{"title":"Firsts Hong Kong | Highlights","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;\"\u003eBrowse a selection of highlights from our stand at Firsts: Hong Kong, where \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shapero.com\/pages\/oliver-yarwood\" title=\"Oliver Yarwood Rare Book Specialist at Shapero Rare Books\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; color: #242423; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; color: #f1592a;\"\u003eOliver Yarwood\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;\"\u003e will be carrying the flag for Shapero at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum from 5th to 7th December.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"karl-marx-le-capital-1872-1875-105094","title":"Le Capital.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003ethe first edition in French\u003c\/h4\u003eFirst edition in French of the first volume of Das Kapital. The second and third volumes of Das Kapital were published after Marx's death, edited by Engels, in 1885 and 1894, and were first published in French in 1900 and 1902.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first issue with the publisher Lachâtre's imprint. The book was published in parts from August 1872 to November 1875 and then bound in total upon completion. Originally published in German 1867 this French edition was the second translation, preceded only by the Russian translation of 1872. Marx collaborated greatly with Lachâtre and he felt that this translation was more important than the Russian and his extensive work on the project means 'Le Capital was not a mere translation, but rather an original work, relevant from a textual point of view' (Books that Made Europe, p.248). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaurice Lachatre (1814-1900) was a Parisian radical bookseller, publisher, and collaborator of Félix Pyat's (with whom Marx butted heads over the growth of the International Working Men's Association in France). Lachatre's projected publication of the anarchist newspaper \"La Commune\" nearly cost him his life after the fall of the Paris Commune, when his bookshop was attacked with murderous intent by the Versaillaise army. It was while exiled first in Belgium and then Switzerland that Lachatre began work on publishing the present edition, though he was not free to return to Paris until 1879.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe signature 'G. See' could belong to Germain Sée, (1818- 1896), a well known French doctor who specialised in the study of lung and cardiovascular diseases.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition in French, first issue; folio (29 x 20 cm); two title-pages with engraved vignettes, engraved portrait, facsimile letter from Marx and from the publisher, stamp of previous bookseller on title-page, ownership inscription in pen to front free endpaper; contemporary green half calf, decorated boards, some wear to the extremities; 351pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooks that Made Europe p.248.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"MARX, Karl.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45547281318193,"sku":"105094","price":4500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/105094.jpg?v=1780917421"},{"product_id":"john-senex-asia-1710-108487","title":"Asia","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eAsia\u003c\/h4\u003eJohn Senex (1678-1740) was one of the foremost mapmakers in England in the early eighteenth century. He was also a surveyor, globemaker, and geographer. As a young man, he was apprenticed to Robert Clavell, a bookseller. He worked with several mapmakers over the course of his career, including Jeremiah Seller and Charles Price. In 1728, Senex was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, a rarity for mapmakers. The Fellowship reflects his career-long association as engraver to the Society and publisher of maps by Edmund Halley, among other luminaries. He is best known for his English Atlas (1714), which remained in print until the 1760s. After his death in 1740 his widow, Mary, carried on the business until 1755. Thereafter, his stock was acquired by William Herbert and Robert Sayer (maps) and James Ferguson (globes).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDouble-page engraved map on 2 sheets joined, with full contemporary hand-colouring, size: 660 mm by 960 mm, sheet size: 680 by 1002 mm. \u003cbr\u003eSome light soiling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"SENEX, John.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45547526619441,"sku":"108487","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/108487_6c0d2878-cc0b-473a-b1f7-70cfc1e1b9eb.jpg?v=1780916762"},{"product_id":"china-watercolour-album-circa-1830-107536","title":"Watercolour Album.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eChina under the Qing dynasty\u003c\/h4\u003eA remarkable collection of sixty-four fine large-format Chinese watercolours with subjects depicting tradesmen, flowers, and images combining both birds and flowers, in an exceptional green morocco binding elaborately tooled in gilt and blind with a Celtic Cross design by the Irish bookbinder George Mullen. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDesigned for the export market, the watercolours offer a fascinating glimpse into Chinese cultural life during the Imperial Qing Dynasty. Trades and occupations depicted include wok mender, fortune teller, fishmonger, tailor, woman and monkey performer, tobacco cutter, meat vendor, clog maker, silk spinner, puppet show, metal worker, lantern maker, medicine vendor, rice grinder, umbrella maker, toy maker, grocer, and embroiderer. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSimilar paintings by the Canton (Guangzhou) artist Pu-Qúa (fl.1780-1810) formed the basis of the 60 engravings illustrating George Henry Mason's The Costume of China published in 1804, and John Dadley produced stipple engravings after Pu-Qúa's originals which were published by William Miller in 1799. The remainder of the album is given over to the flora and avian fauna of the far east, including Chinese golden pheasants framed within a naturalistic setting, blossom-headed parakeets, woodcocks, varieties of orchid, rose, and jasmine. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn an exceptional green morocco binding by George Mullen (fl.1800-1850) who was one of the most pre-eminent booksellers, publishers and binders operating in Ireland at the turn of the nineteenth century. From his Dublin studio he experimented with a variety of styles, using gilt and blind tooling to great effect on morocco, russia, and calf. Records show he ran a business of considerable size, counting the Marquess of Sligo among his clients. His work is identifiable here by his ticket which is neatly pasted to the upper left corner of the front free endpaper verso. Later he was joined in business by his son George, and John and Thomas Mullen are also listed as Dublin bookbinders in the directories of the time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWatercolour album; folio (55 x 37.5 cm); 64 watercolour illustrations heightened in white featuring tradesmen (23), flowers (17), and bird and flower (24) subjects, on pith paper (sheet size: approx. 41 x 31.5 cm each) laid down on thick grey paper, tissue guards, endpapers watermarked 'B E \u0026amp; S 1815'; an exceptional green morocco binding by George Mullen of Dublin with his ticket, the panels elaborately tooled in gilt and blind in a Celtic Cross design, spine gilt in six compartments, all edges gilt, inside dentelles gilt, endpapers with gilt vine borders, minor rubbing to joints and extremities, internally clean throughout.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"[CHINA.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45624600265009,"sku":"107536","price":45000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/107536.jpg?v=1780912526"},{"product_id":"holy-bible-fine-binding-thomas-baskett-london-1751-104192","title":"The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments,","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003efrom the library of the Duke of Newcastle\u003c\/h4\u003eA fine copy of this rare bible with superb provenance. Extra-illustrated with 213 engraved plates, including 29 double-page. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe plates have captions in several languages including English and Hebrew, and the artists include G. Hoet, A. Houbraken and Bernard Picart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis scarce edition includes both the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha. It is notable for being the first folio size edition published by Thomas Baskett, the son of the King's Printer, John Baskett who first starting printing bibles in London in 1711. Thomas inherited his father's printing house and his title as King's Printer. His reputation grew and his bibles were the first English bibles to be printed in America in 1761. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis finely bound copy is from the library of the Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of Newcastle under Lyne (1720-1794) who inherited the dukedom from his uncle in 1768. He held many other prestigious posts such as Gentleman of the Bedchamber to George II and George III, and several official posts including Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire (1742-1757), High Steward of Westminster (1759-1794) and Comptroller of Customs of the Port of London (1749-1794).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2 vols bound in 4; folio (41.5 x 27 cm); text in two columns, ruled in red, two printed title-pages, extra-illustrated with 213 engraved plates (29 double-page), marbled endpapers, some minor marginal staining to some plates, bookplates; bound in contemporary navy morocco gilt with the arms of the second duke of Newcastle, all edges gilt, the border beautifully decorated with an elaborate gilt design, spines also gilt in compartments, gilt edges, bindings slightly faded, extremities very slightly rubbed; otherwise a very good copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHerbert 1091.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"[KING JAMES VERSION].","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45856207307057,"sku":"104192","price":15000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/104192.jpg?v=1780915222"},{"product_id":"monakh-iakinf-bichurin-notes-mongolia-st-petersburg-1828-first-edition-94506","title":"Zapiski o Mongolii","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eAn important, early description of Mongolia; first edition. A lovely example of this rare book, with hand-coloured plates and interesting provenance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBichurin (1777-1853) was named in 1805 leader of the 9th Russian Mission to Peking and head of the Sretenskiy monastery in this town. During his 14-year stay he learnt Chinese and compiled his own dictionary and prepared other scholar works for later publication. The first volume of the present work gives an account of the journey and the second volume a detailed examination of the geographical and political condition of the Mongols and their life and customs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAngus Ivan Ward (1893-1969) served in the U.S. army during World War I before becoming U.S. Vice Consul in Mukden, China, in 1926, and then in Tientsin. In 1938 he was sent to Moscow, serving as U.S. Consul General in Vladivostok during WWII from 1943. Before becoming U.S. Ambassador in Afghanistan (1952-56), he was back in Mukden as Consul in 1948, where he and several consulated staff were imprisoned and held under house arrest by Mao Zedong's People's Liberation Army for almost a year, creating a diplomatic rift with the United States. Ward built a very good collection of travel accounts and language books related to China and the Far East, most books being bound similarly to this one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition. Two vols in one, 8vo. xii, 231pp with 5 hand-coloured lithographed plates; vi, 339 pp., folding engraved map with hand-coloured outlines. Later half-calf over dark red cloth, gilt lettering to spine and upper cover; spine a bit faded.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eObolyaninov 1027.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"[FAR EAST]. BICHURIN (Monakh Iakinf).","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45957787648305,"sku":"94506","price":9500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/94506_65d2a795-0b45-4665-af65-d3439e2b8de4.jpg?v=1780918634"},{"product_id":"loureiro-anglo-chinese-calendar-1872-first-edition-shanghai-imprint-96198","title":"The 100 years Anglo-Chinese calendar,","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003erare Shanghai imprint\u003c\/h4\u003eRare. COPAC lists BL and Cambridge only.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first Anglo-Chinese centennial calendar, covering the period 1776-1876. 'Calendars in somewhat similar form have been yearly issued from the press in China; but, as it is doubtful if a complete series of these exists, and as, in the transaction of business, whether official, legal or commercial, between Foreigners and Chinese, and in the study of Chinese History which is now so intimately connected with foreign nations, a knowledge of the corresponding dates is quite necessary' (cfr. Preface). According to Cordier, only 500 copies of this book were printed and most were destroyed during a fire at the printing house 'Chin-Foong' in 1873\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition. 8vo., [vi], 260, [ii], 17 pp., contemporary black morocco gilt, gilt lettered to upper cover, label of the \"Ching Foon\" Printing and Bookbinding Office, Szechuan Road, Shanghai, a fine copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCordier, Sinica, I, 568.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"LOUREIRO, P.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45957794234673,"sku":"96198","price":2000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/96198.jpg?v=1780918038"},{"product_id":"ricci-christiana-expeditione-sinas-1616-106900","title":"De Christiana Expeditione apud Sinas Susepta ab Societate Iesu,","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003ethe most important work on China since Marco Polo\u003c\/h4\u003eThe earliest authoritative source of information on China available in Europe at that time. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt his death Matteo Ricci, the pioneer Jesuit missionary to China, left an unfinished manuscript entitled Della entrata della Compagnia di Giesu at Christianita nella Cina. Trigault completed the manuscript, translated it into Latin and published it in 1615 in Augsburg. He added material from other Ricci manuscripts, as well as an account of Ricci's death and funeral. It was quickly reprinted across Europe and translated into numerous European languages. Gallagher writes: '... it probably had more effect on the literary and scientific, the philosophical and the religious phases of life in Europe than any other historical volume of the seventeenth century. It introduced Confucius to Europe and Copernicus and Euclid to China. It opened a new world' (China in the Sixteenth Century: the Journal of Matthew Ricci, 1953). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Jesuits wanted to understand China in order to win converts. Accordingly, they adopted Chinese names, dress, language and immersed themselves in the Chinese culture, whilst at the same time introducing the Chinese to western mathematics, science, cartography and astronomy. In 1592 Ricci famously predicted a solar eclipse with greater accuracy than the court astronomers. As a result, Emperor Wan-li invited Ricci to Peking. Ricci arrived in the city in 1601 and resided there until his death in 1610. The title page engraving shows Matteo Ricci and Saint Francis Xavier with Ricci's map of China between them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSecond edition in Latin. 4to, (21.3 x 15.5 cm); [16], 628, [10] pp. (pp. 626-628 misnumbered as 606-608); engraved title page including a map of China, folding letterpress plate with woodcut diagram (repaired with minor loss), faint damp-staining to first five leaves, Contemporary blind-stamped calf, raised bands, carmine edges, expert restoration to corners and edges, a very good copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCordier (Sinica), 809; Lowendahl (China Illustrata Nova) I, 57; Cf. Lust, 836 (first edition); De Backer \u0026amp; Sommervogel VIII, 239; Streit V:2095.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"RICCI, Matteo; TRIGAULT, Nicholas.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45957872484657,"sku":"106900","price":7500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/106900_4affa1b3-ca8b-4865-a90d-61833beda699.jpg?v=1780920443"},{"product_id":"marshman-elements-chinese-grammar-1814-107546","title":"Elements of Chinese grammar,","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003ea pioneering work\u003c\/h4\u003eScarce. Two issues of this work were made in 1814. This second issue has Chinese characters on title and a 2-page errata, it also has nine extra leaves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarshman's grammar was produced by the Danish Mission colony of Serampore as part of the ever increasing flow of information on the Chinese language. Marshman's book is a pioneering work based on the idea that correct Chinese grammar should be sought in the great classics such as Confucius, rather than in colloquial usage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition, second issue (with Chinese characters on title, errata \u0026amp; 9 extra leaves), 4to, [ii], xvi, viii, ii, 2-page errata, 566, 56 pp., lacks half-title, occasional toning and light spotting, old illegible markings to title and verso, modern half calf gilt, a good copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCordier, Sinica, 1661; Diehl 85; Lowendahl 775; Lust 1020.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"MARSHMAN, Joshua.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45957888409905,"sku":"107546","price":5000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/107546_056b5cf6-cc78-4618-a010-e758a3fd2e8d.jpg?v=1780918351"},{"product_id":"commelin-begin-ende-voortgangh-oost-indische-compagnie-1646-1645-98479","title":"Begin ende Voortgangh van de Vereenighde Nederlantsche Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Compagnie.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eDutch mercantile enterprise - the definitive edition\u003c\/h4\u003eThe definitive edition of the great early Dutch voyages of exploration. This collection of voyages, many undertaken by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), ranks as a record of some of the most important mercantile adventures in the history of European expansion. Complete sets are rarely found today, many having being split into their constituent parts. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis finely illustrated work is one of the great voyage collections and ranks alongside those of Hakluyt and Purchas. It includes accounts of all the voyages on which the Duyfken, captained by William Jansz, sailed, of great importance as it was the Duyfken which would make the first sighting of the Australian coast. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is the preferred edition of the work (two editions, far less complete, had previously appeared), with a preface by Commelin, a summary of pre-1631 Dutch voyages, and is superbly illustrated with maps, charts, views of the early settlements, indigenous people, animals, and natural history subjects. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe collection includes: De Veer, Voyages to the North; Houtman, Voyage to the East Indies; Neck, Voyage to the East Indies; Van Noort, Voyage round the World; Neck, Second Voyage; Spilbergen, Voyage to the East Indies; Van Caerden, Voyage to the East Indies; Spilbergen, Voyage round the World; and others. Of particular interest may be mentioned the world voyage of Jacques l'Hermite, which includes the famous Quirós Memorial.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo other work gives such a complete view of the Dutch voyages and the plethora of engraved illustrations really brings these truly extraordinary tales of adventure alive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThird edition; 21 (separately paginated) parts in 2 vols, landscape folio (20 x 26 cm), first title-page re-margined on lower edge beneath date (no loss), complete with 2 engraved frontispieces and 230 engraved plates (some folding) in vol. I, slight loss to fore-edge pl. 16, Houtman, De Eerste Schipvaerd; also to plates 2 \u0026amp; 8, Van Noort, Beschrijvinge van de Schipvaerd; plate 5, Neck, Tweede Schipvaert, possibly supplied (small margins); expert paper restoration to a strip of lower margin (6 cm x 1 cm at greatest extent) and similar repair to fold, pl. 6, Spilbergen, 't Historiael Journael; in vol. II, Van Den Broecke, Historische ende Journaelesche, plates short on lower margin (as issued?); neat restoration to plates 3 \u0026amp; 10, Oost ende West-Indische Navigatien, later vellum to style, lettered in gilt, yapp edges, occasional light dampstaining (nothing untoward), a very good set.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBell C443; Landwehr VOC 250, listing three editions (1644 [only 2 copies known], 1645 \u0026amp; 1646); Mendelssohn 1603; Tiele 82; Tiele (Mémoire), pp.13-15; Sabin 14959.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"COMMELIN, Isaac (editor).","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46763105517873,"sku":"98479","price":30000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/98479.jpg?v=1780912721"},{"product_id":"map-straits-singapore-1944-110838","title":"Strait of Singapore","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eVery attractive wartime map of Singapore.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition. Coloured map, 88.5 x 66.5 cm, scale 1: 500,000, light wear, a very good example.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"MAP OF SINGAPORE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48297764225329,"sku":"110838","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/110838.jpg?v=1780918258"},{"product_id":"heydt-ost-indien-1744-first-edition-111525","title":"Allerneuester Geographisch- und Topographischer","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eimportant early iconography of Jakarta\u003c\/h4\u003eHeydt's Ost-Indien provides us with an extensive and important work with regard to the town planning and general topography of Jakarta in the first half of the eighteenth century. Heydt describes the main factories, settlements and stations of the Netherlands East India Company (VOC) in Africa and Asia, at Jakarta [Batavia], Colombo, Malacca, the Molluccas, Japan, and the Cape. The maps include a twin-hemisphere World map, the East Indies [with northern Australia], Sri Lanka and Greenland. The views include scenes and interiors at Jakarta, Colombo, Malacca and the settlement at Deshima in Japan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHeydt, born in Amboina in 1702 to German parents, joined the VOC in 1733, spending two years in Ceylon before going to Indonesia. In 1737 he became the architect and draughtsman of the Company. In this capacity he made numerous drawings of Jakarta and West Java. He retired to Europe after resigning from the VOC in 1740 on health grounds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; landscape folio (33 x 39 cm); 115 engraved plates (plate 62, plan of Colombo, hand-coloured) including five maps, by J.M. Seeligman, A. Hoffer, J.G. Puscher, and J.C. Berndt after Heydt, bound without the frontispiece found in some copies, a little browned as usual, more so at beginning and end; contemporary vellum, morocco label, covers a bit marked, overall a very good copy; [20], 346, [4] pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLandwehr (VOC), 469; Mendelssohn (South African Bibliography) I, 709.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"HEYDT [HEIJDT], Johann Wolfgang.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48366331068721,"sku":"111525","price":7500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/111525.jpg?v=1780915149"},{"product_id":"helman-faits-memorables-chine-1788-first-89371","title":"Faits Memorables des Empereurs de la Chine,","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eFirst edition of this celebrated French production of the Dijian Tushuo or 'The Emperor's Mirror'. The Dijian Tushuo was a collection of stories, almost fables, of the great and good deeds of Chinese emperors, designed for instruction of the young Wanli emperor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere is confusion about how Helman got his hands on the text and engravings for this work. The title seems to corroborate the story that Helman based his work off an illustrated manuscript in the possession of the French Minister of Finance Henry Bertin, and heavily adapted it for the French palette. There is also the suggestion that the plates are based off a set produced by Jesuit Attiret on the orders of The Qianlong Emperor which were almost strictly distributed in China. Whatever the inspiration, it is clear Helman adapted his work for the Western market and the desire for material on the \"Orient\". He was an astute business man and profited greatly from the suites he produced.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is the paper issue of the work, which was also issued on papier vélin and in a large paper format to be uniform with Helman's other suites.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; 4to (29.5 x 22 cm); engraved title, engraved dedication, 24 engraved plates accompanied by engraved text, bright and clean; contemporary mottled calf gilt, neat repairs to joints, internally fine copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCohen de Ricci 479; Löwendahl 654; Lust 1133; Cordier 587-88.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"HELMAN, Isidore-Stanislaus-Henri.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48812959596849,"sku":"89371","price":3750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/89371.jpg?v=1780914983"},{"product_id":"de-quincey-confessions-english-opium-eater-1822-112069","title":"Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003efirst edition in the original boards\u003c\/h4\u003eAn excellent copy in the original boards of 'the most famous account of drug addiction in English literature' (Norman).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst published in the London Magazine the previous year, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater was an instant hit which brought De Quincey (1785-1859) immediate literary fame both at home and across the Atlantic. The memoir recounts De Quincey's early life, his formative relationship with the kindly prostitute Ann of Oxford Street, and descent into (lifelong) opium addiction. This edition, the first in book form, also introduced an appendix recording De Quincey's opium consumption over the period.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA legendary figure, the bibliographer H.G. Bohn recalled: 'These \"Confessions\" were written in a little room at the back of Mr. H.G. Bohn's premises, No. 4, York Street, Covent Garden, where Mr. De Quincey resided, in comparative seclusion, for several years. He had previously lived in the neighbourhood of Soho Square, and for some years was a frequent visitor to the shop of Mr. Bohn's father, then the principal dealer in German books. The writer remembers that he always seemed to speak in a kind of whisper' (Lowndes).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith provenance for Frank Brewer Bemis (1861-1935), bibliophile, collector of printed and manuscript poetry, and member of the Grolier Club and American Antiquarian Society.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition in book form; 12mo (185 x 115 mm); half-title, 2pp publisher's ads to rear, engraved bookplate to front pastedown; publisher's brown boards, expertly rebacked preserving much of the original spine and label, corners restored, housed in red cloth slip-case, contrasting black morocco title-piece to spine, slight offsetting to endpapers, otherwise internally clean; vi, 206, [2]pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLowndes 2026; Norman 619; Tinker 817; Wise (Ashley Library) II, 37.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"[DE QUINCEY, Thomas].","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49512168096049,"sku":"112069","price":7500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/112069_4e535947-9d1b-4445-80e6-0d452df49f1d.jpg?v=1780913189"},{"product_id":"borget-sketches-china-1842-112117","title":"Sketches of China and the Chinese.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003efine lithographic views including Hong Kong, Macao \u0026amp; Canton\u003c\/h4\u003eBorget's fine lithographic views of China, including five of Hong-Kong, and others relating to Macao and Canton. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe plates are remarkable for the lack of that 'feeling of superiority of the Chinese, so characteristic of accounts from the 1840s. The artist observes with a fresh eye' (Lust). An important and early record of the landscape and people of Hong Kong, Macao, and Canton. Borget, who was a pupil of Jean-Antoine Gudin and a close friend of Honoré de Balzac, journeyed around the world in 1836, travelling through South America and Hawaii before reaching the China coast in August 1838. In the autumn of 1838, fellow artist William Prinsep went sketching with Borget in Macao, remarking that he found the Frenchman's portfolio 'rich with scenes from South America, Sandwich Islands and China, and he was a pleasant fellow into the bargain.' He continued his circumnavigation in July 1839 with a visit to Manila and then sailed for India via Singapore and the Straits of Malacca, eventually returning to Paris in the summer of 1840.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst London edition; folio; additional pictorial lithograph title dated 1842, 32 tinted lithograph views on 25 sheets by Eugene Ciceri after Borget, list of plates and 11 pages of descriptive letterpress, marginal light spotting, publisher's moiré fine ribbed cloth, rebacked brown morocco, a very good copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbbey (Travel), 540; Cordier I, 79-80; Lust 211.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"BORGET, Auguste.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49758131355953,"sku":"112117","price":22500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/112117_c8c09908-35d3-4571-b4d8-c45c126282b7.jpg?v=1780911805"},{"product_id":"john-mandeville-travels-venice-1505-112964","title":"Tractato dele più maravigliose cose e più notabile che si trovino in le parte del mondo","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eearly travels to India and China\u003c\/h4\u003eRare 16th-century Italian edition of the world's first best-selling travel book. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlthough largely fictitious, the journeys are based upon travellers' tales extant in the fourteenth century and as such are of considerable interest. Purchas considered Sir John Mandeville to be akin to Marco Polo in terms of importance 'the greatest Asian Traveller that ever the World had' (Pilgrimes III, p65). His travels take the reader through Turkey, Armenia, Persia, Tartary, Arabia, India and China, and gave many Europeans their first taste of the Near and Middle East, as well as the East Indies. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLittle is known of Mandeville himself, however he claims to be an English Knight who travelled between 1322 and 1356, serving under both the Sultan of Egypt and the Great Khan. Although traditionally attributed to Mandeville, in reality the work was an English version of a text known as Itinerarium, of which the original, ascribed to Jean d'Outremeuse, was probably written in Anglo-Norman French. All pre-1725 editions of Mandeville are scarce, and editions such as this, in a vernacular language, particularly so. We have been able to locate just one other copy, held at the British Library in London.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e8vo; title within decorative woodcut border, 4-line decorative woodcut initial to A2, 2-line initials elsewhere, some toning and soiling, small repair to fore-edge of title, bookplate to front pastedown; later full vellum, gilt lettering to spine on brown morocco title-piece, minor worming to extremities and endpapers; collation: A-EE4; ff. [112].\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eUSTC 839970.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"MANDEVILLE, Sir John.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49818940997937,"sku":"112964","price":18500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/112964_1478c49c-d316-4770-88b5-aacbbad38846.jpg?v=1780916582"},{"product_id":"colquhoun-across-chryse-1883-first-us-112570","title":"Across Chryse;","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eColquhoun's expedition was to survey a projected railway connecting Canton with Burma. During the course of his travels he passed through many regions previously unexplored and unmapped by Europeans, and established his reputation as an explorer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst U.S. edition; 2 vols, 8vo; 30 plates, 4 folding, 3 coloured maps, 2 folding, and numerous illustrations in the text; original grey pictorial cloth gilt, slight browning, ownership inscription on title, a very good set; xxx, 420; xvi, 408 pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCordier (Sinica), 343; Howgego IV, C47.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"COLQUHOUN, Archibald R.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49860538925361,"sku":"112570","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/112570_486a5c54-7f41-4b05-88b3-ae2ca077fcac.jpg?v=1780912713"},{"product_id":"abraham-ortelius-japan-112503","title":"JAPONIAE INSVLAE DESCRIPTIO.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eWell-preserved example of Ortelius' map of Japan, taken from the fifth, final, and most complete French edition of Theatre de l'Univers. Enriched with decorative cartouches and ships.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAbraham Ortelius (1527-1598) was a cartographer and publisher, he was born and died in Antwerp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDouble-page copper engraved map, with later hand-colouring, centre fold as issued, cartouches for title and scale, French text on verso; sheet size: 42 x 53 cm. Minor stains to fold. \u003cbr\u003eMounted size: 52cm by 65.5cm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKoeman III, Ort 32.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"ORTELIUS, Abraham.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49891838886193,"sku":"112503","price":3750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/112503_b8bb38cf-176b-48c2-8f2b-29661657df78.jpg?v=1780910283"},{"product_id":"overmeer-fisscher-japansche-rijk-1833-royal-provenance-113482","title":"Bijdrage tot de kennis van het Japansche Rijk.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003efrom the library of the last French Queen\u003c\/h4\u003eA superb copy with royal provenance of van O. Fisscher's survey of Japan. van O. Fisscher worked in Japan from 1820 to 1829 as a Dutch factory employee at Deshima. In 1822, he accompanied the chief of the Dutch factory Jan Cook Blomhoff (1779-1835) on a journey to appear at the court in Edo. The book covers a broad range of research on Japan and was compiled after J. F. van O. Fisscher returned home, based on his observations and the materials he collected. There are chapters on the geography of the country, sciences, art, religion, the art of war, flora and fauna, domestic life and costume, etc. The high-quality colour plates provide a fine representation of Japanese costume, life and culture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily in 1782 (died 1866), she was niece of Marie Antoinette, and as Marie Amalie was Queen consort to Louis Philippe, King of the French, known as the Citizen King.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; 4to, x, 320 pp. 15 hand-coloured lithographs, contemporary crimson morocco, richly decorated in gilt and blind, covers with outer gilt chain panel with gilt arms of Queen Marie-Amelie to upper cover and central rectangular panel with gilt floral tools to rear, spine gilt-lettered direct and decorated in gilt, all edges gilt, cream watered silk doublures, a fine copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBobins 300; Cordier, 490; Landwehr (Dutch Books with Colour Plates), 385; Tiele, 357.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"OVERMEER FISSCHER, J.F. van.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49893480988977,"sku":"113482","price":25000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/113482.jpg?v=1780919123"},{"product_id":"malpiere-chine-paris-1825-113552","title":"La Chine. Moeurs, usages, costumes, arts et metiers.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eBotfield copy, superbly bound\u003c\/h4\u003eRare. A superbly bound copy of La Chine by Malpiere, a work which is seldom found complete, and which consists 'of a huge collection of attractively lithographed copies of scenes from Chinese life of the mid-Ch'ing period' (Lust).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIssued in 30 parts, each containing 6 hand-coloured lithographic plates, copied from the engraved plates in William Alexander's Picturesque representations of the dress and manners of the Chinese. In calling for 97 rather than 96 plates in volume II, Colas appears to be including the illustration 'L'union des sarcelles,' which is included on the plate list. In this copy, the plate 'L'hommage des Sarcelles', which accompanies the music, has no descriptive text, making the unnumbered leaves of text 94 in total rather than 95 as called for by Lipperheide or 96 by Colas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; 2 volumes, 4to (34.5 x 24.7 cm.). 2 hand-coloured lithographed titles, 179 hand-coloured lithographed plates by Deveria, Regnier, Schaal, Schmit, and Vidal after Castiglione, Pu-Qua, W. Alexander, Chambers, and others, including a hand-coloured plan of Peking, 4 leaves of engraved music in vol. 2 with a hand-coloured title illustration: some spotting and browning as usual, 3 plates in vol. II with large splash marks; contemporary nineteenth-century red morocco gilt, covers panelled with foliate roll-tool borders gilt, spines gilt in compartments, green morocco lettering-pieces, gilt edges; spines sunned, a fine set.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eColas 1957; Cordier (Sinica) I, 69; Lipperheide 1532; Lust 60.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"MALPIERE, D. Bazin de.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49902032486705,"sku":"113552","price":17500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/113552.jpg?v=1780918160"},{"product_id":"skeat-pagan-races-malay-peninsula-london-1906-115378","title":"Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eSkeat (1856-1953), a Cambridge anthropologist, joined the civil service in the Straits Settlements (modern day Malaysia). He made various expeditions inland to study native tribes in areas where Europeans had not previously ventured. Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula is his major work on the subject. Scarce.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; 2 vols, 8vo, xl, 724; xii, 855pp., errata leaf end vol. II, ads end vol. I; 7 maps, numerous photographic illustrations, original brown buckram gilt, a fine copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"SKEAT, Walter William; BLAGDEN, Charles Otto.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54912274694519,"sku":"115378","price":1500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/115378_3c7ff14b-f672-4de0-8526-8437c54ef860.jpg?v=1780921460"},{"product_id":"watercolour-hong-kong-1849-large-95510","title":"Watercolour view of Hong Kong Island from the Harbour.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003erare, large-scale view\u003c\/h4\u003eA rare large-scale view of Hong Kong Island painted in the first ten years of colonial rule. The charming scene shows both Chinese Junks and European tripple-masted sailing ships at anchor in Victoria harbour, with the rippling hills of Hong Kong Island above the burgeoning town of Victoria.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMany watercolours painted for western export emphasised the trading nature of Hong Kong, hence the emphasis on merchant vessels and company buildings on the waterline including those of Dent \u0026amp; Co. and Lindsay. The absence of St John's Cathedral amongst the urban waterline dates this painting before 1849, only eight years after land grants were first issued to British investors following the cession of Hong Kong to Britain at the Treaty of Nanking. The image is also reminiscent of the 1843 seal of Hong Kong, which shows merchant ships on a quay with the mountains of Hong Kong in the background, and strengthens the idea that this painting represents the quintessential depiction of Hong Kong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWater colour on paper Hong Kong (visible area 74.8 X 137 cm.), mounted. Overall size: 90 cm x 150 cm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"[HONG KONG].","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55259166114167,"sku":"95510","price":25000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/95510_86b8b980-0510-4a50-975b-01fbcab12197.jpg?v=1780922438"},{"product_id":"vaughan-manners-chinese-straits-1879-first-117658","title":"The Manners and Customs, of the Chinese of the Straits Settlements.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003esecret societies of singapore\u003c\/h4\u003eOne of the first detailed accounts of the secret societies of Singapore and of the Chinese population of the Straits Settlements.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJ.D. Vaughan was a lawyer and solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements, and his dealings with the breadth of Singaporean society gave him a more complete and diverse perspective on the inhabitants of the city than many of the British government officials of the time. His detail on the Singapore Chinese population is particularly engaging and ranges from recounting their working habits to how they commit crimes, how they spend their leisure time, and a good amount of information on the many secret societies that pervaded the strata of Singapore including the notorious Ghee Hin Kongsi society (whose seal is reproduced on page 102). They were known for ethnic violence and committed a mass attack on postal workers in 1876.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe also gives plenty of attention to the various leisure activities that were favourites amongst the Chinese. Opium smoking and theatre are given due attention, as well as the various popular games including Chinese Chess, Lien Poh, and Chinese Cards, which are all illustrated.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRare in commerce, with only one appearing at auction in the last 35 years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; 8vo (25 x 15 cm); contemporary gift inscription to title, 19 black and red woodblock illustrations, one of which double page, of chinese cards and games and a chop or seal of a secret society; contemporary marbled boards rebacked and recornered in red morocco to style, a very good copy; 119pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"VAUGHAN, J.D.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55352569069943,"sku":"117658","price":7500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/117658.jpg?v=1781110845"},{"product_id":"loubere-relation-siam-1693-first-english-117101","title":"A New Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eA handsome copy of the first edition in English of La Loubère's account of Siam, 'universally regarded as the finest work on seventeenth-century Thailand' (Wyatt).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLa Loubère was Louis XIV's envoy to the court of Siam. Before setting out on his mission, he read widely on Siam and its history. This background knowledge, combined with objective observation, makes his book a 'magisterial description' (Lach). He returned to France in 1688 just a month after the Siamese revolution, which saw the overthrow of the pro-French King Narair and ushered in over a hundred years of anti-European policy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNotable for its publication of the \"Siamese method\" of constructing magic squares and for one of the earliest accounts of a parachute.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition in English; 2 vols in 1, folio (32 x 20 cm); title-page printed in red and black, 11 engraved maps and illustrations, in-text woodcuts of 'magical squares' between pages 228 and 246, armorial bookplate to front pastedown, occasional mild toning; contemporary full blind panelled calf, spine in six compartments with gilt morocco lettering piece, extremities rubbed, a very good handsome copy; [4], 144, [4, including separate title-page], 145-260 pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMendelssohn (1979) III, 43; Lach III (3), 1194-1196; Wing L201.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"LA LOUBERE, Simon de.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55364255809911,"sku":"117101","price":5000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/117101.jpg?v=1780918009"},{"product_id":"gray-walks-canton-1875-first-117091","title":"Walks in the City of Canton...","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eJohn Henry Gray's (1823-1890) scarce guide-book of Canton. The work is structured into seven distinct walks around the city, with extensive detail and history on the sights and landmarks encountered on each route. Reverence and respect for the history of China and its people comes through clearly in the veneration given to the monuments and temples described. Gray is also singular for including the hustle and bustle of the city in his routes as well as the great landmarks, taking the reader through the streets of furniture makers, glassblowers, silk weavers, the ponds of fish breeders, rice paper art studios, markets and foundries, and even local restaurants. Gray spent nearly 30 years in China and was Archdeacon of Hong Kong for a decade, and wrote several works on Chinese people and customs that helped combat a lot of negative stereotypes pervasive in Britain at the time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScarce with only 5 copies in UK institutions and only two of the copyright libraries (BL and Cambridge).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; 8vo (23 x 15 cm); tear to p.245 repaired without loss; contemporary black half calf, spine head cap repaired and corners renewed, spine lettered in gilt in five gilt ruled compartments, a little rubbed, a very good copy; [iv], iv, errata slip, 695, errata slip, lxi pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"GRAY, John Henry.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55369922249079,"sku":"117091","price":2400.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/117091_1e770650-b296-4c46-9cf0-2e3ff1d3cbc5.jpg?v=1780914759"},{"product_id":"oscar-wilde-poems-signed-inscribed-presentation-copy-118405","title":"Poems.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003einscribed presentation copy\u003c\/h4\u003eFourth edition of Wilde's first poetry collection, a presentation copy inscribed from the author to Ada Maud Story (née Broadwood), wife of his friend, the sculptor Thomas Waldo Story: 'To Mrs. Waldo Story, from her friend Oscar Wilde. Paris, May 9th '83'. Additionally inscribed 'Rien n'est vrai que le Beau' on the title, and with her husband's bookplate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThomas Waldo Story (1854-1915) was born in Rome, the son of American Neoclassical sculptor William Wetmore Story. He was educated at Eton and Oxford before returning to Italy and joining his father's practice. The Storys cultivated an impressive clientele, including the Marlboroughs and Astors, for whom they developed large-scale decorative schemes, and Thomas Waldo is best known for the monumental two-colour marble sculpture Fountain of Love at Cliveden. In addition to Neoclassicism, he was inspired by the Aesthetic movement espoused by friends such as Wilde, who wrote to him in 1883 that Whistler 'spoke of your art with more enthusiasm than I ever heard him speak of any modern work' (Whistler Catalogue Raisonné, University of Glasgow). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe present copy was inscribed in Paris in May 1883, following the Story's April marriage, and a year prior to Wilde's own marriage. Upon becoming engaged, Wilde wrote to Thomas Waldo, 'Well, we are to be married in April, as you were, and then go to Paris, and perhaps to Rome—what do you think? Will Rome be nice in May? I mean, will you and Mrs Waldo be there, and the Pope, and the Peruginos?… Her name is Constance and she is quite young, very grave, and mystical... quite perfect except that she does not think Jimmy the only painter that ever really existed: she would like to bring Titian or somebody in by the back door: however, she knows I am the greatest poet, so in literature she is all right: and I have explained to her that you are the greatest sculptor: art instruction cannot go further'.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFourth edition, inscribed presentation copy; single leaf of publisher's ads at rear, bookplate of Waldo Story, free endpapers tanned, light spotting to the title and blanks and occasionally to the contents; publisher's parchment boards blocked in gilt, binding rubbed with some wear at the tips and a few spots and marks, including a 1cm mark on the upper board, spine rolled, very good condition; 234pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"WILDE, Oscar.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55628763857271,"sku":"118405","price":30000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/118405_1b92cfd9-c9a3-4020-a47f-902bc2dfe9fd.jpg?v=1781110738"},{"product_id":"fortune-three-years-china-1847-first-edition-114035","title":"Three Years' Wanderings in the northern provinces of China,","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eFortune's travels between 1843 and 1845 in Kuangtung, Fukien, the Chekiang coast, and Shanghai. Fortune (1812-1880) was a Scottish botanist, plant hunter and traveller, known for introducing around 250 new ornamental plants, mainly from China, but also Japan, into the gardens of Britain, Australia and the USA. He also played a role in development of the tea industry in India in the 19th century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; 8vo (23 x 15 cm); pictorial half- title, engraved map, 3 tinted lithographed plates slightly foxed, 12 other illustrations; publisher's original reddish brown cloth, pictorial gilt vignette to upper cover, spine lettered in gilt, spine professionally restored and a little sunned; xiv, [ii], 407, [i] pp., 16 pages ads dated January 1847 at end.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbbey (Travel), 543; Cordier, Sinica, 205; Lust 1236.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"FORTUNE, Robert.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55643445821815,"sku":"114035","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/114035.jpg?v=1781110483"},{"product_id":"william-baldwin-treatise-morall-philosophie-117150","title":"A Treatise of Morall Philosophie:","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eAn early edition of this anthology or florilegium collecting together observations on moral philosophy from a wide range of classical authorities including Plato, Aristotle, and Marcus Aurelius.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe text is divided into 12 books, opening with a history of philosophy and lives of the ancient philosophers in alphabetical order, turning to considerations on theology, the politics, the mind, the seven cardinal virtues and deadly vices.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A collection of classical and humanistic adages and sententiae, the former text is tinged with Erasmianism. It attempts on the one hand to introduce classical learning to a readership dedicated to self-education, and on the other to harmonize classical philosophy with Christian belief. A very popular text, the Treatise underwent frequent revision and expansion by the compiler and others; it had been reissued twenty-four times by 1620' (ODNB).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e8vo (15.5 x 10 cm); early pen inscriptions to title, last f. of text verso, and rear endpapers, title slightly soiled, text-block a moderately toned, edges frayed with occasional slight loss, small hole to S6 fore-edge margin not affecting text, title soiled and frayed at edges, text block toned; contemporary vellum, spine lettered in MS 'Morall Philosophie', vellum soiled and cracked; [8], 189, [3]ff.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eESTC S124282.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"BALDWIN, William; PALFREYMAN, Thomas.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56008206418295,"sku":"117150","price":1500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/117150.jpg?v=1780922568"},{"product_id":"narbrough-account-voyages-1711-second-edition-120511","title":"An Account of Several Late Voyages and Discoveries:","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003epreferred extended second edition\u003c\/h4\u003eThe preferred extended second edition of a work that presents one of the earliest English accounts of Abel Tasman's 1642 voyage to Tonga and Fiji. Tasman was also the first European to reach Tasmania and New Zealand. In addition there is a detailed description of Narbrough's passage in the Batchelour through the Straits of Magellan into the South Pacific and on to Chile. He successfully proved that trade with South America could be profitable without Spanish oversight, which influenced Britain's foreign policy for the next half century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis edition is more desirable with the additional chart of the western and southern oceans, not present in the first edition, and added text relating to whaling off Greenland.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSecond edition; 8vo (20 x 12.5 cm); 3 folding engraved maps, 19 engraved plates, of which 7 folding, some unobtrusive marginal staining, discreet contemporary annotations to margins, lower left corner of title with small tear but not text lost; contemporary panelled sprinkled calf, professionally rebacked to style with endpapers renewed, all edges speckled red, a little wear, a very good copy; [2], xvi, xxi-xxix, [7], 191, [1], 223, [1] pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHill, 1476; Howgego I, N3; Sabin 72186.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"[NARBROUGH, Sir John]; ROBINSON, Sir Tancred (editor).","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56031389483383,"sku":"120511","price":6000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/120511_77d39db9-670c-4245-9f06-abfd457d0aab.jpg?v=1780918806"},{"product_id":"halde-description-lempire-chine-1736-first-4to-120805","title":"Description Géographique, Historique, Chronologique, Politique et Physique","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003efirst quarto edition\u003c\/h4\u003eThe first quarto edition, issued one year after the first in folio format, of Du Halde's 'encyclopaedic account of China' (Lust) -- and one of the earliest European sources on Chinese ceramics. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDu Halde, who became a Jesuit priest in 1708, was entrusted by his superiors to edit the published and manuscript accounts of Jesuit travellers in China. The present work records the narratives of twenty-seven of these missionaries. Also notable is the Relation succinte du voyage du capitaine Beering dans la Sibérie, which is the first published account of Vitus Bering's 1728 voyage through the eponymous straits, whose importance he failed to recognize after sighting no land.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the library of John Hales Calcraft (1796-1880), British Whig and Conservative politician.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst 4to edition; 4 vols, 4to (27.4 x 21.5 cm); text in French, title-pages printed in red and black, engraved title vignettes and head-pieces, 53 engraved plates, 17 of which folding, retaining cancel leaf 4E4 with closed binders incision, armorial bookplate to front pastedowns, a couple small tears to folding plate hinges; contemporary tree calf, gilt rolled board borders, edges, and turn-ins, flat spine in six gilt compartments with gilt contrasting red and green morocco lettering pieces, marbled endpapers, all edges yellow, professional restoration to a couple small areas of spines, else a fine set.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrunet II 870; Cordier (Sinica) I, 45-48; Cox I 355; De Backer \u0026amp; Sommervogel IV, 35; Lada-Mocarski 2; Lowendahl 398; Lust Western Books on China 12; Wickersham 6099.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"DU HALDE, Jean Baptiste.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56169185575287,"sku":"120805","price":8500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/120805_528f4315-85c7-4729-8f5f-ec3831ea415b.jpg?v=1780914851"},{"product_id":"friedrich-engels-conditions-working-class-england-london-1892-120841","title":"The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003ethe classic account of living conditions during the Industrial Revolution\u003c\/h4\u003eThe first authorised UK edition of Engels' major work in the distinctive publisher's red cloth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEngels (1820-1895) lived in England for the majority of his adult life, first in Manchester where he worked in his father's textile mill, and afterwards in London where he resided from 1870 until his death twenty-five years later.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis eyewitness account of the poor working conditions, child labour, and disease almost universally present in the manufacturing towns of the period became an instant classic when it was first published in Leipzig in 1845. 'In particular his description of the spatial configuration of Manchester, constructed in such a way that its affluent burghers need never confront the squalor and misery upon which their wealth was based, has been seen as a decisive symbol for the invisibility of the conditions in which wealth under capitalism was produced' (ODNB).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Condition of the Working-Class was not translated into English until 1885 when the American social reformer Florence Kelley brought-out an edition authorised by Engels that was published in New York in 1887. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo this edition, the first authorised to be published in the United Kingdom, Engels added a new preface with the qualification that the 'production bears the stamp of his youth', and that the 'state of things described in this book belongs to-day, in many respects, to the past, as far as England is concerned' (Preface).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst authorized UK edition; 8vo (19 x 13 cm); printer's device to title, 4pp publisher's ads to rear, occasional pencil annotations, moderate spotting; publisher's red cloth, upper cover stamped in black, spine lettered in gilt, spine faded, corners rubbed with loss, lower cover a little faded, slightly soiled; xix, [1], 298, [2], 4[ads]pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"ENGELS, Fredrich.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56217758171511,"sku":"120841","price":1500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/120841_762bce0f-8cd2-460b-9ce7-8f95fd3433f6.jpg?v=1780914251"},{"product_id":"william-shakespeare-comedies-histories-tragedies-london-1807-120812","title":"Comedies, Histories, \u0026 Tragedies.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003efirst facsimile of the First Folio\u003c\/h4\u003eThe first facsimile edition of Shakespeare's First Folio, a striking example in full contemporary green vellum tooled in gilt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe First Folio was published in 1623 in an edition of between 500 and 600 copies. The edition set the standard canonical list of thirty-six plays attributed to the Bard, and marked the first appearance in print of eighteen plays: The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Measure for Measure, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like it, The Taming of the Shrew, All's Well That Ends Well, Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale, King John, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and Cymbeline. Troilus and Cressida 'was originally intended to be set-up following Romeo and Juliet but was withdrawn, probably because of difficulties regarding copyright, and only included in the volume when it was too late to be noted in the Catalogue or to be pages as part of the Tragedies' (Pforzheimer).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 'first reprint of the first edition in its original form' (Jaggard), with provenance for the industrialist Benjamin Gott (1762-184) of Armley House, Leeds. His factory was once the largest in the world and is now home to the Leeds Industrial Museum.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst facsimile edition; folio (39 x 24.5 cm); engraved portrait vignette title, pencil notes to front free endpaper, bookplate to front pastedown, a little toned; striking contemporary green vellum, covers with gilt roll borders of laurels and mantles, within double gilt fillets, gilt spine in 7 compartments, all edges gilt, a little rubbed with minor loss to extremities, slightly soiled, very good; [18], 303, [1], 1-100, [2], [69]-232, [2], 79-80, [26], 98, [2], 109-156, 257-993 [i.e. 393], [1]pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJaggard p.510.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"SHAKESPEARE, William.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56217759777143,"sku":"120812","price":5000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/120812.jpg?v=1780922704"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/collections\/Firsts_Hong_Kong.png?v=1779290726","url":"https:\/\/shapero.com\/collections\/firsts-hong-kong.oembed","provider":"Shapero Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}