Leverian Museum
A Companion to the Museum, (Late Sir Ashton Lever’s) Removed to Albion Street, the Surry end of Blackfriar’s Bridge
London: 1790
- $27,500
8vo, [4], [1]-53, [54] blank.197 mm x 140 mm. Engraved frontispiece (trimmed with loss from the caption (as often, says Forbes). (Part 1 only, Part 2, which was devoted to mineral specimens, was published after some years' interval.) Forbes 197. [Bound with] Portland, Margaret Cavendish Holles Harley, duchess of, 1714-1785. A Catalogue of the Portland Museum, lately the property of The Duchess Dowager of Portland, Deceased: Which will be Sold by Auction by Mr. Skinner and Co. On Monday the 24th of April, 1786 and the thirty-seven following days.London: Skinner and Co., 1786. First edition. 4to., 194 pp. Forbes 116 . Lacking the frontispiece view of the Museum and the print of the Portland Vase. Manuscript prices on pp. 138-139 ( May 28 sale: shells, corals, etc.). Modern half calf using old marbled paper over boards; old endpapers, front one detached. The front flyleaves carry four pages of contemporary manuscript notes about the collection and discussing a visit by the former American President, John Adams. The Leverian collection was particularly notable for the number, diversity, and beauty of the objects collected on Cook's third voyage.
More from Thomas A. Goldwasser Rare Books
Address, on the Subject of a Surveying and Exploring Expedition to the Pacific Ocean and South Seas.; Delivered in the Hall of Representatives on the evening of April 3, 1826.with correspondence and documents
8vo, lacking wrappers, scattered foxing. 300 pp. Signed and inscribed "with the compliments of J.N. Reynolds New York Oct. 25, 1826. This address was the climax of Reynolds's decade of agitation for an exploring expedition, which resulted in 1838 in the United States Exploring Expedition under the command of Charles Wilkes. The address lays out the political and economic conditions, and the need for and benefits of such an expedition. Reynolds includes a summary of Pacific exploration, with comments. The extensive correspondence appended brings supporting voices from many scientists. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, 1023; Haskell, The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and its Publications 1844-1874, 203. Lights and Shadows of Sailor Life, as exemplified in fifteen years’ experience, inluding the more thrilling events of the U.S. Exploring Expedition.
Clark, Joseph G. 12mo. 324 pp. Original blue cloth, gilt, light shelf wear, old paper school library label on spine, but an attractive and very clean copy. Putative early issue, without plates. "An informal account by a participant on the United States Exploring Expedition.The Hawaii portion of the text is on pages 178-209". Clark also describes his visits to Tahiti, the Columbia River valley, and San Francisco. Hill 299; Forbes 1631.
A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean: in which the coast of Asia, from the Lat of 35° North to the Lat of 52° North, the Island of Insu, (Commonly known under the name of the Land of Jesso,) the north, south, and east coasts of Japan, the Lieuchieux and the adjacent isles, as well as the coast of Corea . Performed in his Majesty’s Sloop Providence, and her tender, in the years 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798
Broughton, William Robert 4to, 270 x 205 mm. xx, 294 pp. Contemporary speckled calf, handsomely rebacked. With nine plates and maps; light browning, and faint water stains in a few corners, a very good, clean copy. Kennet of the Dene bookplate. Broughton sailed to the northwest coast of America, via Rio de Janeiro, Australia, Tahiti, and the Hawaiian Islands, and to Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island. Failing to rendez-vous with Captain Vancouver he sailed down the coast to Monterey, across the Pacific to Hawaii, and on to Japan. Where in the succeeding four years he performed much important survey work. "This voyage was one of the most important ever made to the northwest coast of America. It is on this document that Great Britain based her claim to the Oregon Territory in 1846." Hill 191; Forbes 352. History of the Sandwich Islands
Dibble, Sheldon 12mo. viii, 464 pp. Original black blind stamped cloth, spine neatly repaired. Bound without the four engraved views, (they were issued later) but it does have the map (which was not considered part of the book by the author or publisher). Honolulu (revised) printing of the appendix. "The first full-scale history printed in the Islands . one of the most important documents of its time" . 600 copies of the main text were printed; this one of 100 bound in Boston). Early ownership signature; later note records finding this book in a demolition site on High Street, Portsmouth, N.H. Forbes 1383; Hill 476. Memoirs of the Hawaiian Revolution. Writings of Sanford B Dole; Edited by Andrew Farrell
Dole, Sanford B; Thurston, Lorrin A. Three volumes: Memoirs. and Writings by Dole, and Memoirs. by Thurston. 8vo, xxiii, 1 leaf, 188 pp; 17, 664 pp.; 7, 168 pp. Lightly rubbed; near fine, without slipcase. Each volume one of 600 numbered copies for subscribers; the limitation slips are tipped in.
A Vocabulary of Words in the Hawaiian Language
[Andrews, Lorrin] 8vo, iv,132 pp. printed in double columns. Original plain yellow wrappers, with some mild expert restoration, in excellent condition. Institutional ink stamp on front wrapper. Overall in very good condition. This copy bears the ownership signature of Dr. Josiah Kittredge, whose daughter was married to Ephraim Clark, a Hawaiian missionary, on the front free endpaper. "One of the most important works issued by the Lahainaluna press.perhaps more accurately the pioneer attempt to provide a dictionary of the Hawaiian language. It contains approximately 5,700 Hawaiian words with brief definitions and occasional examples of usage in sentences" Forbes 983. Andrews's preface is illuminative of the process whereby the work was created.
Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, on Discovery; Performed in the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, Illustrated with Cuts, and a Chart, shewing the Tracts of the Ships employed in this Expedition; A new edition, compared with, and corrected from, the voyage published by authority
[Rickman, John] 8vo, 376 pp. Contemporary calf, skilfully rebacked, fine. Folding map (small tear repaired), 9 engraved plates including folding frontispiece depicting the death of Captain Cook. As in the Bishop Museum and Mitchell Library copies the folding York Island plate is lacking. "An entirely re-edited version of the 1781 Rickman text, expanded and altered in many details to conform with the official London 1784 account of the third Voyage". Forbes 106. View of the Origin and Migrations of the Polynesian Nation; demonstrating their ancient discovery and progressive settlement of the Continent of America
Lang, John Dunmore 8vo, vii, 256 pp. Modern calf binding, gilt top. Fine condition. Variant issue with a different form of the publisher's name from the copy described by Forbes, and with a three-line precis of the author's accomplishments, adding "Senior Minister of the Scots Church". The title-page verso with the printer's imprint only. Inscribed "To W. Jardine Esq with the Author's best respects". William Jardine was a surgeon, trader, and drug trafficker who co-founded the Hong Kong based conglomerate which still bears his name. Forbes 905 (variant). Los Gringos: or, an inside view of Mexico and California, with wanderings in Peru, Chili, and Polynesia.; By Lieut. Wise, U.S.N.
Wise, Henry Augustus 12mo., 453 pp. Original brown cloth, stamped in blind, slight shelf-wear, some light foxing, but a very attractive copy. Written in a "vigorous and picturesque" style (Cowan, Bibliography of California). The chapters on Hawaii occupy pp. 329-376. Forbes 1761; Hill 1902. Dust and Foam; or Three Oceans and Two Continents; being ten years wanderings in Mexico, South America, Sandwich Islands, East and West Indies, China, Philippines, Australia, and Polynesia
Warren, T. Robinson 8vo. Original brown decorated cloth, slight wear at the top of the spine, an attractive copy. Hill 1829; Forbes 2345. Constitution of the Original Hawaiian Church
Octavo, bifolium [4 pp.]. . Spine almost fully split, paper browned, nicks to edges, minor loss to lower outer corner; a very good copy. The first printing of the Hawaiian church's founding constitution, the text of which "was drawn up in Boston just prior to the departure of the first American Protestant missionaries to Hawaii. Although issued without an imprint or colophon it can be dated to 1830. Printed on 1821 watermarked paper. Signed in type by Hiram Bingham and 54 missionaries and Hawaiians. The Third Company arrived at Honolulu on the ship Parthian, 30 March 1828. Signatures of members of the Fourth Company, who arrived at Honolulu on the ship New England, 28 December 1830 are not included here, but were added to the manuscript original in the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society Collection, where the original manuscript is still held. This work was printed simultaneously with a Hawaiian-language version of the text translated by the Protestant missionary Hiram Bingham, which was distributed among the pre-existing Hawaiian churches. This appears to be the first Constitution of any sort printed in Hawaii. Forbes 742. An Authentic Narrative of a Voyage Performed by Captain Cook and Captain Clerke, in His Majesty’s Ships the Resolution and Discovery, during the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780.
Ellis, William Two volumes. 8vo Contemporary speckled calf, red and green lettering pieces, joints a bit worn but holding. Volume one with a folding map of the voyage and eight engraved plates, volume two with 13 engraved plates after the author's drawings, including eight plates of Hawaii, two of Alaska, and three of the Northwest Coast. Ellis's account of Captain James Cook's third voyage preceded the official account. Scarce in original, unrestored condition. Ref. Beddie, 1599; Forbes 41; Lada-Mocarski 35. "William Ellis, a surgeon's mate and talented amateur artist, was first on the 'Discovery' and on February 16, 1779, was discharged to the 'Resolution'. His descriptions reflect his artist's eye and form an important supplement to the official account, which it preceded by two years." Forbes.- $12,500
- $12,500
A Residence of Twenty-One Years in the Sandwich Islands, or the civil, religious, and political history of those islands
Bingham, Hiram 8vo., illustrated with 6 engravings and a map. Original cloth, rebacked. Hiram Bingham, missionary, born in Bennington Vermont, was sent to Hawaii as a member of the Pioneer Company of the Sandwich Islands Mission, sent from Boston by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, in 1820. In the missionaries minds it was essential to have printed material available, and it was Bingham who reduced the Hawaiian language to writing, and with his associates translated the Bible into Hawaiian. His account of his years in Hawaii is the chief source for the history of that early period. "The most important book on the history of the American Protestant mission in Hawaii during the years 1820-1841, and one of the key books of Hawaiian history," Forbes,1630.- $350
- $350
The Hawaiian Kingdom; Statistical and Commercial Directory and Tourists’ Guide, 1880-1881. Containing an Alphabetical Directory of Each Island in the Kingdom, with the Names and Addresses of all Official Persons and Land-Owners, all Business Men, Native and Foreign, and of all White Residents.[etc., etc.]
Bowser, George 8vo, ix, 648, xxxviii, pp. Original cloth backed printed boards, minor wear but overall a fine copy. With two lithographed portraits, ten double-page views, and a map. An extensive (almost 700 page) directory, description and itinerary, full of valuable commercial and statistical information, and fascinating advertisements. Bowser gathered the information personally, and among his accomplishments he re-numbered all the buildings in Honolulu, and, for the first time, attempted to give everyone a street address. This was the only Hawaiian work he completed (an Illustrated Atlas announced in the preface was not published), he later issued several unsuccessful San Francisco directories. Very scarce, only three copies located in libraries, and only one at auction (this one) in the last 30 years. Forbes 3279.- $5,000
- $5,000
A Voyage Round the World; but more particularly to the North-West Coast of America: Performed in 1785, 1786, 1878, and 1788, in the King George and Queen Charlotte, Captains Portlock and Dixon
Dixon, George Quarto (350 x 240 mm), 360, 48 pp.,with 22 engraved maps, charts, and plates Original blue-gray paper boards, parchment spine. Printed on thick paper (4 cm.+) and with the natural history plates beautifully colored. Old public library stamps on versos of plates, minor spotting and offsetting, but a superb, completely untrimmed, copy "George Dixon's account of his trading voyage in the Queen Charlotte forms an important supplement and companion to Nathaniel Portlock's narrative of the same on the King George.It is important for its account of trading at Hawaii, Kauai, and Niihau, with considerable information on the chiefs and the political atmosphere of the period". Forbes 161.- $12,500
- $12,500
A Narrative of the Mutiny on Board the Ship Globe, of Nantucket, in the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 1824. And the journal of residence of two years on the Mulgrave Islands
Lay, William; and Cyrus M. Hussey 12mo., 168 pp. Original full calf with leather spine label. Front hinge weak; occasional spotting and tanning to the paper, but a better than usual copy of this book which is usually found considerably browned and foxed, due to the poor quality of its materials and its life generally in damp climates. Ownership inscription of George Swain, Jr. on front blank. Lund, Whaling Masters, identifies a George Swain, II who was active as a whaling captain between 1809 and 1823. Forbes 697; Hill 990. The Globe's helmsman and harpooner, Samuel Comstock led the mutiny in which four officers were murdered and the rest of the crew forced to join the mutineers. Comstock was killed and part of the crew escaped, but were attacked by the natives, with only Lay and Hussey surviving.- $2,850
- $2,850
The Cruise of the Cachalot: Round the World after Sperm Whales
Bullen, Frank T. Original blue cloth, gilt. Inscribed " To Capt. D. Wilson-Barker G.S. H.M.S. 'Worcester' with the author's kindest regards. F.T. Bullen." A contemporary 4 x 6 inch x 6 inch inscribed studio photograph of Bullen is tipped to the front endpaper verso, and reviews and notices of Bullen's career are tipped to the endpapers. Bullen's first book, the story of a three-year cruise on the American whaling ship, 1875-8. It ranks with Melville's Moby Dick among the classic works on whaling. Rudyard Kipling writes in the preface 'It is im1920) was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the Royal Meteorological Society, of which he was President from 1903-1905. In his earlier career he worked for the Blackwall Line, and commanded the SS Dacia of Silvertown of Slivertown Telegraph Works. He was Captain Superintendent of the Thames Nautical Training College, HMS Worcester from 1892 to 1919 and was a friend and correspondent of Joseph Conrad.- $2,500
- $2,500
A Companion to the Museum, (Late Sir Ashton Lever’s) Removed to Albion Street, the Surry end of Blackfriar’s Bridge: https://rarebookinsider.com/rare-books/a-companion-to-the-museum-late-sir-ashton-levers-removed-to-albion-street-the-surry-end-of-blackfriars-bridge/
