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The Borders and Beyond -
Abel Chapman
1924 - Gurney and Jackson, London - First Edition
A bright copy of this informative work of field exploration and natural history in Northumberland and the Anglo-Scottish borderlands.
Hunter-naturalist Chapman includes chapters on the British red grouse, the wildfowl of the north east coast, a search for the ‘moorland nymph’, salmonology, seagulls, woodcocks and herons, ravens, and the otter, together with a commentary on ‘modern zoology’, and extensive particulars on the migrations and plumage-phases in certain waders, to which he gave the name ‘Globe-Spanners’.
Profusely illustrated throughout with seventeen wonderful colour illustrations (on fourteen plates) by W.H. Riddell, twenty one black and white plates, two folding maps, and 170 sketches by the author.
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Price HK$ 1,000
1924 - Gurney and Jackson, London - First Edition
A bright copy of this informative work of field exploration and natural history in Northumberland and the Anglo-Scottish borderlands. Hunter-naturalist Chapman includes chapters on the British red grouse, the wildfowl of the north east coast, a search for the ‘moorland nymph’, salmonology, seagulls, woodcocks and herons, ravens, and the otter, together with a commentary on ‘modern zoology’, and extensive particulars on the migrations and plumage-phases in certain waders, to which he gave the name ‘Globe-Spanners’.
Profusely illustrated throughout with seventeen wonderful colour illustrations (on fourteen plates) by W.H. Riddell, twenty one black and white plates, two folding maps, and 170 sketches by the author.
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Price HK$ 1,000
The Riddle of the Sands -
Erskine Childers
1903 - Smith, London - First Edition, First Impression
A crisp, clean and rare first edition, finely bound.
Written when Childers, an accomplished yachtsman, was thirty years old. Highlighting the encroaching conflict with Germany, the novel was highly influential and is actually credited with the founding of British naval bases at Invergordon and Scapa Flow; newly regarded as strategically important after examination of the scenarios in Childers' text. Winston Churchill later gave the book the credit for persuading public opinion to fund vital measures against the German naval threat.
Contentiously described as the first modern spy thriller, vying for the title with Kipling's 'Kim', published two years earlier.
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Price HK$ 22,000
1903 - Smith, London - First Edition, First Impression
A crisp, clean and rare first edition, finely bound.Written when Childers, an accomplished yachtsman, was thirty years old. Highlighting the encroaching conflict with Germany, the novel was highly influential and is actually credited with the founding of British naval bases at Invergordon and Scapa Flow; newly regarded as strategically important after examination of the scenarios in Childers' text. Winston Churchill later gave the book the credit for persuading public opinion to fund vital measures against the German naval threat.
Contentiously described as the first modern spy thriller, vying for the title with Kipling's 'Kim', published two years earlier.
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Price HK$ 22,000
The London Cyclist Battalion -
A. S. Clark (editor)
1932 - Published for The 25th London (Cyclist) Old Comrades' Association by Forster Groom &, London - First Edition
The thirty-three years from 1887 to 1920 witnessed the conception, birth, growth, adolescence, and premature death of military cycling (as distinct from mere despatch riding) in the British Army.
This scarce work provides a history of military bicycling in the British Army, chronicling the events of the 26th corp., and it’s successor the 25th battalion, including their campaigns in Waziristan, India in 1917, the third Afghan War of 1919, the Amiritsar uprising in 1919, and in Mesopotamia.
Illustrated throughout with photographic plates.
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Price HK$ 2,500
1932 - Published for The 25th London (Cyclist) Old Comrades' Association by Forster Groom &, London - First Edition
The thirty-three years from 1887 to 1920 witnessed the conception, birth, growth, adolescence, and premature death of military cycling (as distinct from mere despatch riding) in the British Army.This scarce work provides a history of military bicycling in the British Army, chronicling the events of the 26th corp., and it’s successor the 25th battalion, including their campaigns in Waziristan, India in 1917, the third Afghan War of 1919, the Amiritsar uprising in 1919, and in Mesopotamia.
Illustrated throughout with photographic plates.
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Price HK$ 2,500
Golf: A Royal & Ancient Game -
Robert Clark (editor)
1875 - R. &, Edinburgh - First Edition
A near fine first edition of this history of golf, a rare golfing classic, in original cloth without repair or restoration. Formerly from the libraries of John Hamilton Buchanan (1861-1919) and Scottish lawyer John Kermack (1847-99), with their engraved armourial bookplates.
Illustrated with nine plates from paintings, engravings, etchings, etc., including two duotone lithographs, one colour plan of the golf course over St. Andrew's Links and frontispiece, with tissue-guards; plus numerous wood engravings and facsimiles throughout the text; title page with decorative gilt margins; decorative initials. Illustrations by Clark Stanton, C.A. Doyle and G. Aikman.
‘This book is one of the masterpieces of golf literature. It is also one of the most important contributions to the library of golf and one of the most handsomely produced of all golf books, even to this date.’ – Joseph Murdoch, ‘The Library of Golf 1743-1966’.
‘Widely regarded as one of the most significant, as well as best produced, early books on the history of golf, Clark's work is a compilation of the earliest literature on the game. In assembling the book, Clark, a well-known Edinburgh printer, collected early press reports, biographical sketches, significant acts of Parliament, municipal records, diaries, and extracts from the minutes of the earliest golf clubs. The book also contains obituary of Allan Robertson.’
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Price HK$ 18,000
1875 - R. &, Edinburgh - First Edition
A near fine first edition of this history of golf, a rare golfing classic, in original cloth without repair or restoration. Formerly from the libraries of John Hamilton Buchanan (1861-1919) and Scottish lawyer John Kermack (1847-99), with their engraved armourial bookplates.Illustrated with nine plates from paintings, engravings, etchings, etc., including two duotone lithographs, one colour plan of the golf course over St. Andrew's Links and frontispiece, with tissue-guards; plus numerous wood engravings and facsimiles throughout the text; title page with decorative gilt margins; decorative initials. Illustrations by Clark Stanton, C.A. Doyle and G. Aikman.
‘This book is one of the masterpieces of golf literature. It is also one of the most important contributions to the library of golf and one of the most handsomely produced of all golf books, even to this date.’ – Joseph Murdoch, ‘The Library of Golf 1743-1966’.
‘Widely regarded as one of the most significant, as well as best produced, early books on the history of golf, Clark's work is a compilation of the earliest literature on the game. In assembling the book, Clark, a well-known Edinburgh printer, collected early press reports, biographical sketches, significant acts of Parliament, municipal records, diaries, and extracts from the minutes of the earliest golf clubs. The book also contains obituary of Allan Robertson.’
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Price HK$ 18,000
Laws of Cricket Illustrated -
Charles Chas Crombie (illustrator)
1907 - Kegan Paul, London - First Edition
A superb large folio (38.5 x 27.5 cm) of Crombie’s well known ‘Laws of Cricket’ containing twelve magnificent colour plates of humorous interpretations of the MCC laws. The last plate demonstrating the recently amended rule 13, with the Umpire calling ‘Over’ after six balls (prior to 1900 an ‘Over’ consisted of five balls).
Crombie was commissioned to produce these for ‘Perrier’ ‘The Champagne of Table Waters’, and the work includes Perrier’s additional full page colour advertisement at the rear, and smaller colour Perrier advertisements to the verso of each of Crombie’s illustrations, the latter only present in the first edition.
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Price HK$ 15,000
1907 - Kegan Paul, London - First Edition
A superb large folio (38.5 x 27.5 cm) of Crombie’s well known ‘Laws of Cricket’ containing twelve magnificent colour plates of humorous interpretations of the MCC laws. The last plate demonstrating the recently amended rule 13, with the Umpire calling ‘Over’ after six balls (prior to 1900 an ‘Over’ consisted of five balls).Crombie was commissioned to produce these for ‘Perrier’ ‘The Champagne of Table Waters’, and the work includes Perrier’s additional full page colour advertisement at the rear, and smaller colour Perrier advertisements to the verso of each of Crombie’s illustrations, the latter only present in the first edition.
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Price HK$ 15,000
My Partner, Ben Hogan -
Jimmy Demaret
1954 - McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York - First Edition
First edition of this classic biographical story of the life of golfing legend Ben Hogan, by his friend and fellow Texan Jimmy Demaret. Illustrated throughout with photographs and drawings. Scarce in the complete and unclipped example of the delicate dust jacket.
‘The story of one of our greatest players, related with some wit and aplomb by one who was a pretty fair golfer himself.’ - Joseph Murdoch, The Library of Golf.
In 1948, Jimmy “The Wardrobe” Demaret (also known for his vivacious style) broke the U.S. Open scoring record at the Riviera Country Club, but still lost by two strokes to Hogan. It was little known that Demaret was one of Ben Hogan’s few and closest friends. In this regard, the book offers a lively and appreciative run through Hogan’s life and game.
Demaret himself was a three time Masters champion and published this book the year after Hogan won his 1953 Grand Slam winning the Masters, the U.S. Open, and the British Open in the same year.
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Price HK$ 5,000
1954 - McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York - First Edition
First edition of this classic biographical story of the life of golfing legend Ben Hogan, by his friend and fellow Texan Jimmy Demaret. Illustrated throughout with photographs and drawings. Scarce in the complete and unclipped example of the delicate dust jacket.‘The story of one of our greatest players, related with some wit and aplomb by one who was a pretty fair golfer himself.’ - Joseph Murdoch, The Library of Golf.
In 1948, Jimmy “The Wardrobe” Demaret (also known for his vivacious style) broke the U.S. Open scoring record at the Riviera Country Club, but still lost by two strokes to Hogan. It was little known that Demaret was one of Ben Hogan’s few and closest friends. In this regard, the book offers a lively and appreciative run through Hogan’s life and game.
Demaret himself was a three time Masters champion and published this book the year after Hogan won his 1953 Grand Slam winning the Masters, the U.S. Open, and the British Open in the same year.
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Price HK$ 5,000
The Art of Wave Riding -
Ron Drummond
1931 - Ronald B. Drummond, Hollywood - First Edition
This is considered the first book published on surfing unless you count Alfred Gurney’s 1914 handmade pictorial book ‘Surf Riders of Hawaii’. An essential and rare work for any surfing collection.
A fine copy in the original silk-screened pictorial wrappers, self-published in an edition of only 500 copies, it is described by Mark Hayes in his checklist of Early Surfing Books as "beyond rare”. With detailed instructions on body surfing interspersed with thirteen black-and-white photographs from Venice Beach, written to address ‘the pitiful sight of thousands of swimmers, young and old, men and women. always trying and never succeeding’ and to promote ‘this superb sport which in my opinion is still in its initial stages of development’.
‘A powerful stroke, speed, good endurance, and the absence of fear are the primary requisites.’
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Price HK$ 28,000
1931 - Ronald B. Drummond, Hollywood - First Edition
This is considered the first book published on surfing unless you count Alfred Gurney’s 1914 handmade pictorial book ‘Surf Riders of Hawaii’. An essential and rare work for any surfing collection.A fine copy in the original silk-screened pictorial wrappers, self-published in an edition of only 500 copies, it is described by Mark Hayes in his checklist of Early Surfing Books as "beyond rare”. With detailed instructions on body surfing interspersed with thirteen black-and-white photographs from Venice Beach, written to address ‘the pitiful sight of thousands of swimmers, young and old, men and women. always trying and never succeeding’ and to promote ‘this superb sport which in my opinion is still in its initial stages of development’.
‘A powerful stroke, speed, good endurance, and the absence of fear are the primary requisites.’
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Price HK$ 28,000
A Complete and Universal Dictionary of Signals for the boats of Her Majesty's Fleet -
Arthur Parry Eardley-Wilmot, Commander Royal Navy
1850 - W. J. Cleaver, London - First Edition
A rare first edition of Vice-Admiral A.P. Eardley-Wilmot’s compendious Dictionary of Signals.
Inscribed by Eardley-Wilmot to Sir John Cam Hobhouse, who was a close of friend of Lord Byron and the ‘best man’ at Byron’s wedding.
In contemporary binding and illustrated with twenty two plates of which eight are hand-coloured. Housed in later bespoke slipcase of card and carbon fibre sail material.
Besides an ordinary flag-signalling plan, it contains the following systems: Homograph to be made with a sword -Tiller-StickStretcher, and a Handkerchief or Flag; with Hats, Caps, Balls or Flags rolled up; with Oars, Boathooks, Stretchers or Thwarts; numbered Balls; Flags and Yards for Calms; Distant Signals; Signal Box for Day and Night; Semaphoric Signs (Pasley’s); Telegraph with Four Balls, Boat Hook Staff and Mast; and Semaphore with Boats’ Thwarts.
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Price HK$ 12,000
1850 - W. J. Cleaver, London - First Edition
A rare first edition of Vice-Admiral A.P. Eardley-Wilmot’s compendious Dictionary of Signals.Inscribed by Eardley-Wilmot to Sir John Cam Hobhouse, who was a close of friend of Lord Byron and the ‘best man’ at Byron’s wedding.
In contemporary binding and illustrated with twenty two plates of which eight are hand-coloured. Housed in later bespoke slipcase of card and carbon fibre sail material.
Besides an ordinary flag-signalling plan, it contains the following systems: Homograph to be made with a sword -Tiller-StickStretcher, and a Handkerchief or Flag; with Hats, Caps, Balls or Flags rolled up; with Oars, Boathooks, Stretchers or Thwarts; numbered Balls; Flags and Yards for Calms; Distant Signals; Signal Box for Day and Night; Semaphoric Signs (Pasley’s); Telegraph with Four Balls, Boat Hook Staff and Mast; and Semaphore with Boats’ Thwarts.
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Price HK$ 12,000