The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook Round the World. -
Captain James Cook
1821 - Longman, London
A remarkable seven volume set of all of Cook’s three voyages. Illustrated with twenty five striking aquatint plates, including frontispieces in each volume, large folding map, and a table.
‘The famous accounts of Captain Cook’s three voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific books. In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than all his predecessors had done together. He was really the first scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge’. [Hill]
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Price HK$ 75,000
1821 - Longman, London
A remarkable seven volume set of all of Cook’s three voyages. Illustrated with twenty five striking aquatint plates, including frontispieces in each volume, large folding map, and a table.‘The famous accounts of Captain Cook’s three voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific books. In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than all his predecessors had done together. He was really the first scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge’. [Hill]
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Price HK$ 75,000
A Plain and Easy Account of British Fungi -
M.C. Cooke
1898 - W. H. Allen and Co., London - Sixth Edition, Revised
An informative Victorian-era reference to British fungi, wonderfully illustrated with 20 full page colour plates of thirty-four species and numerous woodcuts throughout the text.
Mordecai Cubitt Cooke (1825-1914) was an English botanist and mycologist. From 1872 to 1894, he edited Grevillea, a monthly periodical devoted to the study of mushrooms.
The word ‘esculent’ means ‘edible’.
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Price HK$ 700
1898 - W. H. Allen and Co., London - Sixth Edition, Revised
An informative Victorian-era reference to British fungi, wonderfully illustrated with 20 full page colour plates of thirty-four species and numerous woodcuts throughout the text.Mordecai Cubitt Cooke (1825-1914) was an English botanist and mycologist. From 1872 to 1894, he edited Grevillea, a monthly periodical devoted to the study of mushrooms.
The word ‘esculent’ means ‘edible’.
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Price HK$ 700
The Wild Life of Scotland -
James Hunter Crawford
1896 - John Macqueen, London - First Edition
A beautiful copy, illustrated throughout by John Williamson.
Including chapters on bird life, the moors, marine mammals and fish, the stag, lochs and the Shetlands.
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Price HK$ 1,200
1896 - John Macqueen, London - First Edition
A beautiful copy, illustrated throughout by John Williamson.Including chapters on bird life, the moors, marine mammals and fish, the stag, lochs and the Shetlands.
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Price HK$ 1,200
The Eastern Seas -
George Windsor Earl
1837 - Wm. H. Allen and Co., London - First Edition
A very important association copy, with the signature of Margaret, Lady Brooke. Earl was a strong admirer of Raffles, who had died in 1826’ and Earl’s book ‘greatly impressed James Brooke, who was also an admirer of Raffles and his writings’. Brooke’s prospectus for his voyage to Singapore and then Borneo (published in October 1938), reflected the influence of Earl’s book.
An entertaining and insightful work, with extensive chapters on Indonesia, Borneo, Malaysia, and Singapore, as well as a lengthy treatise in the Appendix titled ‘Observations on the Commercial Resources of the Indian Archipelago’. Illustrated with four folding maps.
Brooke encouraged the work of Wallace, whose ‘Wallace Line’, showing the boundary between Asian and Australian faunal regions, was critical to Wallace and Darwin’s evolutionary theory. But the ‘Line’ had been earlier presented to the Royal Geographical Society by Earl in 1845, and Wallace acknowledged that ‘Earl believed that there had been a former connection between Asia and Australia’. Darwin also wrote to Wallace, after reading a draft of his paper on Malay zoogeography, to ask: ‘Are you aware that Mr. W. Earl published several years ago the view of distribution of animals in Malay Archipelago in relation to the depth of the sea between the islands?’.
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Price HK$ 9,000
1837 - Wm. H. Allen and Co., London - First Edition
A very important association copy, with the signature of Margaret, Lady Brooke. Earl was a strong admirer of Raffles, who had died in 1826’ and Earl’s book ‘greatly impressed James Brooke, who was also an admirer of Raffles and his writings’. Brooke’s prospectus for his voyage to Singapore and then Borneo (published in October 1938), reflected the influence of Earl’s book.An entertaining and insightful work, with extensive chapters on Indonesia, Borneo, Malaysia, and Singapore, as well as a lengthy treatise in the Appendix titled ‘Observations on the Commercial Resources of the Indian Archipelago’. Illustrated with four folding maps.
Brooke encouraged the work of Wallace, whose ‘Wallace Line’, showing the boundary between Asian and Australian faunal regions, was critical to Wallace and Darwin’s evolutionary theory. But the ‘Line’ had been earlier presented to the Royal Geographical Society by Earl in 1845, and Wallace acknowledged that ‘Earl believed that there had been a former connection between Asia and Australia’. Darwin also wrote to Wallace, after reading a draft of his paper on Malay zoogeography, to ask: ‘Are you aware that Mr. W. Earl published several years ago the view of distribution of animals in Malay Archipelago in relation to the depth of the sea between the islands?’.
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Price HK$ 9,000
Highland Sport -
A Grimble
1894 - Chapman and Hall Ltd., London - First Edition
A large and beautifully bound work Illustrated with eleven full page plates by Archibald Thorburn.
Personal recollections and views on fishing and shooting in the highlands of Scotland. Grimble was the first to call for a close time to the Salmon fishing season in Scotland after witnessing the alarming drop in catch, and rise in netting technology and quantity. He was successful.
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Price HK$ 4,200
1894 - Chapman and Hall Ltd., London - First Edition
A large and beautifully bound work Illustrated with eleven full page plates by Archibald Thorburn. Personal recollections and views on fishing and shooting in the highlands of Scotland. Grimble was the first to call for a close time to the Salmon fishing season in Scotland after witnessing the alarming drop in catch, and rise in netting technology and quantity. He was successful.
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Price HK$ 4,200
The Lady and the Panda: An Adventure -
Ruth Harkness
1938 - Carrick & Evans, 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.
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Price HK$ 9,000
1938 - Carrick & Evans, 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.
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Price HK$ 9,000
The Riddle Of The Tsangpo Gorges -
Captain F. Kingdon-Ward
1926 - Edward Arnold & Co., 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 & Co., 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
The Curious Lore of Precious Stones - Being a Description of their Sentiments and Folk Lore, Superstitions, Symbolism, Mysticism, Use in Medicine, Protection, Prevention, Religion, and Divination, Crystal Gazing, Birth-Stones, Lucky Stones and Talismans. -
George Frederick Kunz
1913 - J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia & London - First Edition
A sumptuously bound definitive study of the history and folklore of gems. Profusely illustrated with six colour plates, 57 doubletone plates and 24 line cuts in text.
Kunz was the legendary gem scholar, gemologist, and gem buyer for Tiffany & Co at the turn of the century, named vice president of Tiffany & Co. at the age of 23. This is the definitive study of the magical abilities and strange characteristics of precious stones. Wide range of sources — Greek, Latin documents, medieval lapidaries, Eddas, Egyptian writings, Oriental gem books, the Bible — reveal magic, occult, medicinal and religious uses of dozens of gems. Kunzite, a pink gemstone found in Afghanistan is named after him.
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Price HK$ 18,000
1913 - J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia & London - First Edition
A sumptuously bound definitive study of the history and folklore of gems. Profusely illustrated with six colour plates, 57 doubletone plates and 24 line cuts in text. Kunz was the legendary gem scholar, gemologist, and gem buyer for Tiffany & Co at the turn of the century, named vice president of Tiffany & Co. at the age of 23. This is the definitive study of the magical abilities and strange characteristics of precious stones. Wide range of sources — Greek, Latin documents, medieval lapidaries, Eddas, Egyptian writings, Oriental gem books, the Bible — reveal magic, occult, medicinal and religious uses of dozens of gems. Kunzite, a pink gemstone found in Afghanistan is named after him.
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Price HK$ 18,000