HAYES, J. Gordon.
London, Richards Press, 1928. 8vo. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt; pp. xv, 448; 16 plates, 14 maps including 6 folding, 4 folding maps in pocket at rear; light fading to binding, a very clean and fresh copy; provenance: neat contemporary Danish stamp Maelvens Bibiliothek at fook of title; stamp Sydpol. A inside front cover. First and only edition. Hayes's essential survey of the Antarctic divides into three parts. The first deals with the natural features of the continent, the second with recent exploration (from the Discovery to Shackleton's Endurance expedition), and the third with the future of Antarctic exploration. Spence 574; Rosove 164.d (' handsome book').
RACKHAM, Arthur (illustrator). Washington IRVING (author).
London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1924. 4to. Original mid-green pictorial cloth pictorially blocked in darker green to spine and upper cover, stamped pictorially in gilt to upper cover, green edges and endpapers; pp. [iv], vi-xii + 61 + [ii] + 51 mounted coloured plates with captioned tissue-guards; externally a fine, fresh copy, internally very good and crisp with offset mottling to pastedown endpapers at front and rear and sporadic pale foxing to text leaves, with all tipped-in coloured plates, and protective guards, fine; in an uncommonly fine dustwrapper with only a trade of light dusting and one small sello tab to front flap. Early Rackham edition, in the same format as the first: first published with these illustrations in 1905. This book was Rackham's first major commission as a book illustrator and is regarded as one of his finest achievements.
PLATH, Sylvia (author).
Knotting, Bedfordshire; The Sceptre Press. 1980. Square 8vo.; publisher's tan card wrappers, hand-sewn; pp. [8]; a fine copy. First edition thus, number 71 of only 75 "especial" copies, printed on Zerkall Rauh paper and hand-sewn at Skelton's Press, Wellingborough: an additional 225 regular copies were published. A private press editin of two poems, "Incommunicado" and "Firesong". "Incommunicado" was first published in The American Poetry Review, volume 10, No. 5 (Sept/Oct 1981). "Incommunicado", written in 1958 when Sylvia and her husband Ted Hughes were teaching in the U.S.; Sylvia at Smith College, her alma mater and compares the poet's experiences with the groundhop to a romantic version of the animals found in fairy tales, "where love-met groundhogs love one in return". The soon decided to forego their structured career to devote more time to poetry. In the Summer they were in Cape Cod until they removed to Boston, where they stayed until the following June. Early tensions in the marriage may have been responsible but during this time Sylvia found writing problematic and tended to apply herself to exercises in style to afford creative release. Firesong was first drafted in April 1956 and Sylvia was still working, interruptedly, on it in September of that year. Early in 1956 Plath was at Cambridge University reading Engilsh on a Fulbright Fellowship. In February she met her future husband Ted Hughes and by June they were married and vacationing in Spain. By Christmas they were staying at the Hughes's family home in Wet Yorkshire. The poem "Firesong" has been described as a response to an important news story of the day, the disappearance of the Royal Navy diver Lionel Crabb who has been sent on a reconnaissance mission to the Soviet Cruiser "Ordzhonikidze", berthed at Portsmoth Dockyard in 1956. The ship had transported Nikita Khruschev and the Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin to Britain on a diplomatic trip. Frogman Crabb went missing and his body, lacking head and hands, was not discovered until June of the following year. His story was portrayed in the movie "The Silent Enemy", in 1958, and also in James Bond's "Thunderball". It resonated profoundly with Plath as she had met Bulganin herself during the same trip and had been impressed by him, c.f. "History and a Case for Prescience: Short Studies of Sylvia Plath's 1956 Poems" by Julia Gordon Bramer.
KINGSLEY, Charles (author). A.E. JACKSON (illustrator).
London; Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press. 1929. Royal 8vo.; publisher's light blue cloth elaborately and pictorially blocked in dark blue and gilt to spine and upper board, top edges gilt, others untrimmed, with double-page pictorial endpapers; pp. [viii], 9-252; with tinted pictorial title and contents pages, some vignettes in line, and 16 fine coloured plates mounted-at-large on grey stock; a very good and sound copy with a neat and small ownership inscription to half-title, a little light rubbing, and some bruising, but no wear, to tail of spine, internally generally very clean with light foxing to prelims and to uncut fore-edges. Early edition by Jackson in a very pretty binding; first published in this edition in 1920.
MILNE, A.A. (author). E.H. SHEPARD (illustrator). H. FRASER-SIMSON (music by).
London; Methuen & Co. Ltd. 1929. 4to. Original beige cloth-backed cream decorative boards printed in green, preserved in original pictorial dustwrapper in blue and orange with a repeating pattern featuring Pooh and Piglet; pp. [vi], vii-ix, [x] + 67 + [i]; illustrated throughout with 59 vignettes in line by Shepard; an exceptionally fresh copy, a very good bright copy with a short and narrow tide-mark to lower forecorner of upper cover, internally fresh save a scatter of fox-spots confined to lower forecorner of of the half-title, preserved in an unusually good and attractive dustwrapper, priced seven and sixpence net to upper panel, with some light overall dusting and rubbing, and small chipping to heel of spine. First edition of the scarcest, and most desirable, of the Pooh music books, enhanced by Shepard's enchanting illustrations. The book gives some background information about the verses and sets them to music. Lyrics are drawn from both Winnie-The-Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner and hums include "How Sweet To Be A Cloud", "The More it Snows â¦.", and "Cottleston Pie".
PLATH, Sylvia (author).
Exeter; Rougemont Press. December 1971. Slim 4to.; publisher's turquoise card covers printed in black with pale green dustwrapper printed in forest green, hand-sewn; pp. [8]; half-title and title printed in dark green and black with facsimile page after Plath's original manuscript; a fine copy, both externally and internally, without ownership marks or inscription. First edition, printed by Eric Cleave at the Rougemont Press in Exeter. Limited toonly 300 copies for distribution with an additional 25 copies for private use. This an out-of-series and unnumbered copy. The poem is written from the perspective of a mother. Plath's younger child Nicholas was only a year old when the poem was written and her relationship with Ted Hughes was under intense pressure. The short poem "Child" conveys her undeniable love for her children and her disappointment and hopes about providing a better life for him and for her daughter Frieda. Your clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing. I want to fill it with colours and ducks, The zoo of the new. Whose names you meditate - April snowdrop, Indian pipe, Little Stalk without wrinkle, Pool in which images Should be grand and classical Not this troublous Wringing of hands, this dark Ceiling without a star.
LAMB, Charles & Mary (co-authors). Frank C. PAPÃ (illustrator).
London; Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd. 1923. Large 8vo.; publisher's mid-brown cloth pictorially decorated in gilt and brown to spine and upper cover, top edges gilt, others untrimmed, double-page silhoutte endpapers in brown, in repeat pictorial dustwrapper; pp. [iv], v-xii + 308; with pictorial title in black and rust, frontispiece and 5 additional coloured plates, 12 full-page black-and-white plates and exquisite chapter headings and tailpieces in line; externally near fine, with only slight bruising to spine ends, internally very good and sound with only a little light spotting to blank verso of some plates, otherwise fresh, in a presentable, price-clipped dustwrapper with tanning to spine, a few tiny closed edge tears, nicking to tail of spine and a segment of loss to head to a maximum depth of 15mm; an elusive edition. First Papà -illustrated edition.
PLATH, Sylvia.
London: Rainbow Press. 1971. Large 4to, quarter black buckram over Japanese paper boards, spine lettered in gilt; upper edges gilt, else untrimmed; housed in the original cloth-covered slipcase; pp. [viii], 29, [iii]; a fine copy in a fine slipcase. Limited edition, number 108 of only 299 numbered copies printed on finest hand-made paper and bound in quarter buckram with Japanese paper sides, in a slipcase. An additional 20 were bound in full vellum and 79 more presented in full Cape Goat Leather. A collection of 23 poems, many of them previously unpublished. It has been suggested that the title poem references Plath and Hughes' involvement with crystal ball gazing, also known as âscryingâ, or âseeingâ and, in this way, the poem can be read as an autobiography: "The burnished ball hangs fire in her hands, a lens Fusing time's three horizons".
PLATH, Sylvia (author).
Rhiwargor, Llanwddyn, Powys. 1989. Royal 8vo.; publisher's royal blue cloth-backed marbled paper-covered boards, spine lettered gilt, edges untrimmed; in letterpress stone-marbled dustwrapper, pp. [x] + 60 + [i], on fine Arches Johannot paper; externally fine bar some foxing to edges of book block, internally generally very clean and fresh with spotting confined to endleaves, in a pleasing example of the dustwrapper with some shadowed fading to upper panel. First edition of Sylvia Plath's rare Honors Thesis which was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Special Honors when Sylvia Plath was studying English at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. This copy is number 110 of only 226 numbered copies of which 26, A-Z, were reserved for the Press and is also signed, in ink, below the colophon, by Ted Hughes. It was, presumably, allocated to him for private distribution, as his signature is additional, and not called for in this edition. Hughes also repeats the numbered limitation ("Copy 110") above his signature.
PACIFIC ISLANDS - ELKINGTON, E. Way (author). Norman H. HARDY (illustrator).
London; A & C Black, 1907. Large 8vo. Original dark green cloth pictorially blocked in black and white to spine and upper cover with a design featuring a pair of Pacific Islander clubs, lettered in gilt; top edges gilt; pp. xii + 211; with 68 coloured plates protected by captioned tissue-guards and a folding map to the rear, printed in sepia; a very nearly fine copy in uncommonly bright and sharp condition with minor bruising to spine ends and a tiny (3mm) scuff to upper cover, internally fine, fresh, and unspotted. First edition. Includes descriptions of British New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the New Hebrides. According to Inman, the book was published in blue cloth, but of the 3000 copies printed, 2300 were bought as remainders and bound in green cloth. Inman A & C Black Colour Books 74.
PEACOCK, Thomas Love.
Macmillan & Co., London, 1895-1897. 8vo. 5 vols. Original green-blue cloth, decorated with a sweeping peacock design in gilt to upper cover and spine, yellow and white peacock endpapers, all edges gilt; an attractive set in excellent condition, with some occasional minor foxing and spines slightly mellowed to a greener shade. A complete set of novels by Thomas Love Peacock (1785 â" 1866), an English novelist and satirist. This set contains all his novels (and one collection of verse), thus: Maid Marian and Crochet Castle [1895] Headlong Hall and Nightmare Abbey [1896] Gryll Grange [1896] Melincourt [1896] The Misfortunes of Elphin and Rhododaphne [1897] The books are bound uniformly with a stunning peacock motif overlaid on green, and are seldom found as a set, let alone in this condition.
LAYARD, Austen Henry.
John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1853. 8vo. Original brown cloth, overall image of Assyrian monument blind-stamped to covers and spine, lettered in gilt to spine; pp. xxiii, 686, [2, advertisements]; 8 tinted lithographs, one uncoloured lithographic plate of Assyrian script, 2 folding engraved plates, 2 large folding maps and 3 folding plans, numerous wood-engravings (some full-page) in the text; minimal marking to cloth, one plan with old repair on verso, gift inscription, dated 1853 to front paste-down; else a very good and clean copy. First edition. Layard's discoveries, made on his first expedition to Mesopotamia during the years 1842-7 and described in his Nineveh and its Remains of 1849, met with popular acclaim back in Britain. In consequence, the British Museum funded a second expedition, of which Layard gives an account in the present work. This enabled Layard to return innumerable cuneiform documents from the 'King's Library' at the Kuyunijk Mound near Mosul, the eventual decipherment of which proved conclusively that ancient Nineveh had been located there. The binding is a three-dimensional representation of a colossal statue of a winged bull (lamassu), similar to the ones kept in the British Museum. It was produced by Remnant & Edmonds, who employed as well Owen Jones as designer and produced the cloth bindings for Murray's Darwins. Blackmer 969.
WOOD, Maye.
Singapore, Kelly & Walsh, Ltd., 1952. Small 8vo. Blue cloth-backed boards; pp. [iv], 43; light rubbing to cloth; a few marks to boards; oxidation to staples; a good copy. Sixth edition (first, 1929). 'The object of this little book is to place before newcomers, especially women, the most ordinary and necessary words and phrases required in household management. It is not a Grammar, and does not pretend to be anything more than 'kitchen' Malay' (Introduction, p. [iii]). Wood also notes later in the text that '"Kitchen" Malay has a strictly limited vocabulary - so that a great many shades of meaning have but one word to express them all. Similarly, many words have to do duty for various occasions' (p. 27). This short guide includes grammar and pronunciation points, as well as direct translations.
MICHIE, Alexander.
London, John Murray, 1864. 8vo. Original green cloth spine lettered and ornamented in gilt, covers decorated in blind; pp. xii, [2], 402, [2, advertisements, woodengraved vignette to title, frontispiece, 10 plates two folding maps; tiny portion of cloth at lower hinge with damage, minimal rubbing to extremities, a little spotting to maps and a few pales and pages, otherwise a very good copy in the original publisher's binding. First edition. An travelogue covering the rarely completed stretch from Beijing to the Baltic, crossing part of the Gobi desert, by the Scottish-born successful trader based in China, who negotiated deals and concessions. In the preface Michie states that this is the first report of traversing Siberia since John Bell's (1691-1780). Pages 83 to to 201 contain a description of Mongolia and Mongolians, including their relation to Russian and Chinese people.
BARBER, Noel.
[London], Hodder and Stoughton, 1958. 8vo. Publisher's navy boards, spine lettered in gilt; in the original pictorial dust-wrapper (not price-clipped); pp. 205, [2]; with numerous leaves of plates of photographs, and a map facing title page which is included in pagination; light fading to spine of wrapper, with slight chipping along edges; else bright and clean, a near-fine copy in the wrapper. First edition. This text is Noel Barber's first-hand account of the first successful Trans-Antarctic expedition, led by Sir Vivian Fuchs. Barber was the first Briton to arrive in the 'white desert' of the Antarctic since Scott's expedition of 1912, and he was able to meet Fuchs and Edmund Hillary, who had previously scaled Mount Everest, at key points along their cross-continent journey. 'In between the moments of the main adventure, Barber was accumulating a store of unforgettable personal experiences,' (back flap). The photograph on the front panel depicts Sir Edmund Hillary and Sir Fuchs meeting at the South Pole.
CHRISTIE, Ella R.
Edinburgh, Riverside Press] for J.B. Lippincott in Philadelphia, 1925. 8vo. Original cloth, decorated and lettered in gilt; pp. 280, plates after photographs; only very light marking to cloth, internally light even toning and very few mild spots only here and there, neat ownership inscription to front fly-leaf; a very good copy in the superior binding. Scarce first edition, the US issue of a remarkable Central Asian travelogue. 'Lured by the exotic names of Samarkand and Bukhara, and the desire to see the lands east of the Caspian Sea, she embarked on her first journey, armed with the necessary permits from the Russian authorities, carrying a camp bed, a spirit lamp and cooking pots, a bag of oatmeal, biscuits and butter, and a samovar for boiling the water. She travelled from Constantinople and the Black Sea across Georgia to the Caspian, and from there by boat and train to Ashkabad, in the Turkestan desert, travelling mainly by train, and on to Merv, where she played tennis with Prince Bariatinsky, manager of the imperial estate, before moving on through Buhkhara and Samarkand on the old Silk Road to Kokand, and reached Andhizan, on the border of Chinese Turkestan. On her second journey, from St Petersburg, she travelled 3000 miles by train to Tashkent and, deciding not to proceed by camel, went by military steamer and then droshky from Samarkand to Khiva, where she was received by the khan in his palace: she was the first British woman, and the first Briton since 1875, to reach Khiva. On all her journeys she kept diaries, wrote long letters to her sister, and took photographs, an activity she always referred to as Kodaking' (ODNB).
London, Chatto & Windus, 1927. 8vo. Publisher's original cloth, lettered in black to spine, in original not price-clipped illustrated dust-wrapper; pp. xiii, 288, plates after photographs, map, printed in black and blue at rear; dust-wrapper with light chipping and spotting, very light spotting internally; a very good copy. Scarce first edition. An account of the life of a Marsh Arab from the region north of Basra compiled anonymously by the civil servant C.E. Hedgecock and his wife. The book was to have had a foreword by Gertrude Bell, the appearance of which was precluded by Bell's death. 'A wonderfully vivid book about the people he administered called Haji Rikkan: Marsh Arab, using (because officials are not purposed to write books when they are on the job) the pseudonym Fulanain' (Gavin Young, Return to the Marshes, p. 69). After Pietro Dell Valle (17th century) and George Keppel (19th century) this is the third Western text to deal with the region and the inhabitants, at the same time the first monograph. 'During the last year I had read what I could about the Madan. It was little enough. The only book seemed to be Haji Rikkan: Marsh Arab [sic] by Fulananain â¦, a sympathetic description of a Marshman's life at the end of the First World War ⦠Certainly the Madan had a bad name with Arabs and Englishmen alike' (Wilfred Thesiger, The Marsh Arabs, p. 49). The work deals mainly with two tribes, the Albu Mohammad and the Bani Lam.
