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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 wence 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’.
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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 wence 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’.
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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.
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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.
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Price HK$ 6,000
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]
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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]
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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.
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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.
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Price HK$ 15,000
The Riddle Of The Tsangpo Gorges -
Captain F. Kingdon-Ward
1926 - Edward Arnold &, London - First Edition
A near fine example of this important work, describing the period spanning 1924-25, during which Kingdon-Ward made what was probably his most famous and successful expedition, in the company of Lord Cawdor, to Bhutan and south-east Tibet, during which, in addition to ‘The Riddle’, related to the existence, or not, of the ‘Falls of Brahmaputra’, he collected ninety-seven varieties of rhododendron, and the first viable blue poppy seed.
The Brooke-Hitching copy, housed in custom slipcase. Illustrated with a folding coloured map, and 21 photographs on 16 plates.
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Price HK$ 16,000
1926 - Edward Arnold &, London - First Edition
A near fine example of this important work, describing the period spanning 1924-25, during which Kingdon-Ward made what was probably his most famous and successful expedition, in the company of Lord Cawdor, to Bhutan and south-east Tibet, during which, in addition to ‘The Riddle’, related to the existence, or not, of the ‘Falls of Brahmaputra’, he collected ninety-seven varieties of rhododendron, and the first viable blue poppy seed.The Brooke-Hitching copy, housed in custom slipcase. Illustrated with a folding coloured map, and 21 photographs on 16 plates.
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Price HK$ 16,000
From China to Hkamti Long -
Captain F. Kingdon-Ward
1924 - Edward Arnold &, London - First Edition
In 1922-1923 the great plant hunter Kingdon-Ward travelled "westward from the Yangtze, across the narrow strip of the earth's crust where the great rivers of South-East Asia escape from Tibet and through the jungles which hide the headwaters of the mighty Irawaddi, Burma's great river" (from preface).
Illustrated with twenty one black and white photographs on 16 plates and a folding map outlined in colour to the rear.
‘The author's second attempt to march overland to India from Likiang, on the borders of Yunnan. He explored Yunnan and Szechwan in 1921, and Yunnan, Szechwan, Tibet and North Burma in 1922. This is a feat which had been performed only three times; in 1895 by Prince Henry of Orleans, with two companions; in 1906 by E. C. Young; and in 1911 by F. M. Bailey.’ (Yakushi).
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Price HK$ 3,500
1924 - Edward Arnold &, London - First Edition
In 1922-1923 the great plant hunter Kingdon-Ward travelled "westward from the Yangtze, across the narrow strip of the earth's crust where the great rivers of South-East Asia escape from Tibet and through the jungles which hide the headwaters of the mighty Irawaddi, Burma's great river" (from preface). Illustrated with twenty one black and white photographs on 16 plates and a folding map outlined in colour to the rear.
‘The author's second attempt to march overland to India from Likiang, on the borders of Yunnan. He explored Yunnan and Szechwan in 1921, and Yunnan, Szechwan, Tibet and North Burma in 1922. This is a feat which had been performed only three times; in 1895 by Prince Henry of Orleans, with two companions; in 1906 by E. C. Young; and in 1911 by F. M. Bailey.’ (Yakushi).
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Price HK$ 3,500
Voyage dans les Mers de l'Inde -
Guillaume Joseph Le Gentil de la Galaisi
1779 - Imprimerie Royale, Paris - First Editions
‘Two monumental volumes... crammed with details on astronomy, navigation, and natural history... His descriptions of life in Manila, Pondicherry, and Madagascar are invaluable’ (Dunmore).
A stunning set In contemporary bindings and illustrated with twenty seven folding copper engravings showing two world maps, maps charts and plans of Eastern and Western Philippines, Bay of Manila, Philippine Harbours, Manilla, Madagascar and it’s coastline, Isle de France (Mauritius), Isle de Bourbon (Réunion), Quartier S. Denis on Réunion, Eastern and Western Straits of Malacca, and Pondicherry. Together with engraved plates of animals and plant life, the ruins of Pondicherry, pagodas, Indian deities, and charts of comets and constellations.
‘In addition to the scientific details for which the voyage was undertaken, the first volume treats of the manners, customs, and religion or the people of the Malabar Coast and of the astronomy of the Brahmins. The second volume contains elaborate accounts of the Philippine Islands, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Bourbon and their inhabitants, including views and charts of the Philippines. Le Gentil gives details of the Islands, their climate, volcanoes, fertility, fruits, birds, animals, peoples, language, history, and description of Manila, the government, ecclesiastical and civil, commerce, &c.’ (Edwards).
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Price HK$ 51,000
1779 - Imprimerie Royale, Paris - First Editions
‘Two monumental volumes... crammed with details on astronomy, navigation, and natural history... His descriptions of life in Manila, Pondicherry, and Madagascar are invaluable’ (Dunmore). A stunning set In contemporary bindings and illustrated with twenty seven folding copper engravings showing two world maps, maps charts and plans of Eastern and Western Philippines, Bay of Manila, Philippine Harbours, Manilla, Madagascar and it’s coastline, Isle de France (Mauritius), Isle de Bourbon (Réunion), Quartier S. Denis on Réunion, Eastern and Western Straits of Malacca, and Pondicherry. Together with engraved plates of animals and plant life, the ruins of Pondicherry, pagodas, Indian deities, and charts of comets and constellations.
‘In addition to the scientific details for which the voyage was undertaken, the first volume treats of the manners, customs, and religion or the people of the Malabar Coast and of the astronomy of the Brahmins. The second volume contains elaborate accounts of the Philippine Islands, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Bourbon and their inhabitants, including views and charts of the Philippines. Le Gentil gives details of the Islands, their climate, volcanoes, fertility, fruits, birds, animals, peoples, language, history, and description of Manila, the government, ecclesiastical and civil, commerce, &c.’ (Edwards).
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Price HK$ 51,000
Narrative of a Journey from Calcutta by Way of Egypt -
Mrs. Charles Lushington
1829 - John Murray, London - First Edition
‘‘Every evening in the desert, the Lushingtons and their party, which included Lord Elphinstone, late Governor of Bombay, would settle down to a light supper of ‘roast turkey, ham, fowls, mutton in various shapes, curry, rice and potatoes, damson tart and a pudding; madeira, claret, sherry, port and... beer; ... almonds and raisins, watermelons, pumplenose (grapefruit)... and a plum cake’. There were thrilling ‘mummy-openings’ to attend in Thebes, balls in Cairo, and soirées in Naples and Paris. In fact the experience, said Mrs Lushington, was decidedly not to be missed.’ - Jane Robinson, Wayward Women.
Judging from the frontispiece illustration, it seems the camels may have also benefited from the leftovers of the Lushington’s ‘light suppers’.
A handsomely bound copy of Sarah Lushington’s entertaining and informative account of her journey from Calcutta to Europe, with notes on route, itinerary, and the necessities of travel for ladies intending to brave the ‘Overland Route’ from India to England.
With chapters detailing many of Mrs Lushington’s experiences in Bombay, Luxor, Cairo, the Nile, Syracuse, Naples, and Rome, among others, and featuring an engraved frontispiece of ‘The Tukhte Rowan in the Desert’.
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Price HK$ 5,500
1829 - John Murray, London - First Edition
‘‘Every evening in the desert, the Lushingtons and their party, which included Lord Elphinstone, late Governor of Bombay, would settle down to a light supper of ‘roast turkey, ham, fowls, mutton in various shapes, curry, rice and potatoes, damson tart and a pudding; madeira, claret, sherry, port and... beer; ... almonds and raisins, watermelons, pumplenose (grapefruit)... and a plum cake’. There were thrilling ‘mummy-openings’ to attend in Thebes, balls in Cairo, and soirées in Naples and Paris. In fact the experience, said Mrs Lushington, was decidedly not to be missed.’ - Jane Robinson, Wayward Women.Judging from the frontispiece illustration, it seems the camels may have also benefited from the leftovers of the Lushington’s ‘light suppers’.
A handsomely bound copy of Sarah Lushington’s entertaining and informative account of her journey from Calcutta to Europe, with notes on route, itinerary, and the necessities of travel for ladies intending to brave the ‘Overland Route’ from India to England.
With chapters detailing many of Mrs Lushington’s experiences in Bombay, Luxor, Cairo, the Nile, Syracuse, Naples, and Rome, among others, and featuring an engraved frontispiece of ‘The Tukhte Rowan in the Desert’.
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Price HK$ 5,500