The Complete Angler -
Izaak Walton, Charles Cotton, Edward Jesse (editor)
1861 - Henry G. Bohn, London - The Second Jesse Edition
A finely bound copy of one of the most profusely illustrated editions, the second to be edited by Edward Jesse. According to Oliver, ‘this edition has been criticized as having been somewhat too fully annotated and illustrated, but the illustrations, in our opinion, add as much to the charm of the book, as the notes do to its interest’.
‘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.’
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.
More details
Price HK$ 9,500
1861 - Henry G. Bohn, London - The Second Jesse Edition
A finely bound copy of one of the most profusely illustrated editions, the second to be edited by Edward Jesse. According to Oliver, ‘this edition has been criticized as having been somewhat too fully annotated and illustrated, but the illustrations, in our opinion, add as much to the charm of the book, as the notes do to its interest’.‘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.’
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.
More details
Price HK$ 9,500
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.
More details
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.
More details
Price HK$ 10,000
The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne in the County of Southampton -
Gilbert White
1900 - Macmillan and Co. Limited, London - Library of English Classics Edition
A Bayntun-Riviere bound edition of Gilbert White’s best known work – Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne – his compilation of letters written to Thomas Pennant and Daines Barrington, both leading naturalists of their day, in which he discusses his observations and theories regarding the local flora and fauna in a charming, thoughtful, and immediate style.
One of the most published books in the English language, it ‘delighted both Virginia Woolf and Charles Darwin’ and has never been out of print since its first appearance in 1789.
More details
Price HK$ 1,200
1900 - Macmillan and Co. Limited, London - Library of English Classics Edition
A Bayntun-Riviere bound edition of Gilbert White’s best known work – Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne – his compilation of letters written to Thomas Pennant and Daines Barrington, both leading naturalists of their day, in which he discusses his observations and theories regarding the local flora and fauna in a charming, thoughtful, and immediate style.One of the most published books in the English language, it ‘delighted both Virginia Woolf and Charles Darwin’ and has never been out of print since its first appearance in 1789.
More details
Price HK$ 1,200
Leaves of Grass -
Walt Whitman
1900 - David McKay, Philadelphia - First Edition Thus
A finely bound collection of Whitman’s Poems, which includes those poems that were dropped from the different editions, as well as notes to compare the many changes made to the poems by Whitman over the course of their various publications. With engraved portrait frontispiece, numerous illustrations and facsimiles, and an introduction by David McKay, who became Whitman’s publisher after ‘Leaves of Grass’ was declared obscene literature in 1882.
In 1855 Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouraged what would become a lifelong project as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death in 1892. Whitman's innovative use of free verse and the quotidian achieved his aim of reaching out to the everyday American.
More details
Price HK$ 8,000
1900 - David McKay, Philadelphia - First Edition Thus
A finely bound collection of Whitman’s Poems, which includes those poems that were dropped from the different editions, as well as notes to compare the many changes made to the poems by Whitman over the course of their various publications. With engraved portrait frontispiece, numerous illustrations and facsimiles, and an introduction by David McKay, who became Whitman’s publisher after ‘Leaves of Grass’ was declared obscene literature in 1882.In 1855 Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouraged what would become a lifelong project as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death in 1892. Whitman's innovative use of free verse and the quotidian achieved his aim of reaching out to the everyday American.
More details
Price HK$ 8,000
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm -
Kate Douglas Wiggin
1903 - Houghton, Boston and New York - First Edition
‘Rebecca was a thing of fire and spirit.... [she] was plucky at two and dauntless at five.’
A finely bound example of this classic tale about the pain of growing up, admired by authors from Jack London to Mark Twain. Beautifully written with a humorous touch.
‘When ten-year-old Rebecca Randall comes to live with flinty aunt Miranda and her sentimental sister Jane in a small town in Maine, they expect to turn her into a proper young lady. Instead, Rebecca will end up changing them.’ [Random House]
More details
Price HK$ 4,500
1903 - Houghton, Boston and New York - First Edition
‘Rebecca was a thing of fire and spirit.... [she] was plucky at two and dauntless at five.’ A finely bound example of this classic tale about the pain of growing up, admired by authors from Jack London to Mark Twain. Beautifully written with a humorous touch.
‘When ten-year-old Rebecca Randall comes to live with flinty aunt Miranda and her sentimental sister Jane in a small town in Maine, they expect to turn her into a proper young lady. Instead, Rebecca will end up changing them.’ [Random House]
More details
Price HK$ 4,500
An Introduction to Polo by “Marco” -
Lord Louis “Marco” Mountbatten, Lord Wodehouse
1931 - Country Life Limited , London - Second Impression
A finely bound example of this ‘important milestone on the literature of the game’, illustrated throughout with black and white photographs, sketches and diagrams.
Written ‘under the pen name “Marco”, with editorial help from his friend Peter Murphy. First published in 1931, successive editions have secured its place as a classic in polo literature.’ - Horace Laffaye, The Polo Encyclopedia.
Viscount Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten of Burma (1900-1979) was an experienced English 5-goal player and author. He won the Bluejackets, Duke of York, Whitney, Buenos Aires, Cowdray Park Challenge and Spencer Cups, and the Visitors Tournament at Hurlingham.
More details
Price HK$ 3,800
1931 - Country Life Limited , London - Second Impression
A finely bound example of this ‘important milestone on the literature of the game’, illustrated throughout with black and white photographs, sketches and diagrams.Written ‘under the pen name “Marco”, with editorial help from his friend Peter Murphy. First published in 1931, successive editions have secured its place as a classic in polo literature.’ - Horace Laffaye, The Polo Encyclopedia.
Viscount Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten of Burma (1900-1979) was an experienced English 5-goal player and author. He won the Bluejackets, Duke of York, Whitney, Buenos Aires, Cowdray Park Challenge and Spencer Cups, and the Visitors Tournament at Hurlingham.
More details
Price HK$ 3,800