Archaeology & antiquities
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LAYARD, Austin Henry. Nineveh and Its Remains:London : 1849
First edition. Layard who "grew up a Romantic, desperate for fame and exotic experiences, and contemptuous of English professional mores", turned his back on steady employ in his uncle's solicitor's office and set of overland to join another uncle in Ceylon. Side-tracked by adventure he set aside his original itinerary and lived for some time in the... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 145667
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STEIN, Sir (Marc) Aurel. On Ancient Central-Asian tracks. Brief Narrative of Three Expeditions in Innermost Asia and Northern-Western China.London : 1933
First edition, first impression, described by Yakushi as a "comprehensive summary of the results of the author's first three Central Asian expeditions and of his researches carried out during the years 1900-16".
Learn More£950.00Stock Code: 139883
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EBERS, G. Egypt: Descriptive, Historical, and Picturesque.London : c. 1880
First edition in English of this impressive work, originally published as Aegypten in Bild und Wort (1878-79), by the German Egyptologist Georg Ebers (1837-1898), who gave his name to the Ebers Papyrus, one of the world's oldest medical documents, acquired in Upper Egypt from a Coptic antiquarian during the winter of 1872-3. This English version is... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 139417
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SERJEANT, R. B., & Ronald Lewcock (eds.) San'â': An Arabian Islamic City.London : 1983
First edition, number 1,911 of 2,000 copies only. The work of a team of internationally respected experts in a wide range of disciplines, this is a case-study of major scholastic importance in which the society - along with the complex religious, legal and mercantile setting - long history, crafts, arts, and religious and vernacular architecture of... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 136295
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MACPHERSON, Duncan. Antiquities of Kertch and Researches in the Cimmerian Bosphorus.London : 1857
First and only edition, uncommon. "An example of the degree of technical virtuosity reached by this time in lithography, giving plates brilliant in effect, the equivalent of modern four-colour process work from photographs. It is very difficult to tell whether, or to what extent, the plates are touched by hand The inks are excellent, with some strong... Learn More£2,875.00Stock Code: 71516
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MURRAY, A. S. The Sculptures of the Parthenon.London : 1903
First edition, first impression, presentation copy from the author, inscribed on a preliminary blank, "To Miss Elinor S. Lewes, from the author, with my best wishes, A. S. Murray, 19th March 1903"; inscribed beneath, "This book was specially completed and bound for us before publication and given us by the author and Mrs Murray as a wedding present.... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 134488
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LAYARD, Austen H. Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon;London : 1853
First edition, in the original decorated cloth, surely one of the most attractive publisher's bindings of the 19th century.
Layard's important second British Museum expedition "yielded further important trophies and discoveries, including the cuneiform library of Sennacherib's grandson Ashurbanipal, on which most modern knowledge of Assyrian... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 145108
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KONDAKOV, Nikodim Pavlovich. Histoire et monuments des emaux byzantins.Frankfurt : 1892
First and limited edition, number 24 of 200 copies printed in French; a very fine copy of this lavish and sumptuously illustrated celebration of the Zwenigorodskoi collection of Byzantine enamels, "one of the most luxurious publications of the 19th-century" (Federov, pp. 200-1). The portrait frontispiece, included only in those copies given by the collector... Learn More£18,750.00Stock Code: 141106
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BEWICK, Thomas (illus.); LINGARD, John. The Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church.Newcastle : 1806
First edition of the first work of John Lingard (1771-1851), Roman Catholic priest and historian, "a work which reveals him to be a moderate upholder of the Catholic cisalpine and Gallican tradition of historical scholarship. In this work he sought to oppose the errors of a generation of protestant Anglo-Saxon scholars who argued for an English church,... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 121264
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STEIN, Sir (Marc) Aurel. On Ancient Central-Asian tracks.London : 1933
First edition, first impression, described by Yakushi as a "comprehensive summary of the results of the author's first three Central Asian expeditions and of his researches carried out during the years 1900-16". These archaeological expeditions allowed Stein's "great achievement... to establish the existence of a hitherto lost civilization along the... Learn More£950.00Stock Code: 144575
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ARNOLD, Thomas. History of the Later Roman Commonwealth,London : 1845
First edition in book form of a series of articles on Roman history by the British headmaster and historian Thomas Arnold (1795-1842). Originally written between 1823 and 1827, the pieces first appeared in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. "The intellectual basis for Arnold's writings was his composite theory of universal history, derived essentially... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 141150
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BOSSEWELL, John. Workes of Armorie,London : 1572
First edition, contemporary hand-colouring throughout. The numerous woodcut crests and other illustrations throughout Bossewell's Armorie were published with the colours indicated by key letters ("V" for vert, green; "A" for argent, silver, etc). In this copy, all the crests, initials and illustrations have been finely illuminated throughout in colour... Learn More£10,000.00Stock Code: 83133
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SCHLIEMANN, Heinrich. Ilios. Stadt und Land der Trojaner. Forschungen und Entdeckungen in der Troas und Besonderes auf der Baustelle von Troja.Leipzig : 1881.
First edition in German, preceded by the English edition a year earlier. Schliemann's account of his excavations at Hissarlik/Troy. A shameless self-publicist, motivated more perhaps by his desire for glory than his love of historical truth, Schliemann has been criticised for the brutality of his methods, however Carl Blegen, director of the excavations... Learn More£1,150.00Stock Code: 122940
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CARTER, Howard, & A. C. Mace. The Tomb of Tutankhamen.London : 1923-33
First editions, first impressions, in notably attractive condition, of Carter's popular account of the most spectacular archaeological discovery of the 20th century. Volume I of this set has the publisher's "presentation copy" blindstamp on the title page, and is in the uncommon publisher's presentation binding, with a brown morocco ground to front... Learn More£3,500.00Stock Code: 141797
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FERGUSSON, James. Tree and Serpent Worship: or Illustrations of Mythology and Art in India in the First and Fourth Centuries after Christ.London : 1868
First edition, Edward Burne-Jones's copy, of this superb example of an early photographically illustrated book involving three of the key players in the development of the form: James Fergusson, one of Victorian Britain's most prominent architectural historians, William Griggs, the inventor of the photolithographic process, and Lieut. James Waterhouse,... Learn More£3,750.00Stock Code: 120060
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GRAINGER, Francis, & W. G. Collingwood. The Register and Records of Holm Cultram.Kendal : 1929
First and sole edition, published under the aegis of the Cumberland & Westmoreland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society. "Holm Cultram, the outlying part of north-western Cumberland, though beyond the area of the Lake District and consequently little known to the general public, has a distinction of its own" (Preface). Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 141405
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MAYER, Leo Aryeh. Saracenic Heraldry. A Survey.Oxford : 1933
First and only edition. An important study, never superseded, in fact "remains the only authoritative work on the subject" (Obituary, Rice & Hirschberg, Ars Orientalis, IV, 1961). Mayer was born in Galicia in 1895, studied in Vienna, Lausanne and Berlin, and emigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1921 where he was employed in Department of Antiquities.... Learn More£825.00Stock Code: 111051
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HOPE, W[illiam] H[enry] St John. The Stall Plates of the Knights of the Order of the Garter.Westminster : 1901
First edition in a handsome binding. Hope was a noted antiquarian born in Derby in 1854. "His increasing reputation led to his election as a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1883, and two years later he was appointed assistant secretary of the society, the last to be resident in Burlington House. During the twenty-five years in which... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 140529
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LAYARD, Austen Henry. Nineveh and Its Remains:London : 1849
First edition. Layard who "grew up a Romantic, desperate for fame and exotic experiences, and contemptuous of English professional mores", turned his back on steady employ in his uncle's solicitor's office and set of overland to join another uncle in Ceylon. Side-tracked by adventure he set aside his original itinerary and lived for some time in the... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 140572
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THOMPSON, Reginald Campbell. A Dictionary of Assyrian Botany.London : 1949
First and only edition. Well-represented institutionally, and occasionally encountered on the market, but rarely without library paraphernalia, and in such sound condition. Thompson was one of the leading Assyriologists of his era, his skill in the transcription of cuneiform being such that some of "those in Thompson's handscript remain indispensable"... Learn More£575.00Stock Code: 140452
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LAYARD, Austen H. Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon;London : 1853
First edition. Layard's important second British Museum expedition "yielded further important trophies and discoveries, including the cuneiform library of Sennacherib's grandson Ashurbanipal, on which most modern knowledge of Assyrian culture is founded" (ODNB). "Apart from the archaeological value of his work in identifying Kouyunjik as the site of... Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 139903
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WELLCOME, Sir Henry. Catalogue of the Twenty-Seventh Auction Sale of the Series, comprising : Prehistoric and Ethnological SpecimensLondon : 1939
First and only edition, inevitably uncommon, just a single copy- at the Swiss Musée d'Ethnographie - located in a search of online institutional listings. The material was sold by Wellcome's trustees "as surplus to the requirements of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum". The majority of the sale comprised of "the greater part" of the renowned... Learn More£85.00Stock Code: 134894
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GUISCHARDT, Karl Gottlieb. Mémoires critiques et historiques sur plusieurs points d'antiquités militairesBerlin : 1773
True first edition, predating the Paris edition by a year. Guiscahrdt was born in Magdeburg in 1724, the son of Huguenot refugees he was intended for the church, "and at Leiden actually preached a sermon as a candidate for the pastorate. But he abandoned theology for more secular studies, especially that of ancient history" (Britannica, 1911). He served... Learn More£4,000.00Stock Code: 104149
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POUJADE, Jean. Documents d'Ethnographie Navale.Paris : 1946-8
First editions, all published. Uncommon. An excellent set of these important works of naval ethnography, forming a series on boat construction around the world. The series was planned as a supplement to Admiral François-Edmond Paris' famous Souvenirs de Marine Conservés , first published in 1877, the Fascicule Introductif including an index to Paris'... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 94734
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BRAYLEY, Edward Wedlake. A Topographical History of Surrey.Dorking : 1841
First edition. "Brayley's most important work was probably a History of Surrey (5 vols., 18418). His topographical works bear scrutiny because of his competence in a range of scientific, literary, and artistic subjects, a breadth of knowledge which few other contemporary topographers could match" (ODNB). A handsomely bound set. Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 70458
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MILLIN, Aubin-Louis. Introductions a l'Étude de l'Archéologie, des Pierres Gravées et des Médailles.Paris : 1826
First posthumous edition of this essay first published in 1796 as an introduction to the study of ancient monuments.
In this work, Aubin Louis Eleuthérophile Millin de Grandmaison (1759-1818) reviews the various applications of archaeology (which he divides into nine categories: monuments, paintings, sculptures, engravings, mosaics, vases,... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 117619
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CARUANA, A. A. Ancient Pagan Tombs and Christian Cemeteries,Malta : 1898
First and only edition of this study of early funerary antiquities and practices in Malta by Dr. Antonio Annetto Caruana (1830-1905), a "pioneer in the field of Heritage Management in the Maltese islands" (Romina Delia).
Caruana was an archaeologist and author, who served as Librarian and Keeper of Antiquities at the Malta Library from 1880... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 133559
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CESNOLA, General Louis Palma Di. Cyprus:London : 1877
First edition of this controversial work on Cypriot antiques by Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832-1904) an Italian-American soldier, diplomat, and amateur archaeologist. He was United States consul at Larnaca in Cyprus from 1865 to 1877, a time during which he carried out extensive excavations and uncovered a large quantity of antiquities. The collection... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 132949
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PRESUHN, Emil. Pompeji: die Neuesten Ausgrabungen von 1874 bis 1881 für Kunst-und-Alterhumfreunde.Leipzig : 1881
Second edition, improved and enlarged, of this superbly illustrated and important study; first published in 1878 and again in 1882. Scarce, one copy only among British and Irish institutional libraries (V&A); WorldCat adds just three more (Strasbourg, Erlangen, Sachsiche Landesbibliothek).
The German archaeologist Emil Presuhn (1844-1881), described... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 129881
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DOROW, Wilhelm. Morgenlaendische Alterthümer.Weisbaden : 1820-1
First editions, only two numbers were published, of this rare German periodical devoted to Indian and Assyrian art and archaeology. Volume I deals with cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals, many from Dorow's own collection, and the Tibetan written language; volume II covers Indian and Tibetan mythology and symbolism in Indian art. The distinguished... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 129893
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MAYER, Leo Aryeh. Saracenic Heraldry. A Survey.Oxford : 1933
First and only edition, with the bookplate of Comte François Chandon de Briailles, member of the famous Champagne family and gentleman scholar of numismatics and heraldry. An important study, never superseded, in fact "remains the only authoritative work on the subject" (Obituary, Rice & Hirschberg, Ars Orientalis, IV, 1961). Mayer was born in Galicia... Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 127302
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SAFAR, Fuad, & Muhammad Ali Mustafa. Hatra.Baghad : 1974
First edition, first impression, one of 3000 copies. This is an illustrated guide to the monuments and the city of Hatra in Northern Iraq, which was taken over by ISIS in 2015. Some of the monuments pictured in this book have since been destroyed, making this an important record of Iraq's lost archaelogical heritage. Written by the two men who led excavations... Learn More£650.00Stock Code: 126996
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DOROW, Wilhelm. Morgenlaendische Alterthümer.Weisbaden : 1820-1
First editions, only two numbers were published, of this rare German periodical devoted to Indian and Assyrian art and archaeology. Volume I deals with cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals, many from Dorow's own collection, and the Tibetan written language; volume II covers Indian and Tibetan mythology and symbolism in Indian art. The distinguished... Learn More£7,250.00Stock Code: 126249
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BOUTHER DE PERTHES, Jacques. Petit Glossaire,Paris : 1835
First edition of this glossary on bureaucratic matters by French archaeologist and writer Jacques Bouther de Perthes (1788-1868), who was one of the first to establish the presence of prehistoric man in Europe.
Learn More£425.00Stock Code: 125015
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AYROLLES, Bertrand d'. Dictionnaire classique de géographie ancienne, pour l'intelligence des auteurs anciens, servant d'introduction à celui de la géographie moderne de Laurent Echard,Paris : 1768
First and sole edition; Library Hub cites Scotland and Wellcome only among British and Irish institutional libraries, WorldCat adds another dozen worldwide. The dedicatee is François-Louis-Claude Marin, royal censor and Secretaire General de la Librairie - the editor mentioning that it was printed at Avignon where "je puis braver... la severite de... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 121038
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SCAIFE, Alan & Sarah. Arabian Interlude.Pittsburgh, PA : 1951
First and only edition, rare: two copies only traced in libraries (Pittsburgh and Utah). The Scaifes travelled to Yemen in February 1950 at the invitation of maverick archaeologist Wendell Phillips, who was leading "the first American archaeological team to excavate the major ancient cities along the spice routes of South Arabia" (Potts, ed. Araby the... Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 117863
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FORSTER, E. M. Alexandria: A History and A Guide.Alexandria : 1922
First edition. Presentation copy, inscribed by Forster "AJB, from the author" on the front free endpaper, and with the ownership inscription of the recipient, A. J. Butler, on the front board. This is Oxford historian Alfred Joshua Butler (1850-1936), whose work The Arab Conquest of Egypt (1902) Forster cites as his main source for the period, and describes... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 112539
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BORY DE ST VINCENT, Jean Baptiste. Essais sur Les Isles Fortunées et L'Antique Atlantide,Paris : [1803]
First edition, an unusually fresh complete copy in handsome contemporary tree calf, of this survey of the Atlantic Islands by French naturalist Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (1778-1846). The "Isles Fortunees", the Blessed Isles, of the Atlantic, now understood to be the Canary Islands, were thought in classical antiquity to have been the abode... Learn More£1,750.00Stock Code: 112168
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WESTON, Stephen. The Praise of Paris:London : 1803
First edition. Weston (1747-1830) was an antiquarian and classical scholar who wrote some fifty books, including various editions of Persian poetry, commentaries on Shakespeare, and several studies of classical architecture; notably he produced the first English translation of the Rosetta Stone, presented verbally at a Society of Antiquaries meeting... Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 111913
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MAYER, Leo Aryeh. Saracenic Heraldry. A Survey.Oxford : 1933
First and only edition of an important study, never superseded, which in fact "remains the only authoritative work on the subject" (obituary, Rice & Hirschberg, Ars Orientalis, IV, 1961). Mayer was born in Galicia in 1895, studied in Vienna, Lausanne and Berlin, and emigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1921 where he was employed in Department of Antiquities.... Learn More£875.00Stock Code: 110826
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BILLING, Archibald. The Science of Gems, Jewels, Coins, and Medals, Ancient and Modern.London : 1867
First edition. Presentation copy inscribed by the author to sculptor John Graham Lough: "To John Graham Esq. and his amiable wife, this volume conveys the sincere regards, of the Author and his wife" (half-title). Archibald Billing (1791-1881) was a physician by trade and an amateur artist and collector of engraved gems and coins. A lecturer at the... Learn More£275.00Stock Code: 109013
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MACPHERSON, Duncan. Antiquities of Kertch and Researches in the Cimmerian Bosphorus.London : 1857
First and only edition, uncommon. "An example of the degree of technical virtuosity reached by this time in lithography, giving plates brilliant in effect, the equivalent of modern four-colour process work from photographs. It is very difficult to tell whether, or to what extent, the plates are touched by hand The inks are excellent, with some strong... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 109135
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LAWRENCE, T. E., & C. Leonard Woolley. Palestine Exploration Fund Annual, 1914-1915. The Wilderness of Zin.London : 1915
First edition, first issue binding with the full stop after the date on the spine. During January and February 1914 Lawrence and Leonard Woolley (the archaeologist who would later excavate Ur), together with a British Army surveying detachment, mapped the Negev region of the Sinai Peninsula. The Negev was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, and the survey... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 108832
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LABORDE, Léon de. Voyage de l'Arabie pétrée.Paris : 1830
First edition of "an important work" (Blackmer), extensively illustrated with lithographs, and including a lengthy introductory essay on different aspects of the region, including travel, pilgrim routes, and trade. In 1826 the 17-year-old de Laborde (1809-1869) travelled with his father across Asia Minor and Syria to Cairo, where he met the engineer... Learn More£19,500.00Stock Code: 107973
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LEAKE, William Martin. The Topography of Athens with some Remarks on its Antiquities.London : 1821
First edition. "The basis for modern topographical and archaeological studies of the city. A very important work" (Blackmer). Trained at the Royal Military Academy, Leake served for three years on the garrison at Antigua before joining the British military mission to the Ottoman empire in 1799. He accompanied an Anglo-Turkish expedition overland to... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 106230
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LAWRENCE, T. E., & C. Leonard Woolley. Palestine Exploration Fund Annual, 1914-1915. The Wilderness of Zin.London : 1915
First edition, sole printing, in the second issue binding without the full stop after the date on the spine. During January and February of 1914 Lawrence and Leonard Woolley (the archaeologist who would later excavate Ur), together with a British Army surveying detachment, mapped the Negev region of the Sinai Peninsula. The Negev was ruled by the Ottoman... Learn More£475.00Stock Code: 103359
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WINKLER, Hans A. Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt II.London : 1939
First edition. A handsomely produced survey of sites found on the west bank of the Nile from Qena to Aswan, Jebel Uweinat and the road leading from the Nile Valley to Dakhla through the Kharga Oasis; volume I related the previous season's expedition, to the Eastern desert. "The recognition of Egyptian rock art as something that could be closely linked... Learn More£650.00Stock Code: 99991
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MASON, Michael. The Paradise of Fools.London : 1936
First edition. Lively, and uncommon account of an expedition described in Fliegel Jezerniczky's on-line Libyan Desert bibliography as "an extraordinary journey", in which a party led by Mason and W.B. Kennedy Shaw traversed "virtually all major parts of the Libyan desert. They started from Kharga, reaching the Gilf Kebir via Abu Ballas, making the first... Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 98888
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MASON, Michael. The Paradise of Fools.London : 1936
First edition of this lively and uncommon account of an expedition described in Fliegel Jezerniczky's on-line Libyan Desert bibliography as "an extraordinary journey", during which a party led by Mason and W. B. Kennedy Shaw traversed "virtually all major parts of the Libyan desert. They started from Kharga, reaching the Gilf Kebir via Abu Ballas, making... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 98893
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RHOTERT, Hans, ed. Transjordanien. Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen.Stuttgart : 1938
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by Rhotert on the front free endpaper to an unnamed recipient, thanking them for their support for the Forschungsinstituts für Kulturmorphologie. The leader's account of the work of the Nordgruppe der XII. Deutschen-Innerafrikanischen Forschungsexpedition in the Transjordan and Libya includes the first scientific... Learn More£850.00Stock Code: 92497
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FOWLES, John, & Barry Brukoff. The Enigma of Stonehenge.London : 1980
First edition, first impression. Signed by Fowles on the title page. Co-authored with photographer Barry Brukoff. Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 87816
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GIDDINGS, J. L. The Archaeology of Cape Denbigh.Providence, RI : 1964
First edition, first impression. James Louis Denbigh (1909-1965) was a professor anthropology at Brown University and pioneer in the application of dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) to Arctic archaeology. "Working with samples from living trees and driftwood from old Eskimo village sites on the Kobuk, he established a tree-ring chronology for... Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 86686
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MACLAUCHLAN, Henry. The Roman Wall,1857-64
First editions. The first named with the inscription, "Presented to Henry Lawes Long Esq., by The Duke of Northumberland, Syon 27th August 1859" to the first blank and circular, sepia lithographed Long armorial bookplate to the front pastedown; the second inscribed "With the Duke of Northumberland's Compliments" verso of the first blank. In 1804 Henry... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 68827
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TARBOTTON, M. O. History of the Old Trent Bridge,Nottingham : 1871
First edition, first impression. Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 60987
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THOMSEN, Christian Jürgensen. Leitfaden zur Nordischen Alterthumskunde,Copenhagen : 1837
First edition in German, first published in Danish in 1836. Thomsen's manual was immediately translated in recognition of its importance. The tripartite division suggested here was fundamental in winning acceptance for the idea of the antiquity of humanity, opening the way for the development of the discipline of prehistory.
Thomsen was the... Learn More£625.00Stock Code: 42753
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PARMENTIER, H. Les Sculptures Chames au Musée du Tourane.1922
First Edition. Volume IV in the "Ars Asiatica" series published under the aegis of L'École Française d'Extrème-Orient. A trained architect and one of the founding fathers of the EFEO school of archaeology, Parmentier's work on Cham culture and later at Angkor were key in the interpretation of the early civilizations of Indochina. Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 39622
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ASHMOLE, Elias. The Antiquities of Berkshire.1723
Second edition of the first county history of Berkshire, originally published in 1719; a third edition was published at reading in 1736. The astrologer and antiquary Elias Ashmole (1617-1692) was appointed to the College of Arms as Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary in 1660. In 1667, he began collecting information for this book, but it was not to be... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 31731
