Narrative of Events in Borneo and the Celebes,

Rajah Brooke's journals

An attractive copy in the original cloth of Rajah Brooke's journals.

The acquisition of Labuan, an uninhabited island originally part of the Sultanate of Brunei, was first proposed by James Brooke, known as the white Rajah of Sarawak, in order to halt piratical activities and provide a naval base against increasing French and American interests in the South China Sea. In 1846, the Sultan ceded it to Britain, with Brooke becoming Governor of the territory.

Henry Keppel, an admiral who became life-long friends with Brooke after becoming a senior naval officer in the Straits of Malacca, assisted his fight against Malay pirates and published the first version of his journals in 1846. Soon after Captain Mundy whilst in command of the British squadron in the Straits of Singapore and on the coast of Borneo also became acquainted with Brooke. 'Mundy like so many sailors was enchanted with James and... was to edit the parts of his journals that were omitted in Keppel's edition' (Runciman).

First edition; 2 volumes, 8vo (23 x 15 cm); engraved portrait frontispiece, 17 wood-engraved or lithographed plates, 5 folding maps, frontispieces slightly foxed, remains of old private circulating library labels to pastedowns; original red gilt pictorial cloth, large gilt pictorial vignette to upper boards, gilt seal of the Sultan of Borneo to lower boards, spines slightly faded, small tear to head of vol. II repaired, a very good set; [2], [ii], iii-xviii, 385 pp., 2pp. ads at end; xii, 395 pp., 16 pages ads at end.

Runciman, The White Rajah: A History of Sarawak from 1841 to 1946, p. 85.