdotes (see ‘Mulligatunny’), a complete chapter titled ‘Notes on Curing of Meat’.
Published by legendary Indian book sellers Higginbotham’s, this work and other titles by ‘Wyvern’ ‘swept Higginbotham’s from being just a book establishment into becoming a part of India’s print and publishing history’ [Bangalore Mirror]
More details
Price HK$ 3,800
1885 - Higginbotham &, Madras - Fifth Edition
A scarce example of this popular cook book by ‘Wyvern’, expanded and revised from the first edition (’Culinary Jottings for Madras) published seven years earlier. All early editions are scarce because being a working cook book it is prone to all the usual issues that modern cookbooks are also in danger of, combined with the original cheap paper and glues used for its production in Madras.With numerous chapters including two on ‘Our Curries’ and ‘Curries and Mulligatunny’, as well as ‘Camp Cookery’, ending with a fascinating essay about the British kitchens of India.
Recipes include helpful hints and advice, for example ‘Potted Prawns ought to be oftener seen at Madras than they are’ and suggestions on where to purchase the best potted meats, anecdotes (see ‘Mulligatunny’), a complete chapter titled ‘Notes on Curing of Meat’.
Published by legendary Indian book sellers Higginbotham’s, this work and other titles by ‘Wyvern’ ‘swept Higginbotham’s from being just a book establishment into becoming a part of India’s print and publishing history’ [Bangalore Mirror]
More details
Price HK$ 3,800
The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido for the Suppression of Piracy -
Captain the Hon. Henry Keppel, R.N.
1846 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
Keppel and Brooke, a friendship that united two of the most accomplished, unorthodox, and tactically brilliant mariners to command, or in Brooke’s case ‘commandeer’ the British navy around the ‘pirate’ infested waters of Borneo in the mid 19th century.
A clean first edition, two volumes in publisher’s original cloth, profusely illustrated with ten tinted lithographic plates, one monochrome lithographic plates, six folding engraved maps and plans, and a folding table of ‘Suggestions for Accelerating the Communication between Great Britain and China’.
The first volume concerns itself with Brooke's exploits in Sarawak from 1838-42, prior to his meeting with Keppel. Brooke attempted to open Borneo for foreign trade and tried to pacify the tribes. As a reward for success in the latter endeavour, he was given his title in 1841. Volume two recounts the military exploits of Brooke, Keppel, and Sir Edward Belcher, who occasionally came to Keppel's aid; gives a geographical overview of Borneo; and includes accounts of the Dyaks, the aboriginal Bornean tribes.
More details
Price HK$ 15,000
1846 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
Keppel and Brooke, a friendship that united two of the most accomplished, unorthodox, and tactically brilliant mariners to command, or in Brooke’s case ‘commandeer’ the British navy around the ‘pirate’ infested waters of Borneo in the mid 19th century.A clean first edition, two volumes in publisher’s original cloth, profusely illustrated with ten tinted lithographic plates, one monochrome lithographic plates, six folding engraved maps and plans, and a folding table of ‘Suggestions for Accelerating the Communication between Great Britain and China’.
The first volume concerns itself with Brooke's exploits in Sarawak from 1838-42, prior to his meeting with Keppel. Brooke attempted to open Borneo for foreign trade and tried to pacify the tribes. As a reward for success in the latter endeavour, he was given his title in 1841. Volume two recounts the military exploits of Brooke, Keppel, and Sir Edward Belcher, who occasionally came to Keppel's aid; gives a geographical overview of Borneo; and includes accounts of the Dyaks, the aboriginal Bornean tribes.
More details
Price HK$ 15,000