London Olympia Catalogue

London Olympia Fair List 2010

[CHINA TREATY], Tratado de Amizade e Commercio Entre Portugal e a China : celebrado em Pekim em 1.⁰ de Dezembro de 1887. [Treaty of Amity and Commerce Between Portugal and China].
Shanghai: Noronha, 1888. First Edition. Quarto. [ii], 50, [24]pp. Period green gilt tooled quarter straight grained sheep
with marbled boards. A very good copy.

Important treaty by which China formally ceded sovereignty over Macao to Portugal, in exchange for Portuguese cooperation in collecting duties on opium exported from Macao to China. The treaty also includes articles concerning open access to all Chinese ports, availability of Chinese servants to Portuguese merchants, restrictions on visitations to the interior of China, and general agreements regarding trade and mercantile pursuits. The text of this treaty is printed first in Portuguese, then in English for arbitration purposes and finally in Chinese. Very rare work as only two copies found in Worldcat.

$1500USD

[CID], [Francisco Javier]. Retrato de la Tarantula Macho y Hembra, de los Ovarios y Nido que Fabrican: Su Historia Natural, y Efectos de su Veneno; y la Relacion del Atarantado del Hospital General. [A Description of Male and Female Tarantulas, Their Ovaries and the Effects and Manufacturing of Their Poison].
Madrid: Enla Imprenta de Gonzalez, 1787. First Edition. Small Quarto. [14]pp. With a wood engraving of male and female Tarantulas, including interior and exterior views of the female's ovaries. Period style marbled papered boards. A very good copy.

Most likely the first printed account about Tarantulas. Very rare as no copy found in Worldcat. Palau 54578. "The bite of L. tarantula was once believed to cause a fatal condition called tarantism, whose cure was believed to involve wild dancing of a kind that has come to be identified with the tarantella. However, modern research has shown that the bite of L. tarantula is generally not dangerous to human beings"(Wikipedia).

SOLD

[HODGES], [Thomas]. Plantation Justice, Shewing the Constitution of their Courts and what sort of Judges they have in them. By Which Merchants may see the Occasions of Their Great Losses and Sufferings in the Plantation Trade: Lawyers may see such a Model of Justice as they Could not have Thought of; and Others may see how Those Parts of the World are Governed.
London: B. Barker, 1702. Second Edition. Small Quarto. 12pp. Handsome period style brown gilt tooled full panelled calf. A very good copy.

"A brief, but interesting commentary entirely devoted to the Barbadian legal and judicial system, offering a critique of it, and showing how the legal machinery affects investments and trade on the island"(Handler p. 18); Sabin 63317.

$2750USD

[MIEGE], [Guy]. A Relation of Three Embassies from His Sacred Majestie Charles II, to the great Duke of Muscovie, the King of Sweden, and the King of Denmark performed by the Right Hoble. the Earle of Carlisle in the years 1663 & 1664.
London: John Starkey, 1669. First English Edition. Octavo. [xvi], 461pp., [4]. With two copper engraved portraits.
Handsome period style brown elaborately gilt tooled full calf. A very good copy.

Guy Miege was a native of Lausanne and settled in London in 1661. He joined the embassy of the Earl of Carlisle to Russia, Sweden and Denmark. Miège gives an accurate description of 17th century life in Russia, including a detailed account of Moscow. Nerhood 56.

$1500USD

[MOZAMBIQUE], Relatório dos Trabalhos Militares no Districto de Moçambique. [Report of Proceedings in the Military District of Mozambique].
Lourenc, o Marques (Maputo): Tipografia Minerva Central, 1915. First Edition. Large Octavo. 146pp. With seven large folding lithographed maps. Printed pink publishers paper wrappers. A very good copy.

Rare Mozambique Imprint as only two copies found in Worldcat. "In 1891 the Portuguese shifted the administration of much of the country to a large private company, under a charter granting sovereign rights for 50 years to the Companhia de Moçambique, which, though it had its headquarters at Beira, was controlled and financed mostly by the British"(Wikipedia).

$975USD

[PORTUGUESE AFRICA], [Portuguese Photograph Album of a Voyage to Cabinda (Portuguese Congo), Loanda (Angola), Sao Thome, Costa d'Ouro (Guinea Bissau), Sao Miguel (Azores), and Madeira].
1880's. . Folio. 25 leavespp. With 92 photographs with descriptions, most ca. 14 x 21cm (5.5 x 8 inches), some larger and including one printed postcard. The leaves of photographs are loosely housed in period brown pictorial gilt cloth album covers. A very good set of photographs.

The strong images show: Portuguese colonial installations in Cabina (Portuguese Congo), 13 photographs, including the garrison with soldiers, hospital and pharmacy, military barracks, governor's mansion, administrative buildings, a beach resort, a bridge, a public works buildings, the police commissioners building; Also, Loanda (Luanda, Angola, and surrounding areas), 18 photographs, including the governor's mansion, the garrison, native population, the main square, an inland expeditionary group, bridge over the River Zaire and an inland settlement ; Also, Sao Thome and Costa d'Ouro (Guinea-Bissau), 27 photographs, including the hospital, the governor's mansion, a cocoa factory, native population, and the Roca de Santa Virginia Mission; Also, Ihla Sao Miguel & Ihla Terceira (Azores), 24 photographs and one postcard, including a street vendor (Cebolas), main square of Ponta Delgada, Camp de Sao Francisco, native population in traditional costumes, Fish Market, Port of Ponta Delgado, Igreja Katrin (church), Hospital, Jardim de Antonio Borges, Caza dos Banhos nas Furnas, Valle das Furnas, Tourada de Corda and Lagoa das Sete Cidades; Also, Ihla Madeira, 9 photographs including one double page panorama of Funchal, traditional street sleds and taboggans, views of Funchal including the Port and a Madeira Sugar plantation. "Portuguese explorers, missionaries and traders arrived at the mouth of the Congo River in the mid-15th century, making contact with the Manikongo, the powerful King of the Congo. The Manikongo controlled much of the region through affiliation with smaller kingdoms, such as the Kingdoms of Ngoyo, Loango and Kakongo in present-day Cabinda...
Luanda was Portuguese Angola's administrative centre from 1627, except during the Dutch rule of Luanda, from 1640 to 1648, as Fort Aardenburgh. The city served as the centre of a large slave trade to Brazil from c.1550 to 1836. The slave trade was conducted mostly with the Portuguese colony of Brazil; Brazilian ships were the most numerous in the ports of Luanda and Benguela. This slave trade also involved local black merchants and warriors who profited from the trade. São Tomé was founded by Portugal in 1485. The Portuguese came to São Tomé in search of land to grow sugar... In 1427, São Miguel became the second of the islands discovered by Gonçalo Velho Cabral to be settled by colonists from the continent of Portugal"(Wikipedia).

$5250USD

[SIAM TREATY], Tratado de Amisade, Commercio e Navegação entre Portugal e o Reino de Siam Assignado em Bangkok Pelos Respectivos Plenipotenciarios aos 10 de Fevereiro de 1859. [Treaty of Amity and Commerce and Navigation Between Portugal and Siam].
Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional, 1862. First Edition. Quarto. 11pp. Period style red gilt tooled quarter sheep with marbled boards. A fine copy.

A very rare work as only one copy found in Worldcat. The treaty contains 39 articles and an appendix on tariffs. "It was during the later reigns of King Mongkut (1804-1868), and his son King Chulalongkorn (1853-1910), that Thailand established firm rapprochement with Western powers. It is a widely held view in Thailand that the diplomatic skills of these monarchs, combined with the modernising reforms of the Thai Government, made Siam the only country in Southeast Asia to avoid European colonisation. This is reflected in the country's modern name, Prathet Thai or Thai-land, used since 1939 (although the name was reverted to Siam during 1945-49), in which prathet means "nation" and Thai means "free""(Wikipedia).

$975USD

[TAITBOUT], Essai Sur L'Isle D'Otahiti Situee dans la mer du Sud; et sur L'Esprit et les Moeurs de ses Habitans. [Essay on Tahiti Situated in the South Seas, and on the spirit and manners of its inhabitants].
Avignon & Paris: Froulle, 1779. First Edition. Octavo. xxiv, 125pp. Handsome period style blue gilt tooled half straight-grained morocco with patterned cloth boards. A very good copy.

"Sometimes attributed in error to Bougainville, the observations and descriptions of Tahiti in this pamphlet by Taitbout are nevertheless based on that French explorer's account, as well as on the account by Cook"(Hill 1666). A few copies seem to be bound with a frontispiece map which neither present in the Hill nor this copy.

$1750USD

[WINDUS], [John]. A Journey to Mequinez; the Residence of the Present Emperor of Fez and Morocco; on the Occasion of Commodore Stewart's Embassy Thither for the Redemption of the British Captives in the Year 1721.
London: Jacob Tonson, 1725. First Edition. Octavo. [xxxii], 251+ [10 index]pp. 6 folding copper engraved folding plates. Handsome period style brown gilt tooled half calf with marbled boards. A very good copy.

"...written from notes gathered as historian of a mission despatched by George I, 1720, under Commodore Charles Stewart, to treat for peace with emperor of Morocco" (Concise DNB, p.1423). An interesting description of both the political intrigue and the land itself. The complete text of the peace treaty as well as the long list of subscribers are also included. "The Emperor Moulai Ismail was 87 years of age, and had reigned 53 years. On the arrival of the Embassy at Mekenes the total number of Christian captives there was 1100, of whom 300 were English; these latter were liberated" (Playfair Morocco 342). The work was written during Windus' four-month stay in the region. Gay 1294.

$2250USD

ABEL, Clarke. Narrative of a Journey into the Interior of China and of a Voyage to and from that Country in the years 1816 & 1817; Containing an Account of the Most Interesting Transactions of Lord Amherst's Embassy to the Court of Pekin, and Observations on the Countries Which it Visited.
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1819. First Edition, second issue. Quarto. xvi, 420pp. With a frontispiece, seven other hand colored aquatints on plates and eleven other aquatint plates (three folding) and four maps (three folding). Period brown gilt tooled half calf with papered boards, rebacked in style using original boards. A very good copy.

Dr. Abel was chief medical officer and naturalist to Lord Amherst's embassy to China, travelling to coastal China (and Hong Kong), and on to Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and South Africa. Abbey 537, Hill 2, Lust 496. "He was the first Western scientist to report the presence of orang-utan on the island of Sumatra. He went on to become the surgeon-in-chief to the governor-general of India.
In 1816 while in China, Clarke Abel, a surgeon and naturalist, collected specimens and seeds of the plant that carries his name--now known as Abelia chinensis. Despite a shipwreck and an attack by pirates on the way back to his home in Britain, causing him to lose all of his specimens, Abel still managed to successfully establish the Chinese Abelia. Fortunately, he had left some specimens with an acquaintance in China who was kind enough to return them to him, enabling us to have the Chinese Abelia that we know today."(Wikipedia).

$2750USD

ARAGO, J[acques Etienne Victor]. Promenade Autour du Monde, Pendant les Annees 1817, 1818, 1819 et 1820, sur les Corvettes du Roi l'Uranie et la Physicienne Commandees par M. Freycinet. [Narrative of a Voyage Round the World in the Uranie and Physicienne Corvettes Commanded By Captain Freycinet, During the Years 1817, 1818, 1819, 1nd 1820; on a Scientific Expedition Undertaken By Order of the French Government, in a Series of Letters] ...
Paris: Leblanc, 1822. First Edition. Octavo 2vols & Folio Atlas. xxx; [iv], 452; 506pp. Atlas with a world map and 25 other lithograph plates. Very handsome period style navy gilt tooled quarter straight-grained morocco with cloth boards, text housed in a matching slip case.. Text mildly foxed, otherwise a very good set.

"The Uranie, with a crew of 125 men under the command of Captain Louis de Freycinet, entered the Pacific from the West to make scientific observations on geography, magnetism, and meteorology. Arago was the artist of the expedition, which visited Western Australia, Timor, Hawaii, and New South Wales. The original ship was wrecked off the Falkland Islands. Two months later the expedition continued aboard the Physicienne, which stopped for a time at Rio de Janeiro. Captain Freycinet's wife, Rose Pinon, was smuggled on board at the advent of the voyage and made the complete journey, causing some discord among the crew. Freycinet named an island he discovered after her - Rose Island among the Samoa islands. These entertaining letters, written in a lively and witty literary style, provide vivid descriptions of the topography and the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands. The book achieved great success" (Hill 28-9).

$8500USD

ATKINS, John. A Voyage to Guinea, Brasil, and the West-Indies; In His Majesty's Ships, the Swallow and Weymouth. Describing the several Islands and Settlements, viz-Madeira, the Canaries, Cape de Verd, Sierraleon, Sesthos, Cape Apollonia, Cabo Corso, and others on the Guinea Coast; Barbadoes, Jamaica, &c. in the West-Indies. The Colour, Diet, Languages, Habits, Manners, Customs, and Religions of therespective Natives, and Inhabitants. With Remarks on the Gold, Ivory, and Slave-Trade; and on the Winds, Tides and Currents of several Coasts.
London: Printed for Caesar Ward and Richard Chandler, 1735. First Edition. Octavo. xxv, 265pp. engraved vignette of a ship on title page. Handsome period style brown gilt tooled full polished calf with a red gilt morocco label. A fine copy.

"In February 1721, [Atkins] sailed from Portsmouth with the Swallow and Weymouth with instructions to put down piracy along the Guinea coast. His voyage was connected to British interest in restoring the credit of the Royal Africa Company..., During the voyage he visited Sierra Leone, Wydah, El mina, and Gabon and off Cape Lopz took 270 Pirates..., He then sailed for Brazil and the West Indies where a hurricane Carried off his masts. During the course of the voyage he visited Madeira, the Canaries, the Cape Verde Islands, Barbados and Jamaica"(Howgego A129). Cox I p.375.

$2750USD

BAER, Karl Ernst von. Neskol’ko slov po povodu novo-otkrytoi Vrangelevoi Zemli [Some Notes about just Discovered Vrangel’s Land] // Article in: Izvestija Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geograficheskogo Obschesctva / Izdavaemye pod redaktsiej sekretarja obschestva barona F.R. Osten-Sakena. Tom IV. № 7 (27 nojabrja 1868 g.). C. 333-349. [Bulletins of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society / The chief editor, secretary of the Society F.R. Osten-Saken. Vol. IV. Issue 7 27 Nov. 1868). Pp. 333-337].
Saint Petersburg: Typografija V. Bezobrazova i komp, 1868. First Edition. Large Octavo. 139-180, 333-376pp. Original brown printed wrappers. A very good copy.

One of the first articles in Russian, dedicated to Vrangeleva land (modern Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean, north-east of the mouth of the Kolyma River), discovered in 1867 by the American whaler T. Long. The author - Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876) was a Russian naturalist, the founder of embryology, Professor of Königsberg University, an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society.
Baer proves that it was Wrangel, who during his travels in northern Siberia and Chukotka in the years 1820-24 first predicted the existence of this island. He collected from the Chukchi all their stories and information about their lands.
Currently Wrangel Island is a part of the same name reserve established for the study and protection of natural complexes of the Arctic islands. Since 2004 it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Russian Brockhaus-Efron Encyclopaedia on-line.

$375USD

BAKER, Sir Samuel White (1821-1893). Autograph Letter Signed "Sam. W. Baker" to an Anonymous Dear Sir from Sandford Orleigh, Newton Abbot Dated 20th of March 1878. "Dear Sir, I am glad to learn that African travel interests you. There was a poor map published with the "Abert N'yanza" but if your copy was obtained from a circulating library in all probability it had lost the kernel of the nut i.e. The route. Publishers Macmillan have published a cheap edition which I think includes a map, without which a book of travel is worthless. Kindly yours Sam. W. Baker." [With] a Carte de Visite Portrait Photograph of Samuel White Baker by the London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company.
1878. . . Folded: Four Pagespp. Letter: 15 x 10cm (6 x 4 inches); Photograph ca. 9 x 6.5 (3.5 x 2.5 inches). The letter and Photograph are in near fine condition.

"Sir Samuel White Baker, was a British explorer, officer, naturalist, big game hunter, engineer, writer and abolitionist. He also held the titles of Pasha and Major-General in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. He served as the Governor-General of the Equatorial Nile Basin (today's Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda) between Apr. 1869 - Aug. 1873, which he established as the Province of Equatoria. He is mostly remembered as the discoverer of Lake Albert, as an explorer of the Nile and interior of central Africa, and for his exploits as a big game hunter in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Baker wrote a considerable number of books and published articles. He was a friend of King Edward, who as Prince of Wales, visited Baker with Queen Alexandra in Egypt. Other friendships were with explorers Henry Morton Stanley, Roderick Murchison, John H. Speke and James A. Grant, with the ruler of Egypt Pasha Ismail The Magnificent, Major-General Charles George Gordon and Maharaja Duleep Singh"(Wikipedia).

$1950USD

BARTH, Heinrich (1821-1865). Autograph Letter Signed "H. Barth" to the Artist Johann Martin Bernatz, Dated 14th July 1860. The letter discusses a painting which Bernatz has just finished, perhaps commissioned by Barth, which Barth is anxious to see, and about an exhibition of Benatz's paintings which Barth would like to see but will most likely miss due to other official duties. [With] A Mounted Carte-de-Visite Photograph of Heinrich Barth.
Berlin: Photo: Hermann Guenther, ca. 1860. . . one pagepp. Letter: 21 x 13 cm (8 x 5 inches); Photo ca. 8.5 x 5.5cm (3.5 x 2.5 inches) Both letter and photograph are in fine condition.

Autograph Letters Signed by Heinrich Barth are rare and photographs of him are exceedingly rare thus this letter and photograph make a desirable set.
"Barth is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa - not necessarily because of the length of his travels (1850-1855) or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character. From Tangier Barth made his way overland throughout the length of North Africa. He also travelled through Egypt, ascending the Nile to Wadi Halfa and crossing the desert to Berenice. While in Egypt he was attacked and wounded by robbers. Crossing the Sinai peninsula he traversed Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Turkey and Greece, everywhere examining the remains of antiquity; and returned to Berlin in 1847. For a time he was engaged there as Privatdozent, and in preparing for publication the narrative of his Wanderungen durch die Küstenländer des Mittelmeeres, which appeared in 1849. At the instance of Bunsen, the Prussian ambassador to Westminster, and other scientists like Alexander von Humboldt, Barth, and Adolf Overweg, a Prussian astronomer, were appointed colleagues of James Richardson, an explorer of the Sahara who had been selected by the British government to open up commercial relations with the states of the central and western Sudan. The party left Tripoli early in 1850, but the deaths of Richardson (March 1851) and Overweg (September 1852) left Barth to carry on the mission alone. Dr. Barth was the first European to visit Adamawa in 1851. He returned to Europe in September 1855. In addition to journeys across the Sahara, Barth traversed the country from Lake Chad and Bagirmi on the east to Timbuktu…
Barth was different from the explorers of the colonial age, because he was interested in the history and culture of the Africans peoples, rather than the possibilities to exploit them. He meticulously documented his observations and his own journal has becomes as much as an invaluable source for the circumstances of the 19th century Sudanic Africa. Although Barth was not the first European visitor who paid attention to the local oral traditions, he was the first who seriously considered its methodology and usability for historical research. Barth was the first truly scholarly traveler in West Africa. Earlier ones such as René Caillié, Dixon Denham and Hugh Clapperton had no academic knowledge. Barth could read Arabic, and was able to investigate history of some regions, particularly the Songhay empire. He also seems to have learned some African languages. He established close relations with a number of African scholars and rulers, from Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi in Bornu, through the Katsina and Sokoto regions to Timbuktu, where his friendship with Ahmad al-Bakkay al-Kunti led to his staying in his house and receiving protection from an attempt to seize him"(Wikipedia).
"The German-born artist Johann (or John) Bernatz accompanied Major William Cornwallis Harris as official artist on his mission to open up trading links with the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Shoa. The present work is probably the most important published work to result from the expedition. A number of Bernatz's images were reproduced in Harris's Illustrations of the Highlands of Aethiopia (London, 1844), but he is now probably best known for the fine series of lithographs published in his Palestina, published in 1868. The present series was republished in Germany in 1854 or 1855 as Bilder aus Aethiopien"(Christies).

$2250USD

BATES, Henry Walter (1825 -1892). Autograph Letter Signed "H. W. Bates" to an unknown Dear John from the Royal Geographical Society (on RGS letterhead) Dated 10th Dec. 1869, a time when Bates was acting Secretary of the RGS. "Dear John, Collecting autographs for your young friend is a very slow process, + I think I had better forward the few already gathered than wait longer. I might find one of Baker's perhaps but have not yet had time to hunt out an unimportant letter from which the signature might be taken. Livingstone's autograph has been very scarce for several years past, but I wrote to him by.., Zanzibar mail I shall probably get an answer some day. If he returns to England we shall get plenty of communication from him..., Yours affectionately H. W. Bates."
1869. . . Folded: Four Pagespp. Letter: 21 x 13 cm (8 x 5 inches); Photograph ca. 13.5 x 10cm (5.5 x 4 inches). The letter is in very good condition.

"Henry Walter Bates was an English naturalist and explorer who gave the first scientific account of mimicry in animals. He was most famous for his expedition to the Amazon with Alfred Russell Wallace in 1848. Wallace returned in 1852, but lost his collection in a shipwreck. When Bates arrived home in 1859 after a full eleven years, he had sent back over 14,000 species (mostly of insects) of which 8,000 were new to science"(Wikipedia).

$1250USD

BAX, B(onham) W(ard). The Eastern Seas; Being a Narrative of the Voyages of H.M.S. "Dwarf" in China, Japan, and Formosa. With a description of the coast of Russian Tartary and Eastern Siberia, from the Corea to the River Amur.
London: John Murray, 1875. First Edition. Octavo. x, 287pp. With a frontispiece, three other plates, one folding map and nine text illustrations. Period black gilt tooled half morocco with cloth boards. With a library stamp on front cover, otherwise a very good copy.

"In consequence of H.M.S.' Dwarf' having visited many places in China, Japan, and the Russian possessions on the coast of Siberia about which very little has been written up to the present time, I have endeavoured to describe her commission of three years and eight months in those seas and the places visited." (From the preface). NMM (Voyages & Travel) 541.The Dwarf left for China in April, 1868, and was recommissioned at Hongkong on the 18th of July, 1871, by Commander B.W. Bax. Then in June, 1873, she preceded to Japan, and then accompanied by Vice-Admiral Shadwell the Dwarf cruised the coast of Russian Siberia.

$2250USD

BELCHER, Captain Sir Edward. The Last of the Arctic Voyages; Being a Narrative of the Expedition in H. M. S. Assistance, in Search of Sir John Franklin, During the Years 1852-53-54 with Notes on the Natural History by Sir John Richardson…
London: Lovell Reeve, 1855. First Edition. Octavo, 2vols.. xx; vii, 383; 419pp. With 36 plates (twelve color lithographed plates) and four maps and charts (three folding). Original navy publishers patterned blind stamped gilt cloth. Historical Soceity blind stamps on titles, plates and maps, otherwise a fine copy.

"This expedition penetrated up Wellington Channel to the extreme limits of navigation. No claim is made by Captain Balcher in his narrative to asolution of the fate of Sir John Franklin or of the Northwest Passage to the Pacific, but regarding the latter he says:""the continuous frozen sea, traced by the officers under my command, in 1853, proves a water communication through Wellington Channel, round Parry islands, to the position attained by Captain M'Clure, and.., in 1854 our sledge parties had penetrated to the southern extreme of Prince of Wales Strait, perfecting the labours of Dease and Simpson." This was Belcher's last active service. He became Admiral in 1872"(Hill 106), Abbey Travel 645, Arctic Bibliography 1241, Sabin 4389.

$4250USD

BORRI, Cristoforo. Relatione della nuova missione delli PP. Della Compagnia di Giesu, al regno della Cocincina. [Relation of the new mission of the Society of Jesus to the kingdom of Cochinchina].
Roma & Bologna: per Francesco Catanio, 1631. First Edition. Octavo. 218pp. Period yellow papered boards. Extremities Rubbed, otherwise a very good copy.

"In 1616 Borri was sent to Indochina from Macao, accompanied by another Jesuit, Father Marquez. The he stayed until 1621.., Borri's important account of the Cochin China missions, published in 1631, is considered one of the best sources of information for the region, describing the physical, political, and ecclesiastical conditions of the country. However, it is the observations that Borri made on the magnetic variation of the compass which many regard as more important. According to Kircher he drew the first isogonal chart for the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, showing the locations where the magnetic needle makes the same angles with the meridian. In this he is sometimes regarded as the forerunner of Halley"(Howgego B136).

$4750USD

BRAITHWAITE, [John]. The History of the Revolutions in the Empire of Morocco, Upon the Death of the Late Emperor Muley Ishmael.
London: J. Darby and T. Browne, 1729. First Edition. Octavo. viii; [xvi], 381pp. With a folding engraved map. Period brown mottled full calf, rebacked in style with a red gilt tooled morocco label. A near fine copy.

"This contains a valuable journal of the mission of John Russell, Esq., to Morocco for the liberation of captives. The author served in the reign of Queen Anne, both on sea and land, as ensign in the Royal Guards, lieutenant in the Welsh Fusiliers, and in France, Lombardy and Venice as secretary to Christopher Cole, who was English Resident in the last-named State. He commanded in the expedition to Santa Lucca and St. Vincent; was the first volunteer that entered Gibraltar after its capture, and died in Guinea in the service of the Royal African Company"(Playfair Morocco349).

$1200USD

BURCHELL, William John. Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa.
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1822. First Edition. Quarto, 2vols. [xi]; [vi], 582; 648pp. With twenty hand colored aquatint plates and large hand colored folding map and 96 engraved text vignettes. Handsome period style brown gilt tooled speckled full calf with red and green gilt morocco labels and housed in a matching cloth slip case. A near fine set.

"The most valuable and accurate work on South Africa published up to the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and embracing a description of a large part of the Cape Colony and Bechuanaland at this period..,The author's name is perpetuated in the country by the appellation of "Burchell's Zebra" (equus burchelli), a species of quagga discovered by him "in the country immediately to the north of the Orange River. He was also the first to mention the existence of asbestos in this part of the country..,The work is now extremely scarce, many copies having been broken up in the middle of the nineteenth century for the plates"(Mendelssohn I p.224), Abbey Travel, 327.

$9750USD

BURTON, Richard Francis (1821-1890). Autograph Letter Signed "R. F. Burton" to My Dear Green on Burton's letterhead with "Hadji Abdullah" in Arabic, Dated Trieste, 28th of March ca.1880. Burton congratulates his correspondent on a promotion and recommends that he find a position "in some decent country." He encloses "a pamphlet showing the results of my last Expedition" - perhaps one of his visits to the Middle East or West Africa hunting gold - before reporting his wife's illnesses, and asking if someone is related to Roberts of Jelalabad. [With] a ca. 1880's Cabinet Portrait Woodbury-Print by Waterlow & Sons Limited of Richard Burton showing him at about the time that this letter was written. ca. 1880. . .
Folded: Four Pagespp. Letter: 12.5 x 10cm (5 x 4 inches); Woodbury-Print ca. 13.5 x 10cm (5.5 x 4 inches). The letter and photograph are in very good condition.

"Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (19 March 1821 - 20 October 1890) was an English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages.
Burton's best-known achievements include travelling in disguise to Mecca, The Book of One Thousand Nights and A Night, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (also commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after Andrew Lang's abridgement), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans led by Africa's greatest explorer guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, utilizing route information by Indian and Omani merchants who traded in the region, to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton extensively criticized colonial policies (to the detriment of his career) in his works and letters. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, fencing, sexual practices, and ethnography. A unique feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and unexpurgated information.
He was a captain in the army of the East India Company serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals which discovered Lake Tanganyika. In later life he served as British consul in Fernando Po, Damascus and, finally, Trieste. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood (KCMG) in 1886"(Wikipedia).
This letter was written during Burton's time as British Consul in Trieste (1873-1890).

$1950USD

CAILLIE, Rene. Travels Through Central Africa to Timbuctoo; and Across the Great Desert, to Morocco, Performed in the Years 1824-1828.
London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830. First Edition. Octavo, 2vols.. viii; xiv, 475; 501pp. With an aquatint portrait frontispiece, a double page view of Timbuctoo, 4 other plates, and 2 large folding maps. Handsome period style brown gilt tooled half calf with marbled boards, housed in a matching slip case. A very good set.

"Caillie began his quest for Timbuctoo in March 1827 at the mouth of the Rio Nunez, in what is now Guinea, and reached the Niger at Kouroussa in June. To disarm suspicioun along the way, he claimed to be an Egyptian of Arab parentage who had been taken to France as a youngster and was now returning to the land of his birth. From August 3, 1827, until January 9, 1828, he was forced to remain at Tieme, being felled first by foot trouble and then by a bout with scurvy. He reached Timbuctoo on April 20, 1828, and stayed there until May 4, thereby becoming the second European to visit the city of his own volition and the first to survive the journey"(Delpar p.95), Hess & Coger 5426.

$2250USD

CAMPBELL, Archibald. A Voyage Round the World from 1806 to 1812; In Which Japan, Kamschatka, the Aleutian Islands, and the Sandwich Islands, were Visited. Including a Narrative of the Author's Shipwreck on the Island of Sannack, and His Subsequent Wreck in the Ship's Long Boat. With an Account of the Present State of the Sandwich Islands., and a Vocabulary of Their Language.
Edinburgh: Archibald Constable et al, 1816. First Edition. Octavo. 288pp. With a outline colored engraved map of the author's route in Alaska. Handsome period style brown gilt tooled half sheep with marbled boards. Some mild foxing otherwise a very good copy.

"James Smith the editor, succeeded in presenting Campbell's own story in a simple but effective manner and the resulting narrative of his adventures on the northwest coast of America, including Alaska, is full of interesting occurences. Campbell spent almost a year on Kodiak Island and met Baranov, who happened to be there at the time. Campbell's description of life on Kodiak is particularly valuable, as his sojourn there took place less than 25 years after Shelekhov's establishing the first permanent Russian settlement on that island"(Lada-Mocarski 71). "His description of the Hawaiian Islands is of great value. Campbell became close to Kamehameha I, king of Hawaii, and became the king's sailmaker. He built the first loom made in those islands. After a shipwreck, Campbell had both his feet frozen which made amputation necessary. A report of the Russian surgeon who undertook the operation is added. On his return to England, a charitable Mr. Smith drew up this book from his accounts and had it published for his benefit"(Hill 244).

$3250USD

CAREY, W.. A Grammar of the Bengalee Language.
Serampore: The Mission press, 1815. Third Edition, With Additions. Octavo. iv, 169pp. Period blue papered boards. Lower spine with a large chip missing, otherwise a very good copy.

The author was a professor of the Sungskrita, Bangalee, and Mahratta Languages, in the College of Fort William. This rare Indian imprint is the third and expanded edition of the first ever published grammar on the Bengalee language. The author also published "a dictionary of the Bengalee language: in which the words are traced to their origin and their various meanings given."

$1250USD

CHAILLÉ-LONG, Charles (1842 - 1917). Autograph Letter Signed "Chas Chaillie Long" to Henry Faulkner from Souakin, Sudan Dated February 27th 1874. "My Dear Mr. Faulkner, Amid the confusion of departure I had scarce time to thank you for your very kindly .., in the field glass, where in distant Equatorial Africa it shall be a pleasure to recall the generous impulse that prompted its... Col. Gordon + myself as the avant garde of the expedition army force reached here .., in the man of war (Egyptian, Latif + ..,) In the house of the Governor we are waiting, the camels are ewing .., Accept again my dear Mr. Faulkner my thanks + with kindly regards of Col. Gordon + myself. I am very truly your obed. Servant Chas Chaillie Long (Lt. Col. + Chief of Staff). [With] a Mounted Photograph on a Printed Mount of Col. Gordon Taken at Khartoum by the London Stereographic Company ca. 1880.
1874. . . Folded: Four Pagespp. Letter: 21 x 13 cm (8 x 5 inches); Photograph ca. 13.5 x 10cm (5.5 x 4 inches). The letter is in very good condition.

"Chaillé-Long "was an American soldier from Maryland, active in East Africa and Egypt.
He fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War, taking part in the battle of Gettysburg. He enlisted as a private, and finished the war with the rank of Captain. He took a commission as lieutenant-colonel in the Egyptian Army in 1869, arriving in Egypt in 1870. Serving under Charles Gordon in the southern Sudan, he travelled south to present-day Uganda, signing a treaty with Mutesa I of Buganda. In 1874 he was the second western explorer of Lake Victoria, and the first to discover Lake Kyoga. While on his return journey, he was attacked by the forces of Bunyoro. Further missions of exploration were to the Azande in 1875, and the Juba River in Somalia in 1876. He wrote a book on his adventures, in extravagant style. In 1875, he commanded Egyptian forces in the McKillop expedition, to the Indian Ocean coast. He resigned his commission in 1877, returned to the United States, and attended Columbia Law School. Subsequently he was a diplomat in Korea, and writer. He was awarded the Daly Medal by the American Geographical Society in 1909"(Wikipedia).
Henry Faulkner was the author of Elephant Haunts: being a Sportsman's Narrative of the Search for Doctor Livingstone. For Faulkner, who accompanied Young, the search for Livingstone meant another opportunity to hunt along the shores of the Shire River and Lake Malawi.

$2250USD

COOK, James. A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World. Performed in his Majesty's Ships the Resolution and Adventure, in the Years 1771, 1773, 1774, and 1775. Written by James Cook, Proceedings in the Adventure during the separation of the ships. In two volumes. Illustrated with maps and charts, and a variety of portraits of persons and views of places, drawn during the voyage by Mr. Hodges, and engraved by the most eminent masters.
London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1777. Second Edition. Quarto, 2 vols.. xl; [viii], 378; 396pp. With an engraved portrait frontispiece, 16 maps, charts, and plans (8 folding), 47 engraved plates ( 23 folding), and 1 folding language table. Very handsome period style brown elaborately gilt tooled speckled full calf with red gilt morocco labels. A very good set.

"Most areas of British scientific voyaging begin with Cook, the Antarctic being no exception. He was specifically instructed on his second voyage to ascertain whether a great Terra Australis really existed below the Antarctic Circle. True to his instructions, he circumnavigated Antarctica at high latitudes and captained the first ship on record to cross the Antarctic Circle. Through discovering the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia, he did not gain sight of a Southern Continent, and concluded that if it did exist, it could be of no use to mankind"(Taurus 1), Beddie 1216, Conrad p. 10, Hill p. 61, Rosove 77, Spence 314.

$6750USD

CROW, Captain Hugh. Memoirs of the Late Captain Hugh Crow, of Liverpool; Comprising a Narrative of His Life, Together with Descriptive Sketches of the Western Coast of Africa; Particularly of Bonny; The Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants, the Productions of the Soil, and the Trade of the Country. To Which Are Added, Anecdotes and Observations, Illustrative of the Negro Characters.
London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1830. First Edition. Octavo. xxxiii, 316pp. With a portrait frontispiece, three other lithographed plates a double sided music plate and Original cloth backed light green papered boards with a printed paper label. Covers soiled, otherwise a very good copy.

The first-hand account of Captain Hugh Crow, who commanded one of the last legal slave vessels to cross the Atlantic. One incident which is described and illustrated in the book is "On 30 November there occurred a second unfortunate incident of friendly fire when Wolverine fired on a British merchant vessel engaged in lawful trade. At 10pm, Dart, under Cmdr. Joseph Spear, and Wolverine came upon a ship that they suspected was a French privateer and that kept up a running fight until morning, only surrendering after her captain and several of her crew had been wounded, of whom six later died. The vessel turned out to be the British 24-gun slaver Mary, out of Liverpool, under Capt. Hugh Crow. He had thought that the two vessels chasing him in the dark were French privateers out of Cayenne and was determined not to surrender his vessel without a fight. Cmdr. Spear gave him a letter of praise for his determined resistance and the fight became something of a sensation; on his return home Crow received honour, glory and a substantial reward for his gallantry.Also, "many of the wretched negroes were killed or injured.""(Wikipedia).

$2250USD

DENHAM, Major Dixon. Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in the Years 1822, 1823 and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Doctor Oudney, Extending Across the Great Desert to the Tenth Degree of Northern Latitude, and from Kouka in Bornu, to Sackatoo, the Capital of the Fellatah Empire; With an Appendix by Major Dixon Denham and Captain Hugh Clapperton, the Survivors of the Expedition.
London: John Murray, 1826. First Edition. Quarto, 2 vols in one. xlviii, [iv], 335, 272pp. Frontispiece and 42 plates in lithograph and steel engraving (1 hand colored) and one large folding engraved map. Handsome period brown gilt tooled polished full calf. Rebacked using original boards with original spine laid down, otherwise a near fine copy.

Clapperton "was asked to join Dr. Walter Oudney who had been named by the British government to undertake a journey to the Bornu kingdom for the purpose of exploring the interior of Africa and tracing the course of the Niger River... and were soon joined by Dixon Denham, and army officer who claimed that he, not Oudney, was to be leader of the expedition... According to E.W. Bovill, Clapperton ranks among the most important African explorers but failed to get the recognition he deserved for three reasons: his own modesty and reserve; the enmity of Dixon Denham, who claimed for himself the principal achievements of the Bornu Mission in his 'Narrative of Travels and Discoveries'; and the fact that Clapperton's accurate belief that the Niger flowed into the Gulf of Guinea contradicted the cherished convictions of the influential John Barrow, Second Secretary of the Admiralty" (Delpar, pp.127-8). The most important accomplishment of the expedition was to prove that the Niger river had no connection to Lake Chad, and thus, probably the Nile river as well. The extremely fine plates show the people and the places of this interesting expedition. A penciled note on the title page contends that, while Denham claimed to author the illustrations and that they were perfected by an artist, the author could not in fact draw. Gay 337. Work, p.21.

$1650USD

DOUVILLE, Jean-Baptiste. Voyage au Congo et dans Intérieur de l'Afrique Equinoxiale, fait dans les Années 1828, 1829 et 1830. [Voyage to the Congo and in the interior of Equatorial Africa in the Years 1828, 1829 and 1830].
Paris: J. Renouard, 1832. First Edition. 3 vols. Octavo and Folio Atlas. xxxi; [iv]; [iv], 328; 380; 272pp. Atlas with an engraved title and list of plates and twenty lithographs on plates and a large folding engraved map. Original blue printed publishers wrappers, housed in a matching custom made slip case and box. A fine set.

Jean Baptiste Douville (1794-1837), French traveller, was born at Hambye, in the department of Manche. Having at an early age inherited a fortune, he decided to gratify his taste for foreign travel. According to his own profession he visited India, Kashmir, Khorasan, Persia, Asia Minor and many parts of Europe. In 1826 he went to South America, and in 1827 left Brazil for the Portuguese possessions on the West Coast of Africa, where his presence in March 1828 is proved by the mention made of him in letters of Castello Branco, the governor-general of Luanda.
In May 1831 he reappeared in France, claiming to have pushed his explorations into the very heart of central Africa. His story was readily accepted by the Societé de Geographie of Paris, which hastened to recognize his services by assigning him the great gold medal, and appointing him their secretary for the year 1832. On the publication of his narrative, Voyage au Congo et dans l'interieur de l'Afrique Equinoxiale, which occupied three volumes and was accompanied by an elaborate atlas, public enthusiasm ran high
[However, although] Douville may well have explored part of the province of Angola, and Sir Richard Burton maintained that the Frenchman's descriptions of the country of the Congo were lifelike; that his observations on the anthropology, ceremonies, customs and maladies of the people were remarkably accurate; and that even the native words used in his narrative were "for the most part given with unusual correctness." It has been shown, however, that the chief source of Douville's inspiration was a number of unpublished Portuguese manuscripts to which he had access"(Wikipedia). Howgego D27.

$6250USD

EBN-OMAR EL-TOUNSY, Muhammed & Jomard, E.. Voyage au Darfour: Ouvrage Accompagné de Cartes et de Planches, et du Portrait du Sultan Abou-Madian. Précédé d'une Préface Contenant des Remarques sur la Région de Nil-Blanc Supérieur,dédié à Mohammed-Aly. [Travels to Darfur with Remarks on the White Nile].
Paris: Chez Benjamin Duprat, 1845. First Edition. Octavo. lxxxviii, 491, [1]pp. With a lithographed portrait Frontispiece, a large lithographed folding map and four lithographed folding plates. Period red gilt tooled quarter calf with marbled boards. A very good copy.

The author lived in Darfur for eight years and gave the first reliable description of the area. Hill p.66; Gay 2705. Darfur is part of Sudan and "in 1820-21, an Ottoman force conquered and unified the northern portion of the [Sudan]. The new government was known as the Turkiyah or Turkish regime. They were looking to open new markets and sources of natural resources. Historically, the pestilential swamps of the Sudd discouraged expansion into the deeper south of the country. Although Egypt claimed all of the present Sudan during most of the 19th century, and established a province Equatoria in southern Sudan to further this aim, it was unable to establish effective control over the area, which remained an area of fragmented tribes subject to frequent attacks by slave raiders. In the later years of the Turkiyah, the British missionaries traveled from what is now modern day Kenya in to the Sudd to convert the local tribes to Christianity"(Wikipedia).

$1950USD

FREIRE DE ANDRADE, Alfredo Augusto. [50 Mounted Photographs of the Expedition of the Comissao de Delimitacao de Fronteiras Entre o Distrito de Lourenco Marques e o Transvaal 1890 [Commission to Deliminate the Border Between Mozambique and Transvaal in 1890].
1890-1. Folio. 50 leavespp. With 50 photographs mounted on printed card, each photograph with hand written description. Photographs: 15 x 20cm (6 x 8 inches), Card: 30 x 36cm (12 x 14.5 inches). The 50 mounted photographs are housed in a handsome period style black gilt tooled half morocco box with yellow cloth covers and a black gilt morocco label. Some of the card mounts are mildly foxed, otherwise a very nice set.

The strong images show: Lourenzo Marques (Maputo) (4 photographs), Officer Corps of the Mozambique Expedition, Bridge, Armoury, Arrival of Boats; Massikesse (Macequece) (6 photographs) Villa Andrada, Camp (2), Portuguese Fort and Detachment, Colonial Headquarters; Beira (4 photographs) Camp, Port, Lighthouse, Town; Guelimane (Quelimane) (4 photographs) Freedom Church, Armoury, Freedom Street, Market; Sena (Zambesi) (3 photographs) Fortress Gate, Settlement, Street Scene; Sarmento (2 photographs) Entrance to Camp, Camp; Mafakase (2 photographs) Village (2); Also Camp Bombe Grande; House Garvao; Gouva; Camp on the River Muanze; Camp on the River Mutto; Vincent beach; Military Headquarters in Anguana; Military Headquarters in Mossurize; Opilao; Rio Zonoe (2); Mount Gorunane; Mount Dababe; Departure of the River boats; Banks of the Busi River; Departure for the Victoria Falls; River Limpopo; Steamer Stranded on the Banks of the Busi River; Inhandua River; Trophy Hippopotamus; Trophy Antelope (2); Groups of Native Inhabitants (2); Baptism in Bangue.
Mozambique had reached a critical period with Britain because of the question of the Shire mountains following the British ultimatum of 1890, which forced a period of inactivity until Portugal and Britain reached an agreement on the demarcation of their spheres of influence in East Africa.
Once those issues were resolved, the Commission to deliminate the borders between the district of Lourenço Marques and the Transvaal Republic began its work. The leadership was entrusted to engineer Freire de Andrade who then started to explore the Limpopo River. This exploration unfortunately led to more conflict with the British. "Massi Kessi has historic significance for a conflict that took place there on May 11, 1891, between the Portuguese (Under the command of Caldas Xavier) and the British South Africa Company. As a result, the British government pushed through a treaty on June 11, 1891, that ensured ownership of Manica by the British South Africa Company; until then, the Portuguese colonial area had extended to the Mazoetal river, almost to Harare, Shamv and Mount Darwin"(Wikipedia)
.
$7500USD

GEORGI, Johan Gottlieb. Russland. Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reiches, ihrer Lebensart, Religion, Gebräuche, Wohnungen, Kleidungen und übrigen Merkwürdigkeiten. [Russia. Description of all the Nations of the Russian Empire].
Leipzig: im Verlage der Dykischen Buchhandlung, 1783. First German Edition. Quarto, 2vols.. [iv], [xvi], 271; 272-530 +[10]pp. With two hand-colored engraved frontispieces and in text copper engravings. Very handsome period brown gilt tooled half calf with beige speckled papered boards. A near fine set.

"German Scholar and explorer of Russia (1729-1802). After Studying pharmacy in Germany, he became an Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, where he was professor of natural history and chemistry. Georgi conducted the first geological exploration of the Volga, Urals, Altai and the regions beyond Lake Baikal, and in 1771-73 completed a voyage around the lake. His geological specimens formed the foundation of the Natural History Cabinet of St. Petersburg Teachers Seminary, founded in 1783 and now in the Mineralogical Museum of St. Petersburg State University. In 1776-77 Georgi published the first demographic study of the peoples of Russia"(Howgego G36).

$2750USD

GODINHO, P. Manuel. Relação do Novo Caminho que fez por Terra, e Mar, Vindo da India para Portugal no anno de 1663. [Relation of the new Route by land and by Sea from India to Portugal].
Lisboa: Henrique Valente de Oliveira, 1665. First Edition. Large Octavo. [xii], 188pp. Handsome later green gilt tooled half morocco with green cloth boards. A very good copy.

Rare book as Worldcat finds only eleven copies. The Jesuit Manuel Godinho describes his 1663 journey, mostly overland, from India to Portugal by way of Ormuz, Cormorão, Baçorá, Simauoa, Babilónia, Baghdad, Ana, Taibe and Aleppo to Alexandreta; from there he sailed to Marseille. Included in his account are details of the fortress of Mascate, Cape Nabão and the island of Cargue, and Barem. Godinho "was charged by the viceroy, Antonio de Mello de Castro, to carry by the quickest possible route an important message to Alfonso VI advising against cession of Bombay to the English. Leaving Bassein in 1663, Godinho travelled to Daman and Surat, then sailed to Bandar Abbas, travelled overland to Kung, and then by sea to Basra. Rather than wait for a boat to Baghdad, or a desert caravan, he set off by horse with three companions and three Arabs to Baghdad, then to Ana, Rahab, Thaibe, Aleppo and Alexandretta. After taking a boat to Marseille, he proceeded overland to La Rochelle and there caught another boat to Cascais, at the mouth of the Tagus. His entertaining account of his rush to Europe contains observations of the customs of the Hindus and Muslims, as well as descriptions of the places visited"(Howgego G54).

$5750USD

GOMES DE BRITO, Bernardo. Historia Tragico-Maritima em que se escrevem chronologicamente os Naufragios que tiverao as Naos de Portugal, depois que se poz em exercicio a Navegacao da India. [Famous Narratives of Shipwrecks in Portuguese Maritime History].
Lisbon: Congregacao do Oratorio, 1735-36. First Edition. Small Quarto, 2vols. [xvi]; [xvi], 479; 538pp. With twelve engraved title page vignettes. Handsome period style brown full elaborately gilt tooled full sheep. A very good set.

First edition of "the great prose epic on the subject of shipwrecks" (Penrose), illustrated with dramatic woodcuts of maritime disasters. Shipwreck accounts were first printed in Portugal in pamphlet form in the sixteenth century and achieved immense popularity. Two centuries later, twelve of the most important of these accounts were collected by Bernardo Gomes de Brito in the present work. "It was not, however, until the twentieth century that these tragic stories of disaster at sea came to be regarded as exemplary pieces of classical Portuguese prose and as sources for history and ethnography" (Lach).
"Written almost invariably with the utmost frankness, these narratives bring vividly before us the dangers and discomforts of life aboard the crowded East-India carracks. They give us the seamy side of the Portuguese 'conquest, navigation, and commerce,' the obverse of which is so majestically perpetuated in the Decades of Joao de Barros and the Lusiadas of Luis de Camoes." (Boxer).
"Not in Sabin. This interesting work contains a series of twelve accounts of famous sixteenth century shipwrecks, being reprints of the old original editions, with separate title to each account, but with continuous pagination. These accounts comprise:--- Shipwreck of the Great Galleon, St. Joâo, off the coast of Natal in 1552. This shipwreck is one of the most celebrated in Portuguese History, and was commemorated by Camoens in one of his poems. It gives an account of the deaths of Manoel de Sousa Sepulveda, his wife, child, and companions, among the Kaffirs in South Africa. Shipwreck of the S. Bento at the Cape of Good Hope in 1554. Shipwreck of the Conceiçâo in 1555 on the Pero dos Banhos sandbanks off the Indian Coast. Account of the events which occurred to the vessels Aguia and Garça, in 1559. The second part of this account contains a long description of the City of Colombo, by Father Manoel Barradas. Shipwreck of the Santa Maria da Barca in 1559 on its return from India. Shipwreck of the S. Paulo off the Island of Sumatra in 1561. Shipwreck of Jorge de Albuquerque Còelho on his journey from Brazil to Portugal in 1565. Written by Bento Teixeira Pinto, who was in the same wreck. Shipwreck of the Santiago in 1585, and the journey of the survivors. Written by Manoel Godinho Cardozo. Shipwreck of the S. Thomè off South Africa in 1589, and of the great sufferings of Don Paulo de Lima in Caffraria until his death. Written by Diogo de Couto"(Maggs).

$9750USD

JACKSON, John. Journey from India, Towards England in the Year 1797; By a Route Commonly Called Over-Land, Through Countries Not Much Frequented, and Many of Them Hitherto Unknown to Europeans, Particularly between the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, through Curdistan, Diarbek, Armenia, and Natolia, in Asia; and through Romalia, Bulgaria, Wallachia, Transylvania, &c. In Europe.
London: T. Cadell, Jun. & W. Davies, 1799. First Edition. Octavo. xvi, 277pp., [2]. With five engraved plates and a folding map. Handsome period brown gilt tooled treed full calf with marbled boards. Extremeties mildly rubbed and hinges starting otherwise a very good copy.

With the exlibris of the Marquess of Headfort. "Jackson, in addition to travelling, was also interested in antiquarian researches. He did some excavating at Carthage and Udena"(Cox I p. 308). The large folding map shows the author's route home from Bussora via Bagdad, Mosul, Constantinople and Bucharest to England.

$1250USD

KRUSENSTERN, A. J. Von. Atlas to Voyage Autour du Monde, fait dans les annees 1803, 1804, 1805 et 1806, par les ordres de Sa Majestie Imperiale Alexandre Ier, empereur de Russie, sur les vaisseaux la Nadiejeda et la Neva. [Voyage Round the World, in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, & 1806, by order of His Imperial Majesty Alexander the First, on board the Ships Nadeshda and Neva].
Paris: Librairie de Gide Fils, 1821. First French Edition. Folio. [iv], 30 plates and mapspp. With twenty-one lithographs on plates and nine lithographed maps (Including three double page) Handsome period style red gilt tooled half straight-grained morocco with marbled boards. A Large uncut copy with a couple of plates with some minor worming, otherwise a very good copy.

The rare Atlas volume of this first Russian circumnavigation. "The expedition was to attempt to "open relations with Nippon and the Sandwich Islands, to facilitate trade in South America, to examine California for a possible colony, and make a thorough study and report of the Northwest coast, its trade and its future..," The importance of this work stems from its being the official account of the first Russian expedition to circumnavigate the globe, and from the discoveries and rectifications of charts that were made, especially in the North Pacific and on the northwest coast of America. Tonga and the Marquesas were also visited"(Hill 952). Sabin38332. "Commanded by Krusenstern with a brilliant corps of officers--Lisiansky (commanding the Neva), Rezanov, Langsdorff, Kotzebue and Bellingshausen--all men who went on to make their mark on Pacific exploration. Although sponsored by the Czar, the voyage was funded by the Russian American Company to "open relations with Nippon and the Sandwich Islands, to facilitate trade in South America, to examine California for a possible colony, and to make a thorough study and report on the Northwest coast, its trade and future." The great importance of this work is its contribution to hydrographic knowledge of the Pacific coast of North America. By reason of Krusenstern's precise nature, he objected to Richard Hoppner's sometimes inaccurate translation, particularly of navigational terms and references. Separately, Lisiansky in the Neva called at Easter Island and together the two ships sailed for the Marquesas and Hawaii where the Nadeshda proceeded to Kamchatka and Japan, and the Neva to Russian America with an intended rendezvous at Canton to sell their cargo of furs. Krusenstern's excellent account of their time in Japan relates their failed ambassadorial mission, imprisonment, and exploration of the coasts of Hokkaido and visits to the Ainu"(Christies The Wolfgang A. Herz Library: Important Voyages and Travels).

$19500USD

LA PEROUSE, Jean-Francois Galaup de. Decouvertes Dans la Mer du Sud. Nouvelles de M. de La Peyrouse, Jusqu'en 1794.... Discoveries in the South Sea. And News of Mr. La Perouse].
Paris: Everat, [1798]. First Edition. Octavo. [ii], 397pp., ii. Period brown gilt tooled mottled full calf, rebacked in style using original boards. A very good copy.

First edition of a rare La Perouse fantasy. "A fictitious account. The greater portion is devoted to the description of a supposed island in the South Seas, inhabited by a community of refugees who had escaped the horrors of the French Revolution, and had established a republic there on socialist principles" (Ferguson 225).

$1750USD

LA PEYRERE, Isaac de. Relation du Groenland. [Relation of Greenland].
Paris: Thomas Jolly, 1663. Second Edition. Small Octavo. [xvi], 278, [4]pp. With an engraved folding map and an engraved folding plate. Period brown mottled full calf, rebacked in recent brown gilt calf. Title page with expert repair not affecting text, otherwise a very good copy.

"The first printed account to give a detailed description of Greenland, in addition to describing the geography, population, history and commerce of Greenland, La Peyrere gives an account of Jens Munk's voyage to find a Northwest Passage for the Danish East India Company. That expedition, which turned back after reaching the west shore of Hudson's Bay, includes details of the Norse in America and whaling. After wintering in Hudson Bay, only Munk and two of his men survived scurvy (Christies). "On 9 May 1619, under the auspices of King Christian IV, Munk set out with 65 men and His Royal Majesty's two ships, the Unicorn and Lamprey, to discover the Northwest Passage to the Indies and China. He penetrated Davis Strait as far north as 69°, found Frobisher Bay, and then spent almost a month fighting his way through Hudson Strait. In September 1619 he found the entrance to Hudson Bay and spent the winter near the mouth of the Churchill River. Cold, famine, and scurvy destroyed so many of his men that only two persons besides himself survived. With these men, he sailed for home with the Lamprey on 16 July 1620,reaching Bergen, Norway, on 20 September, 1620"(Wikipedia). Howgego M180.

$4750USD

LANDT, Rev. G.. A Description of the Feroe Islands, Containing an Account of their Situation, Climate, and Productions; together with the Manners and Customs, of the Inhabitants , Their Trade, etc.
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1810. First Edition. Octavo. xiv, 426pp. With a folding engraved map and two engraved plates, one folding. Period brown gilt tooled full calf. Extremities mildly rubbed, otherwise a very good copy.

"Norwegian control of the islands continued until 1380, when Norway entered the Kalmar Union with Denmark, which gradually evolved into Danish control of the islands. The Reformation reached the Faeroes in 1538. When the union between Denmark and Norway was dissolved as a result of the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, Denmark retained possession of the Faroe Islands"(Wikipedia).

$1250USD

LEFEBVRE, Charlemagne-Theophile (1811-1860). Voyage en Abyssinie execute pendant les annees 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843. [Travels in Abyssinia made in the Years 1839-1843].
Paris: ArthusBertand, ca. 1845. First Edition. Octavo, 2vols. & Folio Atlas. xci; iv, text: 393, [1];148, 376, [1]pp. The folio atlas with a large folding map of Abyssinia, 45 lithographed plates of the landscape and people, many folding and beautifully hand colored. And 14 lithographed plates of the archaeology of the country. Text with eight lithographed plates and a large folding panorama of the Simien Mountains. Period black gilt tooled quarter morocco with marbled boards housed in a matching slip case, plates in the atlas volume loose and housed in matching box. A very good set.

This copy represents the first part of this rare work containing the complete travel narrative and the topographical and ethnographical views and plates. This is the first scientific book published on Abyssinia, which remains a fundamental source on this part of Africa. Charlemagne-Theophile Lefebvre had been supported by the French government to explore the interior of Abyssinia. He traveled the country in 1839 with two naturalists, Quatrini-Dillon and Petit, and then undertook a second trip with a third naturalist, Vignaud, as his first two companions had died. Lefebvre returned from his mission in 1843 and published his account with the financial support of the Ministry of Marine. The plates show the Simien Mountains, Massawa, Gondar, Lake Tana, Aduwa, and Debra-Libanos which also give a good indication of the route and scope of the expedition. "In 1837 the French navy despatched Lefebvre on an exploratory mission.., the mission proceeded from Massawa through the territories of Tigre, Shoa and Gojam, and around Lake Tana and Gondar. Lefebvre amassed a vast store of geographical, sociological, archaeological and linguistic data. He made several more visits to Ethiopia, returning to Massawa in 1847-48, and in 1854-58 initiating trade with Aduwa"(Howgego 1800-1850, E19).

$9750USD

LIVINGSTONE, David (1813-1873). Autograph Letter Signed "David Livingstone" to John Kendall, Esq. Dated Birkenhead, 4th of March 1858. Livingstone tidies his financial affairs in the week before setting off on his Zambezi Expedition. In part: "I hasten to say that I have certified your account some fortnight ago and you will be kind enough to apply to Captain Washington R.A., Admiralty for your payment." Washington was chief hydrographer to the Admiralty, and was charged with the logistics of Livingstone's expedition, on the basis that the Zambezi would provide a waterway into the heart of Africa. [With] a ca. 1880's Cabinet Portrait Photograph of David Livingstone showing him at about the time that this letter was written.
1858. . . Folded: Four Pagespp. Letter: 18 x 11.5 cm (7 x 4.5 inches); Photograph ca. 13.5 x 10cm (5.5 x 4 inches). The letter and photograph are in very good condition.
"Zambezi expedition: The British government agreed to fund Livingstone's idea and he returned to Africa as head of the Zambezi Expedition to examine the natural resources of southeastern Africa and open up the River Zambezi. Unfortunately it turned out to be completely impassible to boats past the Cabora Bassa rapids, a series of cataracts and rapids that Livingstone had failed to explore on his earlier travels.
The expedition lasted from March 1858 until the middle of 1864. Livingstone was said to be an inept leader and incapable of managing a large-scale project. He was also said to be secretive, self righteous, moody and could not tolerate criticism which severely strained the expedition and led to his physician, John Kirk, later recording in 1862, "I can come to no other conclusion than that Dr. Livingstone is out of his mind and a most unsafe leader". The artist Thomas Baines was dismissed from the expedition on charges (which he vigorously denied) of theft. The expedition became the first to reach Lake Malawi and they explored it in a four oared gig. In 1862 they returned to the coast to await the arrival of a steam boat specially designed to sail on Lake Malawi. Along with the boat Mary Livingstone, who by now was an alcoholic which caused added strain, also arrived. She died on 27 April 1862 of malaria and Livingstone continued his explorations. Attempts to navigate the Ruvuma River failed because of the continual fouling of the paddle wheels from the bodies thrown in the river by slave traders and Livingstone's assistants gradually died or left him. He eventually returned home in 1864 after the government ordered the recall of the Expedition because of its increasing costs and failure to find a navigable route to the interior. The Zambezi Expedition was castigated as a failure in many newspapers of the time, and Livingstone experienced great difficulty in raising funds further to explore Africa. Nevertheless, the scientists appointed to work under Livingstone, John Kirk, Charles Meller, and Richard Thornton did contribute large collections of botanic, ecological, geological and ethnographic material to scientific Institutions in the UK"(Wikipedia).

$2250USD

MASON, W.. An Occasional Discourse, ... in ... York, Jan. 27, on the Subject of the African Slave Trade.
York: A. Ward, 1788. First Edition. Quarto. 27pp. Handsome period style brown gilt tooled half calf with marbled boards. A very good copy.

This work is part of a late eighteenth century movement to abolish the slave trade and which finally culminated with the Slave Trade Act in 1807. "The mission of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was to inform the public of the immoral acts committed in the act of slavery, bring about a new law to abolish the slave trade and enforce this on the high seas, and establish areas in West Africa where Africans could live free of the risk of capture and sale. It pursued these proposals vigorously by writing and publishing anti-slavery books, abolitionist prints, posters and pamphlets, and organizing lecture tours in towns and cities"(Wikipedia); Sabin 45485.

$1250USD

MOORE, Francis. Travels into the Inland Parts of Africa: containing a Description of the Several Nations for the Space of Six Hundred Miles up the River Gambia . . . To which is added, Capt. Stibbs's Voyage up the Gambia in the Year 1723, to make Discoveries.
London: Edward Cave, 1738. First Edition. Octavo. xiii, 305; 86; [4]; 23pp. With eleven engraved plates, some folding and a large folding engraved map. Handsome period dark brown full calf with red gilt morocco label. Recased using original boards, otherwise a very good copy.

"This is a valuable work, introducing the reader to many parts and tribes Africa"(Cox I p.376). "As a writer in the service of the Royal African Company, Moore left England in July 1730, and anchored in the mouth of the Gambia on 9.11.30 and at James Island two days later..., [later] he went to Gillyfree, a large town a little below 'James fort," inhabited by Portuguese, Mundingoes, and some Mahometans, where the English had a factory..,On 9.4.32 Moore accompanied Hugh Hamilton, who was being sent upriver to settle a factory at Fatatenda..., Moore remained on the Gambia until 8.4.35..., [when he returned home and] published a significant account of the Gambia"(Howgego M163).

$2750USD

NIGHTINGALE, Thomas. Oceanic Sketches; with a Botanical Appendix by Dr Hooker of Glasgow.
London: James Cochrane, 1835. First Edition. . x, 132pp., 8. Engraved frontispiece and 5 aquatint plates, 1 of which is hand-colored. Original publishers olive patterned cloth with a gilt black paper label. A near fine copy.

The author spent time in Peru and Chili, before going on to the Galapagos Archipelago. There he found tortoises in abundance on the coast. Some of the Pacific islands visited were the Marquesas Islands, the Society Islands, Rarotonga, and Samoan Islands. He describes the habits of natives, including cannibals, in the various places he visited. Sabin 55303

$2250USD

PARROT, Friedrich. Journey to Ararat. Being Volume 1 of The World Surveyed in the XIXth Century, or Recent Narratives of Scientific and Exploratory Expeditions (undertaken chiefly by command of Foreign Governments).
London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1845. First Edition. Octavo. xii, 375pp. With a folding engraved map and numerous wood engravings in text. Early 20th century brown gilt tooled half calf with cloth boards. A very good copy.

This Volume which is in itself complete is Volume 1 of the series The World Surveyed in the XIXth Century, or Recent Narratives of Scientific and Exploratory Expeditions (undertaken chiefly by command of Foreign Governments).Parrot describes the first ascent of Ararat which took place in 1829-30, after the Caucasus came into Russian possession after the Russo-Turkish War 1827-28. Parrot had also travelled in the Crimea and the Caucasus in 1811. Atabey 925; Blackmer 1257; Neate P13.

$750USD

PETERMANN, [August Hermann]. An Account of the Progress of the Expedition to Central Africa, Performed by Messrs. Richardson, Barth, Overweg and Vogel in the years 1850--51--52 and 53. Consisting of Maps and Illustrations with Descriptive Notes.
London: for the Author, 1854. First Edition. Folio. 14pp. Tinted lithograph frontispiece surrounding map with outline hand-coloring, two other maps, one folding. Original publisher's brown gilt cloth. A very good copy.

An important work for the study of the geography of the interior of Africa. Published by authority of Her Majesty’s Foreign Office. "A rare item, relating to the Central African expedition headed by Henry Barth and James Richardson. Augustus Petermann F.R.G.S. (1822-1878) was awarded a gold Founder's Medal by the Royal Geographical Society in 1868 for "his important services as a writer and cartographer"(Sothebys).

$5500USD

PEVTSOV, M.V. Kratkiy ocherk puteshestvija po Mongolii i Vnutrennemu Kitaju v 1878 i 1879 g. [A Brief Account on the Travel Around Mongolia and Inner China] // Article in: Izvestija Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geograficheskogo Obschesctva / Izdavaemye pod redaktsiej sekretarja obschestva V.I. Sreznevskogo. 1880. Tom 16. Vyp. 5. C. 435-457. [Bulletins of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society / The chief editor, secretary of the Society V.I. Sreznevsky. 1880. Vol. 16. Issue 5. Pp. 435-457].
Saint Petersburg: Typografija V. Bezobrazova i komp, 1881. First Edition.
Large Octavo. 435-500, 3 pppp. With one folding map. Original beige printed wrappers. A very good copy.

This article is published in "Bulletins of the Russian Geographical Society," a scientific magazine, published since 1865. It describes the Expedition of the Russian officer M.V. Pevtsov, organized by the Russian Geographical Society. Along with a caravan of merchants from Bijsk the investigators went through the southern Altai, Mongolia, the Gobi Desert and the territory of modern China. The main purpose of the expedition was to survey the area and correct existing maps, as well as to study the flora and fauna, lifestyle and way of life of local people. The article gives a detailed description of the region’s terrain, rivers, lakes, brief history of its settlement of people; characterizes local trade, animal husbandry. Russian Brockhaus-Efron Encyclopaedia on-line.

$375USD

PITTS, Joseph. A Faithful Account of the Religion and Manners of the Mahometans: in Which is a Particular Relation of their Pilgrimage to Mecca...
London: T. Longman, 1738. Fourth Edition. Octavo. xxiv, 259pp., [3]. With two folding engraved plates. Very handsome period style brown elaborately gilt tooled panelled full calf with a maroon morocco gilt label. A very good copy.

Joseph Pitts is "notable for being probably the first Englishman to enter Mecca..., Forcibly converted to Islam and conversant in Arabic and Turkish, Pitts accompanied his master to Mecca, sailing from Tunis and passing through Alexandria, Rosetta, Cairo, Suez and Jiddah. Although he was granted his freedom, Pitts chose to remain in the pay of his master and returned to Algiers, travelling by way of Medina, Aqaba, Sinai and Cairo"(Howgego P107). This is the fourth edition of Pitts' work, to which has been added two folding plates: "The various gestures of the Mahometans in their prayers to God", and "The most Sacred and antient Temple of the Mahometans at Mecca." "Pitts was forced into captivity as a slave at Algiers in 1679. In 1680, after torture led him to make a declaration of his conversion to Islam, he accompanied his master on the pilgrimage to Mekkah via Cairo, Suez and Jeddah. His work is the first authentic record by an Englishman of the pilgrimage to Mekkah"(Sotheby's).

$2250USD

POLJAKOV, I.S.. Loshad’ Przhevalskogo, zoologichesky ocherk [Przhevalsky’s Horse, the Zoological Outline] // Article in:
Izvestija Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geograficheskogo Obschesctva / Izdavaemye pod redaktsiej sekretarja obschestva V.I. Sreznevskogo. 1881. Tom 17. Vyp. 1. C. 1-20. [Bulletins of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society / The chief editor, secretary of the Society V.I. Sreznevsky. 1881. Vol. 17. Issue 1. Pp. 1-20].
Saint Petersburg: Typografija V. Bezobrazova i komp., 1880. First Edition. Large Octavo. 77, 18, Xpp. With two chromo-lithographed plates. Original light blue printed wrappers. A very good copy.

One of the first detailed descriptions of a new species of horse, discovered in 1879 by distinguished Russian traveler N.M. Przheval'skiy (1839-1888) in the vicinity of Lake Lob Nur (modern China). This article is published in "Bulletins of the Russian Geographical Society," a scientific magazine, published since 1865. The author of the article - Ivan Semenovich Polyakov (1847-1887) was a Russian zoologist, anthropologist and ethnographer and curator of the Zoological Museum at the Russian Academy of Sciences. He made several scientific trips to the north of Russia, Siberia, Central Asia and Sakhalin, resulting in his numerous articles and reports. He described the skin and skeleton of a previously unknown horse and proved that it is a new species. In honor of his friend, "the indefatigable explorer of Central Asia" Polyakov named the horse "Equus Przewalskii". In 1881 it was recognized as a new wild species. The Przewalski's Horse is considered the only remaining truly wild "horse" in the world and may be the closest living wild relative of the domesticated horse, Equus caballus. The world population of these horses are all descended from 9 of the 31 horses held in captivity in 1945. These nine horses were mostly descended from approximately 15 captured around 1900. A cooperative venture between the Zoological Society of London and Mongolian scientists has resulted in successful reintroduction of these horses from zoos into their natural habitat in Mongolia; and as of 2005 there is a free-ranging population of 248 animals in the wild. The total number of these horses according to a 2005 census was about 1,500. The reintroduced horses successfully reproduced, and the status of the animal was changed from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered" in 2005 (Wikipedia).The article describes in detail the structure of Przewalski's horses, distinguishing them from the closest relatives - domestic horse, Asiatic wild ass, tarpans, donkeys. Russian Brockhaus-Efron Encyclopaedia on-line.

$375USD

POUQUEVILLE, Francois Charles Hugues Laurent. Travels in the Morea, Albania, and other parts of the Ottoman empire, comprehending a general description of those countries: their productions ; the manners, customs, and commerce of the inhabitants : a comparison between the ancient and the present state of Greece: and an historical and geographical description of the ancient epirus.
London: Printed for Henry Colburn, 1813. First English Edition. Quarto. xii, 482pp. With an engraved frontispiece, a folding engraved map and six engraved plates. Handsome period brown gilt tooled half calf with red and green gilt morocco labels and marbled boards. A fine copy.

"Poqueville was a medical doctor and member of the Scientific Commission attached to the French expedition to Egypt. Captured by privateers and landed in Greece, as a French military man he became a prisoner of war and spent about a year in Greece and t6hen two years in the Seven Towers at Constantinople. He used this time to mingle with the native populations, learned Greek, and made notes of his experiences. He returned to Paris in 1801. On the strength of this work and its dedication to Napoleon, Pouqueville was appointed French consul at Jannina in 1805"(Atabey 988).

$3950USD

ROLFE, E. Neville. Pompeii, Past and Present. Illustrated by Photographs of the Ruins as they are, with Sketches of Their Original Elevations.
London: Clowes & Sons., 1884. First Edition. Quarto. [v], 44pp. Illustrated with 39 original albumen photographs on 23 plates by E. Lauro, and drawings by Luigi Fischetti. Original brown publishers blind stamped gilt cloth. A very good copy.

An excellent early photographic documentation of Pompeii's Past and Present. "The archaeological digs at the site extend to the street level of the 79 AD volcanic event; deeper digs in older parts of Pompeii and core samples of nearby drillings have exposed layers of jumbled sediment that suggest that the city had suffered from the volcano and other seismic events before then"(Wikipedia).

$975USD

SCHWEINFURTH, Georg (1836-1925). Autograph Letter Signed "Dr. G. Schweinfurth" to The Egyptologist Heinrich Brugsch Pascha (Prussian Consul in Kairo at this time) from Kenek in Egypt and Dated the 3rd of 3rd January 1865. In the Letter Schweinfurth Accepts Brugsch's offer to deliver an Article to the Geographical Society in Berlin and also some letters to the Prussian capital. He says that he will give this package to Mudir, who will hopefully soon get it to Brugsch. Furthermore, Schweinfurth explains that
he tried to shorten his forty days travel to Kenek with work and that he plans to travel to Kosser, where he plans to stay a few days, on the day after tomorrow but knows that he'll probably get his next mail from European when he reaches Khartoum. Finally, he states that he is almost finished with his travel narrative which he intends to send in a future shipment. [With] An Oval Mounted Portrait Photograph taken in Riga, Livonia in 1859 by C. Th. Suesseroth.
1865 ... Folded: Three Pages Letter: 21 x 13 cm (8 x 5 inches); Photo ca. 10 x 7.5cm (4 x 23 inches) Both letter and photograph are in fine condition.

"Georg August Schweinfurth was a German botanist, traveller in East Central Africa and ethnologist..., Commissioned to arrange the collections brought from the Sudan by Freiherr von Barnim and Dr Hartmann, his attention was directed to that region; and in 1863 he travelled round the shores of the Red Sea, repeatedly traversed the district between that sea and the Nile, passed on to Khartum, and returned to Europe in 1866. His researches attracted so much attention that in 1868 the Humboldt-Stiftung of Berlin entrusted him with an important scientific mission to the interior of East Africa. Starting from Khartum in January 1869, he went up the White Nile to Bahr-el-Ghazal, and then, with a party of ivory dealers, through the regions inhabited by the Diur (Dyoor), Dinka, Bongo and Niam-Niam; crossing the Nile watershed he entered the country of the Mangbettu (Monbuttu) and discovered the river Uele (March 19, 1870), which by its westward flow he knew was independent of the Nile. Schweinfurth formed the conclusion that it belonged to the Chad system, and it was several years before its connection with the Congo was demonstrated..., Of greater importance were the very considerable additions he made to the knowledge of the inhabitants and of the flora and fauna of Central Africa. He described in detail the cannibalistic practices of the Mangbettu, and his discovery of the pygmy Akka settled conclusively the question as to the existence of dwarf races in tropical Africa. Unfortunately nearly all his collections made up to that date were destroyed by a fire in his camp in December 1870. He returned to Khartum in July 1871 and published an account of the expedition, under the title of Im Herzen von Afrika (Leipzig, 1874; English edition, The Heart of Africa, 1873). In 1873-1874 he accompanied Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs in his expedition into the Libyan Desert. Settling at Cairo in 1875, he founded a geographical society, under the auspices of the khedive Ismail, and devoted himself almost exclusively to African studies, historical and ethnographical"(Wikipedia).
"Heinrich Karl Brugsch (also Brugsch-Pasha) was a German Egyptologist, born in Berlin. He was associated with Auguste Mariette in his excavations at Memphis. He became director of the School of Egyptology at Cairo, and his works on the subject are numerous, and of great value..., After completing his university course and visiting foreign museums he was sent to Egypt by the Prussian government in 1853, and contracted an intimate friendship with Mariette. On his return he received an appointment at the Egyptian Museum of Berlin. In 1860 he was sent to Persia on a special mission under Baron Minutoli, travelled over the country, and after Minutoli's death discharged the functions of ambassador. In 1864 he was consul at Cairo, in 1868 professor at Göttingen, and in 1870 director of the school of Egyptology, founded at Cairo by the khedive...,He had been made a pasha by the khedive in 1881.., Brugsch's services to Egyptology are most important, particularly in the decipherment of Demotic and the making of a vast Hieroglyphic-Demotic dictionary (1867-1882)"(Wikipedia).

$2500USD

SMITH, [E. G.]. A Panoramic View of the City of Funchal, in the island of Madeira: Sketched on the Spot by Mrs. Reginald Southwood Smith, of Stafford Rectory, Dorset: Executed in the Tinted Style of Lithography, by L. Haghe, Esq., Lithographer to the Queen.
Weymouth: B. Benson, 1844. Second Edition. Oblong Folio. 4 leavespp. With a folding Lithographed Panorama of Funchal approx. 120x30cm. Period dark brown quarter sheep with cloth boards and gilt tooled sheep morocco label. Panorama mildly foxed, otherwise a very good copy.

"Funchal was founded by João Gonçalves Zarco in 1421 and was elevated to city status by King Manuel I of Portugal in 1508. In the early 1400s, Álvaro Fernandes was the commander of Funchal. In the 16th century Funchal was important as a stopping place between the Indies and the New World. It was the port for Madeiran sugar and wine. Funchal was once to the Portuguese what Gibraltar, St. Helena, and Malta now are to the English. Therefore they garrisoned the city, though naturally defended by its rugged cliffs, and built there four impregnable fortresses"(Wikipedia) Not in Abbey Travel.

$1550USD

SPARRMAN, Anders. En Upptäckts-Resa till Norra Stilla Hafvet. [A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean].
Stockholm: Anders Zetterberg, 1800-1. First Swedish Edition. Small Octavo, 2vols. In one. [x]; [ii], 184; 192pp. With eight copper engraved plates and one copper engraved folding map. Period style brown marbled papered boards with a gilt tooled label. A near fine copy.

Very Rare as only four copies found in Worldcat. Sparrman travelled on Cook's second voyage. This is a translation of the Vancouver text, but also included is original work by Sparrman, namely his observations on the inhabitants of Patagonia "Bihang om Patagonere" which didn't appear in any English language edition.The engraved plates used by Sparrman are of special interest as they are derived from Webber's portrait engravings for Cook's third voyage. The folding map was prepared by Sparrman himself for the very rare Strodde underrattesler om Capitaine Cooks sista resa... (Stockholm, 1781), This important map, which was reissued for this volume, was one of the very first to show the Hawaiian Islands. Forbes 325, Kroepelien, 1314, Rolf du Rietz 16, Captain Cook.

$5250USD

TIMKOWSKI, [G.]. Voyage à Peking, à Travers la Mongolie en 1820 et 1821. Traduit du russe par M. N******, revu par M. J.-B. Eyriès. Publié avec des Corrections et des Notes par M. J. Klaproth. [Travel to Peking, through Mongolia in 1820 and 1821].
Paris: Dondey-Dupré père et fils, 1827. First French Edition. Octavo, 2vols.In 1&Folio Atlas. xii, 480; 459; 32pp. Atlas with a lithographed title, a large folding map, a large folding plan of the Forbidden city in Peking, a folding plan of the Russian embassy in Peking, and eight other lithographed plates. Handsome period-style maroon gilt tooled half straight grained morocco with marbled boards. A near fine set.

Russia had maintained a church and school in Beijing since 1728, and every ten years a Russian mission was dispatched to allow a personnel change. This mission was particularly important from a geographic perspective because of Timkowski's accuracy in mapping their journey through the Gobi desert. Also, the atlas contains an accurate plan of the forbidden city, the first in a western work. Henze V p.327; Howgego 2, K15.

$4250USD

WALCKENAER, Charles Athanase. Recherches Geographiques sur l'Interieur de l'Afrique Septentrionale, comprenant l'histoire des voyages entrepris ... Pour pénétrer dans l'intérieur du Soudan; l'exposition des systèmes géographiques qu'on a formes sur cette contrée; l'analyse de divers itinéraires Arabes pour déterminer la position de Timbouctoo; et l'examen des connaissances des anciens relativement à l'intérieur de l'Afrique: suivies d'un appendice, contenant divers itinéraires, traduits de l'Arabe par M. Le Baron Silvestre de Sacy et M. De La Porto, etc. [Geographical Treatise on the Interior of Northern Africa, including the history of travel undertaken until the Present].
Paris: Arthus Bertrand, 1821. First Edition. Octavo. 525pp. With a large folding engraved map. Handsome period brown gilt tooled half calf with marbled boards. A very good copy.

An early study of the known accounts of the western Sahara trade routes and Timbuctoo. A Rare and important analysis of the Arab caravan routes in the Western Sahara to try to accurately determine the position of Timbouctoo, with an appendix containing the routes analysed. Not in Gay. "Walckenaer was born in Paris and studied at the universities of Oxford and Glasgow. In 1793 he was appointed head of the military transports in the Pyrenees, after which he pursued technical studies at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and the École polytechnique. He was elected member of the Institut de France in 1813, was maire in the 5th arrondissement in Paris and secretary-general of the prefect of the Seine 1816-1825. He was made a baron in 1823.
In 1839 he was appointed conservator for the Department of Maps at the Royal Library in Paris and in 1840 secretary for life in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. He was one of the founders of the Société entomologique de France in 1832"(Wikipedia).

$1750USD