An Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava -
Michael Symes
1800 - W. Bulmer and Co., London - First Edition, Large Paper Copy
A stunning and rare large paper copy of ‘the first full account of Burma to be published’, finely illustrated with two folding engraved maps, eighteen engraved plates, and eight engraved botanical plates (four of which are folding). In contemporary full polished calf armourial binding of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet, and once housed in the Hoare Library at Stourhead.
Michael Symes was sent by Sir John Shore, governor-general of India, on a mission to Ava in Burma, to obtain from the emperor of Ava a permit to allow a British agent to reside at Rangoon, and to induce him to close his borders to French shipping. In diplomatic terms Symes’ mission was a success.
His detailed account, is highly interesting with keen observations and insight. ‘It is a mass of information on the history, religion, government, social systems, language, geography and economy of Burma, together with a narrative of Symes’ seven months stay in Burma, his journey to the capital and reception at court.’
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Price HK$ 42,000
1800 - W. Bulmer and Co., London - First Edition, Large Paper Copy
A stunning and rare large paper copy of ‘the first full account of Burma to be published’, finely illustrated with two folding engraved maps, eighteen engraved plates, and eight engraved botanical plates (four of which are folding). In contemporary full polished calf armourial binding of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet, and once housed in the Hoare Library at Stourhead.Michael Symes was sent by Sir John Shore, governor-general of India, on a mission to Ava in Burma, to obtain from the emperor of Ava a permit to allow a British agent to reside at Rangoon, and to induce him to close his borders to French shipping. In diplomatic terms Symes’ mission was a success.
His detailed account, is highly interesting with keen observations and insight. ‘It is a mass of information on the history, religion, government, social systems, language, geography and economy of Burma, together with a narrative of Symes’ seven months stay in Burma, his journey to the capital and reception at court.’
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Price HK$ 42,000
Poems -
Alfred Lord Tennyson
1857 - Edward Moxon, Dover Street - First Illustrated Edition
‘It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.’
A superbly bound, illustrated collection of Tennyson’s poetry featuring his celebrated works ‘Mariana’, ‘The Lotos-Eaters’, ‘Godiva’, and ‘Ulysses’, among many others. Beautifully illustrated with portrait frontispiece and 54 engraved vignettes designed by prominent Pre-Raphaelite and Victorian artists, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, William Holman Hunt, Thomas Creswick, and Clarkson Stanfield. Many of the artists much-admired Tennyson, and found inspiration from his poems.
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Price HK$ 12,000
1857 - Edward Moxon, Dover Street - First Illustrated Edition
‘It little profits that an idle king,By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.’
A superbly bound, illustrated collection of Tennyson’s poetry featuring his celebrated works ‘Mariana’, ‘The Lotos-Eaters’, ‘Godiva’, and ‘Ulysses’, among many others. Beautifully illustrated with portrait frontispiece and 54 engraved vignettes designed by prominent Pre-Raphaelite and Victorian artists, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, William Holman Hunt, Thomas Creswick, and Clarkson Stanfield. Many of the artists much-admired Tennyson, and found inspiration from his poems.
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Price HK$ 12,000
Record of the University Boat Race, 1829-1880 and of the Commemoration Dinner 1881 -
George G. T. Treherne, J. H. D. Goldie
1883 - Bickers & Son, London - First Edition
James Neville McQueen’s own copy. McQueen (page 83) rowed bow in the 1860 Oxford crew, and according to Goldie ‘a better race than that of 1860 has seldom been seen’ (page 173).
Illustrated with two large and beautiful engraved plates - A Boat-race on the Cam in 1838, and The Oxford Boat in 1829, as well a facsimile of The Card of the Invitation to Dinner, a Plan of the Tables, and two vignettes titled The Old Style and The New Style. A copy of the ornate and decorated original letter press Menu is also tipped in.
‘The account of the dinner is followed by verbatim reports of the speeches, the text of two odes on the jubilee of the race, and alphabetical lists of Blues. The analytical appendices include summaries of the races, and lists of the schools, colleges, academic and athletic honours and subsequent professions of the oarsmen and coxswains. No less than 188 of 285 took Holy Orders.
Pages 131 to 201, Old Blues and Their Battles, give a detailed account of each race by W. B. Woodgate, slightly altered by the compilers.’ – Brittain, Oar, Scull & Rudder .
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Price HK$ 4,500
1883 - Bickers & Son, London - First Edition
James Neville McQueen’s own copy. McQueen (page 83) rowed bow in the 1860 Oxford crew, and according to Goldie ‘a better race than that of 1860 has seldom been seen’ (page 173).Illustrated with two large and beautiful engraved plates - A Boat-race on the Cam in 1838, and The Oxford Boat in 1829, as well a facsimile of The Card of the Invitation to Dinner, a Plan of the Tables, and two vignettes titled The Old Style and The New Style. A copy of the ornate and decorated original letter press Menu is also tipped in.
‘The account of the dinner is followed by verbatim reports of the speeches, the text of two odes on the jubilee of the race, and alphabetical lists of Blues. The analytical appendices include summaries of the races, and lists of the schools, colleges, academic and athletic honours and subsequent professions of the oarsmen and coxswains. No less than 188 of 285 took Holy Orders.
Pages 131 to 201, Old Blues and Their Battles, give a detailed account of each race by W. B. Woodgate, slightly altered by the compilers.’ – Brittain, Oar, Scull & Rudder .
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Price HK$ 4,500
Coaching Days and Coaching Ways -
W. Outram Tristram
1893 - Macmillan and Co., London - Second Edition
A well illustrated and detailed record of the history and types of horse drawn transport along the main travel routes of England, with vivid descriptions of many hostelries and their clientele. With 214 illustrations by Hugh Thomson and Herbert Railton. Contents : The Bath Road; The Exeter Road; The Portsmouth Road; The Brighton Road; The Dover Road; The York Road and The Holyhead Road.
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Price HK$ 1,800
1893 - Macmillan and Co., London - Second Edition
A well illustrated and detailed record of the history and types of horse drawn transport along the main travel routes of England, with vivid descriptions of many hostelries and their clientele. With 214 illustrations by Hugh Thomson and Herbert Railton. Contents : The Bath Road; The Exeter Road; The Portsmouth Road; The Brighton Road; The Dover Road; The York Road and The Holyhead Road.
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Price HK$ 1,800
Works of Jules Verne -
Jules Verne, Charles F. Horne (editor)
1911 - Vincent Parke and Company, New York - Prince of Wales Edition, Number 25 of 500 Limited Copies
‘The reason Verne is still read by millions today is simply that he was one of the best storytellers who ever lived’ – Arthur C. Clarke
A superb 15 volume limited edition set of the works of Jules Verne, handsomely bound, each illustrated with full page colour and tinted plates protected by descriptive tissue guards.
This collection features Verne’s most famous stories, including Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon, Five Weeks in a Balloon, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Mysterious Island, and Around the World in Eighty Days, among many others.
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Price HK$ 38,000
1911 - Vincent Parke and Company, New York - Prince of Wales Edition, Number 25 of 500 Limited Copies
‘The reason Verne is still read by millions today is simply that he was one of the best storytellers who ever lived’ – Arthur C. ClarkeA superb 15 volume limited edition set of the works of Jules Verne, handsomely bound, each illustrated with full page colour and tinted plates protected by descriptive tissue guards.
This collection features Verne’s most famous stories, including Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon, Five Weeks in a Balloon, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Mysterious Island, and Around the World in Eighty Days, among many others.
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Price HK$ 38,000
The Compleat Angler. -
Izaak Walton, Charles Cotton
1929 - The Nonesuch Press, London - Number 18 of 1600 limited copies. First Thus, Illustrated by Thomas Poulton and Charles Sigrist
‘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 lovely limited edtion of this handsomely produced edition of Izaak Walton's works, printed on fine laid paper, and edited by Geoffrey Keynes.
Wonderfully illustrated with six copperplate portraits of Walton, Donne, Wotton, Hooker, Herbert, and Sanderson, engraved by A. Alexander and Son with tissue; ten drawings of fish and lead weight by Charles Sigrist printed from line blocks and hand-coloured through stencil by the Curwen Press; and two seals of Donne redrawn by Thomas Poulton and printed in red.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1929 - The Nonesuch Press, London - Number 18 of 1600 limited copies. First Thus, Illustrated by Thomas Poulton and Charles Sigrist
‘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 lovely limited edtion of this handsomely produced edition of Izaak Walton's works, printed on fine laid paper, and edited by Geoffrey Keynes.
Wonderfully illustrated with six copperplate portraits of Walton, Donne, Wotton, Hooker, Herbert, and Sanderson, engraved by A. Alexander and Son with tissue; ten drawings of fish and lead weight by Charles Sigrist printed from line blocks and hand-coloured through stencil by the Curwen Press; and two seals of Donne redrawn by Thomas Poulton and printed in red.
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Price HK$ 3,000
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.
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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.
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Price HK$ 10,000
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.
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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.
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Price HK$ 8,000