A Collection of eight early Tasmanian Almanacs - consisting of - The Tasmanian Royal Kalendar, Colonial Register, and Almanack. 1849 compiled by James Wood - with - seven editions of Walch’s Tasmanian Almanac, and Guide to Tasmania for 1866, 1871, 1872, 1874, 1882, 1885, and 1887 -
1849 - Henry Dowling, Launceston - First Editions
Eight of these scarce little Almanacs, beginning with James Wood’s 1849 ‘Tasmanian Royal Kalendar’. The first to be produced by Wood after James Ross’ 1848 printing.
Following on from Wood in 1863, J. Walch produced their ‘Tasmanian Almanac’, presented here are seven of these, from the fourth issue of 1866 in a later binding, and six further printings all in their original gilt and red cloth covers, so commonly referred to as the ‘red book’, each housed in a custom clamshell case. Regularly referenced and shelved in the tough climate of Tasmania over 150 years ago, examples in original bright cloth are exceptionally scarce.
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Price HK$ 15,000
1849 - Henry Dowling, Launceston - First Editions
Eight of these scarce little Almanacs, beginning with James Wood’s 1849 ‘Tasmanian Royal Kalendar’. The first to be produced by Wood after James Ross’ 1848 printing.Following on from Wood in 1863, J. Walch produced their ‘Tasmanian Almanac’, presented here are seven of these, from the fourth issue of 1866 in a later binding, and six further printings all in their original gilt and red cloth covers, so commonly referred to as the ‘red book’, each housed in a custom clamshell case. Regularly referenced and shelved in the tough climate of Tasmania over 150 years ago, examples in original bright cloth are exceptionally scarce.
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Price HK$ 15,000
The Hobart Town Almanack for the Year 1832. With Embellishments -
1831-2 - Printed by James Ross, Hobart Town - Only Edition
A fine and extremely rare example of this 1832 Tasmanian almanac, the fourth the to be printed by the enterprising James Ross, all of which are scarce. Ross competed continuously with Andrew Bent, who, in 1824 produced the first Almanack in Tasmania with Andrew Sorrell. From 1929 to Ross took over, producing these annuals which where essential for the development of local agricultural and trading enterprises. See the attached biography for the full details of Ross’s extraordinary life.
Illustrated with a folding colour ‘Plan of Lanceston and its Vicinity’ (21.2x32cm), an engraved title page with vignette of cockatoos, a hand-coloured folding plate of flag signals, four single page black and white engravings, together with several wood engraved vignettes.
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Price HK$ 12,000
1831-2 - Printed by James Ross, Hobart Town - Only Edition
A fine and extremely rare example of this 1832 Tasmanian almanac, the fourth the to be printed by the enterprising James Ross, all of which are scarce. Ross competed continuously with Andrew Bent, who, in 1824 produced the first Almanack in Tasmania with Andrew Sorrell. From 1929 to Ross took over, producing these annuals which where essential for the development of local agricultural and trading enterprises. See the attached biography for the full details of Ross’s extraordinary life.Illustrated with a folding colour ‘Plan of Lanceston and its Vicinity’ (21.2x32cm), an engraved title page with vignette of cockatoos, a hand-coloured folding plate of flag signals, four single page black and white engravings, together with several wood engraved vignettes.
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Price HK$ 12,000
By-laws of the Zetland Lodge, No. 525, Hongkong -
1870 - Printed at the China Magazine Office, Hong Kong - Only Printing
Rare and near fine example.
Beginning with a list of the ‘Officers for the year, 1870’ which provides an interesting cross-section of Hong Kong figures:-
1. Francis Douglas (1833–1874) - Superintendent of Victoria Gaol (now part of Tai Kwun).
2. H. O'Hara who was the lead agent for the Tudor Company, ice traders, located on Ice House Street
3. Count Hans Kiaer, a Danish merchant, broker, and Swedish-Norwegian Consul. He is buried in the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley.
4. John G. Hodgson, assistant accountant at HSBC.
5. Daniel Edmund Caldwell, established his own law firm, Caldwell & Co., which later became Caldwell & Wilkinson, and then Wilkinson & Grist, which remains one of Hong Kong's oldest law firms today.
6. Edmund Richard Holmes, Manager of the Hongkong Hotel, the city's first luxury hotel, located at the intersection of Pedder Street and Queen's Road Central.
7. John Fairbairn, who worked for Lane, Crawford & Co.
8. Charles Frederick Augustus Sangster, a prominent colonial civil servant, legal official, and Hong Kong’s first professional pipe organist, and organist and choirmaster at St. John's Cathedral, playing the colony's first major pipe organ. He also served as a Clerk of the Supreme Court and a Deputy Sheriff of the colony.
9. James Henry MacLehose, a prominent merchant, later opening the wine merchants MacEwen, Frickel & Co.
10. F. A. Quin, was Assistant Superintendent of Police when this was printed.
11. Robert Reed, was a cargo-boat inspector under the Harbour Master’s Office.
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Price HK$ 6,500
1870 - Printed at the China Magazine Office, Hong Kong - Only Printing
Rare and near fine example.Beginning with a list of the ‘Officers for the year, 1870’ which provides an interesting cross-section of Hong Kong figures:-
1. Francis Douglas (1833–1874) - Superintendent of Victoria Gaol (now part of Tai Kwun).
2. H. O'Hara who was the lead agent for the Tudor Company, ice traders, located on Ice House Street
3. Count Hans Kiaer, a Danish merchant, broker, and Swedish-Norwegian Consul. He is buried in the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley.
4. John G. Hodgson, assistant accountant at HSBC.
5. Daniel Edmund Caldwell, established his own law firm, Caldwell & Co., which later became Caldwell & Wilkinson, and then Wilkinson & Grist, which remains one of Hong Kong's oldest law firms today.
6. Edmund Richard Holmes, Manager of the Hongkong Hotel, the city's first luxury hotel, located at the intersection of Pedder Street and Queen's Road Central.
7. John Fairbairn, who worked for Lane, Crawford & Co.
8. Charles Frederick Augustus Sangster, a prominent colonial civil servant, legal official, and Hong Kong’s first professional pipe organist, and organist and choirmaster at St. John's Cathedral, playing the colony's first major pipe organ. He also served as a Clerk of the Supreme Court and a Deputy Sheriff of the colony.
9. James Henry MacLehose, a prominent merchant, later opening the wine merchants MacEwen, Frickel & Co.
10. F. A. Quin, was Assistant Superintendent of Police when this was printed.
11. Robert Reed, was a cargo-boat inspector under the Harbour Master’s Office.
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Price HK$ 6,500
By-laws of the Zetland Lodge, No. 525, of Free and Accepted Masons, holding warrant under the United Grand Lodge of England. Revised and passed 1st November, A.L. 5866, A.D. 1866 -
1866 - Printed by A. Shortrede & Co., Hong Kong - Only Printing
A very fine example of this rare printing of the By-laws of Zetland Lodge.
Separated into three parts, being:-
1. ‘By-laws of the Zetland Lodge, No. 525. - Approved, H. Murray, District Grand Master.’
2. ‘The Rise and Purposes of Speculative Masonry, being an Address delivered to the Brethren of the Zetland Lodge, No. 525, Hongkong on the 14th September, A.L. 5866, A.D. 1866 by R. W. Brother Henry Murray, District Grand Master of British Freemasonry, and Grand Superintendent of English Royal Arch Masons, in China.’
3. ‘The Charges of a Free-Mason: Extracted from the Antient Records of Lodges Beyond the Sea, and those of England, Scotland and Ireland, for the use of Lodges, to be read at the Making of New Brethren, or when the Master shall order it.’
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Price HK$ 8,000
1866 - Printed by A. Shortrede & Co., Hong Kong - Only Printing
A very fine example of this rare printing of the By-laws of Zetland Lodge. Separated into three parts, being:-
1. ‘By-laws of the Zetland Lodge, No. 525. - Approved, H. Murray, District Grand Master.’
2. ‘The Rise and Purposes of Speculative Masonry, being an Address delivered to the Brethren of the Zetland Lodge, No. 525, Hongkong on the 14th September, A.L. 5866, A.D. 1866 by R. W. Brother Henry Murray, District Grand Master of British Freemasonry, and Grand Superintendent of English Royal Arch Masons, in China.’
3. ‘The Charges of a Free-Mason: Extracted from the Antient Records of Lodges Beyond the Sea, and those of England, Scotland and Ireland, for the use of Lodges, to be read at the Making of New Brethren, or when the Master shall order it.’
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Price HK$ 8,000
The Education of Henry Adams: An Autobiography -
Henry Adams
1918 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York - First Trade Edition
A fine first trade edition of Henry Adams influential and Pulitzer-winning autobiography, that records the struggle of the Bostonian Henry Adams (1838–1918), in his later years, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth, whilst charting the great transformation in American life during the so-called Gilded Age.
First circulated privately in a run of 100 copies, and then published here posthumously and with an added preface by Henry Cabot Lodge. The Modern Library placed it first in a list of the top 100 English-language non-fiction books of the 20th century.
Housed in a bespoke leather clamshell case.
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Price HK$ 5,000
1918 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York - First Trade Edition
A fine first trade edition of Henry Adams influential and Pulitzer-winning autobiography, that records the struggle of the Bostonian Henry Adams (1838–1918), in his later years, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth, whilst charting the great transformation in American life during the so-called Gilded Age.First circulated privately in a run of 100 copies, and then published here posthumously and with an added preface by Henry Cabot Lodge. The Modern Library placed it first in a list of the top 100 English-language non-fiction books of the 20th century.
Housed in a bespoke leather clamshell case.
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Price HK$ 5,000
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men -
James Agee, Walker Evans
1941 - Houghton, Boston - First Edition
First edition of what is considered one of the most influential works on the great depression and collaborations between author and photographer, of all time. In a superior and thus scarce dust jacket without restoration or price clipping. Illustrated with 31 photographs by Walker Evans.
Eclipsed by Steinbeck’s ‘Grapes of Wrath’ and only selling 1,000 copies on publication, Agee’s ferocious portrait of life among American sharecroppers remains the true classic of the Great Depression. [The Guardian Newspaper, 2008]
‘In the summer of 1936, Agee and Evans set out on assignment for Fortune magazine to explore the daily lives of sharecroppers in the South. Their journey would prove an extraordinary collaboration and a watershed literary event. This unsparing record of place, of the people who shaped the land, and of the rhythm of their lives today stands as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.’
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Price HK$ 32,000
1941 - Houghton, Boston - First Edition
First edition of what is considered one of the most influential works on the great depression and collaborations between author and photographer, of all time. In a superior and thus scarce dust jacket without restoration or price clipping. Illustrated with 31 photographs by Walker Evans.Eclipsed by Steinbeck’s ‘Grapes of Wrath’ and only selling 1,000 copies on publication, Agee’s ferocious portrait of life among American sharecroppers remains the true classic of the Great Depression. [The Guardian Newspaper, 2008]
‘In the summer of 1936, Agee and Evans set out on assignment for Fortune magazine to explore the daily lives of sharecroppers in the South. Their journey would prove an extraordinary collaboration and a watershed literary event. This unsparing record of place, of the people who shaped the land, and of the rhythm of their lives today stands as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.’
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Price HK$ 32,000
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Inscribed -
Maya Angelou
1969 - Random House, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition signed and inscribed by Maya Angelou: ‘Joy! The caged bird sings of freedom.’
‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ marks the first volume in what would ultimately become a seven volume autobiography. It was written in the months following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on 4 April 1968 - coincidentally, also Maya Angelou's birthday - at the suggestion of James Baldwin, as a way of working through her grief and depression over King's death. Baldwin would later call the resulting work "a Biblical study of life in the midst of death." Its themes of identity, racism, trauma, and literacy led to equal parts acclaim and criticism, with the book hailed as one of the greatest works of biography ever produced by an American author and one of the most frequently banned or challenged books in the United States.
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Price HK$ 30,000
1969 - Random House, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition signed and inscribed by Maya Angelou: ‘Joy! The caged bird sings of freedom.’‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ marks the first volume in what would ultimately become a seven volume autobiography. It was written in the months following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on 4 April 1968 - coincidentally, also Maya Angelou's birthday - at the suggestion of James Baldwin, as a way of working through her grief and depression over King's death. Baldwin would later call the resulting work "a Biblical study of life in the midst of death." Its themes of identity, racism, trauma, and literacy led to equal parts acclaim and criticism, with the book hailed as one of the greatest works of biography ever produced by an American author and one of the most frequently banned or challenged books in the United States.
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Price HK$ 30,000
The Works -
Jane Austen
1926 - At the Clarendon Press, Oxford - Second Edition Thus
'I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.'
This elegantly bound five volume Oxford edition, illustrated throughout, contains all of Austen's famous novels, as well as extensive introductions, appendixes and addenda, including 'Miss Austen's English', 'Modes of Address', 'Carriages and Travel', 'The Topography of Bath', a biographical note on the author, and 'The Mysteries of Udolpho'.
‘Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of everybody's character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone.’
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Price HK$ 18,000
1926 - At the Clarendon Press, Oxford - Second Edition Thus
'I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.'This elegantly bound five volume Oxford edition, illustrated throughout, contains all of Austen's famous novels, as well as extensive introductions, appendixes and addenda, including 'Miss Austen's English', 'Modes of Address', 'Carriages and Travel', 'The Topography of Bath', a biographical note on the author, and 'The Mysteries of Udolpho'.
‘Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of everybody's character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone.’
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Price HK$ 18,000