Search Results: Titles starting with K from Daniel Crouch Rare Books Ltd

London,: Paul Fourdrinier,, 1744. 220 by 345mm. (8.75 by 13.5 inches).. Engraved map. Charles Labelye (1705-1762) was a Swiss engineer who settled in England, best known as the architect and builder of Westminster Bridge. However, he was also involved in various schemes for harbour improvements, notably those of Sandwich (1736-1737), Great Yarmouth (1747) and Sunderland (1748). His survey of Sandwich was published on his two-sheet 'A Mapp of the Downes much more correct than any hitherto published Shewing the true Shape, & Situation of the Coast between the North and South Forelands, & of all the adjacent Sands together with the Soundings at Low=Water, Places of Anchorage, & all the necessary leading Marks By Charles Labelye Engineer ...' (London, 1737), his plan being to extend the harbour at Sandwich so as to afford safe haven for ships in The Downs, and serve as a naval base in the event of war with France. Nothing came of the scheme, perhaps because of the distraction of his involvement with the… Read More

London,: T. Malton, No.8 Carlisle Street, Soho,, 1781-1783.. each approximately 370 by 505mm (14.5 by 20 inches). Sheet: each approximately 495 by 555mm (19.5 by 21.75 inches).. Four engravings with aquatint, printed in sepia. Four views of London by Thomas Malton the Younger (1748-1804), an early pioneer of the aquatint technique. He taught J.M.W. Turner, who called him "my real master". A member of the Royal Academy, Malton is best known for his work 'A Picturesque Tour through the Cities of London and Westminster', with one hundred aquatint views. These four examples come from a set of twelve prints that were not part of 'A Picturesque Tour' (BL). The prints show Guildhall, the centre of civic government in London, where the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs met; Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, designed by the architect George Dance and finished only in 1752 after 13 years of building works; New Palace Yard; and the Royal Exchange in its second incarnation. The original… Read More

[London,, c1820].. 177 by 258mm (7 by 10.25 inches).. Prints,""Sandford Manor House The mystery of Sandford Manor House Original watercolour drawing, accompanied by a wood-engraving from 'The Gentleman's Magazine', and a few leaves from the 'Art Union'. Sandford Manor House gained some notoriety in the late eighteenth century when it was rumoured to have either been Nell Gwyne's family home, or built for her by Charles II, whose mistress she was. """"A halo of romance is gathered round Sandford Manor House because of Nell Gwyn's supposed connection with it. We have even been told that it was built for her by Charles II, although the style of the house is undoubtedly earlier, and we know that it continued to belong to the Maynards till the latter half of the 18th century. In the 'Gentleman's Magazine' for March of the present year [1907] there is a pleasant article in which will be found all that can be said in favour of this tradition. The writer seems convinced that the popular actress here found a… Read More

[Weimar,: Friedrich Justin Bertuch,, 1802].. 187 by 107mm. (7.25 by 4.25 inches).. Prints,""Claude De L'Isle Claude de L'Isle Stippled portrait. Claude de L'Isle (1644 -1720) was the founder of one of the most influential cartographical families of eighteenth century in France. The most famous of his four son was Guillaume, among the most notable geographers of the day. Claude was also a historian, and wrote a universal history in seven volumes, a history of the monarchy of Siam, and a genealogy of all royalty since the beginning of time. Issue Ten of 'Allgemeine Geographische Ephemeriden', published in 1802, contained a portrait of De l'Isle dressed in robes, a cravat, and a large wig. The oval frame in which the image is presented is accompanied by a caption in German stating his position, and dates of birth and death.

[Beijing, 1674, but reprinted Seoul,, 1860].. 1500 by 3000mm. (59 by 118 inches).. Xylograph, printed on 6 sheets, the southern polar landmass embellished with animals, including a unicorn, a lion, a rhinoceros, a crocodile, a giraffe, a beaver and a turkey, the spandrels with eight large lozenges with text descriptions. Verbiest's original is as rare as its forerunner produced by Matteo Ricci at Beijing in 1602 (or its now-lost predecessors). Kunyu quantu (A Map of the Whole World), was first produced in 1674 by the Jesuit Father Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688). Commissioned by the Second Qing Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722, r. 1661- 1722), it is one of the largest woodblock-printed maps of its type. It consists of two hemispheres, reversing the conventional European positioning so that China and the Pacific are toward the centre, with the prime meridian running through Beijing. Cartouches are depicted surrounding the hemispheres containing information on the size, climate, landforms, customs… Read More

[Japan,, c1950].. 280 by 230mm. (11 by 9 inches).. Four small globes on turned stands, surrounding a red sphere with a directional wind tail attached to a demi-meridian ring, all mounted on a central metal pole, fitted on a circular wooden base. Two manuscript paper disks overlapping on the wooden base with the top one movable and the bottom attached to the base. Four other manuscripts are attached to the base in between the stands. A unique fortune-telling astronomical instrument made in Edo, Japan, based on the "Nine-star Ki" (ky seikigaku ) form of divination, adapted and refined from traditional Chinese methods by Shinjiro Sonoda (1876-1961) in 1924. "Nine-star Ki" refers to nine-year and nine-month cycles of the Ki/Qi element on Earth, which relate to the solar and seasonal cycles. These cycles are believed to have common effects across the planet on mental and physical development, and life experiences. The 'stars' of "Nine-Star Ki" are numbers representing those cycles, which can be… Read More