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Round the Coast -
Anonymous
1895 - George Newnes Limited, London - First Edition
‘We love our haunts by the sea; the poorest among us regards his favourite resort pretty much as the rich man does his country seat – as a place of relaxation from the hurly-burly of life, and yet a home withal.’
A handsome and large (35.5 x 27.5 cm) folio album of photographs of sea side places around the coast of England and Ireland, including Dover, Brighton, Guernsey, Plymouth, and Scarborough, among many others, profusely illustrated throughout with 284 photographs, descriptive passages accompanying each one.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1895 - George Newnes Limited, London - First Edition
‘We love our haunts by the sea; the poorest among us regards his favourite resort pretty much as the rich man does his country seat – as a place of relaxation from the hurly-burly of life, and yet a home withal.’A handsome and large (35.5 x 27.5 cm) folio album of photographs of sea side places around the coast of England and Ireland, including Dover, Brighton, Guernsey, Plymouth, and Scarborough, among many others, profusely illustrated throughout with 284 photographs, descriptive passages accompanying each one.
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Price HK$ 3,000
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
The Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban, and Lord High Chancellor of England -
Sir Francis Bacon, Thomas Birch (editor)
1765 - A. Millar [vol.III: A. Millar and J. and R. Tonson], London - Collected Edition
A scarce complete five quarto volume set of Bacon’s works, volumes I-III in English with Mallet’s ‘Life of Francis Bacon’ and volume III containing Birch’s second enlarged edition of ‘Letters, Characters, Speeches....’, volumes III-IV in Latin.
'One of the major political figures of his time, Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) served in the court of Elizabeth I and ultimately became Lord Chancellor under James I in 1617. A scholar, wit, lawyer and statesman, he wrote widely on politics, philosophy and science - declaring early in his career that 'I have taken all knowledge as my province'.’
Bacon’s argument that the sciences should move away from divine philosophy and embrace empirical observation would forever change the way philosophers and natural scientists interpret their world.
In contemporary bindings, volumes I-IV with engraved frontispieces, all volumes with title pages lettered in red and black and with engraved vignettes. Two folding letterpress charts of ‘The General Distribution of Human Knowledge’ (Volume I p42, and its Latin counterpart in Volume IV, p54).
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Price HK$ 28,000
1765 - A. Millar [vol.III: A. Millar and J. and R. Tonson], London - Collected Edition
A scarce complete five quarto volume set of Bacon’s works, volumes I-III in English with Mallet’s ‘Life of Francis Bacon’ and volume III containing Birch’s second enlarged edition of ‘Letters, Characters, Speeches....’, volumes III-IV in Latin.'One of the major political figures of his time, Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) served in the court of Elizabeth I and ultimately became Lord Chancellor under James I in 1617. A scholar, wit, lawyer and statesman, he wrote widely on politics, philosophy and science - declaring early in his career that 'I have taken all knowledge as my province'.’
Bacon’s argument that the sciences should move away from divine philosophy and embrace empirical observation would forever change the way philosophers and natural scientists interpret their world.
In contemporary bindings, volumes I-IV with engraved frontispieces, all volumes with title pages lettered in red and black and with engraved vignettes. Two folding letterpress charts of ‘The General Distribution of Human Knowledge’ (Volume I p42, and its Latin counterpart in Volume IV, p54).
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Price HK$ 28,000
Paddiana; or, Scraps and Sketches of Irish Life, Present and Past -
Dr. A. Blenkinsop [R.F. Walond]
1847 - Richard Bentley, London - First Edition
A scarce set of two near fine volumes. Entertaining early anecdotes together with a history, and Introduction to Ireland and The Irish.
With titles such as Head-Breaking; Mrs. Fogarty’s Tea Party; Cads, Fools and Beggars; Ronayne’s Ghost; The Green Traveller; The Last Pigtail; Priests: Catholic and Others; Dublin Carmen; and An Irish Stew.
In the original publisher’s gilt and green cloth, each with wood-engraved title-vignette.
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Price HK$ 7,800
1847 - Richard Bentley, London - First Edition
A scarce set of two near fine volumes. Entertaining early anecdotes together with a history, and Introduction to Ireland and The Irish. With titles such as Head-Breaking; Mrs. Fogarty’s Tea Party; Cads, Fools and Beggars; Ronayne’s Ghost; The Green Traveller; The Last Pigtail; Priests: Catholic and Others; Dublin Carmen; and An Irish Stew.
In the original publisher’s gilt and green cloth, each with wood-engraved title-vignette.
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Price HK$ 7,800
Hudibras. With Dr. Grey’s Annotations -
Samuel Butler
1819 - Charles & Henry Baldwyn, London - New Edition, Corrected and Enlarged
Three volumes finely bound in early 20th century full tan calf. In addition to Butler’s ‘satirical polemic upon Roundheads, Puritans, Presbyterians and many of the other factions involved in the English Civil War’, this edition includes ‘The Author’s Life’ and an extensive introductory preface, combined with Zachary Grey’s details annotations throughout.
Illustrated with numerous woodcut vignettes and eight plates.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1819 - Charles & Henry Baldwyn, London - New Edition, Corrected and Enlarged
Three volumes finely bound in early 20th century full tan calf. In addition to Butler’s ‘satirical polemic upon Roundheads, Puritans, Presbyterians and many of the other factions involved in the English Civil War’, this edition includes ‘The Author’s Life’ and an extensive introductory preface, combined with Zachary Grey’s details annotations throughout.Illustrated with numerous woodcut vignettes and eight plates.
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Price HK$ 3,000
The Mildenhall Treasure -
Roald & Ralph Steadman [Illustrator] Dahl
1999 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
A fine copy with an original great big red ink cartoon drawing of Gordon Butcher on the half title page, and signed by Ralph Steadman.
The true story of a Suffolk ploughman, Gordon Butcher, who uncovered the greatest treasure ever found in the British Isles. It was Roman silver of unparalleled beauty and value and, not appreciating what he had discovered, Butcher was savagely cheated out of the fortune that should have been his.
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Price HK$ 4,200
1999 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
A fine copy with an original great big red ink cartoon drawing of Gordon Butcher on the half title page, and signed by Ralph Steadman. The true story of a Suffolk ploughman, Gordon Butcher, who uncovered the greatest treasure ever found in the British Isles. It was Roman silver of unparalleled beauty and value and, not appreciating what he had discovered, Butcher was savagely cheated out of the fortune that should have been his.
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Price HK$ 4,200
RESERVED - A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in the Northern Counties of England and in Scotland -
Reverend Thomas Frognall Dibdin
1838 - Printed for the author by C. Richards, London - First Edition
Dibdin’s two volume bibliographic tour of the libraries of Northern England and Scotland, in contemporary bindings, richly illustrated with in-text engravings, forty full page plates as listed and two more not called for (’Facade of Entrance into the Glasgow Cemetery’ (701) and ‘Seal of Cardinal Beaton and of the University of St. Andrew’ (888))
Full of anecdotes, footnotes that tempt one astray from the text, and Dibdin’s thoughts on a variety of encounters, for example on drinking too much ‘Whiskey’ –
‘We were now then at Dumfries. During and after dinner, I made attacks upon the whiskey in every possible direction: with and without aqueous dilution – with and without saccharine infusion: but to no purpose. “Disguise thyself as thou wilt, still, WHISKEY, still thou art a bitter draught”*. With or without sugar, or water – hot or cold – still thou art brimstone and fire to-day, and fire and brimstone to-morrow. As it was my first, so it was my last, experiment upon this generally seductive liquor with the Scotch. In the everlasting toddy-potations at Glasgow, I could never be brought to hear my part in brandishing a ladle or emptying a rummer. Even its infusion into the punch-bowl there, though that bowl came fresh and foaming from the “cunning” hand of the good Joseph Hunter, Esq. – even then, the slightest infusion of this pellucid dram seemed, to my palate, to poison the whole of its contents. “Ah, sir, but you should just live in the mountains a twelvemonth – and then!” – “Execrate it the more”, replied I. My disputant thought me a “hopeless character:” and I bade a longum vale to whiskey.
*Substitute “slavery” for “whiskey”, and the quotation is from Sterne. They place very small bottles or decanters of this liquor by the side of a glass, before you; and I believe sixpence will supply you with a portion . . . sufficient to make your head ache for a week. It is poetically called “MOUNTAIN DEW” !’ [Volume II page 446].
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Price HK$ 5,000
1838 - Printed for the author by C. Richards, London - First Edition
Dibdin’s two volume bibliographic tour of the libraries of Northern England and Scotland, in contemporary bindings, richly illustrated with in-text engravings, forty full page plates as listed and two more not called for (’Facade of Entrance into the Glasgow Cemetery’ (701) and ‘Seal of Cardinal Beaton and of the University of St. Andrew’ (888)) Full of anecdotes, footnotes that tempt one astray from the text, and Dibdin’s thoughts on a variety of encounters, for example on drinking too much ‘Whiskey’ –
‘We were now then at Dumfries. During and after dinner, I made attacks upon the whiskey in every possible direction: with and without aqueous dilution – with and without saccharine infusion: but to no purpose. “Disguise thyself as thou wilt, still, WHISKEY, still thou art a bitter draught”*. With or without sugar, or water – hot or cold – still thou art brimstone and fire to-day, and fire and brimstone to-morrow. As it was my first, so it was my last, experiment upon this generally seductive liquor with the Scotch. In the everlasting toddy-potations at Glasgow, I could never be brought to hear my part in brandishing a ladle or emptying a rummer. Even its infusion into the punch-bowl there, though that bowl came fresh and foaming from the “cunning” hand of the good Joseph Hunter, Esq. – even then, the slightest infusion of this pellucid dram seemed, to my palate, to poison the whole of its contents. “Ah, sir, but you should just live in the mountains a twelvemonth – and then!” – “Execrate it the more”, replied I. My disputant thought me a “hopeless character:” and I bade a longum vale to whiskey.
*Substitute “slavery” for “whiskey”, and the quotation is from Sterne. They place very small bottles or decanters of this liquor by the side of a glass, before you; and I believe sixpence will supply you with a portion . . . sufficient to make your head ache for a week. It is poetically called “MOUNTAIN DEW” !’ [Volume II page 446].
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Price HK$ 5,000
Yorkshire: Coast and Moorland Scenes -
Gordon Home
1904 - A. & C. Black, London - First Edition. Number 84 of 200 of the Edition de Luxe.
A scarce copy of the large edition deluxe. One of 200 copies signed by the Gordon Home.
Yorkshire described at the beginning of the 20th Century, over 450 pages beautifully illustrated with 32 full colour plates from paintings by Gordon Home, each with descriptive tissue guard. Fold-out map to the rear.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1904 - A. & C. Black, London - First Edition. Number 84 of 200 of the Edition de Luxe.
A scarce copy of the large edition deluxe. One of 200 copies signed by the Gordon Home. Yorkshire described at the beginning of the 20th Century, over 450 pages beautifully illustrated with 32 full colour plates from paintings by Gordon Home, each with descriptive tissue guard. Fold-out map to the rear.
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Price HK$ 3,000