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A Voyage Round the World, In the Years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV. -
George Anson, Richard Walter
1748 - Printed for the Author, London - First Edition
A finely bound ‘Royal Paper’ copy of this beautifully illustrated work which ‘has long occupied a distinguished position as a masterpiece of descriptive travel’ (Hill), and ‘a model of what such literature should be’ (Cox).
Containing forty-two copper-engraved maps, charts, views, and coastal profiles, all but one folding, including views of Brazilian harbours and cities, Acapulco, Tenian, Port St. Julian, Magellan’s Straits, the Bay of Manila, Saipan, Lama, Lantau, Chinese junks, and others, and large folding maps of South America, the Philippines, and the Pacific Ocean, as well as a twelve-page subscriber list, and the two-page instructions to the binder.
England, at war with Spain in 1739, equipped eight ships under the command of George Anson to harass the Spaniards on the western coast of South America for the purpose of cutting off Spanish supplies of wealth from the Pacific area. Seven ships were lost and of 900 men 600 perished. As usual, scurvy took an appalling toll.
The Spanish fleet sent to oppose the British ran into storms; provisions ran out and many ships were wrecked. Thus the primary objective of the expedition was not attained. Anson, however, continued taking prizes off the Pacific coast during 1741-42, and in June 1743, near the Philippines, he captured the Spanish galleon Nostra Seigniora de Cabadonga and its treasure of £400,000 sterling, which allowed Anson and the surviving members of his crew to reach England much the richer.
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Price HK$ 59,000
1748 - Printed for the Author, London - First Edition
A finely bound ‘Royal Paper’ copy of this beautifully illustrated work which ‘has long occupied a distinguished position as a masterpiece of descriptive travel’ (Hill), and ‘a model of what such literature should be’ (Cox).Containing forty-two copper-engraved maps, charts, views, and coastal profiles, all but one folding, including views of Brazilian harbours and cities, Acapulco, Tenian, Port St. Julian, Magellan’s Straits, the Bay of Manila, Saipan, Lama, Lantau, Chinese junks, and others, and large folding maps of South America, the Philippines, and the Pacific Ocean, as well as a twelve-page subscriber list, and the two-page instructions to the binder.
England, at war with Spain in 1739, equipped eight ships under the command of George Anson to harass the Spaniards on the western coast of South America for the purpose of cutting off Spanish supplies of wealth from the Pacific area. Seven ships were lost and of 900 men 600 perished. As usual, scurvy took an appalling toll.
The Spanish fleet sent to oppose the British ran into storms; provisions ran out and many ships were wrecked. Thus the primary objective of the expedition was not attained. Anson, however, continued taking prizes off the Pacific coast during 1741-42, and in June 1743, near the Philippines, he captured the Spanish galleon Nostra Seigniora de Cabadonga and its treasure of £400,000 sterling, which allowed Anson and the surviving members of his crew to reach England much the richer.
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Price HK$ 59,000
Cadet to Commodore -
Albert B. Armitage
1925 - Cassell and Company, London - First Edition
‘This fine personal record shows us the spirit of the British Merchant Service in peace and war, and repeats the unchanging call of the sea. Late Commodore of the P. & 0. Co.'s fleet, Captain Armitage (1864-1943) was not too late, in his early days, to learn the hard discipline of sails, " to shoot the sun," and take a trick at the wheel. Going " into steam," he rose rapidly in rank and took part in two Polar expeditions, with Scott on the Discovery Expedition as second in command, and on the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition to meet up with Nansen.
Here are amusing experiences of passengers, royal or otherwise. We like the alluring advertisement of a small steamship company—" A Surgeon, a Stewardess and an Experienced Cow." The cow, -presumably, knew all about the crying needs of infants-in-arms.’ - from The Spectator review of October 1925.
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Price HK$ 1,400
1925 - Cassell and Company, London - First Edition
‘This fine personal record shows us the spirit of the British Merchant Service in peace and war, and repeats the unchanging call of the sea. Late Commodore of the P. & 0. Co.'s fleet, Captain Armitage (1864-1943) was not too late, in his early days, to learn the hard discipline of sails, " to shoot the sun," and take a trick at the wheel. Going " into steam," he rose rapidly in rank and took part in two Polar expeditions, with Scott on the Discovery Expedition as second in command, and on the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition to meet up with Nansen.Here are amusing experiences of passengers, royal or otherwise. We like the alluring advertisement of a small steamship company—" A Surgeon, a Stewardess and an Experienced Cow." The cow, -presumably, knew all about the crying needs of infants-in-arms.’ - from The Spectator review of October 1925.
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Price HK$ 1,400
The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook Round the World. -
Captain James Cook
1821 - Longman, London
A handsomely bound seven volume set of all of Cook’s three voyages. Illustrated with twenty five striking aquatint plates, including frontispieces in each volume, large folding map, and a table.
‘The famous accounts of Captain Cook’s three voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific books. In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than all his predecessors had done together. He was really the first scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge’. [Hill]
On his first voyage, 25 August 1768 to 12 July 1771, Cook circumnavigated New Zealand and for the first time explored the east coast of Australia, of which he took possession for Great Britain; he also sailed through the straits separating New Guinea and Australia. On the second, and historically most important, voyage (13 July 1772 to 30 July 1775) he began by cruising as far south as possible around the edge of the antarctic ice. He again visited New Zealand and, cruising through the Pacific, discovered, or explored again, many of the islands, in particular New Caledonia, Palmerston and Norfolk Islands, Easter Island, the Marquesas, New Hebrides, Tonga, the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia. The third voyage (11 July 1776 to 4 October 1780) was undertaken to find the North-West Passage from Europe to the East. After again visiting Tasmania, New Zealand and many Pacific Islands, Cook sailed on to North America, discovering on the way the Cook Islands and the Hawaiian group. He charted the North American coast from Oregon as far north as the Bering Strait, where ice turned him back. On the way back the great explorer was killed [in 1779] in a fight with natives in Hawaii.
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Price HK$ 62,000
1821 - Longman, London
A handsomely bound seven volume set of all of Cook’s three voyages. Illustrated with twenty five striking aquatint plates, including frontispieces in each volume, large folding map, and a table.‘The famous accounts of Captain Cook’s three voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific books. In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than all his predecessors had done together. He was really the first scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge’. [Hill]
On his first voyage, 25 August 1768 to 12 July 1771, Cook circumnavigated New Zealand and for the first time explored the east coast of Australia, of which he took possession for Great Britain; he also sailed through the straits separating New Guinea and Australia. On the second, and historically most important, voyage (13 July 1772 to 30 July 1775) he began by cruising as far south as possible around the edge of the antarctic ice. He again visited New Zealand and, cruising through the Pacific, discovered, or explored again, many of the islands, in particular New Caledonia, Palmerston and Norfolk Islands, Easter Island, the Marquesas, New Hebrides, Tonga, the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia. The third voyage (11 July 1776 to 4 October 1780) was undertaken to find the North-West Passage from Europe to the East. After again visiting Tasmania, New Zealand and many Pacific Islands, Cook sailed on to North America, discovering on the way the Cook Islands and the Hawaiian group. He charted the North American coast from Oregon as far north as the Bering Strait, where ice turned him back. On the way back the great explorer was killed [in 1779] in a fight with natives in Hawaii.
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Price HK$ 62,000
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$ 430,000
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$ 430,000
Two Years Before The Mast -
Richard Henry Dana Jr., Hans Alexander Mueller (illustrator)
1947 - The Limited Editions Club, New York - Number 350 of 1, 500 copies. First edition illustrated by Mueller
A finely bound limited edition, signed and numbered by the illustrator. With an introduction by William McFee. Illustrated throughout with colour wood engravings by Hans Alexander Mueller.
‘Dana had to withdraw from Harvard when measles weakened his eyesight; in order to regain his health; he shipped to California as a sailor in 1834. His book has become a classic account of the life and adventures of an ordinary seaman in the American merchant service, as well as the best account of the hide and tallow trade in California.’ Together with its clear picture of California in the years prior to the influx of American settlers in the 1840’s, Two Years Before The Mast is considered invaluable for its descriptions of San Diego, Santa Barbara and Monterey. ‘Dana later became U.S. attorney for the district of Massachusetts, was nominated to the Court of Saint James, and legally represented any negroes arrested in Boston pro-bono.’
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Price HK$ 3,000
1947 - The Limited Editions Club, New York - Number 350 of 1, 500 copies. First edition illustrated by Mueller
A finely bound limited edition, signed and numbered by the illustrator. With an introduction by William McFee. Illustrated throughout with colour wood engravings by Hans Alexander Mueller.‘Dana had to withdraw from Harvard when measles weakened his eyesight; in order to regain his health; he shipped to California as a sailor in 1834. His book has become a classic account of the life and adventures of an ordinary seaman in the American merchant service, as well as the best account of the hide and tallow trade in California.’ Together with its clear picture of California in the years prior to the influx of American settlers in the 1840’s, Two Years Before The Mast is considered invaluable for its descriptions of San Diego, Santa Barbara and Monterey. ‘Dana later became U.S. attorney for the district of Massachusetts, was nominated to the Court of Saint James, and legally represented any negroes arrested in Boston pro-bono.’
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Price HK$ 3,000
Flying Colours -
C.S. Forester
1938 - Michael Joseph Ltd., London - First Separate Edition
The scarce third title in Forester's Horatio Hornblower series. Preceded by a few days by a single volume combining this story with the earlier 'A Ship of the Line'. In the delicate dust jacket without restoration or price-clipping.
Forced to surrender his ship, the Sutherland, after a long and bloody battle, Captain Horatio Hornblower now bides his time as a prisoner in a French fortress. Within days he and his first lieutenant, Bush, who was crippled in the last fight, are to be taken to Paris to be tried on trumped-up charges of violating the laws of war, and most probably executed as part of Napoleon's attempt to rally the war-weary empire behind him. Even if Hornblower escapes this fate and somehow finds his way back to England, he will face court-martial for his surrender of a British ship. As fears for his life and his reputation compete in his mind with worries about his pregnant wife and his possibly widowed lover, the indomitable captain impatiently awaits the chance to make his next move
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Price HK$ 8,500
1938 - Michael Joseph Ltd., London - First Separate Edition
The scarce third title in Forester's Horatio Hornblower series. Preceded by a few days by a single volume combining this story with the earlier 'A Ship of the Line'. In the delicate dust jacket without restoration or price-clipping.Forced to surrender his ship, the Sutherland, after a long and bloody battle, Captain Horatio Hornblower now bides his time as a prisoner in a French fortress. Within days he and his first lieutenant, Bush, who was crippled in the last fight, are to be taken to Paris to be tried on trumped-up charges of violating the laws of war, and most probably executed as part of Napoleon's attempt to rally the war-weary empire behind him. Even if Hornblower escapes this fate and somehow finds his way back to England, he will face court-martial for his surrender of a British ship. As fears for his life and his reputation compete in his mind with worries about his pregnant wife and his possibly widowed lover, the indomitable captain impatiently awaits the chance to make his next move
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Price HK$ 8,500
Lieutenant Hornblower -
C. S. Forester
1952 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
The nineteenth century dawns and the Napoleonic Wars rage as Horatio Hornblower faces the fury of the French and Spanish fleets combined. Amidst the hissing of wet wads, the stifling heat of white-hot cannonshot and the clamour of a mutinous crew, new Lieutenant Hornblower will need all of his seafaring cunning to overcome his first challenge in independent command on the high seas.
‘I find Hornblower admirable, vastly entertaining’ - Sir Winston Churchill.
‘I recommend Forester to every literate I know’ - Ernest Hemingway.
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Price HK$ 1,800
1952 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
The nineteenth century dawns and the Napoleonic Wars rage as Horatio Hornblower faces the fury of the French and Spanish fleets combined. Amidst the hissing of wet wads, the stifling heat of white-hot cannonshot and the clamour of a mutinous crew, new Lieutenant Hornblower will need all of his seafaring cunning to overcome his first challenge in independent command on the high seas.‘I find Hornblower admirable, vastly entertaining’ - Sir Winston Churchill.
‘I recommend Forester to every literate I know’ - Ernest Hemingway.
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Price HK$ 1,800
Hornblower and the Atropos -
C. S. Forester
1953 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
In the wake of a humbling incident aboard a canal boat in the Cotswolds, young Captain Horatio Hornblower arrives in London to take command of the Atropos, a 22-gun sloop barely large enough to require a captain. Her first assignment under Hornblower's command is as flagship for the funeral procession of Lord Nelson. Soon Atropos is part of the Mediterranean Fleet's harassment of Napoleon, recovering treasure that lies deep in Turkish waters and boldly challenging a Spanish frigate several times her size.
‘I recommend Forester to every literate I know’ - Ernest Hemingway.
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Price HK$ 2,000
1953 - Michael Joseph, London - First Edition
In the wake of a humbling incident aboard a canal boat in the Cotswolds, young Captain Horatio Hornblower arrives in London to take command of the Atropos, a 22-gun sloop barely large enough to require a captain. Her first assignment under Hornblower's command is as flagship for the funeral procession of Lord Nelson. Soon Atropos is part of the Mediterranean Fleet's harassment of Napoleon, recovering treasure that lies deep in Turkish waters and boldly challenging a Spanish frigate several times her size.‘I recommend Forester to every literate I know’ - Ernest Hemingway.
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Price HK$ 2,000