Books
Browse our collection of rare books, first editions, signed editions and valuable printed books, written by the world's greatest authors, in a wide range of subjects.
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FRIENDSHIP ALBUM. Girls' pencil sketches and handwritten passages of poetry.Bamberg : 1908-11
A sentimental German album of drawings and hand-copied verses addressed to one Flora Dillmann, created by 21 girls in Bamberg between 7 March 1908 and 17 July 1911. The drawings are attractive and competently executed, illustrating with great charm scenes of farmsteads, windmills and cottages from Bamberg, one of Germany's most beautiful towns, as... Learn More -
FERMENT, Louis. Officium sancti Gildardi.likely Rouen : 1736
An illuminated manuscript, unusually strewn with glitter, of unrecorded liturgies for two Rouennais saints. The illumination is exuberant and freely drawn, quite unlike the crisp regularity of contemporary courtly manuscripts. The informal style and vivid blue, red, and ochre palette perhaps reflect a vernacular context, recalling Rouen's "grand... Learn More -
MEATHERINGHAM, Luan. The Greatest Wizard Contest.[c. 1960]
Comprising a complete typescript of a children's story on illustrated leaves, together with additional or alternative illustrations. Luan Meatheringham (1936-2006) was born in Los Angeles, and was an illustrator for Gamma science fiction magazine in four of its five publications from 1963 to 1965. This unpublished story concerns a contest between... Learn More -
AUSTEN, Jane. Autograph fragment, a single line of text copied by her, almost certainly from a sermon by her brother James.[Chawton, : 1814]
A remarkable discovery, found in an album compiled by Emma Austen-Leigh (1801-1876), apparently one of the "Sermon Scraps" copied out by Jane Austen from an 1814 sermon by her brother James (1765-1819) on the Book of Common Prayer and Bible reading, and later cut into pieces by his son James Edward Austen-Leigh, author of A Memoir of Jane Austen... Learn More -
FIRST OPIUM WAR. Collection of letters and notes sent to Anne Noble during her imprisonment in Ningbo.1841
A moving and historically significant record of companionship in confinement, Anne Noble being one of the few Western women to see the interior of China before the opening of the treaty ports. These notes, sent surreptitiously by two British officers detained in nearby cells, are the most important surviving artefacts of her extraordinary... Learn More -
WESTERNERS IN CHINA. "A Collection of Autographs Prepared for Rev. J. K. Burr at Foochow, China, on the 20th of November 1867, by S. L. Baldwin."Fuzhou : 1867
A who's who of missionary and diplomatic life in 19th-century China, inscribed by Baldwin to Burr on the first leaf. Among the many figures represented are Eliza Bridgman, one of the first American female missionaries in China, George Seward (US consul-general in Shanghai), W. A. P. Martin, a professor at the Qing court's Tongwenguan in Beijing,... Learn More -
RIFLE SHOOTING IN JAPAN. An early hand-painted manuscript of Inatomi-ryu shooting techniques.[Japan : mid-17th century]
A stunning example of mid-17th century luxury manuscript production. The techniques, passed down as secret knowledge, show how to shoot birds in flight, fish in the water, herons from a boat, and deer on the run. The high quality suggests it was probably commissioned as a decorative work rather than a textbook.
Matchlock firearms were... Learn More -
BUDDHISM. A scroll from the Jingoji Tripitaka;[Japan : 1150-1185]
A bright and shining example of a late-Heian period sutra, stored for 800 years in Jingoji Temple, Kyoto. The complete set was commissioned by Emperors Toba and Go Shirakawa from 1150 to 1185, exemplifying the highest standard of craftsmanship available at the time. Other examples have been named Important Cultural Properties in Japan.
The... Learn More -
PERRY EXPEDITION. Banpaku Shimoda nyuko kikigaki ("A Ledger of Foreign Ships Entering the Port of Shimoda").[Japan : c. 1856]
An untraced manuscript record of the Western ships that arrived in Shimoda after Perry signed the Convention of Kanagawa. They include those from his fleet such as the Mississippi and the Macedonian, as well as the Russian flagship Diana and many smaller trading vessels about which little information survives.
Compiled anonymously, the... Learn More -
FUJIWARA, no Teika. Manuscript copy of the Ise Monogatari ("Tale of Ise").[Japan : 17th century]
An early Edo-period manuscript copy of one of Japan's defining pieces of poetic literature. This example was clearly commissioned by a wealthy patron, with accomplished calligraphy on karakami paper printed with vibrant, shimmering designs in blue, red, green, and yellow.
The Ise Monogatari follows the adventures of Ariwara no Narihira in... Learn More -
POETRY AND CALLIGRAPHY. Omi hakkei ("The Eight Views of Omi").[Japan : early 18th century]
A well-preserved album of calligraphy and illustrations of "The Eight Views of Omi", vistas overlooking the south of Lake Biwa that became popular in art, literature, and poetry. The accomplished calligraphy is of an early-mid Edo period style and is brushed on vibrant shikishi ("decorative boards").
The calligraphy in this album is not... Learn More -
COMMERCE. Desk diaries of Henry Whistler from his lengthy residence in Hankow, 1885-1907.China and Britain : 1883-1911
A voluminous record of the business and social affairs of Henry Whistler (1861-1951), a representative of the merchants Evans, Pugh & Co. and the chair of the British Municipal Council. Offering an immediacy often missing from company archives, it reveals a world in which personal relations greased the wheels of commerce and a life of long hours... Learn More -
DIVINATION. Weather divination manuscript.Japan : [early 19th century]
A guide to interpreting cloud shapes to discover the outcome of battle, passed down as secret knowledge between military strategists. Clouds reveal when and when not to attack, enemy movements, and treacherous allies.
One of the techniques reads, "If you see a black cloud rising above yellow clouds that means the enemy is approaching,... Learn More -
BOXER UPRISING. Logbook kept by Harold C. Carmichael, a midshipman serving onboard HMS Barfleur.Taku Bar, Tianjin, and other locations : 1901
A typically thorough middy's log, including atmospheric descriptions of engagements in Tianjin either side of the storming of the Taku Forts. A 10,500-ton, Centurion-class battleship, Barfleur served as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir James Bruce, the second-in-command on the China station. Detachments joined both the Seymour Expedition and the... Learn More -
RAI, K. S (comp.). Tour Notes, Kameng Frontier Division.Kameng, India : 1954
A signed personal field report by Lieutenant-Colonel K. S. Rai MC, the commandant of the 5th Assam Rifles. Based on daily diary entries, it covers his inspection of the strategically important Kameng frontier division, known for its Tibetan Buddhist population and diverse tribes such as the Bhutanese and Sherdukpen.
The Kameng and... Learn More -
LAW, John. Autograph letter signed, to an influential supporter in France.Venice : 1721
A short and plaintive letter wherein Law reflects on his chastened circumstances after the final implosion of the Mississippi Bubble and his hurried flight from France.
When the Mississippi Bubble burst, the bankrupted French people suggested a number of fates for Law, with life imprisonment or execution being the most popular. His friends... Learn More -
ROUSSEAU, Jean Jacques. Autograph manuscript leaf of notes, exploring the role of women in ancient Rome.[No place, but Paris & Chenonceau : c. 1745-51]
A striking and apparently unpublished leaf of research notes from Rousseau's early career as a scholar for hire, perhaps a challenge to the traditional view of Rousseau as a thorough-going misogynist.
From 1745 to 1751, Rousseau was employed as a secretary and informal assistant for Louise Dupin (1706-1799), a wealthy saloniste. There, he... Learn More -
MEADE, James Edward. Autograph note signed, together with manuscript page.1978
A single leaf from the manuscript of Meade's December 1977 Nobel Prize lecture, together with a March 1978 note from Meade presenting it to one "Mr Mertens".
James Meade (1907-1995) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the theory of international trade, sharing the award with the Swedish economist Bertil Ohlin.... Learn More -
ARABIAN PENINSULA. Medical archive on plague outbreaks and inoculation in Aden.[Yemen : 1904-05]
An interesting archive documenting the plague epidemic that swept Aden between October 1904 and May 1905, containing reports on admissions, inoculations, and mortality among the local population, together with statistics broken down by patients' ethnic origin. Most of the material concerns the districts of Kraytar (Crater or Sirah), Mualla, Holkat... Learn More -
DESPARD, Edward Marcus. Manuscript documents recording the expenditure on prisoners in custody at Despard's trial.Whitehall : 1803
A fascinating set of documents, one signed by Lord Pelham as Home Secretary. They itemize the cost of maintaining three of Despard's co-conspirators, including the key witness for the prosecution, Thomas Windsor, during their imprisonment before trial. The costs include buying a great coat, hiring coaches to tour the conspirators' meeting... Learn More
