Australasia
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[PHILLIP, Arthur]
The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; 1789
£45,000
First edition of this foundation work on Australia as a European colony, the official account of the voyage of the First Fleet to Botany Bay and the settlement of Australia, based on...
Quarto (280 × 215 mm). Contemporary tree calf, professionally rebacked to style and recornered, red morocco label, flat spine, compartments with foliate arabesque... Read more
BLIGH, Lieutenant William.
A Narrative of the Mutiny on Board His Majesty's Ship Bounty; 1790
£12,500
First edition of Bligh's personal account of "one of the most remarkable incidents in the whole of maritime history", published two years before his full official version of the...
Quarto (288 × 230 mm) Later speckled calf, black morocco labels, panel of French fillet gilt to the boards, spine gilt in compartments with repeated wavy line... Read more
(COOK, James) HAWKESWORTH, John.
An Account of the Voyages undertaken by the order of his Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, 1773
£9,750
Hawkesworth's account of Cook's first voyage was first published earlier in the same year. This, the second, "is considered the best one" (Hill), containing a new preface with the...
3 volumes quarto (279 × 220 mm). Contemporary calf, red and black morocco labels, raised bands, spines attractively gilt in compartments, single gilt fillet panel... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by the H.M.S. Beagle, 1839
£8,500
First edition, first separate issue of Darwin's first published book, written up from his manuscript journal and the small notebooks forming the memoranda on which the journal itself...
Octavo (221 × 135 mm). Contemporary brown half calf, titles to spine and rules to raised bands gilt, marbled sides, grey endpapers, speckled edges. 2 folding... Read more
(COOK, James) ANDERSON, George William.
A New, Authentic, and Complete Account of Voyages Round the World, [1784–6]
£6,750
First edition of this "omnibus" compilation of Cook together with Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Mulgrave, Anson and Drake. Printed in double column in "large new Types, constructed on...
2 volumes, folio (395 × 260 mm). Contemporary calf-backed marbled boards with vellum corners, somewhat worn and with some stripping of the marble from the boards,... Read more
PENNANT, Thomas.
Outlines of the Globe. 1798-1800
£5,000
First editions. Pennant is best known for his tours through the British Isles and for his British and Arctic Zoologies, works which are "distinguished by his personal energy, a keen...
4 volumes, quarto (293 × 232 mm). Contemporary streaked calf, red and black labels, edges sprinkled blue. 21 engraved plates, 3 folding maps, and two vignettes,... Read more
HUNTER, John.
An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island, 1793
£3,850
First edition, a tall copy retaining the date at the foot of the title page which is usually found trimmed. "Hunter gives an excellent account of many activities, particularly...
Quarto (300 × 240 mm). Skilfully rebound to period style in full sprinkled calf, red morocco label, raised bands with double gilt rules either sides, covers with... Read more
PENNANT, Thomas.
Outlines of the Globe. 1798-1800
£3,750
First editions. Pennant is best known for his tours through the British Isles and for his British and Arctic Zoologies, works which are "distinguished by his personal energy, a keen...
4 volumes, quarto (293 × 229 mm). Contemporary lightly sprinkled calf, neatly rebacked, red morocco lettering piece and green morocco numbering piece, flat spine,... Read more
WHITE, John.
Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales 1790
£3,500
First edition. White, chief surgeon to the settlement at New South Wales, was also an accomplished naturalist. The ornithological and other natural history plates are most attractive...
Quarto (295 × 235 mm). Recently bound in period-style full mottled calf, spine gilt in compartments with old black morocco title label, boards with double gilt... Read more
FORREST, [Thomas].
A Voyage to New Guinea, and the Moluccas, from Balambangan; 1779
£3,500
First edition. For some time before entering the service of the East India Company Forrest had served in the Royal Navy, seeing action in 1757 under George Pocock against the French...
Quarto, (300 × 233mm). Later half calf on marbled boards, red morocco label, spine gilt in compartments, slightly rubbed, upper joint repaired. With engraved... Read more
COOK, James, & James King.
A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean; 1785 & 1784
£2,750
The official account of Cook's third voyage was first published in 1784. "This abridged account is preferred by some readers because, the nautical and technical parts having been...
4 volumes, octavo (214 × 123 mm). Contemporary lightly sprinkled calf, neatly rebacked to style, red morocco titling-pieces, flat spines, compartments formed by a... Read more
LUCATT, Edward.
Rovings in the Pacific, from 1837 to 1849; 1851
£1,250
First edition, bound in the same style as the Abbey copy. "A spirited journal of adventure in almost every island of the Pacific, and an excellent account of the troubles in Tahiti...
2 volumes in 1, octavo. Original blue cloth, title gilt to spine with elaborate gilt bands, blind arabesque panels to the boards, the upper with a large gilt... Read more
CHATWIN, Bruce.
The Songlines. 1987
£875
First edition, first impression. Inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Anne and Joseph, this impossible sequence of non-sequiturs! Bruce. Prague, 3 August '87". With...
Octavo. Original black boards, titles to spine gilt. With the dust jacket. Contents tanned. An excellent copy in the dust jacket. Read more
ERSKINE, John Elphinstone.
Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific, 1853
£650
First edition. "Captain Erskine sailed from Russell, New Zealand, in 1849, and reached Niue or Savage Island. He visited Manua,Tutuila and Upolu of the Samoan Islands. Next Vava'u,...
Octavo. Publisher's violet cloth, title gilt to the spine, gilt and blind decoration to the boards, neatly rebacked with the original spine laid down. all edges gilt.... Read more
JACK, Robert Logan.
Northmost Australia. 1921
£600
First Edition. Born in Scotland, Jack was Queensland Government Geologist from 1877 to 1899, making numerous important mineralogical surveys, "Jack's geological work for Queensland...
2 volumes, octavo. Portrait frontispiece to Volume I and 38 other plates, 17 folding maps including Index Map. Pastedowns of Volume I a little marked from the... Read more
DAVIS, Charles Oliver Bond.
The Life and Times of Patuone, The Celebrated Ngapuhi Chief. 1876
£575
First edition, uncommon, COPAC shewing just BL and Oxford, OCLC lists only 10 copies in the US. Life of the Maori chieftain who witnessed Cook's arrival in New Zealand as a boy, his...
Duodecimo. Original grey card printed wraps. Original albumen print photographic frontispiece of Patuone by Auckland photographer, G. Redfern. Wraps somewhat soiled... Read more
(CLARKE, Sir Andrew) VETCH, R. H. (ed.)
Life of Lieut.-General The Hon. Sir Andrew Clarke GCMG, CB, CIE. 1905
£450
First edition, uncommon. Commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1844, Clarke spent most of his career in civil employment, beginning with surveying and wharf building in Tasmania...
Octavo. Original plum diapered cloth, title gilt to spine and upper board, blind panels to the boards. With the dust jacket. Photogravure portrait frontispiece and 2... Read more
MEREDITH, Louisa Anne.
My Home in Tasmania, 1852
£450
First Edition, "invaluable as the first detailed account of this colony by a woman settler" (ODNB).
2 volumes, octavo. Publisher's blindstamped green cloth, spines lettered gilt, brick-red endpapers, edges uncut. Frontispieces, title vignettes, 14 illustrations in... Read more
FRAZER, Sir James George.
Anthologia Anthropologica - The Native Races of Australasia, 1939
£450
First edition. Fascinating collection of extracts from Frazer's notebooks "in the main, material that Sir James has not used in his published works." (Editor's preface) Unusual in...
Quarto. Original turquoise cloth, title gilt to spine. In the dust jacket. 4 full-page maps. Front hinge slightly cracked and repaired, otherwise very good in... Read more
HARRISSON, Tom.
Savage Civilisation. 1937
£350
First edition. Uncommon, Harrisson's first book of anthropology based on the work of the Oxford expedition to the New Hebrides, for which he was officially the ornithologist; "When...
Octavo. Blue sand-grain cloth binding of the Times Book Club, title gilt to spine, their ex-libris supralibros to the upper board. Frontispiece and 31 other plates,... Read more
HOPKINS, A. I.
In the Isles of King Solomon. 1928
£300
First edition. Uncommon account, particularly desirable in the jacket. Hopkins "joined the [Melanesian] Mission in 1900. At that time, N. Mala in the Solomon Islands was the most...
Octavo. Original green cloth, title gilt to spine, gilt block of an islander with a spear to the upper board. With the pictorial dust jacket. Frontispiece and 15 other... Read more
(STEVENSON, Robert Louis) OSBOURNE, Lloyd.
A Letter to Mr. Stevenson's Friends. 1894
£225
First edition. Account of Stevenson's death and funeral written by his stepson, who had collaborated with RLS on The Wrong Box, The Ebb-tide and The Wrecker. Uncommon, COPAC lists...
Duodecimo (180 × 110 mm) Wire-stiched in the original printed wraps. Housed in quarter red morocco on red linen slip-case, title gilt to the spine, in matching... Read more
HARRISSON, Tom.
Savage Civilisation. 1937
£200
First US edition, same year as the UK first. Uncommon, Harrisson's first book of anthropology based on the work of the Oxford expedition to the New Hebrides, for which he was...
Octavo. Original sage green cloth, lettered in red, red mask to the upper board. In the dust jacket. Frontispiece and 31 other plates, numerous line-drawn... Read more
DUNMORE, John.
French Explorers in the Pacific. 1965-9
£175
First editions. Reviewing Dunmore's biography of Bougainville in Cook's Log. the journal of the Captain Cook Society, John Robson considered that "John Dunmore has done more than...
2 volumes octavo. Dark blue cloth with gilt lettering to spines, in dust jackets. 2 plates of facsimile maps, and 25 maps to the text, many full-page. An exceptionally... Read more
INGLIS, James as “Maori.”
Tirhoot Rhymes. 1873
£150
First edition, uncommon, COPAC lists just BL and NLS. Born in Scotland, the son of a Free Church minister, Inglis went "to New Zealand at 19, worked at Timaru and joined the west...
Octavo. Original green sand-grained cloth, gilt panels to both boards, title gilt within on the upper, edges stained red, terracotta surface-paper endpapers. Binder's... Read more
