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.’

Price HK$ 10,000
Fire and Sword in the Sudan -
Rudolf C. Slatin Pasha, Major F.R. Wingate (translator), R. Talbot Kelly (illustrator)
1896 - Edward Arnold, London - Second Edition
A nice example of Slatin’s magnificent autobiography, one of the most important and captivating tales of the Sudan ever written.
With wonderful provenance, including a card ‘To my dear old friend Bill Spencer in remembrance of ‘happy days’ in the Sudan from The Author’ which is also signed by Reginald Wingate (aka Wingate of the Sudan who translated this work). Together with a 1931 Christmas card, with tipped in portrait, from Slatin, in Meran, Northern Italy, and a long hand-written note sending his best wishes ‘dear old boy’ and hoping to meet in 1932 ‘somehow - somewhere in good health and spirit’, sadly the year Slatin passed away, signing off Inshallah!, and a number of relevant newspaper clippings.
If Slatin was looking for adventure as he rode his camel into Sudan’s Darfur province in 1881 he got it in spades when one of the most spectacular wars of the 19th century broke out. Under the leadership of their leader known as the Mahdi, a vast native army arose to throw off their Egyptian overlords and cast out its foreign governors. Suddenly what had seemed to Slatin like a well-ordered military career in a quiet back water became a savage struggle of survival between natives and foreigners. Slatin was captured and enslaved. Gordon was surrounded at his capital in Khartoum and beheaded, his head being presented to Slatin. England eventually arose in outrage and sent out an army to retaliate. But it did not arrive before the young Austrian had undergone a series of adventures, survived cruelties too numerous to mention and escaped across the desert one step ahead of his enraged captors.
Fire and Sword in the Sudan records the life story of one of the 19th century’s most gallant soldiers, a man who after escaping from brutal slavery, was awarded military honours by Queen Victoria and returned to the Sudan to assist the very people who had held him in captivity.
A bright and sharp copy, illustrated throughout with black and white photographs, together with two folding maps, this timeless account remains one of the most important and captivating tales of the Sudan ever written.
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Price HK$ 8,000
1896 - Edward Arnold, London - Second Edition
A nice example of Slatin’s magnificent autobiography, one of the most important and captivating tales of the Sudan ever written.With wonderful provenance, including a card ‘To my dear old friend Bill Spencer in remembrance of ‘happy days’ in the Sudan from The Author’ which is also signed by Reginald Wingate (aka Wingate of the Sudan who translated this work). Together with a 1931 Christmas card, with tipped in portrait, from Slatin, in Meran, Northern Italy, and a long hand-written note sending his best wishes ‘dear old boy’ and hoping to meet in 1932 ‘somehow - somewhere in good health and spirit’, sadly the year Slatin passed away, signing off Inshallah!, and a number of relevant newspaper clippings.
If Slatin was looking for adventure as he rode his camel into Sudan’s Darfur province in 1881 he got it in spades when one of the most spectacular wars of the 19th century broke out. Under the leadership of their leader known as the Mahdi, a vast native army arose to throw off their Egyptian overlords and cast out its foreign governors. Suddenly what had seemed to Slatin like a well-ordered military career in a quiet back water became a savage struggle of survival between natives and foreigners. Slatin was captured and enslaved. Gordon was surrounded at his capital in Khartoum and beheaded, his head being presented to Slatin. England eventually arose in outrage and sent out an army to retaliate. But it did not arrive before the young Austrian had undergone a series of adventures, survived cruelties too numerous to mention and escaped across the desert one step ahead of his enraged captors.
Fire and Sword in the Sudan records the life story of one of the 19th century’s most gallant soldiers, a man who after escaping from brutal slavery, was awarded military honours by Queen Victoria and returned to the Sudan to assist the very people who had held him in captivity.
A bright and sharp copy, illustrated throughout with black and white photographs, together with two folding maps, this timeless account remains one of the most important and captivating tales of the Sudan ever written.

Price HK$ 8,000
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.

Price HK$ 42,000
Travers' Golf Book -
Jerome D. Travers
1913 - The Macmillan Company, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition of the first book by this golfing legend, illustrated with a colour frontispiece and 46 black and white photographic plates. A combination of autobiography and instructional.
‘Although he was of slight stature, Travers dominated golf in the decade before World War I with his stunning iron shots and expert putting. He won many tournaments because of his calm temperament, patience, and ability to make precise shots. He won the United States Amateur in 1907, 1908, 1912, and 1913, and was runner-up in 1914. His victory in 1913 set a record for that tournament – not broken until Bobby Jones won it five times. He was among the first members of the Golf Hall of Fame established by the United States Golf Association’. [DAB]
‘Some of the words used to describe Jerry Travers have not been kind – cold, somber, ruthless – yet these were the qualities that made him the most feared golfer of his time. In a nine-year stretch from 1906-1915, Travers won four U.S. Amateurs, five Metropolitan Amateurs and a U.S. Open. Only Bob Jones won more amateur titles and Travers was one of only five amateurs to win the Open. And his battles with Walter Travis, in the words of Herbert Warren Wind, “formed the crucible in which a talented young golfer was made into the greatest match player of his decade”‘. [World Golf Hall of Fame]
And in 1915 at the age of 28, Travers ended his championship career.
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Price HK$ 7,000
1913 - The Macmillan Company, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition of the first book by this golfing legend, illustrated with a colour frontispiece and 46 black and white photographic plates. A combination of autobiography and instructional.‘Although he was of slight stature, Travers dominated golf in the decade before World War I with his stunning iron shots and expert putting. He won many tournaments because of his calm temperament, patience, and ability to make precise shots. He won the United States Amateur in 1907, 1908, 1912, and 1913, and was runner-up in 1914. His victory in 1913 set a record for that tournament – not broken until Bobby Jones won it five times. He was among the first members of the Golf Hall of Fame established by the United States Golf Association’. [DAB]
‘Some of the words used to describe Jerry Travers have not been kind – cold, somber, ruthless – yet these were the qualities that made him the most feared golfer of his time. In a nine-year stretch from 1906-1915, Travers won four U.S. Amateurs, five Metropolitan Amateurs and a U.S. Open. Only Bob Jones won more amateur titles and Travers was one of only five amateurs to win the Open. And his battles with Walter Travis, in the words of Herbert Warren Wind, “formed the crucible in which a talented young golfer was made into the greatest match player of his decade”‘. [World Golf Hall of Fame]
And in 1915 at the age of 28, Travers ended his championship career.

Price HK$ 7,000
Facts About Champagne collected during numerous visits to the Champagne District - Inscribed -
Henry Vizetelly
1890 - Vizetelly &, London - Second and Revised Edition
Scarce edition of this wonderful work on Champagne inscribed by the great Henry Vizetelly to George Augustus Sala, a celebrated Victorian author, gastronome and a colleague at the Illustrated London News, dated ‘Covent Garden, 14 Augt. 1901’, two years after Vizetelly was released from prison for translating and publishing the works of Émile Zola in unexpurgated form.
Profusely illustrated with 32 full page engraved plates and 68 in text engravings drawn by Jules Pelcoq, W. Prater, Bertali, etc. from original sketches, as well as 38 small engravings of the Champagne brand marks to the rear.
Chapters cover:- The Origin of Champagne; The Vintage in the Champagne; The Vineyards of the River; The Vineyards of the Mountain; The Vines of the Champagne and the System of Cultivation; Preparation of Champagne; Champagne Establishments of Reims, Epernay, Ay, Mareuil, and Avize; and Concluding Facts and Hints.
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Price HK$ 9,000
1890 - Vizetelly &, London - Second and Revised Edition
Scarce edition of this wonderful work on Champagne inscribed by the great Henry Vizetelly to George Augustus Sala, a celebrated Victorian author, gastronome and a colleague at the Illustrated London News, dated ‘Covent Garden, 14 Augt. 1901’, two years after Vizetelly was released from prison for translating and publishing the works of Émile Zola in unexpurgated form.Profusely illustrated with 32 full page engraved plates and 68 in text engravings drawn by Jules Pelcoq, W. Prater, Bertali, etc. from original sketches, as well as 38 small engravings of the Champagne brand marks to the rear.
Chapters cover:- The Origin of Champagne; The Vintage in the Champagne; The Vineyards of the River; The Vineyards of the Mountain; The Vines of the Champagne and the System of Cultivation; Preparation of Champagne; Champagne Establishments of Reims, Epernay, Ay, Mareuil, and Avize; and Concluding Facts and Hints.

Price HK$ 9,000
A History of Champagne -
Henry Vizetelly
1882 - Vizetelly &, London - First Edition
A superb example of the finest work ever presented on Champagne. Tracing the history of champagne and it’s wine over 1,800 years. Strikingly illustrated with 350 engravings, including numerous illustrations from ancient manuscripts and 200 original sketches made under the author's supervision. With folding coloured lithograph map showing the vineyards of Champagne. In the publishers elegant gilt pictorial binding.
The first part of the book is historical, champagne from its origins, its progress in the 14th century, the 17th, 18th, the conflict between Burgundy and Champagne, champagne in England. The second part describes the various vineyards, viticulture, manufacturing, large establishments of Reims, d'Epernay, Pierry, Ay, Mareuil, Avize and Rilly. Part three talks about the other sparkling wines of France: Saumur, Vouvray, Sauterne, Bourgogne, Jura, Rhone, concluding with Facts and Notes Respecting Sparkling Wine. To the rear are advertisements from producers such as Moët et Chandon, Deutz & Geldermann, and Vizetelly's catalogue of other published works.
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Price HK$ 20,000
1882 - Vizetelly &, London - First Edition
A superb example of the finest work ever presented on Champagne. Tracing the history of champagne and it’s wine over 1,800 years. Strikingly illustrated with 350 engravings, including numerous illustrations from ancient manuscripts and 200 original sketches made under the author's supervision. With folding coloured lithograph map showing the vineyards of Champagne. In the publishers elegant gilt pictorial binding.The first part of the book is historical, champagne from its origins, its progress in the 14th century, the 17th, 18th, the conflict between Burgundy and Champagne, champagne in England. The second part describes the various vineyards, viticulture, manufacturing, large establishments of Reims, d'Epernay, Pierry, Ay, Mareuil, Avize and Rilly. Part three talks about the other sparkling wines of France: Saumur, Vouvray, Sauterne, Bourgogne, Jura, Rhone, concluding with Facts and Notes Respecting Sparkling Wine. To the rear are advertisements from producers such as Moët et Chandon, Deutz & Geldermann, and Vizetelly's catalogue of other published works.

Price HK$ 20,000
The Ring of the Niblung -
Richard Wagner, Arthur Rackham (illustrator), Margaret Armour (translator)
1910 - William Heinemann, London - Edition de luxes, each one limited to 1, 150 copies signed by Rackham
A magnificent set of Rackham's dramatic interpretation of Wagner's libretti, in the large deluxe vellum bindings, each one numbered and signed by Rackham.
Wagner’s ‘Trilogy, with a Prelude’, his libretti for The Ring of Niblung cycle, stunningly illustrated by Arthur Rackham, featuring sixty-four beautiful tipped-in colour plates each with descriptive tissue guards, and twenty-three black and white drawings across two volumes.
Translated from the German into English by Margaret Armour.
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Price HK$ 48,000
1910 - William Heinemann, London - Edition de luxes, each one limited to 1, 150 copies signed by Rackham
A magnificent set of Rackham's dramatic interpretation of Wagner's libretti, in the large deluxe vellum bindings, each one numbered and signed by Rackham.Wagner’s ‘Trilogy, with a Prelude’, his libretti for The Ring of Niblung cycle, stunningly illustrated by Arthur Rackham, featuring sixty-four beautiful tipped-in colour plates each with descriptive tissue guards, and twenty-three black and white drawings across two volumes.
Translated from the German into English by Margaret Armour.

Price HK$ 48,000
The Complete Angler or Contemplative Man's Recreation, Being a Discourse on Rivers, Fish-ponds, Fish, and Fishing -
Izaak Walton, Charles Cotton, Sir John Hawkins, J. E. Harting
1893 - Samuel Bagster and Sons, London - The Harting Edition. Tercentenary Edition. No. 300 of 350 copies.
‘Indeed, my good scholar, we may say of angling, as Dr. Boteler said of strawberries,
" Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did ";
and so, if I might be judge, God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling.’
A finely bound two volume set of the Harting Edition. With 54 illustrations and additional vignettes, and embellishments after John Linnell, G. E. Lodge, Huysman, Alexander, Wale, Samuel, and Percy Thomas, engraved by Audinet, Hayter, and Greig.
‘Edited from a Naturalist point of view’ by J. E. Harting, librarian of the Linnaen Society of London. The date of the founding of the Bagster publishing house was April 19,1794, and this profusely illustrated edition, limited to 350 numbered copies, was partly intended to commemorate the event. Included is an abridgement of the Lives of the Authors by Sir John Hawkins
‘It breathes the very spirit of innocence, purity, and simplicity of the heart. There are many choice old verses interspersed in it; it would sweeten a man's temper at any time to read it’ - Charles Lamb in his letter to Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
The most enduring distinction of the Complete Angler is the one cast off by its subtitle The Contemplative Man's Recreation with its graceful evocations of a life free from hurly-burly in the company of friends intent on physical and moral sustenance. The range of perspectives that Walton brings to bear on his rural descriptions embrace literature, poetry, music and anecdote.
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Price HK$ 10,000
1893 - Samuel Bagster and Sons, London - The Harting Edition. Tercentenary Edition. No. 300 of 350 copies.
‘Indeed, my good scholar, we may say of angling, as Dr. Boteler said of strawberries, " Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did ";
and so, if I might be judge, God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling.’
A finely bound two volume set of the Harting Edition. With 54 illustrations and additional vignettes, and embellishments after John Linnell, G. E. Lodge, Huysman, Alexander, Wale, Samuel, and Percy Thomas, engraved by Audinet, Hayter, and Greig.
‘Edited from a Naturalist point of view’ by J. E. Harting, librarian of the Linnaen Society of London. The date of the founding of the Bagster publishing house was April 19,1794, and this profusely illustrated edition, limited to 350 numbered copies, was partly intended to commemorate the event. Included is an abridgement of the Lives of the Authors by Sir John Hawkins
‘It breathes the very spirit of innocence, purity, and simplicity of the heart. There are many choice old verses interspersed in it; it would sweeten a man's temper at any time to read it’ - Charles Lamb in his letter to Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
The most enduring distinction of the Complete Angler is the one cast off by its subtitle The Contemplative Man's Recreation with its graceful evocations of a life free from hurly-burly in the company of friends intent on physical and moral sustenance. The range of perspectives that Walton brings to bear on his rural descriptions embrace literature, poetry, music and anecdote.

Price HK$ 10,000