The banning of books by dissident authors in repressive regimes such as Stalinist Russia is well-documented, but here are some titles you might not have realised were also banned – in some cases, much closer to home.

The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw the publication of some of the most beautiful natural history books ever printed.

Thinking of the British and Africa, I suppose the things that comes to mind are the Quest for the Source of the Nile, Brits in East Africa and South Africa, and the exploration of the Niger. Before most of these however, there was English relations with the Barbary States, in particular Morocco.

The Tibetan plateau, situated at some 15,000 feet (4500 metres), surrounded by great mountain ranges which include the two tallest mountains in the world, Everest and K2, was one of the last areas of the globe to be explored by Western travellers.

On the boggy delta of the Neva, Peter the Great founded his ‘window to the West’ in 1703. Through sheer determination and at the cost of thousands of lives, European architecture was imported to this marshland and Russia had a new capital.

Some of the greatest feats of British exploration have occurred in my lifetime – Hilary’s ascent of Everest, Fuchs traversing the Antarctic, and Francis Chichester’s solo circumnavigation.

The other day I received an e-mail offering me a copy of Brand’s History of Newcastle (1789). Or at least some of it, it was an odd volume lacking most plates and binding, quite stained, but as the seller put it: ‘in good condition considering its age’.

Spring is in the air and with the Iranian New Year upon us, we enter a new century of the Iranian calendar with the year 1400. To celebrate this season of new beginnings we are delighted to launch the inaugural catalogue of our Islamic department: Iran Zamin.

William Bligh (1754-1815) will forever be remembered for the mutiny, led by his second-in-command Fletcher Christian, which occurred on 28th April, 1789, shortly after leaving Tahiti where Bligh’s mission was to collect breadfruit.

An interview with Angus Robb as part of our Books not Border series.

We talk to our Founder and CEO, Bernard Shapero, as part of our Books not Border series.

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As part of our Books not Borders series, where we're breaking down the barriers to the rare book world, introducing you to the many specialists at Shapero and exploring the world they inhabit, we're interviewing Julian Mackenzie, our Senior Travel Specialist.

This week we're interviewing the head of our Russian department, Eleanor Moore.