Rare, antiquarian, used & out-of-print books on travels , natural history & gardening that have been signed by the author or artist, at Horizon Books.
BACKHOUSE, James; A Narrative of a Visit to the Mauritius and South Africa. London, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1844, First edition, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; xvi, 648, lvi pp, 2 fldg maps, 16 etched plates with tissue guards including frontis, 28 other engraved illus, orig cloth, gilt spine title lettering, spine ends frayed, corners worn, lightly foxed on some leaves, else very good, with author's presentation inscription to his cousin, signed by author, dated 1845.
Mendelssohn I, 62: The author visited almost every inhabited town and district in South Africa, 'carefully noting every point of interest in the country and its inhabitants. There is a good description of Kaffraria and of the Basutos, Griquas and Bechuana countries. There is also a narrative of a journey to Great Namaqualand'. The book begins with his three month stay in Mauritius. A good description of the peoples, activities, productions, nature, flora, etc, in all the places he visited. The folding maps are of South Africa and Mauritius. Hess & Coger 5155. Theal 15: 'valuable information'.
US$850. bookID # 7440
BAILEY, L. H.; Annals of Horticulture in North America for the Year 1889; A Witness of Passing Events and a Record of Progress. New York, Rural Publishing Company, 1890, First edition, 8vo [20.5 x 14 cm]; [ii], 249 pp, over 50 engravings, index, orig cloth, gilt spine title lettering, edges rubbed, clean very good copy, presentation copy 'by the author', signed on the endpaper.
Bailey was the leading horticultural writer of his time, and the most influential. He started this annual for 1889 and published it each year to 1890. Hedrick 522. Dorf 76. He lists thousands of new plants, fruits, ornamentals, plant diseases, pest, interests, conventions, directories, new tools, recent literature, necrology, horticulture in other lands, etc.
US$90. bookID # 10601
BALLOU, Maturin M.; The New Eldorado, a Summer Journey to Alaska. Boston and New York, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1889, First edition, 12mo [20 x 13.5 cm]; x, 352, [viii, ads] pp, orig pictorial cloth, gilt title lettering on spine and cover, edge lightly rubbed, else a fine clean copy, presentation inscription from the author.
Ricks p33 cites this 1st edition of 1889. A narrative of the author's travels by rail, boat, etc, with description of the various places he passed through including Yellowstone Park, Grand Canyon, geysers, Mount Tacoma, Vancouver Island, steamship to Alaska, Cook's Inlet, forests, animal life, seals, hunting, climate, gambling in Alaska, native people, schools, Fort Wrangel, native dwellings, mastodons in Alaska, glaciers, bears, salmon, Glacier Bay, Sitka, contrast to Russian Sitka, Prince of Wales Island, Rocky mountains, etc. An attractive copy for the first edition, inscribed from the author
US$100. bookID # 11245
BARRUS, Clara; Our Friend John Burroughs; Including Autobiographical Sketches by Mr. Burroughs. Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, [1914], , 8vo [21 x 14 cm]; viii, [i], 287 pp, photogravure frontis portrait, plates, index, orig cloth, gilt lettering, cover bit spotted, very good, inscribed to George A. R. Mead and signed by author.
US$8. bookID # 3416
BEEBE, William; Nonsuch; Land of Water. New York, Brewer, Warren & Putnam, 1932, First Edition, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; xv, 259pp, col frontis, illus (most full-page), photo endpapers, orig cloth, gilt title lettering on front cover and spine, dj (worn, chipped at edges), very good clean copy in worn dj, signed by author on half title page.
Berra 15. This book deals with life in the waters, marine biology, around Nonsuch, Bermuda and was carried out when he was Director of the Department of Tropical Research of the New York Zoological Society
US$80. bookID # 7891
BERGH, Dr. Leonard John Vanden; On the Trail of the Pigmies; an Anthropological Exploration under the cooperation of the American Museum of Natural History and American Universities. New York, The James McCann Company, [1921], First edition, 8vo [22 x 15 cm]; [x], xiv, 264 pp, frontis, numerous plates & illus from photos, map, orig cloth, gilt spine title lettering, near fine clean copy, signed by the author on the front endpaper.
Travels from Mombassa westward through Kenya, Tanzania, Congo and Uganda, past the Albert Nyanza., with much on the people and excellent illustrations including Masai, Wanyika, Wakamba, Wakikuyu, Pygmies, Wakavirondo, Masia lion hunt, etc.
US$80. bookID # 10305
BERRALL, Julia S.; The Garden; an Illustrated History. New York, Viking Press, [1966], First Edition, 4to [28 x 23 cm]; 388 pp, over 200 plates and illus, incl color, some from early sources, others from photos, plans, glossary, index, orig cloth, gilt lettering on spine, fine and clean, presentation copy signed by author on endpaper.
One of the better garden histories, covering ancient times in Persia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Roman and Islam gardens, to the middle ages and modern times in Italian, French English, American, Japanese, Chinese gardens with interesting and fine illustrations. There is a chapter on old-time garden maintenance illustrating techniques and tools through the ages.
US$45. bookID # 3710
BICHARD, John D. and David McClintock; Wild Flowers of the Channel Islands. London, Chatto & Windus, 1975, First edition, 12mo [20 x 13 cm]; xi, [69] pp, 100 color illus from photos, index, orig cloth, dj, fine, signed by author on title page.
The plants of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, etc are each described in text and photos.
US$10. bookID # 5295
BINNS, C. T. [Theodore]; The Last Zulu King; The Life and Death of Cetshwayo. London, Longmans, 1963, First edition, 8vo [23 x 16 cm]; xv, 240 pp, colored frontis portrait from painting, numerous illus from photos on plates, bibliog, index, orig cloth, gilt spine title lettering, dj (not price clipped), fine and clean, with the endpaper bookplate of Volkmar Wentzel, inscription signed by author on title page, with loose card from Audrey Hollings referring to meeting with author & Wentzel.
Volkmar Wentzel was a noted photographer and photographic historian who helped National Geographic preserve its collection. This is the story, told for the first time, of Cetshwayo, last of the great Zulu kings. In 1879 his army of warriors inflicted on the British Army one of the most humiliating defeats in their records at the battle of Isandhlwana. The narrative is based on the account of eye-witnesses and on original documents. The author had served as minister in the South African government. Interesting appendices including list of Zulu regiments, uniforms, documents, the feast of first fruits, etc.
US$50. bookID # 12602
BISHOP, Nathaniel H.; Four Months in a Sneak-Box; A Boat Voyage of 2600 Miles Down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and Along the Gulf of Mexico. Boston, Lee and Shepard, 1879, First edition, 8vo [21 x 14.5 cm]; xii, 322, [ii, ads] pp, frontis, illus including full-page, 5 maps, orig pictorial cloth with gilt picture of author in small boat, gilt lettering on spine, spine label removed, internal hinges cracked but firm, bookplate on endpaper, light marginal stain on few leaves, else interior quite good and clean.
'Excellent account of people, social conditions, economics and political life but is of special significance on natural history' (Bruns - Angling Books of the Americas 164). Not in Sabin or Howes. His sneak-box was a small duck hunters' boat that looked like a row-boat. The author had also written 'Voyage of the Paper Canoe.' A classic American travel.
US$100. bookID # 11155
BISHOP, Nathaniel H.; Four Months in a Sneak-Box; A Boat Voyage of 2600 Miles Down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and Along the Gulf of Mexico. Boston, Lee and Shepard, 1879, First edition, 8vo [21 x 14.5 cm]; xii, 322, [ii, ads] pp, frontis, many illustrations including full-page, 5 maps, original pictorial cloth with gilt picture of author in small boat, gilt lettering on spine, internal hinge cracked but firm, spine ends slightly frayed, colored map of Mississippi from other source (c. 1915) on endpaper, near fine, clean copy.
'Excellent account of people, social conditions, economics and political life but is of special significance on natural history' (Bruns - Angling Books of the Americas 164). Not in Sabin or Howes. His sneak-box was a small duck hunters' boat that looked like a row-boat. The author had also written 'Voyage of the Paper Canoe.' A classic American travel.
US$130. bookID # 13112
CARSON, Rachel L., introduction by Maitland A. Edey, illus with photos by Alfred Eisenstaedt; The Sea Around Us. New York, The Limited Editions Club, 1980, Limited edition of 2,000 copies of which this is #1009, signed by the photographer Eisenstaedt, 4to [26 x 18.5 cm]; xxix, 252, [i, limitation page] pp, fine colored full-page illus from photos, pictorial endpapers, orig blind-stamped cloth, gilt spine title lettering, fine and clean in orig slipcase with title on paper label (label creased).
The author of Silent Spring, and the premier ecologist of her time, won the National Book Award in 1952 for this book. 'Sheer pleasure to read. . . a perfect combination of the fascinating science and the eternal beauty of the sea' [Thor Heyerdahl]. This copy has the publisher's monthly letter that describes the publication of this work and gives bibliographical details on the author as well as another blurb from the Limited Editions Club. This work is finely produced and well-bound.
US$130. bookID # 10996
CHUNG, In_Cho; The Arctic and Rockies as Seen by a Botanist; Pictorial. Williamsport, Pennsylvania, by the author, 1984, First edition, published in only 500 copies, 4to [26 x 18 cm]; 343 pp, 2 tipped-in errata sheets at end, 574 fine colored photo illustrations, detailed bibliog, index, map endpapers, orig cloth, gilt lettering on spine and cover, orig slipcase with title lettering, not issued with a dust jacket, flat signed by the author on the title page, clean and fine, unmarked.
Fine photos of vegetation and plants from the Rockies, from the Brooks Range of Alaska, through the Yukon and south to Colorado, and from the Arctic, mainly south of the 75th parallel of latitude including Baffin, Victoria and Banks islands and northern Alaska. Valuable for its many fine photos and descriptions
US$160. bookID # 12327
CLAUSEN, Robert T., drawing by Elfriede Abbe; Sedum of the Trans-Mexican Volvanic Belt; an Exposition of Taxonimic Methods. Ithaca, New York, Comstock Publishing Associates, 1959, First edition, 8vo [24 x 16 cm]; x, [i], 380 pp, 81 illus including photos, drawings, maps, charts gazetteer giving location of each of the many places mentioned in book, bibliog, index, orig cloth, gilt spine title lettering, slightly rubbed at edge, name on endpaper of L. C. Sherk, else fine, interior very clean, signature of author on title page.
The author, botany professor at Cornell University, describes the history of the study of Sedum in this area, geology, description of each species, description of cultivated species, key to species, comparison and evaluation of methods, etc. Quite detailed and well-illustrated.
US$50. bookID # 12409
CLEMENTS, Frederic Edward and Edith Schwartz Clements; Rocky Mountain Flower, an Illustrated Guide for Plant-Lovers and Plant-Users. White Plains and New York, The H. W. Wilson Company, 1914, First edition, 4to [25.5 x 18 cm]; xxxi, 392 pp, 47 plates including 25 fine color plates, flower chart, key to families, errata, glossary, index, orig pictorial cloth, gilt spine title lettering, lower edge lightly rubbed, some corners with light crease, very good+ with a presentation inscription signed by both authors, dated 1914 in the year of publication.
A detailed and scholarly work covering all species and families, with very attractive illustrations from paintings by Edith Clements. Signed first editions are not common.
US$190. bookID # 11069
COLUMBUS, Christopher, edited by Samuel Eliot Morison, illus by Lima de Freitas; Journals and Other Documents on the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. New York, The Limited Editions Club, 1963, limited edition of 1500 copies of which this is #1362, signed by illustrator, 4to [31 x 23 cm]; xvi, 417, [ii] pp, color frontis, double page color plates from paintings, numerous other fine illus by de Freitas, maps including endpaper maps, chronology, index, orig cloth with embossed black leather medallion, gilt title lettering on leather spine label, plate with light rippling in margin, else near fine & clean in orig very good lined slipcase with orig title label. orig clear dj.
An attractively produced and well-illustrated work by one of the great nautical experts and author of several books on Columbus including his Admiral of the Ocean Sea, a standard work on him. Included with this copy is the original prospecutus for this book anouncing the forthcoming publication, as well as the 4 page Monthly Newsletter of the LImited Editions Club describing this book, and giving some interesting background to its publication and on the editor Morrison. The prospectus states the colored plates are hand colored by pochoir at the Walter Fischer Studios.
US$90. bookID # 7683
COLVILE, Eden, edited by E. E. Rich, A. M. Johnson, introduction by W. L. Morton; London Correspondence Inward From Eden Colvile, 1849-1852. London, The Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1956, First edition, limited edition, large 8vo [24.5 x 17 cm]; cxv, 300, [xiv] pp, frontis of Fort Gary, bibliog, index, orig cloth, with gilt lettering and vignette on spine, t. e. g., spine lightly faded, else a fine copy, with the signature of W. L. Morton, writer of the extensive introduction, on the title.
Relating to the Red River Settlement and the mid-west, the appendix is Colville's letters to Sir George Simpson.
US$30. bookID # 5228
COOK, Captain James; A. Grenfell Price (editor), Geoffrey C. Ingleton (illustrator); The Explorations of Captain James Cook in the Pacific as Told by Selections of His Own Journals 1768-1779. New York, The Limited Editions Club, 1957, Limited to 1,500 copies, of which this is #1009, signed by illustrator and the printer, Douglas Dunstan, 4to [29 x 21 cm]; xii, 296 pp, color frontis (port), illus, full page illus, head pieces, endpaper maps, orig half kangaroo with Australian aboriginal designs on all 3 sides, gilt, boards covered by figured cloth made for this book by the women of Tonga, paper is mat, toned Basingwek Parchment, orig slipcase, spine bit rubbed, repair at top spine, near fine.
Bibliog of Captain James Cook, 2nd edn p. 49. An attractive and well-illustrated production from the writings of the most famous Pacific explorer, with a useful introduction.
US$140. bookID # 6552
CORREIA, Albert A.; Even in Eden. Costa Rica, Impresos Cabalsa, [2007], First edition, 8vo [21 x 13.5 cm]; 367, [i] pp, pictorial title page, original heavy paper pictorial wrappers, light cover wear, the previous owner has corrected some typos, else near fine, with a presentation inscription on the dedication page signed by author.
One of the few novels with a setting on Costa Rica. The author has lived in Costa Rica for years and is active in the arts. This copy has a loose ticket from the National Theatre of Costa Rica with the author's name printed on it.
US$25. bookID # 13137
COX, E. H. M.; Plant-Hunting in China; A History of Botanical Exploration in China and the Tibetan Marches. London, Collins, 1945, First Edition, 8vo [22 x 14.5 cm]; 279 pp, colored frontis, 24 illustrations, index, original cloth, gilt lettering on spine, dj (not price clipped, spine lightly faded few short tears), near fine & clean in very good dj, presentation copy to F. Cleveland Morgan, signed by author, on endpaper, with Morgan's small bookplate.
The author describes the history of plant hunting in the area, the source for much of today's nursery stock. He describes the exploits of major plant hunters including Fortune, Wilson, Forrest and Kingdon Ward, as well as many of the less known botanists, from Britain, America and Europe who travelled there. A readable yet detailed account by this important garden writer, who personally knew many of the important 20th century gardeners and plant hunters. Later editions did not have the frontis in color of the Primula Sinensis. F. Cleveland Morgan founded the decorative arts department at the Art Association of Montreal (today the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) and was curator there for over 40 years. Signed copies of Cox's books are seldom found.
US$160. bookID # 13301
CRULS, Gastao; Hil‚ia Amazonica. Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Companhia Editoa Nacional, 1944, First edition. limited edition of which this is #936., folio [48 x 34 cm]; [iv], xxiv, 267 pp, 48 fine colored mounted plates from paintings, each in border, extra title page printed in red and black with vignette, half title, orig red cloth, gilt spine title lettering, lightly frayed at spine ends, last 5 leaves lightly rippled in margin, first title page with repair, else clean and near fine, presentation copy signed by the author, dated Rio, 1945.
A superbly produced work covering the flora, fauna, archaeology, and the ethnology of indigenous peoples of Amazonia. Each section has representative plates, the flora section including six plates on orchids, the fauna section including plates on birds, animals, fish, the archaeology section includes many artifacts, and the ethnology section including illustrations of weapons, handicrafts, etc. The fine plates are from paintings by Hilda Velloso, Armando Pacheri and Georges Julian Simoni. The text is in Portuguese.
US$950. bookID # 11145
DARWIN, Charles, preface by Ashley Montagu, drawings by Fritz Kredel; The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. Adelaide, South Australia, Limited Editions Club, 1971, limited to 1,500 copies of which this is #142, signed by the artist Fritz Kredel, 4to [28 x 21 cm]; xvii, [iii], 362, [ii] pp, numerous illus from drwgs by Fritz Kredel including full-page printed in black and red, index, title page in red and black, orig morocco-backed wood veneer boards, elaborate gilt design and title lettering on spine, slight wear to outer corners, else fine and clean in orig veneer covered slipcase with gilt decorated end (some light wear to edge).
Freeman 1043. It was originally published in 1871 in 2 volumes, the word 'evolution' appearing for the first time in any of Darwin's works, and deals with the evolution of man. This edition is printed from the definitive 1877 edition. It is a companion volume to Origin of Species.
US$90. bookID # 7655
DARWIN, Charles, preface by Ashley Montagu, drawings by Fritz Kredel; The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. Adelaide, South Australia, Limited Editions Club, 1971, limited to 1,500 copies of which this is #253, signed by the artist Fritz Kredel, 4to [28 x 21 cm]; xvii, [iii], 362, [ii] pp, numerous illus from drwgs by Fritz Kredel including full-page printed in black and red, index, title page in red and black, orig morocco-backed wood veneer boards, elaborate gilt design and title lettering on spine, fine and clean in orig veneer covered slipcase with gilt decorated end (sight wear to edge).
Freeman 1043. It was originally published in 1871 in 2 volumes, the word 'evolution' appearing for the first time in any of Darwin's works, and deals with the evolution of man. This edition is printed from the definitive 1877 edition. It is a companion volume to Origin of Species.
US$110. bookID # 12412
DEVERDUN, Alfred Louis; The True Mexico; Mexico-Tenochtitlan. [Wisconsin], published by the author, 1938, First Edition, 8vo [22 x 15 cm]; 303 pp, colored frontis, plates from photos and drwgs, orig cloth, dj (light wear, tear, chipped at spine ends, spine darkened, not price clipped), bookplate of Katherine Engel, very good copy, Signed by author..
An interesting book dealing with Mexico city and surrounding area, with much on the history of the area and important buildings, parks, palaces, etc.
US$25. bookID # 8398
DODGE, Ernest S.; Beyond the Capes; Pacific Exploration from Captain Cook to the Challenger, 1776-1877. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, [1971], First Edition, 8vo [24 x 17 cm]; xv, 429 pp, col frontis, plates, maps, map endpapers, bibliog, table of Pacific voyages, orig cloth, dj (tears, edge wear), fine in vg dj, presentation inscription, signed by author on half title.
A detailed and interesting survey.
US$35. bookID # 2682
DOWNIE, Mary Alice and Mary Hamilton, illus by E. J. Revell; and some brought flowers; Plants in a New World. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, [1980], First edition, 8vo [25.5 x 18 cm]; xv, 164 pp, 70 fine color plates, printed on both sides of leaf, bibliog, orig white pictorial gilt cloth with gilt spine title lettering, dj (crease, stain), covers stained, interior clean signed by the illustrator on the title page.
Accompanying each color painting is a description, distribution and distinguishing features of each flower and quotations from original sources from explorers, fur traders, botanists and settlers reflecting the practical, aesthetic and botanic interests of each.
US$15. bookID # 8969
DUFRESNE, Frank, illustrated by Bob Hines; Alaska's Animals & Fishes. West Harford, Vermont, The Countryman Press, [1946], First edition, edition limited to 475 copies of which this is #88, signed by author & illustrator, 4to [28 x 22 cm]; xvii, 297 pp, 14 color plates from paintings by Hines including frontis, 92 other illus by Hines, endpaper maps of Alaska, orig green cloth with picture of bear in color on front cover, spine slightly faded but fine, clean copy in very good original slipcase with the orig pictorial labels on each side (light wear and repair at edges).
The foreword is by Alexander Wetmore. The author describes all animals of Alaska in detail, from large game to rodents, seals and whales, as well as all the fishes, with superb illustrations. Ricks 89.
US$140. bookID # 6688
DUNBAR, Moira; Keith R. Greenaway; Arctic Canada From the Air. Ottawa, Defence Research Board, 1956, First Edition, large 8vo; [vi], 541 pp, profusion of illus from photos, maps, many fldg maps, appendices of principal expeditions to Canadian Arctic, references, glossary, index, orig blue cloth, spine a bit faded, gilt title lettering on spine and cover, clean and fine in very good cover, with an inscription from Greenaway to D. H. Sadler.
An important work and the first published book with comprehensive photos of Canadian Arctic taken from the air.
US$40. bookID # 10431
FORCE, Peter; Grinnell Land; Remarks on the English Maps of Arctic Discoveries in 1850 and 1851, made at the Ordinary Meeting of the National Institute, Washington, in May 1852. Washington, National Institute, 1852, First edition, 12mo [21 x 13 cm]; 22 pp, foldout map frontis titled Discoveries in and North of Wellington Channel by Lt. De Have in September 1850, with a duplicate of same map at end, later cloth, title lettering on cover, map trimmed at lower margin into image, near fine a clean, with an inserted leaf and presentation copy from John P. Kennedy, Secretary of the Navy, dated Washington 1853.
Kennedy authorized the naval staffing for the Advance, used by Kane on his second expedition. The author was a scholar and first president of the National Institute of the Promotion of Science. Sabin 25055.
US$380. bookID # 11036
GARZIA, Jean-Claude; A Taste of Bermuda. Bermuda, The Bermuda Press, [1989], First edition, 4to [28 x 21.5 cm]; 102 pp, color photos, many being full-page, index, orig pictorial heavy paper wraps, signed by author on dedication page, inscribed, fine and clean.
A collection of this famous chef's Bermuda recipes including sauces, soups, salads, seafoods, meat, desserts, cocktails, etc, with full instructions. The introduction is by Michael J. Winfield.
US$8. bookID # 11918
GOLDBERG, Abraham; Pioneers and Builders, Biographical Studies and Essays. New York, Abraham Goldberg Publications`, 1943, First edition, limited edition of 500 copies of which this is #207, signed by the author, 8vo [23 x 15.5 cm]; 469 pp, frontis portrait of author, orig cloth, gilt spine title lettering, spine a little faded but lettering clear, interior is clean and fine, in chipped jacked (lower portion of jacket spine lacking).
The author provides biographies on the 67 key Jewish poets, statesmen, ideologists, philosophers, historians, orators, novelists, philanthropists and scholars of the period. The foreword is by Pierre van Paassen and a detailed preface by Louis Lipsky.
US$7. bookID # 12321
GRIGSON, Geoffrey, with bibliographical notes by Handasyde Buchanan; Thornton's Temple of Flora. London, Collins, 1972, , 4to [30 x 22 cm]; vi, 66 pp, 12 color plates, 24 bw plates, orig cloth, gilt decoration and lettering, dj (upper edge worn with tear repaired on verso with tape, price clipped), near fine in good dj.
Robert Thornton's Temple of Flora was first published in 1807 and is the most famous and impressive flower book of the period. The introduction gives the story of the book and an historical perspective. There are detailed notes about each plate. This copy has the stamped signature of eminent garden writer, Anthony Huxley on the front endpaper.
US$25. bookID # 7419
GRIGSON, Geoffrey, with bibliographical notes by Handasyde Buchanan; Thornton's Temple of Flora. London, Collins, 1972, , 4to [30 x 22 cm]; vi, 66 pp, 12 color plates, 24 bw plates, orig cloth, gilt decoration and lettering, dj (upper edge lightly worn with short tears, price clipped), near fine in very good dj,.
Robert Thornton's Temple of Flora was first published in 1807 and is the most famous and impressive flower book of the period. The introduction gives the story of the book and an historical perspective. There are detailed notes about each plate. This copy has the stamped signature of eminent garden writer, Anthony Huxley on the front endpaper.
US$50. bookID # 8334
HAYWARD, Stuart J., Vicki Holt Gomez, Wolfgang Sterrer; Bermuda's Delicate Balance; People and Environment. Hamilton, The Bermuda National Trust, [1981], First edition, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; [xiv], 402 pp, numerous illus, charts, graphs, bibliog, index, orig pictorial heavy paper wraps, fine and clean, unmarked, signed by authors Gomez and Sterre on endpaper.
Numerous authors, each expert in their field contributed to this book, including Norma Cox Astwood, Barbara Ball, John Barnes ,Thomas Iliffe, W. S. Zuill, etc, covering detailed sections on people, industry, resources, traffic, wastes and pollution, conservation, values and attitudes, with detailed appendices, lists of Bermuda plants, animals, etc.
US$15. bookID # 11924
HEARNE, Samuel; edited with an introduction by Richard Glover; A Journey From Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean. Undertaken by Order of the Hudson's Bay Company for the Discovery of Copper Mines, A North West Passage, &c. in the years 1769, 1770, 1771, & 1772. London, printed for A. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1795, First edition, 4to [33 x 26 cm]; xliv, 458 pp, complete with 5 folding maps including large folding map frontis hand colored in outline, 4 folding engraved plates, errata page, orig marbled boards with later leather spine, gilt spine title lettering and decorations in blind, a few margins with light foxing, a fine uncut copy with wide margins, copy of Simon McGillivary Junior with his signature dated 1822 on title page.
The epic journey by Hearne, who was the first European to reach the Arctic Ocean, at the mouth of the Coppermine River, by land and discovered the Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River system. Hearne was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada for twelve years. He recorded in detail the lives of the Indians and the natural history of the regions seen on his three trips. The book's publication, three years after Hearne's death, was due to the famous French explorer La Perouse, who found Hearne's manuscript when he captured Fort Albany, Hudson's Bay, and stipulated, as a condition of surrender, that the manuscript be published. Sabin 31181: 'The author will be remembered as the first white man that ever gazed on the dreary expanse of the Arctic of Frozen Ocean from the northern shores of the Continent of America. . . a beautiful volume'. Streeter sale 3652: 'This day-to-day record of three trips northwest by land from Hudson Bay was printed from Hearne's manuscript three years after his death'. 'A painfully honest chronicle of his epic journey. . . a classic in the literature of northern discovery' [Newman, Empire of the North]. TPL 445. Cox II, p. 171. Hill 141. Lande 1220. Simon McGillivray (1783?-1840) entered the London firm of McGillivray, Fraser and Co. in 1805, and in 1813 became a partner in the Montreal-based McTavish, McGillivray and Co. He played a leading role in the merger of the Hudson's Bay and The
US$10000. bookID # 12860
HERTRICH, William; Camellias in the Huntington Gardens. San Marino, California, Huntington Botanical Gardens, 1954-59, First editions, 4to [27 x 18 cm]; 3 volumes, ix [i] 380; vii [i] 378; xii, 366pp, color frontispieces, numerous plates, orig cloth with gilt title lettering on spines and front covers, all in dust jackets (some tears, chipped, one quite chipped and worn, lower edge of one cover rubbed, very good complete set, signed inscription by the author dated 1955.
A comprehensive work that has become a classic, exceptionally well-illustrated, with descriptions of all species and varieties. A complete set.
US$70. bookID # 9653
HERVEY, A. B.; Sea Mosses; a Collector 's Guide and an Introduction to the Study of Marine Algae. Boston, S. E. Casino, 1881, First Edition, 12mo [19.5 x 13 cm]; xv, [v], 281 pp, 20 plates printed in one or more colors ("nature printed"), the frontis is plate 18, glossary, index, original pictorial gilt cloth with gilted picture on cover and gilt spine title lettering and vignette, corner of blank margin of half title removed, presentation copy from the author on endpaper, a fine, clean copy, gilt bright.
Catalogue of the Library of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society p. 139. Bennett p 54: 'An informative and illuminating technical work'. Nissen 863. This a classic from both a natural history and a color printing point-of-view. It used the actual specimens in the color printing process.
US$100. bookID # 13125
HILDER, Brett; Navigator in the South Seas. London, Percival Marshall & Co., 1961, First Edition, 8vo [23 x 16 cm]; [vi], 232 pp, illus and maps drawn by author, map eps, index, orig cloth, dj (rubbed in part), else very good+, inscribed and signed by author.
The author's travels over many years around Australia, Borneo, New Guinea and numerous Pacific islands, well written and interesting.
US$32. bookID # 3392
HIND, Henry Youle; Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857 and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858. London, Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, 1860, First edition, 8vo [22 x 14.5 cm]; 2 volumes, xx, 494; xvi, 472 pp, 20 fine chromyxlograph plates, mostly chromolithographs (colored lithographs), '76 other engraved illustrations, 8 hand colored maps (3 folding, tears, mainly short), tables, index, contemporary full calf, elaborate gilted spines, gilt title lettering on spine labels, marbled edges and endpapers, light shelf wear at edges, small crack at joint but firm, near fine clean set with excellent impressions of plates, handsome binding.
Sabin 31933: 'During this exploration, Mr. Hind lived almost constantly among the Crees and Chippeways, whose habits and peculiarities he was most eager to study, and prompt to record. Everything in their life had not only the charm of novelty to him, but as a man of science, he was anxious to observe all the facts which may prove stepping-stones in tracing their origin and their history'. Field: 'During this exploration, Hind lived almost constantly among the Crees and Chippeways '. Abbey Travel 630. Wagner Camp 361. Streeter Sale 3730. Peel 221. Larner 3839. Graff 1892. With much on the native peoples including wealth, customs, superstitions, population, conditions, etc. On the endpaper are the signatures of R. Patterson, Montreal 1869, and W. W. Paterson, Winnepeg, 1933, and there is a loose hand-written two-page letter to General Paterson, signed Sheriff Colin Inkster, July 1932, relating to the content of the book. The set is complete and includes both half titles.
US$1100. bookID # 12615
HOBSON, Sarah; Through Persia in Disguise. London, John Murray, [1973], First edition, 8vo [22 x 14 cm]; [xiv], 175 pp, photo plates by the author, index, orig blue cloth with gilt spine title lettering, dj (price clipped, wear at upper edge), signed by author, fine and clean in very good dj.
A narrative of the author's travels in Iran when she was twenty-three. She disguised herself as a boy to go where no women would be allowed, travelling to Qum and visiting the forbidden shrine, Isfahan, Tehran, etc, providing insights into Persian society from a unique perspective. Robson p. 48: 'Hobson is a discoverer of culture and the way people live'.
US$25. bookID # 8248
HUMPHRIS, Ted; illustrated by B. S. Biro; Garden Glory. London and Glasgow, Collins, [1969], First edition, 8vo [21.5 x 14 cm]; xii, 212 pp, attractive wood-engraved illus by Biro from his drawings, orig cloth with gilt title lettering and gilt decorations on spine, dj (small tear at edge, not price clipped), fine in near fine dj, signed by author, dated Aug. 1970.
Reminiscences of the author's extensive gardening experiences from the 1900's, when time was abundant, through the war years to the 1960's, the book contains a lifetime of gardening knowledge on all aspects. The author, winner of numerous garden awards, worked his way up to head gardener at Aynhoe Park and is recognized for his skill as an orchid grower of the magnificent Aynhoe orchids.
US$30. bookID # 7539
ISLEY III, Paul T.; Tillandsia; The World's Most Unusual Air Plants. Gardena, California, Botanical Press, 1987, First edition, 4to [28 x 22 cm]; xi, 256 pp, about 100 color illus, 120 electron microscope photographs, other illus from drwgs, color chart, glossary, index, with the errata slip tipped in on endpaper, with the chart of species & habitats, often lacking, orig cloth with gilt title lettering on spine and front cover, dj (price clipped), endpaper lightly soiled, a near fine copy, signed by author on title.
This is the best book on the subject, superbly illustrated, with 60 species discussed in detail, and with mention of numerous others. Excellent sections are provided on their physical characteristics, blooms, care, etc, and on biographical sketches of Tillandsia explorers and taxonomists, as well as on nomenclature, taxonomy, biology, etc. Most of the species are shown in bloom. The ultimate book on the subject. This copy also has the loose plastic ruler with glossary of terms.
US$420. bookID # 10362
JACKSON, Frederick George, edited from his journals by Arthur Montefiore; The Great Frozen Land (Bolshaia Zemelskija Tundra); Narrative of a Winter Journey Across the Tundras and a Sojourn Among the Samoyads. London, Macmillan and Co., 1895, First edition, 8vo [23.5 x 16 cm]; xviii, 297, [ii, ads] pp, frontis with tissue guard, numerous illus from photos and drawings including full-page, 3 foldout colored maps, showing author's route, index, orig blue pictorial gilt cloth, gilt ruled and with gilt spine title lettering, edges a little rubbed, signature and bookplate on endpaper, light foxing, very good sound copy, with a 'presentation copy' blind-stamp on title from the publisher.
Arctic Bibliography 7940: 'In the fall of 1893 the author went to Vaygack Island, explored it and spent a year living among the Samoyeds using reindeer and ponies for sledge hauls. He travelled the arctic coast from Vaygach to the Pachora, ascended that river to Ust Tsilma, traveled westward to the Mezen via the Pinega to Archangel, thence eastward around the White Sea and north across the Kola to Varanger Fiord. This journey was undertaken to learn winter travel methods and gather information from the natives in preparation for the author's Franz Josef Land Expedition begun later in the year 1894'. The work describes the Samoyed's appearance, way of life, language, folktales, character, food, travel, beliefs and diseases, as well as natural history, geography, weather, the Lapps, scurvy and frostbite. Nerhood 416.
US$240. bookID # 12447
JOELSON, F. S. [compiler & editor]; Eastern Africa Today and Tomorrow. London, East Africa, 1934, , large 8vo [25.5 x 17.5 cm]; xvii, 376 pp, 11 maps including frontis, 64 other illus, photos, index, orig cloth, spine faded but title lettering clean, else a clean fine copy with presentation inscription signed by author and loose one page typed letter from author on East Africa letterhead, signed by him.
Includes chapters by various experts on a wide range topics including trade, mining, air photographic survey, aviation in East Africa, big game, fishing, broadcasting, electricity development, social research, native life, architecture, forestry, coffee growing, tobacco, sugar, geography. It covers mainly Kenya, Tanganyikka, Portuguese East Africa, Rhodesia, Uganda, Zanzibar, Sudan, Somaliland, Nyasaland. There is also an East African Buyer's Guide and ads for various local products and businesses.
US$150. bookID # 7939
JONES, James Edmund; Mushrooms, Ferns and Grasses, and Some More Wild Flowers. Toronto, National Boy's Work Board, [1930], First edition, 12mo [19 x 12 cm]; 96 pp, frontis, hundreds of illus, mostly from photos, but also some drawings, index, orig green cloth, gilt title lettering, orig heavy paper pictorial covers bound in, near fine and clean, signature of author, dated November 1930.
A very well-illustrated work, a companion volume to Some Familiar Wild Flowers, but stands as an independent volume.
US$10. bookID # 12166
JONES, Paul; text by Wilfred Blunt, foreword by Sir George Taylor; Flora Superba. London, The Tryon Gallery, [1971], First edition, limited to 406 copies with 6 copies for artist, this is number 131, signed by artist, elephant folio [54 x 40 cm]; 16 fine color plates, each with accompanying text description and tissue guards, overall introduction, orig half vellum backed cloth, gilt vignette on cover, gilt lettering on spine, orig slipcase (stained, warped), book is clean and fine, with original glassine dj.
The botanical work of Jones, the celebrated Australian artist, has been rightly compared to that of Thornton's Temple of Flora. A magnificent work with the usual high standards of the Tryon Gallery. The plates were printed by the Curwen Press by multi-colour lithography. The colour plates have been printed on a matte coated cartridge made by Bowaters and the text on Arma all-rag paper. The binding is by Zaehnsdorf of London. A fittingly superb production.
US$500. bookID # 4122
KARPMAN, Lenny; Feasting and Foraging in Costa Rica; A Compressive Food and Restaurant Guide. Costa Rica, Cafe Britt, [2007], First edition, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; viii, 319 pp, index, lists, original pictorial heavy-paper wrappers, near fine with a presentation inscription from the author on the title page.
The author, a physician and writer, who has lived in Costa Rica for years, presents a comprehensive description and rating of numerous restaurants throughout the country, together with detailed chapters on Costa Rican dishes, fruits, vegetables, herbs, sauces, beverages, meats, seafoods and other foods, plus a 55-page glossary of all aspects of Costa Rican food, necessary to survive there.
US$15. bookID # 13138
KRAUS, Hans P.; Sir Francis Drake; A Pictorial Biography; With an Historical Introduction by Lt. Commander David W. Waters & Richard Boulind and a detailed Catalogue of the Author's Collection. Amsterdam, N. Israel, 1970, First Edition, folio; viii, 236 pp, well illustrated from early sources and manuscripts, double page facsimile maps, detailed bibliog, orig grey cloth, with red & gilt emblem, water stain on cover, stains on endpapers, interior clean, sound copy, presentation copy signed by Kraus, dated Jan 27, 1970 to Gordon Jones with his endpaper bookplate.
US$60. bookID # 840
LANNING, J. Frank; Around South America With a Sample Case. Richmond, Williams Printing Co., [1920], First edition, 12mo [21 x 13 cm]; 252 pp, numerous plates from photos, orig cloth, very lightly rubbed at edges but a very good+ copy, with an inscription signed by author on endpaper, dated Oct. 12th, 1920..
The author writes an interesting and amusing travel account of his tour around much of South America, in the cities and country-side.
US$28. bookID # 6265
LEIGHTON, Ann; Early American Gardens; "For Meate of Medicine". Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, [1970], First edition, first printing, 8vo[23.5 x 16.5 cm]; xviii, 441 pp, 84 illus and plans from early sources, bibliog, pictorial endpapers, original cloth with decorative spine, gilt sine title lettering, dj (light wear, not price clipped), near fine and clean in very good dj, inscribed and signed by author on half-title page.
A comprehensive survey of seventeenth century American gardening with an emphasis on herbs and their uses and with much historical information, describing the uses of hundreds of varieties.
US$35. bookID # 13045
LORIMER, Joyce (ed); English and Irish Settlement on the River Amazon 1550 - 1646. London, The Hakluyt Society, 1989, First Edition, 8vo [22 x 14.5 cm]; xv, 499 pp 10 maps, bibliog, orig cloth, gilt vignette on front cover, gilt spine title lettering, dj (lightly rubbed), else fine and clean, presentation copy signed by author to David and Alison [Quinn].
Based on new material from English, Portuguese and Spanish archives. The earliest example of Irish colonial projects in the New World. David Quinn was a eminent scholar and writer of numerous Hakluyt Society books. This copy has a loose card from Lorimer, signed Joyce, dated November 1989, to David and Alison, stating 'Anything that is scholarly about this book I learned from you.... . .'.
US$40. bookID # 10206
LOUDON, W. J.; A Canadian Geologist [Joseph Tyrrell]. Toronto, The Macmillan Company, 1930, First edition, 8vo [22 x 15 cm]; x, 257 pp, frontis (port), music notation, index, orig cloth, gilt spine title lettering, dj (light wear & chipped at edge), lightly foxed on few leaves & edge, else a near fine copy in bright cover, in very good dj, presentation copy signed by the author, dated 1932.
The is the biography of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, pioneer Canadian geologist, who made major contributions to mining geology.
US$85. bookID # 7480
MARKAM, Clements R.; The Travels of Pedro de Cieza de Leon, A. D. 1532-50, contained in the First Part of His Chronicle of Peru. London, Hakluyt Society, 1864, First edition, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; 4, 12 [Hakluyt Society catalogue], 438 pp, frontis is foldout partly hand-colored map, backed on linen, orig blue cloth, gilt vignette on front cover, gilt spine lettering partly rubbed but visible, spine faded & worn at ends, bookplate removed from front endpaper, slight foxing on few leaves, map untorn, joint repaired, clean sound copy, vg in good cover.
The ink inscription on the title page by Markham reads, 'Charles C. Bowen with the translator's affectionate regards, Dec 9th, 1864'. This is the 33rd publication of the first series of the Hakluyt Society and includes Markham's translation of the original edition printed in Antwerp in 1554 as well as his detailed 40 page introduction that provides a good historical perspective and biographical details of Cieza de Leon. Markham had become an expert on Peru and on the native peoples there, having researched and written several works on the subject. Cieza de Leon's work provides an important reference of the time. He was the first European to give a name to the avocado and likely the first to write of the potato, which would be introduced to Europe. His was the first account of the Spanish conquest of Peru and provides details on the Incas, their customs, institutions, beliefs, economy, military. He was a sympathetic observer of the Spanish caused carnage and provides a valuable first-hand account of the area and the peoples.
US$600. bookID # 6915
MARKHAM, Clements R.; Travels in Peru and India While Superintending the Collection of Chinchona Plants and Seeds in South America, and their Introduction into India. London, John Murray, 1862, First edition, 8vo [22.5 x 15 cm]; xviii, 572 pp, 9 plates including frontis (folding genealogical table of the Incas), two folding maps (one in facsimile), other illus from drwgs, index, this copy has 6 folding maps, some colored, added by author (see below), contemporary full calf, rebacked, gilt ruled, gilt title lettering on leather spine label, gilt spine decorations, marbled endpapers, light wear, near fine with the author's bookplate on endpaper & with his ink notes in some margins.
This is the author's copy with his bookplate and notes. The author has added six folding maps, some colored, some with author's signature in plate. The maps include Journey to Cinchona Forests of Carabay, 1860; Province of Caravay in Southern Peru, 1862; Sedasheger Harbour; Region where Cinchonae were collected in forests of Carabara, Peru; Mountain Districts for the Cultivation of Chinchona and Coffee in Southern India, etc. Also included is an original pencil sketch loosely inserted titled 'Cachi Vieja Mines', and a 4 page manuscript letter to author in French dated 1874 on the theme. Welch 209. Humphreys 1607. Spain & Spanish America I, 422. Markham was one of the major contributors in finding the cinchona tree as a cure for malaria, by coordinating a series of British-sponsored missions to South America, including that of Richard Spruce, and because of his political connections became the focus for the search for cinchona. Honigsbaum, The Fever Trail p. 82: 'His genius was to present the plot to steal the seeds and plants from under the noses of the nascent Andean republics not as theft but as philanthropy'. The author describes his travels and adventures in the Andes, finding the cinchona and arranging to have them sent to India, only to have them die in transit. He describes Peru, its people, nature, plants, topography, etc in some detail. The plates include several of plants as well as scenes, buildings, etc.
US$1500. bookID # 12994
MAXWELL, Marius; Stalking Big Game with a Camera in Equatorial Africa. London, The Medici Society, 1924, First edition, limited to 550 numbered copies of which this is number 405, signed by the author, folio [38.5 x 29 cm]; xxii, 202 pp, double page photogravure frontis, 113 fine photogravure plates, folding panorama of elephants charging in rear pocket, colored map, title in red & black, index, orig dark blue cloth with gilt title lettering on front cover & spine, t. e. g., spine lightly faded but lettering clear, light stain on corner of cover, rear corner bit bumped, bookplate of Frances Myers and signature on endpaper, a near fine clean copy.
A very large work, printed on heavy paper, with superb photos of African animals, especially elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, buffalo, giraffes. The preface is by Sir Sydney F. Harmer. The author, describes his travels to British East Africa, Kenya, and his photographic experiences. He provides a chapter and some plates on the equipment he used. The appendices are on elephants, mammoths.
US$650. bookID # 9675
MCCOWAN, Dan; A Naturalist in Canada. Toronto, The Macmillan Company, 1941, First edition, 8vo [22 x 14 cm]; xii, 284 pp, frontis from painting by Carl Rungius, numerous illustrations from photos by the author and sketches by Bruce Horsfall on plates, index, orig cloth, spine title lettering, spine faded, dj (chipped at edges, rubbed, not price clipped), very good overall, inscribed and signed by author on endpaper, dated 1941.
The author provides a general survey of natural history across Canada, from plants and glaciers to birds, insects, fish, fossils, animals, etc.
US$20. bookID # 12112
M'CORMICK [MCCORMICK], R.; Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas, and Round the World; Being Personal Narratives of Attempts to Reach the North and South Poles; and of an Open-boat Expedition up the Wellington Channel in Search of Sir John Franklin. . .. London, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1884, First edition, large 8vo [26 x 18 cm]; 2 volumes complete, xx, 432, [xvi, prospectus of this book, ads]; xii, 412 pp, 66 plates & maps, mostly tinted lithographs, including folding, panoramas, 3 colored maps, 1 folding, 3 portraits, many other illus, index, original pictorial blue cloth with pictures in black & gilt, gilt title lettering on spines & cover, spines slightly faded, light wear at spine ends, slightly foxed on some leaves, endpaper bookplate, inscribed by author on endpaper, near fine sound set.
The bookplate is of Andrew Taylor, polar archivist and important collector. The author, who was chief medical officer, naturalist and geologist to the expeditions, published this work when he was 84 based on his diaries and notes and covers three expeditions: Ross' expedition to the Antarctic, 1839-42, on which the author was surgeon with the botanist Joseph Hooker as assistant surgeon; Parry's 1827 north pole expedition; and the voyage to Wellington Channel in search of Franklin in 1852-52, including the boat expedition under the author's command. His account of the Ross Antarctic expedition is the only one other than that of Ross. The work is detailed and notable for its breadth of content including much on natural history including of Spitsbergen based on the Parry expedition. The numerous plates are excellent and include views, scenery, icebergs, sea, birds, plants, etc. Spence 747. Arctic Bibliog 10582. An superb copy of one of the scarcest polar book in first edition and inscribed by the author to W. H. K. Wright, honorable secretary of the Tercentenary Commemoration Exhibition. The set was published in an edition of only 750 copies many of which were later lost.
US$6500. bookID # 13056
MERRILL, Selah, introduction by Roswell D. Hitchcock; East of the Jordan; A Record of Travel and Observation in the Countries of Moab, Gilead and Bashan during the years 1875-1877. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1883, , 8vo [22 x 16 cm]; xv, 549, [vi, ads] pp, frontis, plates, numerous illus, fldg map, index, orig black cloth, decorated in red with gilt title lettering on spine, wear at edges, title and some leaves a little foxed, but interior is clean, bookplate removed from endpaper, else very good.
Smith M73: "One of the outstanding biblical archaeologists tells of his work". The author, an archaeologist with the American Palestine Exploration Society, presents a detailed survey and description of the area. Well-illustrated from drawings.
US$110. bookID # 11615
MILTON, Viscount and W. B. Cheadle; The North-West Passage by Land, being the narrative of an expedition from the Atlantic to the Pacific, undertaken with the view of exploring a route across the continent to British Columbia through British Territory by one of the northern passes. London, Cassell, Petter and Galpin, [1865, Sixth edition, same year as the first edition, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; xx, iv], 400, [16, ads] pp, 22 plates including frontis, two folding maps, one partly colored including route in red and including one map in pocket, with the half title page, orig pictorial gilt cloth with picture of teepee, gilt spine title lettering, edges rubbed, wear to head of spine and corners, new endpapers, very good copy with the signature of both authors on the dedication page.
A classic voyage, with attractive illustrations. TPL 4340 (for 4th edition): "First published in 1865, a lively narrative of a sporting trip from England across Canada and return from British Columbia by sea, June 1862- March 1864. This work achieved considerable popularity and drew attention to the agricultural and mining possibilities of the Canadian West." Waterston p127: "Drunken guides, mosquitoes, horrible tempers, muddles, hunts and pranks." Sounds like modern Canadian politics. Graff 2809: 'Dr. Cheadle wrote most of the book from his own journal.' Sabin 24631. Streeter 3735. Wagner-Camp-Becker 420. Its unusual to find a copy with the signatures of both authors, especially given that they didn't seem to get along that well.
US$600. bookID # 10873
MITCHELL, Donald G. Append; Out-of-Town Places: with Hints for Their Improvement. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1884, First edition with this title, small 8vo [19 x 13 cm]; [ii], vi, 295 pp, illus especially of architectural devices from drwgs by E. C. Gardner, plans, orig cloth, gilt lettering on spine and cover in gilted border, signature on endpaper, 'with complements' and signed by the author on half title page.
'I have especially sought to excite the ambition of the holders of these humble estates, who believe nothing can be done in the way of adornment of country property. The book is a tract for homeliness; and I hope it may make country proselytes.' [preface]. The author of My Farm at Edgewood, Wet Days at Edgewood, etc, has here re-published his popular Rural Studies with Hints for Country Places, first published in 1867.
US$80. bookID # 11603
MONTGOMERY, F. H.; Plants from Sea to Sea. Toronto, The Ryerson Press, [1966], First edition, 8vo [23.5 x 16 cm]; [xiv], 451 pp, 9 colored plates from photos, each with 9 images, 873 illus from drwgs, bibliog, index, orig cloth with spine title lettering, clean and fine in dj (a little rubbed at spine ends, light crease), signed and inscribed by the author on half title page.
The first book covering plants across Canada, and a very comprehensive and well-illustrated treatment, the author, a respected botanist, describes over 1,500 plants, providing a general key to plant families and a description of each plant arranged within families.
US$40. bookID # 10069
MOORE, J. Hampton; With Speaker Cannon Through the Tropics; A Descriptive Story of a Voyage to the West Indies, Venezuela and Panama. Philadelphia, The Book Print, 1907, First edition, 8vo [20.5 x 14.5 cm]; xi, [i], 410 pp, frontis (port), numerous illus from photos, orig red cloth, spine a little faded, gilt title lettering on spine and front cover, spine end lightly frayed, else a clean near fine copy with a lengthy inscription to D. M. Dillon in author's hand and with his signature on endpaper.
The author, a member of Congress for Pennsylvania, travelled with Joseph Cannon, the speaker of the House of Representatives, travelled widely to Porto Rico, Martinique, St. Thomas, Barbados, Trinidad, Caracas, Jamaica, Colon and Panama, Cuba, Nassau, viewed the early building of the Panama Canal, providing some interesting details on the places visited.
US$75. bookID # 7756
NARANJO, Nemesio Garcia, translated by Calle Wheaton Esteva; Venezuela and Its Ruler. New York, Carranza & Co., [1927], First edition, 8vo [21 x 14 cm]; 174 pp, with numerous mounted plates, some are portraits, orig cloth, gilt title lettering on spine and cover, gilt emblem on cover, with the original ribbon bookmark, fine condition, clean, with an inscription on endpaper signed by translator.
An interesting narrative including much on the geography, economy, politics, etc of Venezuela.
US$30. bookID # 12089
NEVINS, Michael; The Jewish Doctor; A Narrative History. Northvale, Jason Aronson Inc., [1996], First edition, 8vo [21 x 14.5 cm]; iv, 159, [ii] pp, bibliog, index, orig cloth, gilt spine title lettering in gilt border, dj, fine and clean, presentation inscription to Dr. David Shaul, signed by the author.
The author, who practiced medicine in New Jersey since 1968, and who has written many articles and books, provides a fascinating history from early times, through Greek, Renaissance, enlightenment to the modern period, with chapters on Maimonides, the perils of court life, Padua, defensive medicine, shtetl medicine, the lower east side, women in medical practice, racism and Jewish health, academic intolerance, the Jewish doctor in literature, etc.
US$80. bookID # 12391
O'BRIEN, Frederick; Mystic Isles of the South Seas. New York, Century Co, 1921, First Edition, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; xv, 534 pp, illus from photos, few from drwgs, including portraits by George Biddle, fldg colored map of the South Sea Islands with inset of Tahiti, orig pict cloth, quarter inch tear at foot of spine, outer cover chipped for one inch, very good with the author's signature.
A well-illustrated account, largely related to the native peoples of Tahiti, but including nature, customs, etc, described before the massive tourist development of the area.
US$21. bookID # 8672
OLSEN, Fred; foreword by George Kubler, introduction by Irving Rouse; On the Trail of the Arawaks. Norman, University of Oklahoma, [1974], First edition, 8vo [23.5 x 16 cm]; xix, 408 pp, 136 illus including color, plates, from photos and drwgs, 16 maps including double-page, bibliog, index, orig cloth, spine title lettering, dj (lightly rubbed at edge, not price clipped), clean and fine, presentation copy signed & dated by author.
The author describes the Sarawak people as one of the most advanced people of the New World and traveled widely to many of their archaeological sites from Antigua, Saladero, Guadeloupe, St. Vincent, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Colombia, Peru, along the Orinoco, etc, collecting their artifacts, and describing their way of life, including ball games played with rubber ball, cultivation and use of manioc, etc, and traces their origin. This copy has a loose extract article from the New Haven Register, 1968, on Olsen and his Arawak collection with color photographs.
US$60. bookID # 10595
ONEAL, Cora M.; Gardens and Homes of Mexico. Dallas, Banks Upshaw and Company, [1947], Second edition, revised, 8vo [23.5 x 16 cm]; xiv, [ii], 221, [iii] pp, frontis (portrait of author), plates from photos, map, bibliog, orig cloth, pictorial endpapers, small ink spot on title page, else clean near fine copy, signed by author in ink.
An interesting and very well-illustrated work covering pre-conquest gardens, colonial homes and gardens, colonial public buildings with gardens, modern homes and gardens, plants and trees of Mexico. The last chapter is on orchids and orchid hunting.
US$30. bookID # 8396
ORCUTT, William Dana; In Quest of the Perfect Book; Reminiscences & Reflections of a Bookman. Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1926, First edition, edition limited to 350 copies of which this is number 98, signed by the author, 8vo [24.5 x 16.5 cm]; [vii], 316, [i] pp, color frontis with tissue guard, numerous plates, portraits, facsimiles, manuscripts, including the 6 plates that are only in the limited edition, bibliog, index, orig vellum backed boards, gilt spine title lettering, top edge gilted, spine slightly darkened, endpaper bookplate of Brownie W. McCormick, orig ribbon bookmark, fine and clean condition.
The author was able to find books now only found in major libraries but its a pleasure to read about his finds and discoveries, including illuminated manuscripts, finely printed books, early books, manuscripts, typography, Laurenziana, etc.
US$80. bookID # 12655
ORCUTT, William Dana; The Kingdom of Books. Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1927, First edition, edition limited to 450 copies of which this is number 267, signed by the author, 8vo [24.5 x 16.5 cm]; xii, 290, [i] pp, color frontis with tissue guard, numerous plates and illustrations, facsimiles from early or rare books, portraits, including the 6 plates only in the limited edition, bibliog, index, orig vellum backed boards, gilt spine title lettering, top edge gilted, spine a little darkened, endpaper bookplate of Charles Willcox, orig ribbon bookmark, fine and clean condition.
Detailed discussions of great books published through the ages, masters of typography, bindings, etc, and the authors explorations in hunting for them, including chapters on modern masters of typography, old book stalls in Paris, incunabula, bookbinding, etc.
US$60. bookID # 12654
ORCUTT, William Dana; The Magic of the Book; More Reminiscences and Adventures of a Bookman. Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1930, First edition, edition limited to 350 copies of which this is number 230, signed by the author, 8vo [24.5 x 16.5 cm]; xii, 314 pp, colored frontis with tissue guard, 70 plates, portraits, including from photos and facsimiles from rare books, manuscript, etc, bibliog, index, orig vellum backed boards, gilt spine title lettering, top edge gilted, spine a little darkened, endpaper bookplate of Barbara Horton, orig ribbon bookmark, fine and clean condition, partly unopened and unread.
Detailed discussions of great books published through the ages, masters of typography, bindings, etc, and the authors explorations in hunting for them, including chapters on the Vatican library, type, Sweynheym, Pannartz, Bodoni, Red Cross archives, book investments, etc.
US$80. bookID # 12653
ORMEROD, Eleanor A.; Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchards and Bush Fruits With Means of Prevention and Remedy. London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., 1898, First edition, 8vo [22.5 x 14.5 cm]; x, 286 pp, numerous engraved illustrations from drawings, front portrait of author, signed in the plate, index, original green pictorial gilt cloth, gilt spine title lettering, slight wear at spine end, clean and near fine, with a presentation inscription from the author on the endpaper.
The highly respected naturalist describes the insects that attach fruit trees and bushes in considerable detail. With a useful alphabetical list at end of each fruit, by part of tree or bush being attacked (bark, fruit, leaves, wood, etc) and the most likely attacker with a cross-reference to text.
US$45. bookID # 13178
OVIEDO Y VALDES, Captain Gonzalo Fernandez, translated and edited by Daymond Turner; The Conquest and Settlement of the Island of Boriquen or Puerto Rico. Avon, Limited Editions Club, 1975, First edition in English, limited to 2,000 copies, this is #644, signed by both illustrators, small folio [31 x 19 cm]; xxxviii, 143, [i] pp, 8 fine color plates, illus from drawings and paintings, orig quarter natural vellum, gilt stamped on red cloth, spine lightly sunned, orig black slipcase with gilt lettering, fine and clean.
Illustrated by Jack & Irene Delano. The book was first published in 1535 and is one of the first published descriptions of the island with much on the native peoples, natural history and Spanish rule. This edition is its first publication in English.
US$115. bookID # 7717
PARCHER, Emily Seaber; Shady Gardens; How to Plan and Grow Them. New York, Prentice-Hall, [1955], First Edition, 8vo [23 x 16 cm]; vi, 282 pp, frontis, illus from photos, index, orig cloth, dj (chipped at spine end, rubbed at extremities, price clipped), else fine, signed by author, with a presentation inscription.
Very useful book with lists of plants that grow under certain conditions and by type. The book is divided into three sections, growing flowers in the shade, foliage and woody plants, and planning and maintaining the shady garden.
US$30. bookID # 7331
PATERSON, M. Malcolm; Mountaineering Below the Snow-Line or the Solitary Pedestrian in Snowdonia and Elsewhere. London, George Redway, 1886, First edition, 12mo [18 x 13 cm]; viii, 307, [i, index], 38 [publisher's catalogue dated September 1886] pp, 4 etched plates (complete) including the frontis with tissue guard, the plates from drwgs by Mackaness, orig cloth with gilt spine title lettering, gilt emblem on cover, spine ends chipped, edges rubbed, interior clean, partly unopened and very good in good cover, signed presentation inscription by Paterson.
Neate P21 : 'Hill walking in the British Isles and Norway', including Wales and the Cambrians.
US$160. bookID # 7904
PEATTIE, Donald Culross (editor); Audubon's America; The Narratives and Experiences of John James Audubon. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1940, First edition, limited to 3,025 copies, signed by the author, 4to [30 x 21 cm]; [x], 328 pp, color frontis (port), color plates, ep maps, orig pictorial gilt cloth, spine slightly sunned, original slipcase with very light wear, t. e. g, nice wide margins, clean, near fine.
With an extensive biographical introduction, the Peattie selected some of the most interesting of Audubon's travel writing, with major sections on Kentucky, hunter's tales, pioneering, travels in the deep south, searching for birds, Missouri and the Dakota prairies. The fine color plates are from offset lithography.
US$60. bookID # 2803
PEREIRA, Duarte Pacheco, translated and edited by George H. T. Kimble; Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis. London, The Hakluyt Society, 1937, First edition, 8vo [22.5 x 15 cm]; xxxv, 193 pp, frontis, 9 plates and charts, maps, including folding and including two folding maps, partly colored at end, bibliog, index, orig blue blind-stamped cloth, gilt vignette, gilt spine title lettering, small light stain on rear cover, else a fine clean copy with a presentation inscription signed by Kimble on the endpaper.
Duarte Pacheco was deemed in his own day to be as eminent as Vasco da Gama, was unnoticed for nearly 400 years until his work was first published in 1892, here translated into English for the first time and with an excellent introduction, providing a good historical perspective. Duarte Pacheco had sailed around the coasts of Africa and provides the only eyewitness description of these coasts, as well as a description of navigation problems. W. F. Morris contributes Appendix IV on the map. Other appendices are on the Senegal-Niger-Nile controversy, snakes, silent barter. 'It is still a most valuable volume of eyewitness information on the sea, the coast, and the peoples of the west coast of Africa as far south as the Cape of Good Hope'. [Hart]
US$150. bookID # 12467
PLOTKIN, Mark J.; Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice; An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest. New York, Viking, [1993], , 8vo [23.5 x 16 cm]; xvi, 318, [i] pp, illustrations from photos, map, bibliog, glossary, original cloth-backed boards, spine title lettering, dj (not price clipped), fine in near fine jacket, signed by author on half title page.
A description of the author's travels through northern South America, including Venezuela, the Guianas and his studies with some of the most powerful of Amazonian shamans, who taught him the plant lore their tribes have gleaned from the rain forests over thousands of years. Based on the author's travels of over a decade. With much on curare, hallucinogenic epena, etc. There is a detailed forward by Richard Evans Schultes: 'what makes this work so special is precisely Mark Plotkin's gentlemanly approach to the natives and his ability to work with Indians as a trusted friend. . . Plotkin is a member of the last generation of ethnobotanists who will be able to see the Amazonian Indians living a life not all that different from their ancestors of thousands of years before. . . the author's exceptional grasp of history'.
US$16. bookID # 13229
POPESCU, Petru; Amazon Beaming. [New York], Viking, [1991], First Edition, 8vo [22 x 16 cm]; xiv, 445 pp, color illus from photos, endpaper maps, index, orig cloth-backed boards, gilt spine title lettering, dj (not price clipped), fine and clean, signed by the author on the half title page.
The story of Loren McIntyre's forty years of exploration in the Amazon area, his discovery of the Amazon's source in Peru, and his making first contact with the Mayoruna or cat-people, his kidnapping by them and experiences with their shamans. The author met McIntyre in Brazil in 1987 and relates his experiences with telepathy with the Mayoruna. Fascinating and well-written.
US$35. bookID # 13025
PRESCOTT, William Hickling; History of the Conquest of Peru1524-1550. Mexico City, The Limited Editions Club, 1957, limited edition of 1500 copies, this is #1180 signed by both Everett Gee Jackson (illustrator) & Harry Block (printer), 4to [32.5 x 22 cm]; xxxvi, 252, [i] pp, color illus from drawings by Jackson, orig full marbled leather with gilt title lettering on red leather spine labels, made in the style of an ancient Spanish chronicle (to match Castillo's Discovery & Conquest of Mexico), fine and clean in orig slipcase with orig label (light edgewear).
Sabin 65272. BAL16346 for first edition of 1847. Goodman 393: 'An authoritative classic, based on all the documents available to him.' Griffin 2975: 'A classic narrative history, a landmark when it first appeared in 1847 and a source of profit and pleasure to this day.' This edition has excellent historical introduction.
US$100. bookID # 7704
REEVE, Henry Fenwick; The Gambia; Its History, Ancient, Medieval and Modern together with its Geographical, Geological and Ethnographical Conditions and a Description of the Birds, Beasts and Fishes found therein. London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1912, First edition, 8vo [24 x 16 cm]; xv, 288 pp, frontis (portrait), numerous illus from photos, 3 maps including foldout and large folding at end, bibliog, index, with the errata slip, orig pictorial gilt cloth with gilt title lettering on front cover and spine, outer edges slightly rubbed, some minor foxing, else near fine, signed by the author 'with the author's complements', 1916, on half title page.
Conover 558. Work 15. Well-written and nicely illustrated, covering all aspects of this western African country, with much on nature, the peoples, etc. An obituary from a 1920 newspaper is tipped-in on endpaper.
US$280. bookID # 8064
REICHMANN, Felix; Sugar, Gold, and Coffee; Essays on the History of Brazil based on Francis Hull's Books. Ithaca, New York, Cornell University, 1959, First edition, 8vo [23.5 x 16 cm]; xxiii, 160 pp, frontis portrait of Francis Reginald Hull, 24 illus from early sources, including some full-page, maps, title pages, bibliog, orig grey cloth, gilt spine title lettering, pictorial endpapers, fine and clean condition, inscribed and signed by the author.
Colonel Hull's books on Brazil, based on a lifetime of collecting and living in Brazil, provide one of the best library's on the subject. The author uses this library to describe the history of Brazil, with excellent illustrations from the books. From the early exploration and discovery, colonization, sugar, coffee growing, relation to other countries including England, France, Netherlands, Germany, piracy, the search for, El Dorado, diamonds, the Jesuits, Pedro, etc, with an appendix.
US$35. bookID # 12102
RICHARDS, Matthew W.; Rambles in Sweden, being Notes of a Tour Made in the Summer of 1873. London, Printed for Private Circulation, 1875, First edition, and only edition, 12mo [19 x 13 cm]; xviii, [19]-127, [i] pp, frontis (mounted photo of author], plates and other engraved illus, orig green cloth decorated in black & gilt with gilt title lettering on spine and front cover, a. e. g., hinge cracking but firm, lightly rubbed at spine ends but a clean & fine copy, covers bright, with a presentation inscription from author on endpaper.
Published in a small quantity for the author's family and friends, no copies were traced at auction in the last 26 years, nor in the catalogues of the British Library, Library of Congress or OCLC WorldCat. The finely engraved illus and plates include views of Gothenburg, Sundswall, Malar Lake, Dalecarlians, Upsala, canal, Trollhattan Falls, several of Stockholm, street scenes, building, etc.
US$390. bookID # 8718
RICKARD, T. A.; Journeys of Observation. San Francisco, Dewey Publishing Company, 1907, First edition in book form, first issue, 'author's edition', large 8vo [24.5 x 17 cm]; 2 volumes in one, xvi, 255; vii, 130 pp, frontis with tissue guard, maps, 142 illus photos, mostly full-page, 40 illus from drawings, tables, title printed in red and black, maps, orig pictorial cloth, t. e. g., cover lightly rubbed but a fine copy, clean with large margins, untrimmed, presentation copy from the author, dated 1913 and bookplate of Edward Thurston on endpaper.
The first work is Among the Mines of Mexico, being the record of a journey from New York to Mexico, together with a description of the mining industry of El Oro, Pachuca and Guanajuato, as observed in 1905. The second work is Across the San Juan Mountains, being the account of a ride over the mountainous mining regions of Southwestern Colorado in 1902. Both works were originally published in the Engineering and Mining Journal which the author edited, and although the emphasis is on mining in the regions, includes much on conditions, geography, geology, economy, customs, working conditions, etc. Cole 349 (American Travellers in Mexico).
US$190. bookID # 7802
ROBERTS, Kenneth G. and Philip Shackleton; The Canoe; A History of the Craft from Panama to the Arctic. Toronto, Macmillan of Canada, [1983], First Edition, oblong 4to [26 x 31 cm]; viii, 279 pp, numerous illus and plates in color and bw, bibliog, index, map endpapers showing aboriginal peoples in North and Central America, orig simulated leather cloth, gilt vignette and lettering, dj, a fine copy in fine dj, signed in ink by both authors on the half-title page.
An important study including rafts and floats, the dugout, the skin boat, the bark canoe, the modern canoe and all their variations over time and from different aboriginal peoples. Many of the illustrations are from early sources including the making and use of the canoe. A major, if not the best modern work on the subject.
US$50. bookID # 9167
ROGER-SMITH, H. [Hugh]; Plant Hunting in Europe. Bedford, Rush & Warwick (Bedford) Ltd, nd [c1950], First edition, 8vo [22 x 14 cm]; 80 pp, photo plates, original cloth, gilt spine title lettering, dj (chipped at edge), else near fine, inscribed and signed by author on half-title page, dated May 1950.
The M. D. author describes his travels through Switzerland, the Pyrenees, the Dolomites and Karawanken, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece and Cyprus, describing the plant life, topography, etc, and taking his own photos of scenery, buildings, flowers, etc. Also included is a loose two page letter from author Hugh Miller, dated September 1949.
US$60. bookID # 13000
ROSENBACH, A. S. W.; Books and Bidders; The Adventures of a Bibliophile. Boston, Little, Brown, and Company, 1927, First edition, edition limited to 760 copies of which this is #409 signed by author, 8vo [24.5 x 17 cm]; xv, 311 pp, frontis, numerous illus and plates, including facsimiles from original sources, index, with an extra title spine label at rear, orig cloth-backed boards, title lettering on spine label, top edge gilted, a bit rubbed at edges, internal hinge cracked but firm, very good, interior quite clean and unmarked.
The premier bookdealer of his time writes of his finds, discoveries and haunts, most of which no longer exist. He discovered some of the great treasures now in major libraries. This limited edition had wider margins than the trade edition. This copy includes a loose paper by Michael Sadleir, entitled Pleasures and Problems of Book Collecting from another source.
US$50. bookID # 11581
SAMUEL, H. J.; Wild Flower Hunter, the Story of Ellis Rowan. London, Constable and Company, [1961], First Edition, 8vo [24 x 16 cm]; 152 pp, fine colored frontis by Ellis Rowan, 6 plates, map and other illus by Maie Casey, bibliog, orig pictorial cloth, dj (not price clipped), fine, and clean copy signed and inscribed by illustrator on the endpaper, dated 1961.
The story of one of the best known wild-flower painters of her period. She was born in Australia but traveled in many parts of the world. The illustrations are by Rowan's niece, who also wrote a forward. The chapters included here relate to Australia, New Zealand, England, America, New Guinea and describes her association with Alice Lounsberry.
US$25. bookID # 10523
SAMUEL, H. J.; Wild Flower Hunter, the Story of Ellis Rowan. London, Constable and Company, [1961], First Edition, 8vo [24 x 16 cm]; 152 pp, fine col frontis by Ellis Rowan, 6 plates, map and other illus by Maie Casey, bibliog, orig pict cloth, dj (bit of edgewear, short tear), else near fine, signed by illustrator on the title page.
The story of one of the best known wild-flower painters of her period. She was born in Australia but traveled in many parts of the world. The illustrations are by Rowan's niece, who also wrote a forward. The chapters included here relate to Australia, New Zealand, England, America, New Guinea and describes her association with Alice Lounsberry.
US$12. bookID # 2552
SEWARD, A. C.; Plant Life Through the Ages; A Geological and Botanical Retrospect. Cambridge, University Press, 1931, First Edition, 8vo [23 x 17 cm]; xxi, 601 pp, frontis, 140 illus including plates and 9 reconstructions of ancient landscapes drawn for the author by Edward Vulliamy, tables, bibliog, index, orig pict gilt cloth, with gilt dancing turtles on front cover, dj (short tear, lightly rubbed, price clipped), trifle foxed on edge, bookplate on endpaper, a bright fine copy in the seldom found dust jacket.
A detailed and useful account. This copy has the stamped signature of eminent garden writer, Anthony Huxley on the front endpaper.
US$30. bookID # 7418
SHELLEY, G. E.; A Handbook to the Birds of Egypt. London, John Van Voorst, 1872, First Edition, tall 8vo [26 x 16.5 cm]; ix, 342 pp, 14 very fine hand colored plates, index, orig blind stamped cloth, spine with gilt vignette, spine repaired, corners a little worn, front endpaper chipped, rear endpaper lacking, a clean very good copy, signed by author in ink on dedication page.
Nissen 872, BMNH p1913, Anker 469: "The fine plates were executed from drawings by J. G. Keulemanns". Zimmer p588, Wood p566: "The information in this excellent work is derived chiefly from a collection of nearly a thousand skins of birds". The author travelled extensively in the Nile area and was able to observe the birds first-hand. Some of the birds are illustrated here for the first time.
US$750. bookID # 5524
SHOOK, Edwin M., Winifred Veronda; Incidents in the Life of a Maya Archaeologist. Guatemala; San Marino, Southern Academy Press, 1998, First edition, 8vo [24.5 x 17 cm]; xi, 302, [i] pp, plates and numerous illus from photos, bibliog, index, pictorial endpapers, orig boards with title lettering on spine and cover, dj, very fine, clean and unused, signed by both the author and Veronda on the half title page.
Shook spent 25 years with the Carnegie Institution exploring Yucatan, Peten, Guatemala, spending 9 years researching Tikal, and personally naming more than 1,500 Maya sites. He received the Order of the Quetzal from Guatemala. He worked with some of the great Maya archaeologists in the area including Luis J. Halle, Eric Thompson, Sylvanus Morley, Alfred Kidder. The prologue is by Marion Popenoe de Hatch and the Introduction is by Federico Fahsoen O. The work was published in only 3,000 copies.
US$90. bookID # 12802
SHOOK, Edwin M., Winifred Veronda; Incidents in the Life of a Maya Archaeologist. Guatemala; San Marino, Southern Academy Press, 1998, First edition, 8vo [24.5 x 17 cm]; xi, 302, [i] pp, plates and numerous illus from photos, bibliog, index, pictorial endpapers, orig boards with title lettering on spine and cover, dj, quite fine (as new), clean and unused, signed by both the author and Veronda on the half title page.
Shook spent 25 years with the Carnegie Institution exploring Yucatan, Peten, Guatemala, spending 9 years researching Tikal, and personally naming more than 1,500 Maya sites. He received the Order of the Quetzal from Guatemala. He worked with some of the great Maya archaeologists in the area including Luis J. Halle, Eric Thompson, Sylvanus Morley, Alfred Kidder. The prologue is by Marion Popenoe de Hatch and the Introduction is by Federico Fahsoen O. The work was published in only 3,000 copies.
US$140. bookID # 11123
SLOANE, Eric; Book of Storms. New York, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, [1956], , 8vo [23.5 x 15.5 cm]; vii, 109 pp, numerous illus including many full-page and some double-page, from author's paintings and drwgs, orig cloth, spine title lettering, dj (rubbed at spine ends, not price clipped), very good, clean.
A nice copy with a signed presentation by Sloane with his original pen and ink sketch of gardener looking at large rain cloud with smiling sun above, on the front endpaper, and signed by author, Cornwall Bridge, Conn. Also included is an original color photograph, mounted on half-title page of Sloan's studio and farm, dated fall, 1962.
US$190. bookID # 11415
SMITH, W. Ramsay; In Southern Seas, Wanderings of a Naturalist. London, John Murray, [1924], First edition, 8vo [22 x 15 cm]; xviii, 297, {iv, ads] pp, 2 maps, 30 illus on 16 plates from photos, index, orig cloth, title lettering on spine and cover, a little faded and rubbed, endpaper bookplate, very good, with the signature of the author on verso of the half title page.
The author, a doctor and member of the Royal Society, travelled extensively in the south Pacific, east of Australia, and provides much detail on New Caledonia, New Hebrides and the aborigines of Australia. He provides two chapters on how he made the pictures used in the book and the difficulties a photographer had at that time. Taylor 414.
US$90. bookID # 11724
SNOW, W. Parker; Voyage of the Prince Albert in Search of Sir John Franklin: A Narrative of Every-day Life in the Arctic Seas. London, Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1851, First edition, 8vo [20 x 12.5 cm]; xvi, 416 pp, 4 color lithographed (chromolithographed) plates after Snow's paintings (including extra title page), folding colored lithographed map showing route & day-by-day track of ship, tables, nineteenth century half vellum & marbled boards, gilt title lettering & rules on spine, light foxing on 2 plates, near fine sound copy, presentation copy on by John Barrow, FRS, who was a subscriber to expedition, also inscribed by Mrs Barrow.
Arctic Bibliography 16362: 'Journal of an expedition, June-September 1850, under Captain C. C. Forsyth, sponsored by Lady Franklin, which the author accompanied, acting as the ship's doctor. Describes in detail the voyage around Baffin Bay, through Lancaster Sound, Barrow Strait, entering into Wellington Channel, Prince Regent Inlet, landing at Cape Riley, etc; comments on encounters with other Franklin search ships in the area, descriptions of ice conditions, navigation, etc'. Sabin 85560. TPL 3111. Lande 52105. National Maritime Museum 906. Abbey Travel 638. John Barrow's presentation is on a tipped-in leaf to Royal United Service Institution and Mrs Barrow's presentation is to same organization, hand-written on endpaper.
US$2400. bookID # 12669
SPURLING, Ann; Bermuda Nine Parishes. Toronto, Oakwell, Boulton, [2004], First edition, oblong 4to [23.5 x 30.5 cm]; xiv, 402 pp, hundreds of fine illustrations from photos in color, colored maps, bibliog, index, orig cloth, dj, fine and clean, signed by the author, dated 2004 and with an inscription by her on title.
Perhaps the finest and most comprehensive work on Bermuda in recent times, with especially attractive illustrations covering the people, towns, villages, homes and cottages, churches, architecture, landscapes, shorelines, natural and social histories, etc by this native Bermudian. With a preface by Roger Boulton.
US$160. bookID # 11920
SQUIER, E. G.; Notes on Central America; Particularly the states of Honduras and San Salvador: Their Geography, Topography, Climate, Population, Resources, Productions, etc, & the proposed Honduras Inter-oceanic Railway. New York, Harper & Brothers, 1855, First edition, 8vo [24 x 16 cm]; xvi, [17] - 397 pp, 6 maps and charts (5 folding) including large folding frontis map (tear) & one map not in the list of maps and often absent, 11 lithographed plates, tables, bibliog, index, orig brown blind-stamped cloth, gilt spine title lettering, spine ends chipped, edges worn, light foxing on some leaves, old stain on corner of many pages, else very good copy.
The author, a former Charge d'Affaires of the US to Central America, was the most knowledgeable traveller in the area and gives a detailed description of all aspects of the countries including the political and social but with much on the geography, the towns, the native peoples, etc. The attractive plates include Island of Tigre, Comayagua, Intibucat, Tegucigalpa, River Ulua, Puertos Caballos, Port of La Union, Rio Lempa, Jiboa and volcano of San Vicente, Depilto. This copy has ink signature of Frederick A. Schley on front pastedown and a 1958 pencil signature of subsequent owner Charles E. Trail. Schley was a direct descendent of the first settler at what became Frederick, Maryland, and was a noted lawyer. Trail was also a member of longtime Frederick County family and ran for state senator in 1864. His great grandson was Charles McCurdy Mathias, US senator from Maryland for several terms in the late 20th century.
US$450. bookID # 12780
STACKHOUSE, Jack; Out of Poverty and into something more comfortable. [Toronto], Random House, [2000], First Canadian edition, 8vo [23.5 x 15.5 cm]; xiii, 366 pp, many photos, maps, orig cloth, silver spine title lettering, dj [not price clipped], fine and clean, signed by the author on the title page.
Canadian journalist Stackhouse spent many years travelling through over 40 countries in Asia and Africa, to remote villages and districts, travelling with Somali warlords, visiting subsistence farmers in northern India, dining with prime ministers, parties with Jakarta millionaires, being part of riots, through Mali, in the cotton fields of along the Niger, describing conditions and life, emerging democracies, free markets, small local banks run by women, etc, and takes an optimistic view that things can improve.
US$18. bookID # 12441
STRATTON, Arthur; The Great Red Island. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, [1964], First Edition, 8vo [24 x 16.5 cm]; xiii, [ii], 368 pp, illus from photos, map, bibliog, index, orig cloth with gilt vignette and gilt spine title lettering, dj (short tear, price clipped), fine, clean and unmarked in very good jacket, inscribed and signed by author in the year of publication.
The history and exploration of Madagascar, with descriptions of the people and wildlife.
US$24. bookID # 11974
TOMLINSON, H. M.; The Sea and the Jungle, Being the narrative of the voyage of the tramp steamer Capella from Swansea to Santa Maria de Belem do Grao Para in the Brazils, and thence 2,000 miles along the forests of the Amazon and Madeira rivers to San Antonio Falls, etc. New York, Harper & Brothers, 1930, limited edition of 350 copies of which this is #226, signed by the author Cowplain, Hampshire, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; xvii, [iii], 333 pp, wood engraved frontis by Clare Leighton, who also did the other illustrations and plates, orig cloth backed boards, gilt lettering on spine, orig slipcase with paper label and with the number 226 on label, matching the book, slipcase a little worn with partial split at corner, else a fine copy.
This edition is stated to be the first with the illustrations by Clare Leighton, and new foreword by the author. The author was inspired by 'The Naturalist on the River Amazons' by Bates and describes his journey in 1909 and 1910 along 2,000 miles of as then, the largely unexplored Amazon. A fine production of a classic work.
US$160. bookID # 5159
TRISTRAM, H. B. [Henry Baker]; The Great Sahara: Wanderings South of the Atlas Mountains. London, John Murray, 1860, First edition, 8vo [21 x 14 cm]; xiv, [i, list of illus], 435, 32 [publisher's ads dated Dec. 1860] pp, complete with 11 plates including frontis of Oasis of El Kantara, 2 folding colored maps including large one at end (short tear), other illus, title page vignette, orig pictorial gilt cloth, gilt spine title lettering, part of spine cloth is lightened, bookplate removed from endpaper, internal hinge cracked but firm, very good overall, interior clean & near fine, inscribed by author 'with the author's best regards'.
The author had travelled extensively in the middle east, Holy Land and North Africa. After describing his detailed preparations, the author describes his travels south from Algiers through northwest Africa, with much on the peoples, conditions, customs, celebrations, feasts, ruins, language, etc. The appendices including mammals, birds, reptiles, mollusca, plants collected, geology, geography, history of the Sahara. One of the maps shows caravan routes, the large map shows author's route in red.
US$640. bookID # 12535
VON HAGEN, Victor Wolfgang; Jungle in the Clouds; a Naturalist's Explorations in the Republic of Honduras. New York, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1946, second printing, 8vo [21.5 x 14.5 cm]; x, 268 pp, colored frontis, numerous illus from photos, endpaper maps, orig cloth, very good in dj (large chip at spine foot, tear, price clipped), inscribed and signed by the author to his dear friend Charles Roth, with Roth's bookplate on blank endpaper.
This well known author of Latin American travel books travelled extensively through Honduras by rail, plane, mule, burro, but, boat and by foot, and described nature and the archeology. He studied the rare quetzal, the sacred bird of the Maya, as well as the Toltecs and Aztecs, and the ancient Mayan city of Copan. One of the illustrations is the first photograph ever taken of the Quetzal. This printing has the advantage of a new frontis that is in color and a bibliography and appendix on the literary history of the quetzal that is not in the first edition.
US$65. bookID # 6307
VON HAGEN, Victor Wolfgang; The Tsatchela Indians of Western Ecuador. New York, Museum of the American Indian, 1939, First edition, 12mo [16.5 x 11 cm]; ix, 79 pp, frontis, folding color plate, 11 other illus from photo, folding map (short tear), bibliog, index, orig printed heavy paper wraps, light wear at spine ends but a fine clean copy, presentation copy to Charles Anderson, signed by author on verso frontis.
One of Von Hagen's first publications, published in the Indian Notes and Monographs series of the Museum, giving details on ceremonies, clothing, disease and treatment, dwellings, fishing, musical instruments, ornaments, body decorations, religion, tribal organization as well as flora and fauna of the region.
US$80. bookID # 6949
WARD, Charles Willis; The American Carnation; How to Grow It. New York, A. T. De La Mar Printing and Publishing, 1903, , 4to [26 x 20 cm]; 296 pp, frontis (port), 4 color plates with tissue guards, numerous illustrations from photos & drawings, plans, index, orig pictorial gilt cloth, gilt title lettering on spine and cover, gilt picture of carnations, spine a bit darkened, lightly rubbed at edge, slightly foxed mostly confined to tissue guards, signed by 'the author' on an endpaper, near fine, clean.
A quality production covering all aspects of growing and cultivation including in greenhouses. Very well illustrated. The author owned the Cottage Gardens nursery in Queens, NY.
US$50. bookID # 13053
WARD, N. B.; On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases. London, John Van Voorst, 1842, First edition, 8vo [23 x 14 cm]; vii, 95, [iii, ads] pp, orig cloth with decoration in blind, gilt spine lettering, cover with light stain on upper part, interior is clean and fine, very good cover, presentation copy from the author.
The inventor of the Wardian case, now called terrariums, here presents the principles for the first time upon which plants can be grown in closed cases. It allowed plant hunters and collectors to send back their plants from remote parts of the earth to Europe, where previously most plants would not have survived the hardships and exposure of the long sea journeys. This enabled the development of the plant nursery industry. Robert Fortune was one of the first plant hunters to make use of the invention when he transported twenty thousand tea plants from Shanghai to the Himalayas in Wardian Cases, resulting in the Indian tea industry. His discovery 'so revolutionized the transport of exotics that plant hunting up to 1834 might appropriately be called pre-Wardian, and the intensive collecting done afterwards, post Wardian' (Whittle, The Plant Hunters). The Victorians used Wardian cases, some with elaborate decorations, in their parlours, although in the present time we tend to use less decorative terrariums, based on the same principles. Freeman 3884. Massachusetts Horticultural Society Catalogue 329. Many of the flowers & plants we have in our gardens are directly due to the Wardian case. The first edition of the most influential book on plant hunting, and a presentation copy 'from the author'.
US$850. bookID # 11240
WARD, N. B.; On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases; [together with:] On Wardian Cases for Plants and their Applications by Stephen H. Ward; London, 1854. London, John Van Voorst, 1852, Second edition, 8vo [23 x 14 cm]; two volumes bound in one, xii, 143; 26, v, [i, errata] pp, frontis and illustrations showing early Wardian cases, original pebbled cloth, blind-ruled, gilt spine title lettering, light wear at joints & corners, interior is clean and near fine in very good cover.
The inventor of the Wardian case, now called terrariums, here presents the principles upon which plants can be grown in closed cases. It allowed plant hunters and collectors to send back their plants from remote parts of the earth to Europe, where previously most plants would not have survived the hardships and exposure of the long sea journeys. This enabled the development of the plant nursery industry. Robert Fortune was one of the first plant hunters to make use of the invention when he transported twenty thousand tea plants from Shanghai to the Himalayas in Wardian Cases, resulting in the Indian tea industry. His discovery 'so revolutionized the transport of exotics that plant hunting up to 1834 might appropriately be called pre-Wardian, and the intensive collecting done afterwards, post Wardian' (Whittle, The Plant Hunters). The Victorians used Wardian cases, some with elaborate decorations, in their parlors, although in the present time we tend to use less decorative terrariums, based on the same principles. Freeman 3884. Massachusetts Horticultural Society Catalogue 329. Many of the flowers & plants we have in our gardens are directly due to the Wardian case. This second edition is the first with illustrations, and the text has been greatly expanded and re-written. There is also the material from Stephen H. Ward, with separate pagination, on Wardian cases, added.
US$800. bookID # 13009
WEEKS, Andrew Gray; Illustrations of Diurnal Lepidoptera. Boston, The University Press, 1905, First edition, 8vo [23 x 15.5 cm]; xii, 117 pp, engraved frontis portrait, 45 fine color lithographed (chromolithographs) plates, other illus from photos, index, contemporary half leather, scuffed, gilt lettering on spine, raised bands, marbled boards and edges, binding signed by U. Holzer, Boston, internally clean, bright and fine, in very good cover, presentation copy signed by the author, Jan. 1907.
The author described and illustrated butterflies he believed were new to science. The attractive colored plates by B. Meisel, illustrate from one to four butterflies. The author describes the butterfly collecting trip by William Gerhard where he travelled in Bolivia over a period of more than a year in 1898 and 1899, based on Gerhard's letters and photos. Nissen 4356. British Museum Natural History Catalogue 2283. Not in Bennett.
US$160. bookID # 6391
WILSON, Ernest H.; China Mother of Gardens. Boston, The Stratford Company, [1929], First Edition, the author's signed edition, large 8vo [26.5 x 18 cm]; [vi], x [i] 408 pp, frontis, plus 60 plates, folding map partly colored at end (short tear at stub), index, title page printed in red and black, orig decorated cloth, gilt spine title lettering, top edge gilted, cover lightly rubbed, interior near fine and clean copy, signed by author on the half title plage.
Wilson was one of the prime botanical collectors in China and Japan in the early 1900's, introducing many species. Besides his descriptions of the plants he found, including some fascinating adventures in little explored places, he describes the geography, the native peoples and tribes, temples, timber trees, cultivated gardens and fruits, agriculture plant products, tea and tea-yielding plants, etc, during his extensive explorations, including Szechuan, Ancient Kingdom of Pa, Sungpan Ting, the Chino-Tibetan border area, Tachienly, Omei Shan, Laolin. 'He crossed the Laolin from north to south, probably the only European to have done so' [Coats - The Plant Hunters, p. 120]. There is also a much more common unsigned edition printed at the same time.
US$420. bookID # 13031
WILSON, Ernest Henry, introduction by Charles Sprague Sargent; A Naturalist in Western China with Vasculum, Camera and Gun; Being Some Account of Eleven Years' Travel, Exploration, and Observation in the More Remote Parts of the Flowery Kingdom. London, Methuen & Co., [1913], second edition, first published November 6th, 1913, 8vo [22.5 x 15 cm]; 2 volumes, xxvii, 251; xi, 229, 8 [publisher's ads] pp, frontis in each volume, over 100 plates from photos, some with two images, folding colored map showing author's route (no tears), index, original red cloth with gilt title lettering on spine, and in blind on cover, fine and clean set with dust jackets (lightly chipped at edge, tear), with presentation inscription written by Wilson, 'with the best wishes of the author'.
Yakushi W89. Cordier 3371. Wilson, who was born and educated in England, became one of the most successful plant hunter, largely through his explorations in China, having achieved 'an almost monotonous record of success' (Coats - The Plant Hunters). He introduced many new plants, which he found, to western gardens. He later immigrated to the US and became the keeper at the Arnold Arboretum but never took out American citizenship. Although this work has much on natural history and especially botany, there are also the author's observations on the people, their customs and society, sport, geography, etc. There is also an interesting chapter on Tea and Tea-yielding Plants, the tea industry and others on gardens, agriculture, Tibet. A classic and often quoted work on Western China and of plant collecting. A fine set with author's inscription, in the rarely found dust jackets.
US$650. bookID # 13277
WRIGHT, G. Frederick; The Ice Age in North America and its Bearing Upon the Antiquity of Man. New York, D. Appleton and Company, 1889, First edition, 8vo [23 x 15.5 cm]; xviii, 622, [i, ads] pp frontis of Muir Glacier in Alaska, 143 illus including full-page, 3 maps, including 2 folding (one in color of Alaska), other maps in text, index, orig pictorial cloth, gilt lettering, light wear to edges, bookplate of Louis Greppo on endpaper, a fine and clean copy in a very good cover.
British Museum, Nat History 2365; Nickles, Geologic Literature in North America (Wright 89). A massive and important work, which was reprinted many times. The appendix on the probable cause of glaciation is by Warren Upham. The author was a major contributor to the literature on ice ages.
US$65. bookID # 7780
WRIGHT, Herbert; Hevea Brasiliensis or Para Rubber; Its Botany, Cultivation, Chemistry and Diseases. Colombo, A. M. & J. Ferguson, 1905, First edition, 8vo [22 x 14 cm]; viii, 106, [ii], xx pp, 29 plates including frontis, mostly from photos, tables, index, orig blue cloth with gilt title lettering on spine and cover, cover a little spotted, few leaves with small wrinkle in margin, very good sound copy with an inscription from the author, to J. C. Willis, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens.
A well illustrated account of the cultivation of rubber trees, collecting and processing rubber, properties of latex, purification, vulcanization, using seeds, with an appendix on costs of growing and planting Para rubber in parts of Ceylon. The illustrations include equipment, processing, tapping, etc.
US$180. bookID # 8496
WRIGHT, Ronald; Cut Stones and Crossroads; A Journey in the Two Worlds of Peru. New York, The Viking Press, [1984], First edition, 8vo [24 x 16 cm]; [xvi], 239 pp, illus, maps, plans, index, chronology from early times to the present, note on Runasimi pronunciation, glossary, bibliog, original cloth backed boards, gilt spine title lettering, dj (not price clipped), very fine and clean, unmarked, with the author's signature on the title page.
A blending of Peru's Inca heritage and modern problems, the author explores the architecture, culture, history and world-view of the Inca with the daily realities of their descendents, the Runa Indians. Based on the author's extensive travels, this is a travel classic, probably the best modern book on Peru, the author's first book and his scarcest.
US$100. bookID # 13263
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