Search Results: Titles starting with H from Hordern House Rare Books

London: Ackermann, 1852. Pair of colour lithographs, 375 x 535 mm. A fine pair of portraits of a splendid ship: these colour lithographs after original watercolours by Oswald Brierly were made by T. G. Dutton and printed by Day and Son for Ackermanns. The first print shows the Mæander in the Pacific, shortening sail in heavy weather; the caption dates the events to 9 July 1850; in the second the ship is coming slowly to anchor in Rio de Janeiro, and the scene is dated 9 June 1851. Both prints are dedicated to Henry Keppel, and the ship's officers. Oswald Brierly (1817-1894) was a leading marine painter, and he had also studied naval architecture. He sailed on numerous expeditions including the Rattlesnake voyage surveying the Barrier Reef, with Benjamin Boyd on the Wanderer, and on the Galatea with the Duke of Edinburgh in 1867. Brierly joined Henry Keppel on H.M.S. Mæander after his voyage on the Rattlesnake and visited New Zealand, Tahiti and South America, returning to England in July 1851. A… Read More

Paris, 1830. Very good.. Aquatint, 200 x 233mm. (sheet size). View of Aboriginal shelters, with detail of a dingo and an armed warrior. The plate was prepared from the suite of native studies by John Heaviside Clarke, first published in Foreign Field Sports (London 1814) and here re-printed for a French publication of the 1830s. .

London: T. Osborne, 1746. Eight volumes, quarto, contemporary speckled calf with red and black spine labels, gilt decorated. A handsome set in eighteenth-century calf bindings of this classic literary collection, edited by Samuel Johnson as a young man, a decade before he would establish his reputation with the Dictionary of 1755. Johnson was originally employed by the publisher to help catalogue the second Earl of Oxford, Edward Harley's impressive library, which later became a foundation collection of the British Museum library. Publisher and editor both saw the need to publish Harley's extensive collection in a more lasting and accessible form, and later generations have been thankful for their recognition of the ephemeral nature of much of the collection: "it has been for a long time a very just complaint, among the learned, that a multitude of valuable productions, published in small pamphlets, or in single sheets, are in a short time, too often by accidents, or negligence, destroyed, and… Read More

Paris, 1846. Tinted lithograph, 220 x 365 mm., disbound. Original lithograph from Dumont d'Urville's "Voyage au Pole Sud", showing a beautiful New Guinea harbor scene, with the two ships anchored and a survey party at work. Dumont d'Urville's instruction from King Louis-Philippe was to explore the South Pole. Up to this time France had taken no part in Antarctic discovery which had been dominated by the English. Dumont d'Urville left Toulon on September 7, 1837 with two ships, the "Astrolabe" and the "Zelee", on a voyage that was to become dogged by mishap and illness. Two artists accompanied D'Urville, Ernest Auguste Goupil and Louis le Breton. Goupil died in Hobart whilst the expedition was there in April 1840. .

Honolulu and Sydney: Hordern House and University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Quarto, 30 illustrations, 548 pp.; half-bound in red Nigerian goat skin. Deluxe issue: one of 50 numbered copies, signed by the author. This is a special issue of the first volume of the Hawaiian National Bibliography. This important work by David Forbes, a leading expert in the field of Hawaiiana, is a record of all printed works touching on some aspect of the political, religious, cultural or social history of the Hawaiian Islands. Volume I covers the period 1780-1830. David Forbes's important bibliography has won both the MLA Bibliography Prize for 2000 and a special commendation from the Bibliography Prize Committee of ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers). .

Sydney: Hordern House in association with the University of Hawai'i Press, 1999. Quarto (250 x 205mm), 548 pages with 30 illustrations; printed in black and red and bound in crimson half morocco. Deluxe issue: one of 50 numbered copies, signed by the author. This is a special issue of the first volume of the Hawaiian National Bibliography. This important work by David Forbes, a leading expert in the field of Hawaiiana, is a record of all printed works touching on some aspect of the political, religious, cultural or social history of the Hawaiian Islands. Volume I covers the period 1780-1830. David Forbes's important bibliography has won both the MLA Bibliography Prize for 2000 and a special commendation from the Bibliography Prize Committee of ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers). .

Chicago: Belford, Middlebrook & Co, 1898. Touch of localised adhesion affects two of the Hawaiian plates.. Large oblong quarto, photogravure plates throughout, fine in the publisher's gilt lettered red cloth. Historical album of Hawaiian views published on the year of annexation with the United States, with 79 photogravure plates including photographs of the Royal family and their residences. The Royal photographs include formal portraits of Kalakaua I and Queen Liliuokalani, and also include a full-page plate of the deceased King Kalakaua lying in state in the throne room. Of special interest are three plates of Queen Liliuokalani at a traditional feast with her companions. The Queen's household guard is also illustrated. Other Hawaiian subjects include the Kamehameha school for boys and the Bishop School, Honolulu harbour and township, the Pali mountains, Royal palaces (and the Kings residence at Waikiki), beach scenes with bathers and canoes, US marines on guard, Honolulu prison (including a view… Read More

London: Strahan, 1869. A nice copy.. Two volumes, octavo, with 32 plates; contemporary half maroon calf. First edition, primary issue (both half-titles present) of the story of Louis Trevelyan whose steadfast faith in his conviction that his wife has been unfaithful - 'He knew he was right' - drives him to child abduction and then turns him into a paranoid madman: 'nothing could be more convincing than the gradual intensification of Trevelyan's obsession from a rectitudinous egoism to the isolation of madness...' (Allen, The English Novel). The deft transformation of Trevelyan is brought into relief by the staunch figure of his wife Emily, and her attempts to resist his ever wilder charges and actions. The accompanying pictures are by the accomplished genre painter Marcus Stone, who supported his successful painting career with book illustration, largely at the suggestion of Dickens. .

London: T. Cadell & W. Davies, 1810. Stipple engraving, 380 x 300mm. (plate size), a little toning at the margins, very good. Fine engraved portrait of Henry Bathurst, the Tory politician who instigated the Bigge reports into the convict system of New South Wales under the administration of Governor Macquarie. As Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1812-1827, Bathurst was intimately involved with affairs in New South Wales, and the present-day township bears his name. Concerned by the escalating cost of maintaining the colony, Bathurst ordered the Commission of Enquiry executed by John Thomas Bigge. Macquarie's administration was criticised in the outcome, especially his treatment of the convicts and ticket-of-leave men which was perceived as being too lenient. Ultimately, the Bigge report instigated by Bathurst led to the replacement of Macquarie by Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane. .

London: Adam Islip, Joice Norton, and Richard Whitakers, 1636. The engraved title page mounted, with tiny losses at corners and inner margin, dedication leaf slightly soiled and stained, a few minor spots and stains; binding neatly repaired at joints and extremities; in overall excellent condition.. Thick folio, with more than 2500 woodcut illustrations of plants, as well as numerous other woodcut decorations; contemporary sprinkled calf, spine ornately gilt in wide compartments, red morocco label. A splendid copy of one of the most famous English herbals, here in the second printing of the best edition, Johnson's 'very much enlarged and amended' version which first appeared in 1633. This massive herbal made the barber-surgeon and horticulturist Gerard (1545-1612) famous when its first version appeared in 1597, and it remained highly esteemed for more than 200 years. Gerard's work was based on his experience in his own substantial gardens and as superintendent of several others in and around London,… Read More

Venice, 1699. A few short tears at extremities, but in fine condition nonetheless.. Engraved gore sheet, 485 x 335 mm (sheet size); mounted. A gore sheet, designed to be pasted onto a globe, and an important map of Australia: this single sheet by the great Venetian cartographer Coronelli shows the north western coast in some detail. This particular gore is famous for the fanciful depiction of inland Australia, and shows Arnhem Land complete with palm trees, reindeer and elephants. This detailed map was first engraved as a gore - or globe segment - for Coronelli's colossal terrestrial globe of 1688. Measuring over one metre in diameter, this was one of the largest printed globes ever produced; its engraving was of the highest order, and reflected the most up-to-date and accurate information available at the time. It particularly reflects the discoveries made during the first voyage of Abel Tasman in 1642. The gore offered here, with relevant text at the bottom and verso of the sheet, was probably… Read More

Paris: Théophile Barrois père, 1802. One table a little frayed;. Octavo, 12 hand-coloured plates and 2 folding tables, an excellent copy in contemporary quarter calf, gilt. First edition: the rare hand-coloured edition with, among much of Pacific interest, two Australian "Bull Dog" ants figured for the first time on the handsome engraved plates. Pierre André Latreille (1762-1833) had entered the Paris Museum in 1799, and became Professor of Entomology on the death of Lamarck. He went on to publish a great number of important entomological books and articles, including several relating to other French voyages to the Pacific, and contributing the volume on insects to Cuvier's revolutionary Règne Animal of 1817. A memoir of Latreille, with a portrait, was published in Sir William Jardine's Naturalist's Library for 1841. The present work is mainly, although not exclusively, a study of ants, with minor sections on bees and arachnids. Not only is Latreille's monograph one of the most significant early… Read More

Paris: G. Van Oest, 1930. Jackets worn, internally well preserved.. Four volumes, large quarto, with a total of 476 photographic plates, uncut as issued in the publisher's card covers with printed jackets. Scarce and historically important set documenting the art and architecture of China, including hundreds of photographic plates from the author's personal archive. Osvald Sirén (1879-1966) was a pre-eminent sinologist and art historian of his generation. After completing a thesis on the European Renaissance, Sirén was drawn to oriental art through a personal interest in Theosophy. So began a life-long interest, of which Histoire des Arts Anciens de la Chine is a crowning achievement. Sirén was appointed professor at Stockholm University, although he lectured little and preferred to communicated through published works. Furthermore, like many art historians of the era, he advised private collectors and acquired artworks of significance during his travels in China. Sirén visited China several… Read More

Paris: Librairie L. Hachette, 1864. The three maps rather browned due to paper type.. Octavo, the frontispiece a folding map in colour, two other maps; contemporary half calf. The definitive account of the beginnings of French colonisation in Indochina and the conquest of southern Vietnam: Saigon became a French possession as early as 1859. Léopold Auguste Charles Pallu de la Barrière, to give him his full name which he does not use on the title-page here, was a naval officer (eventually a Rear Admiral) who had served in the Crimean War, and subsequently in the 1860 expedition to China. He was governor of New Caledonia in the early 1880s. .

Geneva: heirs of Pierre de la Rovière, 1630. A little intermittent browning; light worm damage to a couple of endpapers; a very good set.. Folio, five volumes bound in four, contemporary full vellum; with contemporary annotations to front blank of first volume. Early edition of the influential, and highly controversial, history of Europe by French luminary Jacques Auguste de Thou (1553-1617). A successful lawyer and career diplomat, de Thou remained devoted to the cultivation of the mind throughout his prolific political career. He amassed an impressive personal book collection and in 1593 was appointed director of the Royal Library. Access to such abundant printed and manuscript material, selected with characteristic diligence, allowed de Thou to write a foundational history of Europe spanning the years 1544 to 1607. De Thou was horrified by the unhappy history of religious intolerance and violence that plagued his lifetime, and his history reflects this (especially the treatment of the St.… Read More

London: John Stockdale, 1793. Spine very worn and boards rubbed, but in impressive original condition.. Quarto, with 17 engraved plates and charts; with the list of subscribers; a very large copy, edges uncut, in original paper boards, remnants of original paper label to spine, worn; quarter morocco box. An exceptional copy, unsophisticated in original publisher's boards binding, completely uncut and very large (page size 312 x 250 mm). This impressive copy was acquired by its first owner (Brydges, see provenance) in March of the year of publication, 1793; his name does not appear in the list of subscribers, but it is worth noting that the subscription amounted to 595 copies, of which a full two-thirds went to booksellers. The second governor's important Journal describing the first years of settlement at Sydney was published by Stockdale, who had earlier prepared Phillip's journal for publication. In many ways it is a continuation to Phillip's book and is certainly its equal in importance as the… Read More

London: John Stockdale, 1793. Some age marks throughout.. Quarto, with 17 engraved plates and charts; with the list of subscribers; a fine and large copy, completely uncut, in later quarter vellum and plain boards; slipcase. A splendid copy of the first edition of Hunter's important Journal of the first years of settlement at Sydney. This memoir by the second governor was published by Stockdale, who had earlier prepared Phillip's journal for publication. In many ways it is a continuation to Phillip's book and is certainly its equal in importance as the extended official account of the new colony. This is a fine, large copy and the title-page, often cropped by the binder, here has generous margins. Second captain of the Sirius under Phillip for the voyage to Botany Bay, Hunter was an experienced sea captain and the most dedicated navigator of the First Fleeters. Actively engaged in surveying and exploration in New South Wales, he left for England in late 1791 after the loss of the Sirius at Norfolk… Read More

Amsterdam: T. van Hoorn, 1682. Repairs to tears in two plates, one with insubstantial loss at bottom corner; a few upper margins a little short but a good copy.. Small quarto, four parts in one volume (part 4 with separate pagination), engraved frontispiece by J. Luyken (dated 1683) and 16 plates; full vellum antique. Very rare, the first fully illustrated edition of this seventeenth-century imaginary voyage to western Australia, based on the story of the wreck of the VOC ship Vergulde Draeck in 1656. The plates are thus early - if imaginary - depictions of the Australian coast, and include two coastal scenes depicting the first meeting with the local population, the Australian court, and the fabulous fauna. The importance of the detailed and inventive illustrations has been overlooked: after the various editions of Pelsaert, this is the second major work to depict life and conditions on the Australian mainland, however fancifully. This work also has an important connection with Vlamingh's… Read More

London: John Murray, 1887. Eight volumes, octavo, single portrait frontispiece, 14 maps (12 folding and 5 coloured); understated half brown morocco, gilt spine with raised bands. A most attractive set of Gibbon's opus, first published in 1776 and here re-issued with notes by Dean Milman, M. Guizot and William Smith. The first volume includes a portrait frontispiece of Gibbon by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire remains an intriguing work; although in some respects superseded by the following century of (primarily German) classical scholarship, Gibbon style is fresh and intriguing, and the historiographical questions he raises are effectively timeless. .

London: T. Longman et al., 1796. A fine set.. Seven volumes, small octavo; each volume with an engraved frontispiece showing a scene from the narrative; contemporary half roan, marbled paper sides, flat spines lettered in gilt. A very attractive set. First printed in 1753, Richardson's novel set out to create a perfect gentleman to counter-balance such characters as the caddish Mr. B- of Richardson's Pamela and the unheroic males in Fielding's Tom Jones. Jane Austen and George Eliot both thought highly of the book, and Ruskin ranked it with Don Quixote, though others have found Charles Grandison impossibly perfect and consequently uninteresting. This attractive set is a copy of the eighth edition, showing that the novel could still captivate the public some forty years after its first appearance. . Provenance: From the library of the Marquess Conyngham at Slane Castle, Ireland, with his bookplates and his signature at the top of each title page.