Treasure House
We’re delighted to return to Treasure House this summer with a selection of fine books and works on paper from across the ages. As we’ve expanded overseas with the opening of our New York gallery, it is a pleasure to return home to Chelsea and share our favourite discoveries with friends both old and new.
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PORTOLAN CHART. The Rex Tholomeus portolan chart.Likely Venice : third quarter of the 14th century
This extraordinary portolan chart of Europe ranks among the finest cultural artefacts of the early Renaissance still in private hands. It embodies the emergence of precise, modern cartography and reflects Europe's growing awareness of lands beyond its immediate horizons. It is also the earliest extant chart by a cartographer other than the early... Learn More -
JOSEPHUS, Flavius. De antiquitate Judaica; De bello Judaico.[Augsburg] : 1470
First edition of two of the most important works for understanding first-century Judaism and the early history of Christianity.
Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian of priestly lineage, wrote chiefly in Greek, though his native tongue was Aramaic. His account of the Jewish war against Rome - an uprising in which he initially took part... Learn More -
GALILEI, Galileo. Sidereus nunciusVenice : 1610
First edition, one of 550 copies, announcing the first astronomical discoveries made through a telescope. Sidereus nuncius describes the rough and mountainous surface of the Moon, the clusters of stars composing the Milky Way, and the satellites of Jupiter. A cornerstone of the Scientific Revolution, it provided the first concrete evidence that... Learn More -
SKELTON, Sir Bevil. A catalogue of the Dukes, Marqueses, & Earles, with their Armes, Wives and Ishue since the Conquest untill this present year 1678.[England or Vienna] : 1678
An imposing heraldic manuscript, one of four known works commissioned or very likely executed by Sir Bevil Skelton (1641-1696), the English diplomat, fervent loyalist, and envoy for Charles II and James II. Beautifully illuminated, the work is noteworthy for the comments, in the biographical sections, of the political behaviour of the subjects,... Learn More -
ESQUEMELIN, Alexandre Olivier. De Americaensche Zee-Roovers.Amsterdam : 1678
Rare first edition of the original account of swashbuckling pirate exploits in the Caribbean. Known in English as the Buccaneers of America, the book has 12 engravings that bring the fearsome pirate captains to life, and unflinching descriptions of the violence and plunder that both horrified and fascinated readers.
Perhaps the most... Learn More -
SHAKESPEARE, William. Comedies, Histories and Tragedies.London : 1685
The Fourth Folio, the last and the most grandly produced of the 17th-century editions of Shakespeare's works. The Fourth Folio contains the seven additional plays, of which Pericles is authentic. This copy includes three 18th-century ownership markings, the earliest being that of "Ann Wallis, her book. 1752".
The text was set from a copy of... Learn More -
NEWTON, Isaac. The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.London : 1729
First edition in English of the "greatest work in the history of science", which produced a general revolution in human thought (PMM). First published in Latin in 1687, the Principia outlined in mathematical terms the principles of gravity, time, force, and motion. "Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler had certainly shown the way; but where they... Learn More -
LINNAEUS, Carolus. Hortus Cliffortianus.Amsterdam : 1737 [1738]
First edition of the most sumptuously produced of Linnaeus's works, a detailed description of the Hartecamp gardens at Heemstede. It is the first systematic application of the author's binomial system to plants and a masterpiece of early botanical illustration.
The volume was produced at the expense of George Clifford (1685-1760), a wealthy... Learn More -
TURGOT, Michel-Étienne; Louis Bretez; Claude Lucas. Plan de Paris.Paris : 1739
First edition of this famous map, "a major record of the architecture and gardens of Paris of the period, of much documentary interest to historians and archaeologists today" (Millard). Like a number of copies encountered, this one is handsomely bound in period red morocco with the gilt arms of Paris on the covers.
Turgot (1690-1751), mayor... Learn More -
IAKOVLEV, Ioann, & Pëtr Aleksandrov. Genealogy of the Romanov tsars from Adam and Eve.[Russia : 1752-70]
A rare, decorated genealogy of the Romanov tsars to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. Manuscript genealogies of the Russian rulers are rare on the market and uncommon institutionally: the catalogue of the National Library of Russia records fewer than ten comparable examples from the 18th and 19th centuries, while Cleminson... Learn More -
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA - SMELLIE, William; Andrew Bell; & Colin Macfarquhar. Encyclopaedia Britannica; or, a Dictionary of Arts and Sciences compiled upon a new plan.Edinburgh : 1771
First edition of the most celebrated encyclopaedia in the English language, an enduring achievement of the Scottish Enlightenment. This copy, the primary and preferred Edinburgh issue, contains the complete 160 plates, including the three on midwifery that George III ordered removed from every copy.
Drawing on Chambers's Cyclopaedia (1728)... Learn More -
SMITH, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.London : 1776
First edition of this fundamental work of political economy, from the library of the Earls of Dundee at Birkhill Castle in Fife, a family which included a close friend and confidant of Smith.
The title pages have the ownership signature of Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn (1755-1841), made prior to his elevation as 7th de jure Earl of Dundee in... Learn More -
DANIELL, Samuel. African Scenery and Animals.London : 1804-05
First edition of "the scarcest and most valuable of the large atlas folios of South African illustrations... A most magnificent work" (Mendelssohn).
Samuel (1775-1811) was the youngest of the talented Daniell family of artists. Educated at the East India College, Hertford, he trained as an artist under the drawing master there, Thomas... Learn More -
GOULD, John. The Birds of Europe.London : 1832-37
First edition of Gould's first multi-volume work and the first to feature contributions by Edward Lear, among the greatest of ornithological artists. Lear's work comprises the most eye-catching subjects in the book: the eagles, owls, cranes, pelicans, geese, swans, and flamingos.
Birds of Europe was originally issued in 22 parts. The exact... Learn More -
AUDUBON, John James. The Birds of America,New York & Philadelphia : 1839-40-44
First octavo edition of Audubon's "Great National Work", the first complete edition and the first American edition; the original double-elephant folio was published in Edinburgh and London between 1827 and 1838. A very handsome set, the plates clean and fresh, of the "most beautiful, popular, and important natural history books published in... Learn More -
DARWIN, Charles; Robert FitzRoy; Phillip Parker King. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle,London : 1839
First edition, a very well-preserved copy in the original cloth, of this outstanding account of natural history exploration. It includes the first issue of Darwin's first published book, the Journal and Remarks (now popularly known under its later title The Voyage of the Beagle), which describes the fieldwork that ultimately led to the publication... Learn More -
ENGELS, Friedrich. Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England. Nach eigner Anschauung und authentischen Quellen.Leipzig : 1845
First edition of this core text of Marxism, a closely observed study of the factories and slums of Victorian Manchester.
Engels's father was a partner in a Manchester cotton plant: in his efforts to retain the young man in the family business he sent him to England from 1842 to 1844. There, he immersed himself in the working culture of... Learn More -
AUDUBON, John James, & John Bachman. The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America.New York : 1845-[54]
First edition of Audubon's magnificent final work, "a breathtaking accomplishment... the most naturalistic depiction of American mammals ever done" (Wolf, p. 163).
The naturalist and painter John James Audubon (1785-1851) made his reputation with The Birds of America (published between 1827 and 1838). In the early 1840s he began this... Learn More -
DARWIN, Charles. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,London : 1859
First edition of "the most influential scientific work of the 19th century" (Horblit), bright and unrestored in the original cloth. The initial 1,250 copies of "the most important biological book ever written" (Freeman) prompted an intellectual revolution comparable to that of Newton or Copernicus.
While recognizable theories of evolution... Learn More -
DICKENS, Charles. Great Expectations.London : 1861
First edition in book form, first impression. The work saw five impressions issued rapidly in the same year, each with a different title page. Patten states that 1,000 copies of the first impression were printed and that most of these were likely purchased by Mudie's Select Library. As circulating library copies, they inevitably suffered a high... Learn More
