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.
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Price HK$ 5,000
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.
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Price HK$ 5,000
The Salmon Rivers and Lochs of Scotland -
William Leadbetter Calderwood
1909 - Edward Arnold, London - First Edition
A finely bound example of this early twentieth century classic and comprehensive work on salmon fishing, with detailed descriptions and personal views of each salmon river and loch, supported with illustrations throughout including four colour plates, thirty-four photographic plates and eighteen full page maps with colour outline.
Calderwood was one of the first to note the danger of overfishing and the importance of Salmon conservation, and what did and did not affect the run of Salmon. He was also the first to show that Salmon could be aged by growth rings on their scales.
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Price HK$ 8,000
1909 - Edward Arnold, London - First Edition
A finely bound example of this early twentieth century classic and comprehensive work on salmon fishing, with detailed descriptions and personal views of each salmon river and loch, supported with illustrations throughout including four colour plates, thirty-four photographic plates and eighteen full page maps with colour outline.Calderwood was one of the first to note the danger of overfishing and the importance of Salmon conservation, and what did and did not affect the run of Salmon. He was also the first to show that Salmon could be aged by growth rings on their scales.
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Price HK$ 8,000
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - with - Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There -
Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]
1874 - Macmillan and Co., London - Early Editions
“Whilst Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were intended for children “fresh from God’s hand”, it is equally enthralling and delightfully magical for adults as they follow Alice on her vibrant adventures escorted by her famous companions. Who can possibly not have been carried away into the fantastically crazy world of the Mad Hatter? Or never have heard of Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Who cannot have been struck by Carroll’s love for sophisticated play with words?.” - Stephanie Chan.
A finely bound pair, in which Tenniel’s illustrations, 42 in Wonderland and 50 in Looking-Glass, perfectly capture Alice’s upside-down world and are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement.
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Price HK$ 50,000
1874 - Macmillan and Co., London - Early Editions
“Whilst Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were intended for children “fresh from God’s hand”, it is equally enthralling and delightfully magical for adults as they follow Alice on her vibrant adventures escorted by her famous companions. Who can possibly not have been carried away into the fantastically crazy world of the Mad Hatter? Or never have heard of Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Who cannot have been struck by Carroll’s love for sophisticated play with words?.” - Stephanie Chan.A finely bound pair, in which Tenniel’s illustrations, 42 in Wonderland and 50 in Looking-Glass, perfectly capture Alice’s upside-down world and are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement.
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Price HK$ 50,000
The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook, with "The Death of Captain Cook" Plate -
James Cook, John Hawkesworth, James King
1773 - Strahan, London - Second Edition, First Edition, Second Edition
A complete set of the best possible editions, superbly bound in full tree calf and with the additional ‘Death of Captain Cook’ drawn by the John Weber who witnessed the dispute and ensuing fight. Eight quarto volumes and the elephant folio volume of plates. Magnificently illustrated with two hundred and five engraved charts and plates, many of which are double page or larger.
There is no greater set of travel works, Cook was the first scientific navigator, these three voyages made great contributions to numerous fields of knowledge,, and did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than his predecessors had done together [Hill].
The first voyage is in its second and best edition, complete with the ‘Directions for placing the cuts’ and the ‘Chart of the Straights of Magellan’, and with the new Preface containing Hawkesworth's virulent eight-page reply to Dalrymple's whining reviews of the first edition, and the whole volume revised by the voyage's astronomer William Wales.
The third voyage is in its second and best edition, with the printing by Hughs (rather than Strahan who printed the first edition) with the text itself entirely re-set. Isaac Smith presenting a set on behalf of Cook's widow in 1821 noted that 'I am desired by Mrs Cook to request your acceptance of the 4 books sent herewith being her Husbands last Voyage round the World, as a mark of her respect the letter press of the second edition being much superior to the first both in paper & letter press' (quoted by Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, 85). King George III's copy of the official account, preserved in the British Library, is also an example of this second edition. This particular set with variant title pages, dated correctly, but without edition statement or vignette of Royal Society medal.
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Price HK$ 500,000
1773 - Strahan, London - Second Edition, First Edition, Second Edition
A complete set of the best possible editions, superbly bound in full tree calf and with the additional ‘Death of Captain Cook’ drawn by the John Weber who witnessed the dispute and ensuing fight. Eight quarto volumes and the elephant folio volume of plates. Magnificently illustrated with two hundred and five engraved charts and plates, many of which are double page or larger.There is no greater set of travel works, Cook was the first scientific navigator, these three voyages made great contributions to numerous fields of knowledge,, and did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than his predecessors had done together [Hill].
The first voyage is in its second and best edition, complete with the ‘Directions for placing the cuts’ and the ‘Chart of the Straights of Magellan’, and with the new Preface containing Hawkesworth's virulent eight-page reply to Dalrymple's whining reviews of the first edition, and the whole volume revised by the voyage's astronomer William Wales.
The third voyage is in its second and best edition, with the printing by Hughs (rather than Strahan who printed the first edition) with the text itself entirely re-set. Isaac Smith presenting a set on behalf of Cook's widow in 1821 noted that 'I am desired by Mrs Cook to request your acceptance of the 4 books sent herewith being her Husbands last Voyage round the World, as a mark of her respect the letter press of the second edition being much superior to the first both in paper & letter press' (quoted by Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, 85). King George III's copy of the official account, preserved in the British Library, is also an example of this second edition. This particular set with variant title pages, dated correctly, but without edition statement or vignette of Royal Society medal.
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Price HK$ 500,000
Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy s Progress -
Charles Dickens ( Boz )
1838 - Richard Bentley, London - First Edition, First Issue
‘Please, Sir, I want some more.’
First edition in fine contemporary bindings, first issue with the 'fireside' plate’ (i.e. Rose, Maylie and Oliver) between pages 312-13, which was suppressed in the second issue. Illustrated throughout with frontispieces and twenty-one plates etched by George Cruikshank.
Dickens was severely criticised for introducing criminals and prostitutes in Oliver Twist to which he responded - ‘I saw no reason, when I wrote this book, why the very dregs of life, so long as their speech did not offend the ear, should not serve the purpose of a moral, at least as well as its froth and cream’.
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Price HK$ 32,000
1838 - Richard Bentley, London - First Edition, First Issue
‘Please, Sir, I want some more.’ First edition in fine contemporary bindings, first issue with the 'fireside' plate’ (i.e. Rose, Maylie and Oliver) between pages 312-13, which was suppressed in the second issue. Illustrated throughout with frontispieces and twenty-one plates etched by George Cruikshank.
Dickens was severely criticised for introducing criminals and prostitutes in Oliver Twist to which he responded - ‘I saw no reason, when I wrote this book, why the very dregs of life, so long as their speech did not offend the ear, should not serve the purpose of a moral, at least as well as its froth and cream’.
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Price HK$ 32,000
Edmund Dulac's Picture-Book for the French Red Cross -
Edmund Dulac
1915 - Published for The Daily Telegraph by Hodder and Stoughton, London. New York. Toronto - First Edition
A sumptuously bound first edition of this magically illustrated compilation of fairy tales, with nineteen full-page tipped-in colour plates, together with a tipped-in black and white portrait of Dulac.
Presenting seventeen fairy tales, poems and songs including – Sinbad the Sailor, the Three Kings of Orient, The Lady Badoura, The Story of the Bird Feng, The Real Princess, My Lisette, The Nightingale, Cinderella, Aucassin and Nicolette, Blue Beard, and Jusef and Asenath.
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Price HK$ 8,000
1915 - Published for The Daily Telegraph by Hodder and Stoughton, London. New York. Toronto - First Edition
A sumptuously bound first edition of this magically illustrated compilation of fairy tales, with nineteen full-page tipped-in colour plates, together with a tipped-in black and white portrait of Dulac.Presenting seventeen fairy tales, poems and songs including – Sinbad the Sailor, the Three Kings of Orient, The Lady Badoura, The Story of the Bird Feng, The Real Princess, My Lisette, The Nightingale, Cinderella, Aucassin and Nicolette, Blue Beard, and Jusef and Asenath.
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Price HK$ 8,000
The Life of an Actor. Dedicated to Edmund Kean, Esq. The Poetical Descriptions by T. Greenwood. Embellished with Twenty-seven Characteristic Scenes, etched by Theodore Lane; Enriched also with Several Original Designs on Wood, executed by Mr. Thompson -
Pierce Egan, T. Greenwood, Theodore Lane (illustrator)
1825 - Printed for C.S. Arnold, London - First Edition
A finely bound example of Pierce Egan’s wonderful and amusing novel centred around Peregrine Proteus, and his various highs and lows attempting to pursue a career on the stage. Dedicated to Edmund Kean (1789-1833) the greatest of English tragic actors, a turbulent genius noted as much for his megalomania and ungovernable behaviour as for his portrayals of villains in Shakespearean plays.
Illustrated with twenty-seven hand-coloured aquatint plates by Theodore Lane and nine woodcut engravings by John Thompson (1785-1866).
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Price HK$ 15,000
1825 - Printed for C.S. Arnold, London - First Edition
A finely bound example of Pierce Egan’s wonderful and amusing novel centred around Peregrine Proteus, and his various highs and lows attempting to pursue a career on the stage. Dedicated to Edmund Kean (1789-1833) the greatest of English tragic actors, a turbulent genius noted as much for his megalomania and ungovernable behaviour as for his portrayals of villains in Shakespearean plays.Illustrated with twenty-seven hand-coloured aquatint plates by Theodore Lane and nine woodcut engravings by John Thompson (1785-1866).
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Price HK$ 15,000
The Antiquities of Scotland -
Francis Grose
1797 - Hooper &, London - First Hooper &
Two magnificently illustrated large volumes of this comprehensive work, with 190 full page engraved plates, large engraved folding Index Map to the Antiquities of Scotland. ‘Shewing the Situation of Every Building Described in this Work’, two engraved title pages, and one in text Plan of Druidical Stone.
Grose (1731-91), English antiquary draughtsman and lexicographer, initiated the eighteenth-century's most extensive series of published illustrations of ancient monuments.
In 1788 he began the first of several tours of Scotland in order to produce The Antiquities of Scotland. It was on the second of these tours, in summer 1789, that he met and immediately formed a friendship with the poet Robert Burns. Burns met him while he was staying with Robert Riddell at the Friar's Carse, collecting material for his Scottish work. Burns suggested to him that he should include Alloway Kirk in his Scottish Antiquities, and Grose agreed on condition that Burns provided a witch tale to go with his drawing. In June 1790, Burns sent Grose a prose tale with a variant in a letter to Grose, following it up with a rhymed version, "Tam o' Shanter" (see Volume II, page 31).
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Price HK$ 8,000
1797 - Hooper &, London - First Hooper &
Two magnificently illustrated large volumes of this comprehensive work, with 190 full page engraved plates, large engraved folding Index Map to the Antiquities of Scotland. ‘Shewing the Situation of Every Building Described in this Work’, two engraved title pages, and one in text Plan of Druidical Stone.Grose (1731-91), English antiquary draughtsman and lexicographer, initiated the eighteenth-century's most extensive series of published illustrations of ancient monuments.
In 1788 he began the first of several tours of Scotland in order to produce The Antiquities of Scotland. It was on the second of these tours, in summer 1789, that he met and immediately formed a friendship with the poet Robert Burns. Burns met him while he was staying with Robert Riddell at the Friar's Carse, collecting material for his Scottish work. Burns suggested to him that he should include Alloway Kirk in his Scottish Antiquities, and Grose agreed on condition that Burns provided a witch tale to go with his drawing. In June 1790, Burns sent Grose a prose tale with a variant in a letter to Grose, following it up with a rhymed version, "Tam o' Shanter" (see Volume II, page 31).
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Price HK$ 8,000