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A Description of the Empire of China -
Jean-Baptiste Du Halde
1738-41 - Printed by T. Gardner...for Edward Cave, London - First folio edition in English.
Two large folio volumes in contemporary bindings, housed in separate cloth slipcases.
One of the most celebrated of all 18th century works on China, illustrated with 64 engraved plates, including D’Anville’s exceptional maps (42 large maps most engraved by Bowen), 9 city and temple plans, and 13 full-page plates depicting dress, customs and ceremonies. With exquisitely engraved headpieces and initial letters.
The completest [sic] and most valuable history of the Chinese Empire which had appeared up to the time of its publication.’ [Cox, Literature of Travel]
The maps by Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville are based on the extensive Jesuit surveys carried out for the Emperor Kangxi between 1708 and 1718. These maps ‘remained the principal cartographical authority on China during the rest of the 18th century’. [Tooley]
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Price HK$ 245,000
1738-41 - Printed by T. Gardner...for Edward Cave, London - First folio edition in English.
Two large folio volumes in contemporary bindings, housed in separate cloth slipcases. One of the most celebrated of all 18th century works on China, illustrated with 64 engraved plates, including D’Anville’s exceptional maps (42 large maps most engraved by Bowen), 9 city and temple plans, and 13 full-page plates depicting dress, customs and ceremonies. With exquisitely engraved headpieces and initial letters.
The completest [sic] and most valuable history of the Chinese Empire which had appeared up to the time of its publication.’ [Cox, Literature of Travel]
The maps by Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville are based on the extensive Jesuit surveys carried out for the Emperor Kangxi between 1708 and 1718. These maps ‘remained the principal cartographical authority on China during the rest of the 18th century’. [Tooley]
More details
Price HK$ 245,000
“Tried Favourites.” Being a collection of Recipes by some Mamsahibs of Bombay together with Menus and useful Information to House=keepers of both sexes -
Mrs. Fett
1928 - Published in aid of A Special Branch of Y.W.C.A. Work. Printed at The Industrial Press, Bombay - First Edition
‘When the Memsahib has chewed off the end of her pencil in her effort to think of “something different” – and when the cook has achieved his blankest and most aloof expression then will this little book be triumphantly brought forth and opened at the “MENU” pages, and calm will be restored ! !’
Rare little work, which not only provides recipes and menus but also prie lists of the Bombay market, details on domestic servants, stores, and more. With a number of wonderfully illustrated advertisements targeting the modern Memsahib.
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Price HK$ 900
1928 - Published in aid of A Special Branch of Y.W.C.A. Work. Printed at The Industrial Press, Bombay - First Edition
‘When the Memsahib has chewed off the end of her pencil in her effort to think of “something different” – and when the cook has achieved his blankest and most aloof expression then will this little book be triumphantly brought forth and opened at the “MENU” pages, and calm will be restored ! !’Rare little work, which not only provides recipes and menus but also prie lists of the Bombay market, details on domestic servants, stores, and more. With a number of wonderfully illustrated advertisements targeting the modern Memsahib.
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Price HK$ 900
Personal Narrative of Three Years’ Service in China -
Lt.-Colonel Arthur A’Court Fisher – Royal Engineers
1863 - Richard Bentley, London - First Edition
Lt.-Colonel Fisher’s three years of service, are in Canton, the Pei-Ho River, and Taku Fort battles, throughout the Second Opium War. Illustrated with three wood-engraved plates, engraved plan, six in-text engravings and three folding maps at rear.
This not one of your more dry ‘Personal Narrative’ accounts, and is very much in the ‘Personal’. Entertainingly written, one wonders if Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Agincourt Fisher was in any way related to Harry Flashman....
Lt-Colonel Fisher begins his tales with the action at the Battle of Canton in late 1857, he remains in Canton, occupying his spare time with various adventures and sport (Cricket in Hong Kong, shooting snipe and riding ponies across the Canton countryside ‘Paper-Hunt’ style), and visits to Hong Kong and islands. Fisher then moves up the Pei-Ho River and is involved with the battles around the Taku Forts, as well as surveying the ‘Great Wall’, returning once again to the skirmishes on the Pei-Ho and around Canton. After the third and final ‘Battle of Taku Forts’ at the end of August 1860, Fisher is preparing to head to Peking but is taken sick and forced to spend two months on the hospital ship ‘Mauritius’ whilst hearing news from other wounded officers of the battles around Peking and the looting of the Summer Palace. In November of 1860 Fisher’s service in China ends with his shipment back to England.
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Price HK$ 11,000
1863 - Richard Bentley, London - First Edition
Lt.-Colonel Fisher’s three years of service, are in Canton, the Pei-Ho River, and Taku Fort battles, throughout the Second Opium War. Illustrated with three wood-engraved plates, engraved plan, six in-text engravings and three folding maps at rear.This not one of your more dry ‘Personal Narrative’ accounts, and is very much in the ‘Personal’. Entertainingly written, one wonders if Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Agincourt Fisher was in any way related to Harry Flashman....
Lt-Colonel Fisher begins his tales with the action at the Battle of Canton in late 1857, he remains in Canton, occupying his spare time with various adventures and sport (Cricket in Hong Kong, shooting snipe and riding ponies across the Canton countryside ‘Paper-Hunt’ style), and visits to Hong Kong and islands. Fisher then moves up the Pei-Ho River and is involved with the battles around the Taku Forts, as well as surveying the ‘Great Wall’, returning once again to the skirmishes on the Pei-Ho and around Canton. After the third and final ‘Battle of Taku Forts’ at the end of August 1860, Fisher is preparing to head to Peking but is taken sick and forced to spend two months on the hospital ship ‘Mauritius’ whilst hearing news from other wounded officers of the battles around Peking and the looting of the Summer Palace. In November of 1860 Fisher’s service in China ends with his shipment back to England.
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Price HK$ 11,000
News from Tartary: A Journey from Peking to Kashmir -
Peter Fleming
1936 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
An elegantly bound first edition of one of Peter Fleming’s great travel books, the extraordinary travel narrative in the company of Swiss adventurer Ella Maillart, crossing from Beijing through central China and into the north of the Indian subcontinent.
“’News from Tartary’ describes a phenomenally successful attempt that legendary adventurer Peter Fleming made to travel overland from Peking to Kashmir. The journey took seven months and covered about 3,500 miles. Motivated largely by curiosity, he set out with his companion Ella Maillart across a China torn by civil war to journey through Xinjiang to British India. It had been eight years since anyone had crossed Xinjiang; in between, those who had entered this inhospitable and politically volatile area – under the control of a warlord supported by Stalin's Red Army – seldom left alive. Entering the province by a little known route and following the path of the Silk Road, they ended up in Kashgar before crossing the Pamirs to India. Beautifully written and superbly observed, this is not simply an account of a part of the world few of us will ever see, but also a marvellous insight into the last days of the Great Game, when Britain and Russia still faced each other across a Central Asia in a state of anarchy.” [Taurus]
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Price HK$ 3,000
1936 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
An elegantly bound first edition of one of Peter Fleming’s great travel books, the extraordinary travel narrative in the company of Swiss adventurer Ella Maillart, crossing from Beijing through central China and into the north of the Indian subcontinent.“’News from Tartary’ describes a phenomenally successful attempt that legendary adventurer Peter Fleming made to travel overland from Peking to Kashmir. The journey took seven months and covered about 3,500 miles. Motivated largely by curiosity, he set out with his companion Ella Maillart across a China torn by civil war to journey through Xinjiang to British India. It had been eight years since anyone had crossed Xinjiang; in between, those who had entered this inhospitable and politically volatile area – under the control of a warlord supported by Stalin's Red Army – seldom left alive. Entering the province by a little known route and following the path of the Silk Road, they ended up in Kashgar before crossing the Pamirs to India. Beautifully written and superbly observed, this is not simply an account of a part of the world few of us will ever see, but also a marvellous insight into the last days of the Great Game, when Britain and Russia still faced each other across a Central Asia in a state of anarchy.” [Taurus]
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Price HK$ 3,000
One’s Company. A Journey to China -
Peter Fleming
1934 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of this detailed and entertaining account of the journey from London, through Russia to Nanking, China by one of the finest between the wars travel writers. Illustrated with 16 black and white photographs taken by Fleming and a folding map.
‘Fleming seems an almost ideal product of the Thirties. As a special correspondent for the Times of London his account of a journey through Russia and China has all the hallmarks of that period: elegance, world-weariness, and casual curiosity. But it is superbly written and endlessly funny. You feel a bit tainted by his heartlessness, of course, but the feeling soon disappears under a deluge of laughter, and later, by horror.’ - The Independent.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1934 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of this detailed and entertaining account of the journey from London, through Russia to Nanking, China by one of the finest between the wars travel writers. Illustrated with 16 black and white photographs taken by Fleming and a folding map.‘Fleming seems an almost ideal product of the Thirties. As a special correspondent for the Times of London his account of a journey through Russia and China has all the hallmarks of that period: elegance, world-weariness, and casual curiosity. But it is superbly written and endlessly funny. You feel a bit tainted by his heartlessness, of course, but the feeling soon disappears under a deluge of laughter, and later, by horror.’ - The Independent.
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Price HK$ 3,000
Sport on the Nilgiris and in Wynaad -
F. W. F. Fletcher
1911 - Macmillan & Co., London - First Edition
‘Fletcher introduces both the terrain and the history of the Nilgiris and Wynaad regions in India, then provides big game chapters on a species-by-species basis. Each of these chapters features not only the natural history of the animals, but also the author's experiences hunting them. Included are chapters devoted to elephant, tiger, leopards, bison, beer, tahr, ibex, sambur, and other deer species.
Fletcher switched from a .450 rifle to a .600 Jeffery: “In cold blood the recoil from his rifle is somewhat severe; but in the excitement of shooting it is not noticeable.”’ - Czech.
Illustrated with 18 plates, and folding coloured map as frontispiece.
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Price HK$ 2,200
1911 - Macmillan & Co., London - First Edition
‘Fletcher introduces both the terrain and the history of the Nilgiris and Wynaad regions in India, then provides big game chapters on a species-by-species basis. Each of these chapters features not only the natural history of the animals, but also the author's experiences hunting them. Included are chapters devoted to elephant, tiger, leopards, bison, beer, tahr, ibex, sambur, and other deer species.Fletcher switched from a .450 rifle to a .600 Jeffery: “In cold blood the recoil from his rifle is somewhat severe; but in the excitement of shooting it is not noticeable.”’ - Czech.
Illustrated with 18 plates, and folding coloured map as frontispiece.
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Price HK$ 2,200
The Shop Signs of Peking -
H. K. Fung
1931 - Issued by the Chinese Painting Association of Peking, China - First Edition limited to 100 Copies
A beautifully hand coloured book showing the signs used by Chinese shopkeepers to advertise their trade, with 101 hand-coloured illustrations of shop signs each accompanied by the Chinese and English description, together with a forward in English by H. K. Fung.
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Price HK$ 41,000
1931 - Issued by the Chinese Painting Association of Peking, China - First Edition limited to 100 Copies
A beautifully hand coloured book showing the signs used by Chinese shopkeepers to advertise their trade, with 101 hand-coloured illustrations of shop signs each accompanied by the Chinese and English description, together with a forward in English by H. K. Fung.
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Price HK$ 41,000
Chuang Tzu. Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer -
Herbert A. Giles
1889 - Bernard Quaritch, London - First English Language Edition
‘I dreamt I was a butterfly...’
Rare first edition in English of the works of Chuang Tzŭ, also known as the Zhuangzi. Chuang Tzu is considered the founder of Tao-ism, and this work is second in importance only to Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, and essential to the understanding of the latter work.
In the publisher’s original cloth and gilt binding, pages unopened and uncut.
Herbert Giles translation is still considered the first complete and the finest of the earliest translations, and was highly influential on the Western image of Chinese Philosophy. [Môller]
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Price HK$ 19,500
1889 - Bernard Quaritch, London - First English Language Edition
‘I dreamt I was a butterfly...’Rare first edition in English of the works of Chuang Tzŭ, also known as the Zhuangzi. Chuang Tzu is considered the founder of Tao-ism, and this work is second in importance only to Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, and essential to the understanding of the latter work.
In the publisher’s original cloth and gilt binding, pages unopened and uncut.
Herbert Giles translation is still considered the first complete and the finest of the earliest translations, and was highly influential on the Western image of Chinese Philosophy. [Môller]
More details
Price HK$ 19,500