[BUKHARA: Autograph Note Signed "Sven Hedin" to Johan Abraham Björklund, Chief Editor of the "Nya Dagligt Allehanda" Newspaper]. - Rare Book Insider
book (2)

HEDIN, Sven (1865-1952)

[BUKHARA: Autograph Note Signed "Sven Hedin" to Johan Abraham Björklund, Chief Editor of the "Nya Dagligt Allehanda" Newspaper].

1891
  • $850
1891. Letter. Very Good. No Binding. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. Friday, 10 [April 1891]. 12mo (ca. 16,5x12,5 cm). 1 p. Black ink on a folded card Swedish postal letter form, addressed and with a postal stamp (Stockholm, 18.4.91) on verso. Text in Swedish. Original centrefold, otherwise a very good note. A short note signed by a noted explorer of Central Asia Sven Hedin regarding his article about the meeting with the Emir of Bukhara which was apparently published in the "Nya Dagligt Allehanda" newspaper (Stockholm) on 25 March 1891. Hedin visited Bukhara during his second trip to Persia and Central Asia in October 1890 - March 1891. During the first part of the trip he worked an interpreter for the Swedish-Norwegian mission to Naser al-Din, shah of Iran (1890), and later on "he traveled on the Silk Road via cities Mashhad, Ashgabat, Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent and Kashgar to the western outskirts of the Taklamakan Desert. On the trip home, he visited the grave of the Russian Asian scholar, Nikolai Przhevalsky in Karakol on the shore of Lake Issyk Kul. On 29 March 1891, he was back in Stockholm. He published the books King Oscar's Legation to the Shah of Persia in 1890 and Through Chorasan and Turkestan about this journey" (Wikipedia)..
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[AMERICAS: Map of Western Hemisphere Titled:] Americae Sive Novi Orbis, Nova Descriptio.

ORTELIUS, A[braham] (1527-1598) Antwerp, 1571. Map. Very Good. No Binding. Antwerp, ca. 1571. Hand coloured copper engraved map ca. 36,5x50,5 cm (14 ½ x 20 in). Map cleaned and sized and with some expert minor repair to lower blank margin, remains of archival mounting tape on verso. Overall still a very good and attractive map. This attractive ornamental map is an impression from the first of three copperplates, without the publisher's address, second state (of three) with the Azores correctly labelled. From one of the third Latin editions, 1571-73. "Ortelius depicts the discoveries of a number of people on this map, but the general shape of the continent is derived from Gerard Mercator's great twenty-one sheet world map of the previous year. The two of them had a close relationship and shared their knowledge openly with each other.., One of the main noticeable features of the map is the bulbous Chilean coastline; this was not corrected until his third plate. A strategically placed cartouche hides a complete lack of knowledge of the southern waters of the Pacific. Once through the Strait of Magellan the voyager's sea route took him on an almost direct course for the East Indies. No sight had been made of a large continent but conventional wisdom had it that there had to be as much land in the southern hemisphere as in the northern. This was not fully dispelled until the second voyage of the remarkable Captain James Cook in 1772-75. The west coast of North America is shown too far west, as was common at the time" (Burden 39). "This is one of the most famous maps of America and one that had enormous influence on the future cartography of the New World. Frans Hogenberg engraved this map and it is primarily based on Gerard Mercator's great multi-sheet world map of 1569. The map features an exaggerated breadth of the North American continent, with a lengthy St. Lawrence River reaching across the continent to nearly meet the fictitious, westward flowing Tiguas Rio. The strategically placed title cartouche hides the unknown South Pacific and therefore most of the conjectural great southern continent, which is shown attached to both New Guinea and Tierra del Fuego" (Old World Auctions); Broecke 9.2; Koeman III, 9000: 31A; Tooley, America S. 320; Wagner 80..
  • $3,950
  • $3,950
book (2)

[Map of the Americas Titled:] America sive India Nova.

MERCATOR, Michael (c. 1567-1600) Duisburg, 1607. Map. Very Good. No Binding. Duisburg, ca. 1607. Second Latin Edition. An attractive copper engraved map ca. 36,5x45,5 cm (14 ½ x 18 ½ in). Map age-toned, slightly more around centerfold, but overall a very good strong impression with wide margins. "After the death of the great Gerard Mercator in 1594 it was left to his son Rumold to publish the last of three parts that formed his famous atlas, the Atlantis Pars Altera. The atlas was finished with a number of maps engraved by various descendants of Gerard. The task of the American map was given to his grandson Michael. The only printed map known to be by him, it is beautifully engraved. It is not well known that he was the engraver of the famous Drake silver medal of 1589. At that time he was resident in London. It is a hemispherical map contained within an attractive floral design, and surrounded by four roundels, one of which contains the title. The other three contain maps of the gulf of Mexico, Cuba and Hispaniola, all spheres of Spanish influence. The general outline is largely taken from Rumold Mercator's world map of 1587, with a little more detail added. A few of the most famous theories are still present: a large inland lake in Canada, two of the four islands of the North Pole, a bulge to the west coast of South America and the large southern continent. It does not show any knowledge of the English in Virginia, which is possibly a reflection of their failure by then. A large St. Lawrence river is shown originating half way across the continent" (Burden 87); Canada 644; Koeman I, 9000:1A; Tooley K-P p. 238-40; Wagner 179..
  • $3,500
  • $3,500
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[ALASKA – NOME GOLD RUSH: Autograph Letter Signed "Edwin" from Sherzer to his Fiancé Clara Miller in St. Louis MO. Dated Nov. 1, 1900. Sherzer].

SHERZER, Edwin B. Nome, Alaska, 1900. Letter. Very Good. No Binding. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Nome, Alaska, Nov. 1, 1900. With 6 1/2 large octavo pages of text on rectos in dark brown ink on beige thin wove paper (20 - 25 lines per page), with the last sheet having half the verso filled in pencil. Letter accompanied by addressed & stamped envelope, postmarked Nome, AK, Nov. 2 1900. Paper with some very mild age toning but overall letter and envelope in very good original condition. Missouri natives Sherzer and his brother were two of Nome's first postal workers and also operated a dog sledding business in Nome. In this interesting content rich letter from the first year of the Gold Rush in Nome, Sherzer describes his everyday life in Nome to his Fiancé and also in detail his dog sledding business: "We have had lots of snow and everything is on runners and everybody riding. There was a fine trail made on the river in front of our cabin and we called it the race course. The dogs would simply fly over it and we were sitting back on the sled had great fun.., you see women all wrapped up in furs seated in a basket sled with a team of 5 or 6 dogs running along with them. I have found it fine sport, but brother says just wait till you get out on the trail and it is work, then you won't enjoy it so much.., We have both been working in the Post Office but that only lasted until Nov. 1. However, we would not have stayed anyway as we have our assessment work to do before January and we can also make more money with our dog team. Four or five persons have tried to buy the dogs from us already and one fellow wanted to hire them but we wouldn't let any of them go as we have a fine team and have not been keeping them all summer for nothing.".
  • $850
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[COLORADO: A Collection of Twenty-Two Original Cabinet Photographs of the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway].

HOOK, W[illliam] E[dward] (1833-1908) & HIESTAND, J[oseph] G[onder] (1860-1916) 1895. Photographic Image. Very Good. Card Mount. Colorado Springs, ca. 1895. Twenty-two albumen cabinet photographs mounted on original heavy card stock, each ca. 19x11 cm (7 ½ x 4 ½ in), fourteen stamped W.E. Hook on verso, four J.G. Hiestand, two U.S. Signal Station and two unmarked. Some very mild fading of some images, but overall a very good collection of sharp images. "The Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway is a cog railway, "climbing the well-known mountain Pikes Peak. The base station is in Manitou Springs, Colorado near Colorado Springs. The railway is the highest in North America by a considerable margin. It was built and is operated solely for the tourist trade. The railway was started by Zalmon G. Simmons, inventor and founder of the Simmons Beauty Rest Mattress Company. The company was founded in 1889 and limited service to the Halfway House Hotel was started in 1890. The summit was reached the following year" (Wikipedia). The views in this collection document the early years of operation of the railway and include: Minnie-ha-ha Falls, Pike's Peak Trail; Green Mountain Falls; The Three Lower Falls, Cheyenne Canon; Royal Gorge; Mother Grundy, Garden of the Gods; Pike's Peak Railroad, Gravel Slide; Devil's Punch Bowl, Glen Eyrie; Seven Falls, Cheyenne Canon; Silver Cascades, North Cheyenne Canon; Pike's Peak from Mt. Eleanor; Gateway, Garden of the Gods; Manitou Springs, Colorado; Summit of Pike's Peak, Rose Emma Falls; The Loop C.C.R.R., Georgetown Colorado; The Peak from Pilot Knob; Above Timber Line; Looking Down from Timber-Line etc. In April 1885, Hook established a photography studio in Manitou Springs, Colorado.., Over the years, Hook specialized in marketing landscape views of Colorado to tourists.., [Hook] also operated a boarding house for tourists until 1890, when the construction and operations associated with the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway - a steep grade railway from Manitou Springs to the summit of Pikes Peak - prompted the family to relocate to Colorado Springs" (Yale Library online). Hiestand "was well known for his photography of the Pikes Peak area, [and] was the official photographer for the Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway" (The Mineralogical Record online)..
  • $975
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[Album of Thirty-one Original Photographs Showing a trip by a Group of Chicago Businessmen Touring Panama at the time of the Construction of the Panama Canal and also Puerto Rico, Cuba and Kingston, Jamaica at the time of the Earthquake There].

[PANAMA CANAL CONSTRUCTION & KINGSTON EARTHQUAKE] 1907. Photographic Image. Very Good. Cloth Bound. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. 1907. Oblong Folio (28,5x40 cm). 25 black heavy card stock leaves. The album contains twenty mounted large platinum prints each ca. 18,5x24 cm ( ½ x 9 ½ in) and eleven mounted smaller gelatin silver prints each ca. 11x16 cm (4 ½ x 6 ½ in) or slightly smaller. All images captioned in white manuscript on mounts. Original black pebbled cloth album by The Heinn Co. Cover with some staining but overall still a very good album with strong and sharp images. This album which documents the construction of the Panama Canal and the 1907 Kingston Earthquake includes images of: Chicago Party (of business men); Landing Place (La Marina) San Juan, P.R. " waiting for more carriages;" Casa Blanca, P.R.; Old City Wall, gate and watchtower at San Juan P.R.; Group at Panama R.R. Station; Native Huts, Panama; A very small part of old French machinery at Empire, Canal Zone; Steam Shovel at Gatun, Canal Zone; View from Ancon, Panama, showing reservoir and Hotel Tivoli; Part of Culebra Cut; Part Old Spanish Cemetery, Panama. "no pay no stay;" Ruins of oldest church in Panama; Avenue of Royal Palms near Rio Cobre Hotel, Spanish Town, Jamaica; Street Scene in Kingston, Jamaica, showing effect of earthquake (1907); Harbour, Santiago, Cuba; The Morro, Santiago, Cuba; Scene in Guantanamo Harbour, Cuba; Drawbridge at Cabanas, Havana; Laurel Ditch, Cabanas, Havana, Cuba; Sunset, close of the last day of the trip; Disembarking into boats; U.S. Warships at Guantanamo; Public Square, San Juan; After the earthquake; Tivoli Hotel, Ancon, C.Z.; Kingston inhabitants; Empire, C.Z.; Culebra Cut, March 2, 1907; Kingston Kids; Morro Castle, Havana; Sunset. The U.S. formally took control of the canal property on May 4, 1904, but construction of the Panama Canal would take another 10 years before completion. "The 1907 Kingston earthquake which shook the capital of the island of Jamaica with a magnitude of 6.5.., was considered by many writers of that time one of the world's deadliest earthquakes recorded in history" (Wikipedia)..
  • $3,250
  • $3,250
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Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America.

CASSIN, John (1813-1869) Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1853. Book. Very Good. Leather Bound. 1st Edition. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., [1853-]1856. First Edition. Quarto (28 x 20cm). Viii, 298 pp. With fifty hand-colored lithographed plates by William E. Hitchcock, the first twenty after George G. White. 20th century red gilt tooled full sheep with raised bands. Spine slightly rubbed, plates generally clean, plate 10 with light wear to top margin, text very mildly age toned, overall a very good copy. "First edition in book form, originally issued in ten parts from 1853 to 1855. The work aimed to cover the species discovered since the appearance of Audubon's Birds of America. Cassin (1813-1869) headed an engraving and lithographing firm in Philadelphia which produced illustrations for government and scientific publications. He pursued ornithology as an amateur, giving his spare time to the Philadelphia Academy of Science which was developing the largest bird specimen collection then in existence. Cassin arranged and catalogued the 26,000 specimens, and published regular reports of the results of his research. Unlike Audubon, his publications were primarily technical monographs of new species" (Sothebys); This work was "to be regarded in some measure as an addition to the works of former authors in American Ornithology, but at the same time complete in itself" (Preface). Cassin especially sought to describe birds not known to Audubon. Lada-Mocarski 144; Nissen 173; Sabin 11369; Sitwell p. 85; Wood p. 281; Zimmer p. 124..
  • $3,500
  • $3,500
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[Atlas of the Modern World Titled:] Atlas Manualis Scholasticus et Itinerarius Complectens Novae Geographiae Tabulas LI.

KÖHLER, J[ohann] D[avid] (1684-1755) Nürnberg, 1723. Map. Very Good. Leather Bound. Nürnberg: Johann Christoph Weigel, [1723]. Revised edition with an updated index and title. Folio (37x25 cm). With a copper engraved title (index verso), double-page copper engraved frontispiece by J. G. Berckmüller, and fifty-one original hand coloured copper engraved maps on fifty (forty-nine double-page & one folding) leaves. Original brown limp full sheep with blind stamped title on spine. Covers mildly rubbed, titled page with a couple marginal tears (with old repairs), Frontispiece slightly shaved at top at, a few maps with marginal tears and old repairs. However the atlas overall in very good and very original condition, the maps are strong impressions and generally clean with attractive unfaded original hand colouring. The fifty-one very decorative maps include: A World map, Europe, Portugal, Spain, France, Lorraine, Great Britain, England, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands(3), Germany and fifteen maps of German states, Switzerland, Italy and five maps of Italian states, Scandinavia, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Muscovy, Danube course, Hungary (two maps together), Greece (2), Asia, Ottoman Empire, Holy Land, Africa & America. The maps are based on designs by Homann, Moll and Goos and are decorated with very attractive cartouches. The historian Koehler and engraver and publisher Weigel collaborated on a number of atlases, this probably being the most elaborate. Johann David Kohler was a professor of logic and history at universities in Altdorf and later Göttingen and served briefly as university librarian at Altdorf. (Tooley K-P p.49). Johann Christoph Weigel (1654-1725), was a German engraver, illustrator and publisher (Tooley Q-Z p. 367); Phillips 569..
  • $9,750
  • $9,750
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[PACIFIC: Collection of 32 Autograph Letters Signed "Henry Bruce", Including 16 Complete, Addressed to his Daughter Jane, the wife of a RN Officer John Alexander, Discussing Bruce's Appointment to the RN Pacific Station, Crimean War, Various Naval Topics, South American Affairs, and Social News; with Four Original Envelopes and a Letter to Bruce from his Friends in Santiago Inviting him for Dinner].

BRUCE, Sir Henry William, Admiral (1792-1863) 1854. Letter. Very Good. No Binding. London, Oxenford, Liverpool, HMS "Monarch" et al., ca. 1854-1859. Of those dated: 31 May 1858 - 20 December 1859. With four original envelopes, two with postal stamps dated '1848' and '1852'. 12mo. In total over 120 pages of text. Brown and black ink on different writing paper (white, pale blue, laid paper). With a large folded undated letter to Bruce from his friends in Santiago (ca. 1854-57). Sixteen of the thirty-two letters incomplete, fold marks, paper of some letters slightly age toned, otherwise a very good collection. Interesting collection of private letters written by Admiral Sir Henry William Bruce, KCB, a Commodore of the RN West African station in the early 1850s, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Station (25 November 1854 - 8 July 1857), and Commander-in-Chief in Portsmouth (since 1860). During his service on the West coast of Africa, Bruce took part in the Bombardment of Lagos (1851) and signed the Treaty between Great Britain and Lagos suppressing the slave trade (1 January 1852). When the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy Pacific Station, Bruce initiated the construction of a military hospital in Esquimalt which became the first on-shore establishment of the Esquimalt Royal Navy base; which in its turn became the headquarters of the Pacific Station in 1865. The collection includes Bruce's private letters to his daughter Jane Letitia Troubridge Alexander (nee Bruce) written during his service at the Pacific Station and after his return; the Admiral confides to Mrs. Alexander his plans and thoughts, and shares the latest news from the British navy and high society. The earliest letters written in 1854 announce Bruce's appointment to the Pacific Station: "I have got the Pacific Command and must go by the next W. Indies packet and over the Isthmus. The packets are now uncertain being taken up for Troops. The Brisk is to sail from Portsmouth in a few days; will Alexander [Jane's husband, a naval officer, see more below] like to go in her round the Horn or to accompany me? <...> The Indefatigable is to be my Flagship <...> Your loving father Henry Bruce Pacificus" (undated, incomplete). "I am to proceed on the 9 Decr. In the Cunard Steamer which goes direct to New York from Liverpool, where it is desirable that I should see Mr. Crampton (the English Minister) and thence to Panama, Alexander will accompany me..." (25 Nov. [1854]). The second letter also contains an interesting note on the Crimean War and the fate of Sir Thomas St. Vincent Hope Cochrane Troubridge, who was severely wounded during the Battle of Inkerman: "I send you Col. Egerton's account of St. Vincent. He was not with his Regt. Being Field Officer of the day on duty in a battery; he was sitting with his legs crossed, a round shot came and torn off both feet and part of one leg; he was operated on immediately under the influence of chloroform most successfully, and Graham saw him "so patient, so noble, and so brave, it brought tears to his eyes"; tho' just come from tending his own numerous wounds. <...> St. Vincent himself writes that one foot will be saved. <...> The Russians seem to have had enough for a time". Another letter relates to his service as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Station: "The Trincomalee has gone on from Hilo bay; the Packet is expected on Tuesday, and is of importance for Public News; the Monarch will await the mail here and then proceed direct to Vancouver Is." (ca. 1855-1858). Several letters relate to various South American affairs - "Logan tells me that Loyd is reinstalled in the Railway &c. Which shews good sense on the part of the Chilean Govt. That [.?] Petrie managed to displace Roses; Logan went to the Comy. Here about it, and told them Rose was the most valuable servant of the two; he was told he came too late, but that Petrie must be at Callao, not Valpo. as he intended" (19 November 1858; regarding the Lima and Callao Railway Company)..
  • $1,850
  • $1,850
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[NAPOLEONIC WARS: Collection of Five Original Documents Related to the Career of Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith, Including a Naval Pass Signed by Smith as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ottoman Porte and Commander of the British Naval Squadron in the Levant; Autograph Letter Signed by Smith to French General Duc de Maillé Regarding a Frenchman Relieved from Slavery in Algeria, and Three Other Original Notes and Letters Written by Smith or Addressed to Him; With: a Large Stipple Engraved Portrait of Smith printed on the same leaf with a Copper Engraved Scene of the Siege of Acre].

[SMITH, Admiral Sir William Sidney] (1764-1840) Handwritten. Very Good. No Binding. [Mediterranean] & Paris, ca. 1799, 1818, 1835-1838. Five documents of different size from Octavo (ca. 21,5x14 cm) to Folio (ca. 34,5x22,5 cm). In total 6 pp. of text. All documents in French. Brown ink on woven and laid paper, one note on decorative printed letterhead. Fold marks, paper slightly soiled and age toned, but overall a very good collection. The portrait: London: Anthony Cardon, 1804. Stipple engraving by A. Cardon after the portrait by Rober Ker Porter. Printed on the same leaf with the "Siege of Acre" scene, engraved by James Mitan. Size of both images together: ca. 40x21 cm (15 ¾ x 8 ¼ in). Paper slightly soiled around edges, with minor creases on the right margin, otherwise a very good engraving. Interesting collection of original manuscripts and a printed document authored by or addressed to Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith, famous British naval commander of the Napoleonic Wars. The earliest document dating ca. 1799 relates to the peak of Smith's naval career - his service in the Mediterranean and successful defence of the fortress of Acre against the troops of Napoleon (20 March - 21 May 1799). The Siege of Acre was one of Napoleon's few defeats and became the turning point in the French invasion of Egypt and Syria. The document is a naval pass, printed in French and signed by Smith who is titled as a Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ottoman Porte and a Commander of the British Naval Squadron in the Levant. The pass is unfilled, it bears an official Ottoman stamp, and a red wax seal under paper embossed with the British stamp; according to the note on the bottom margin it was issued by the order of Smith's secretary John Keith. Noteworthy is the fact that Smith's title given to him in 1799 and endowing him with both political and naval authority caused a conflict with his direct superiors Lord St. Vincent and Admiral Nelson. Another interesting document is Smith's recommendation letter written in 1818 and addressed to French General Charles-François-Armand, duc de Maillé (1770-1837). The letter discusses one Dumont, a French mariner who was released from slavery after being held captive in Algeria for many years. Smith asks for a possibility of a pension for Dumont, sharing his impression of the mariner: "His story is so simple and so detailed, his character even if simple, is so candid and truthful in all that I could check of him, that I have no doubt that he had been a castaway as he says on the coast of Africa onboard the Corvette Le Lievre, then a boy of 14 years of age, and a servant to the aide-de-camp of Mr. Duc de Maille..." The letter illustrates Smith's active involvement in the anti-slavery and anti-piracy movement against the Barbary pirates of the southern Mediterranean in the 1810s. Among the other documents related to the time of Smith's residence in Paris later in life, is a manuscript note from Smith requesting for an audience with the Minister of Foreign Affairs regarding an urgent and important matter; a note to one "Mr. Sasa" who "has been invited by Admiral Sir Sidney Smith to review some lifesaving machines of his own inventions <...> He has also been granted permission to bring along with him some acquaintances of his who might take an interest in those devices" (dated 1838 and signed "W.S.S."), as well as a letter to Smith, from his friend, apparently a free-mason who was unable to attend a gathering in the lodge owing to professional duties. Overall an interesting collection from the archive of a renowned hero of the Napoleonic Wars. "Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith was the British admiral of whom Napoleon Bonaparte said, "That man made me miss my destiny" (Wikipedia)..
  • $3,250
  • $3,250
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[Manuscript Journal in English Titled:] An Arrêt for Establishing a Council of Commerce, Paris, [29th June] 1700.

[WEST INDIES - FRENCH TRADE] 1700. Handwritten. Very Good. Leather Bound. Ca. 1700. [ii], 11, 196 pp. Manuscript journal written in a neat and easily legible cursive script in brown ink on laid paper, with the ownership inscription "Sam Browns - 1735." Handsome period dark brown elaborately gilt tooled panelled full calf with gilt title label. Rebacked in period style, some very minor foxing but overall in very good condition. This English translation of the 1700 Paris Arrêt of the King's Council of State for Establishing a Council of Commerce, contains petitions and reports presented by the deputies of the Council of Trade in France to the Royal Council. This manuscript almost certainly pre-dates the printed bilingual version in French and English which was published in Paris in 1701. The main articles contained include: "A memorial concerning the Guinea Company, the commerce of the French colonies in America, the present state of the islands, which the French possess there, & the means of preserving & extending their trade in those parts; with remarks upon the restraining some branches of commerce to certain ports & upon exclusive companies, as also on farms certain commodities, particularly the farms of tobacco and sugar" (this article describes the French colonies in the West Indies including French Guiana, Grenada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint-Kitts, Saint Croix, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint Martin with details on their size, number of colonists, slaves, conditions of the soil and main settlements and crops also being given). Another article describes French commerce with the Levant and why Marseilles "alone has the privilege of trading thither." Other articles describe how French trade can be restored with Spain and the Northern Countries. While one other important issue discussed is the "scarcity of gold & silver bullion, & the exportation of coin out of the kingdom." France's King Louis XIV of France wanted to restore, improve and expand trade after the Nine Years' War had been concluded with the Treaty of Ryswick and so this Arret represents a comprehensive study of the state of French trade and how these goals could be accomplished..
  • $5,250
  • $5,250
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[Autograph Letter Signed "Henry Keppel" to Captain of HMS "Thetis" Sir Henry John Codrington on Naval Matters].

KEPPEL, Henry, Sir, Admiral (1809-1904) 1846. Letter. Very Good. No Binding. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. 'Club. Friday. 6.' [November 1846]. 12mo (ca. 17,5x11,5 cm). 4 pp. Brown ink on paper with a blind stamped monogram on the first page. Text clear and complete. Period ink note on the top of the front page "Recd. 7 Nov. 1846, out same night." Mild fold marks, otherwise a very good letter. A private letter written to a fellow naval officer in a friendly manner by Sir Henry Keppel, British naval officer noted for his service at the Royal Navy East Indies and China Station during the First and Second Opium Wars and Sir James Brooke's campaign for the suppression of Borneo piracy (early 1840s). The letter was written in London, in between Keppel's commissions for the East Indies - his next appointment as the captain of HMS Maeander will happen in a year (November 1847); Keppel will continue fighting Borneo piracy in cooperation with Sir James Brooke. In the letter addressed to Sir Henry John Codrington (1808-1877), then just appointed the captain of HMS "Thetis" of the British Mediterranean fleet Keppel hopes that Codrington will not think him 'a cool fellow interfering with your Officers' and suggests that 'poor Edward Rice' should leave England 'before the cold weather sets in. I have got Admiral Dundas to appoint him to the "Ceylon" with permission to join her overland'. Keppel jokes that Codrington is 'so full, having monopolized all the Mates, Mids and youngsters in the Service that the Adl. [Dundas] will not let you have young Harding who is to go out in the Mutine. <...> I believe I have no chance of a ship just yet. I made a great fight for the Cambrian, she is however to hoist Broad Pendant in India to relieve Blackwood & Fox. How do you get on & how do you like the Thetis? I hope you will come to Spithead before leaving England'. Sir Henry Keppel entered the Royal Navy in 1822. "As commanding officer of the corvette HMS Dido on the East Indies and China Station he was deployed in operations during the First Opium War and in operations against Borneo pirates. He later served as commander of the naval brigade besieging Sevastopol during the Crimean War. After becoming second-in-command of the East Indies and China Station, he commanded the British squadron in the action with Chinese pirates at the Battle of Fatshan Creek when he sank around 100 enemy war-junks. He subsequently took part in the capture of Canton during the Second Opium War." (Wikipedia). "Keppel had a long association with Singapore, having visited the island on several occasions up to 1903. Whilst based at Singapore in the 1840s, he discovered the deep water anchorage that came to be called by his name. He surveyed the new harbour of Singapore, which was formed based on his plans. <...> For a while, the harbour was simply known as New Harbour but it was renamed Keppel Harbour by the Acting Governor, Sir Alexander Swettenham, on 19 April 1900 when Admiral Keppel visited Singapore at the age of 92" (Wikipedia)..
  • $850
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[CAWNPORE: Autograph Letter Signed "C. Napier" to "My Dear Jackson" Regarding the Prosecution of Captain William Charles Hollings of the Native Infantry].

NAPIER, Sir Charles James, General (1782-1853) 1850. Letter. Very Good. No Binding. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Simla, 25 April 1850. Octavo bifolium (ca. 20,5x13,5 cm). 2 pp. Brown ink on pale blue writing paper, blind stamped monogram in the left upper corner. Mild fold marks, ink very slightly faded, but overall a very good legible letter. An interesting private letter written by Sir Charles James Napier in Simla while the Commander-in-Chief of India (1849-1851). Napier was notable for the conquest of the province of Sindh for British India in 1842-43, and served as the Governor of the Bombay Presidency in 1843-47. His posthumously published work 'Defects, Civil and Military of the Indian Government' (Westerton, 1853) which unveiled tensions between British and native residents in India was considered prophetic in the light of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. This letter relates to the court-martial of Captain William Charles Hollings, 47th Native Infantry, who was tried at Cawnpore on the 11th of January 1850. Hollings was accused on three charges and was eventually found guilty on all three of them (for being in a state of intoxication while on duty as a Superintending Officer of a Native Court of Requests; for using abusive language and striking an opponent in court; and for being drunk at an inspection parade of his regiment). Hollings was sentenced to be cashiered, but was recommended by the court to Sir Napier as the Commander-in-Chief who could grant him a pardon on the grounds of "his long service and high character". Napier decisively rejected the pardon, which apparently caused Hollings' indignation and some public actions (More details about Hollings' case see: Records of the Indian Command of General Sir Charles James Napier, G.C.B. Calcutta, 1851, p. 108). The letter obviously gives Napier's reaction to the Hollings' case: "My dear Jackson, I am very much obliged to you for your opinion about Mr. Hollings, I had half worked myself up to prosecute the fellow, but it was uphill work as I never felt the least angry at anything he said and I only thought of the prosecution as a matter of dignity and propriety; now as I am never either dignified nor very proper, except when I go to church, I will take your advice by telling Mr. Hollings and his letter go to ---- together.".
  • $850
book (2)

[An Autograph Content Rich Letter Signed Robert Wynniat Addressed to his Sister Lot, from on Board H.M.S. "Nimrod", Shanghai, Dated Sunday July 15th [1860], Talking about Recent Events in the Second Opium War (1856-1860)].

WYNNIATT, Commander Robert James, R.N. (1830-1860) Shanghai, 1860. Letter. Very Good. No Binding. H.M.S. "Nimrod", Shanghai, July 15th [1860]. A bifolium (ca. 25x20 cm), written on 3 pages and addressed on the fourth page, Cirencester cancel dated Sp. 20 1860. Dark brown ink on bluish wove paper, original fold marks, some mild toning of address page but overall written in a legible hand and in very good condition. This letter, written from H.M.S. Nimrod at Shanghai, discusses the war in China: "Operations have not yet commenced in the North so that until then it is impossible to say how long it will take before peace is restored but however I do not yet despair of being able to leave China before the end of the year. I fancy Lord Elgin is just as anxious to get matters over as anybody else that has spent any time in China.., The Rebels have been making great progress near here lately and the bloodshed & murder has been according to all accounts something frightful." In 1857 Wynniatt became Lieutenant-Commander of HMS Plover, an Albacore-class wooden screw gunboat launched in 1855, serving in the Far East. In 1859, during the Second Opium War (1856-1860), he was given acting command of HMS Nimrod (a six-gunner). Nimrod took part in at the Second Battle of Taku Forts (1859), an unsuccessful attack on heavily defended forts at the mouth of the Pei-ho river (in which Wynniatt's former posting HMS Plover was sunk). Wynniatt was mentioned in Rear-Admiral James Hope's dispatches. At the end of the war Nimrod sailed for England, first taking the news of the successful negotiations at the end of the War to Australia. However Wynniatt died on route and was buried at Galle, Sri Lanka. He was only 30 years old, apparently weakened by his earlier adventures in the Arctic. As a young lieutenant in 1850 he was mate during Robert McClure's expedition in search of Franklin and the Northwest Passage. When their ship became ice-locked, Samuel Gurney Cresswell and Wynniatt "accompanied a sledging party led by Richard Roche, a mate on the resolute, back to the North Star at Beechey Island. [They] and a few invalids from the investigator found their way back to England the same year in the supply ship Phoenix under Edward Augustus Inglefield, effectively becoming the first Europeans to travel through the Northwest Passage" (Howgego 1850-1940, Polar Regions B15). Wynniatt won an Arctic Medal for his service. Poulsom & Myres p. 342. However during the expedition he was badly affected by scurvy; both he and Cresswell suffered ill-health for the rest of their careers and died at a young age..
  • $950
book (2)

[CANADA – GOVERNOR-GENERAL: Autograph Letter Signed "Dufferin" to an Eton Teacher of his Son, "Lord Clandeboye," Discussing the Boy's "Arithmetical Failures" and Confessing that "to this day <…> I have been unable to master the multiplication table, but I am particularly fond of mathematics…"].

BLACKWOOD, Frederick Hamilton Temple, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1826-1902) 1877. Letter. Very Good. No Binding. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 1 October 1877. Small Octavo bifolium (ca. 20x12,5 cm). 4 pp. Black ink on watermarked laid paper with a printed letterhead of the "Government House, Ottawa." Left upper corner of both leaves of the bifolium cut out, only slightly affecting the upper lines, but the text is completely understandable. Mild fold marks, but overall a very good letter. Interesting letter written by Lord Dufferin while on service as the Third Governor-General of Canada, revealing some curious details of his personality. Addressing an Eton teacher of his son (either his eldest son Archibald Leofric Temple (1863-1900), or his second son Terence (1866-1918)), Dufferin writes: "I think he is very young of his age, which is some excuse for his thoughtlessness, and I trust in time his mind may sufficiently ripen to master at least the elements of mathematics. I am afraid I must consider myself responsible for his arithmetic failures, for to this day - only I should not wish the fact to be published in ...[?] - I have been unable to master the multiplication table, but I am particularly fond of mathematics, and indeed the only prize I ever obtained at Eton was a mathematical one, so I trust that Clandeboye's difficulty over his figures need not necessarily imply any weakness in the logical faculty. I have always consoled myself with the reflection that Newton himself could never do a compound addiction sum correctly." "Lord Dufferin brought an immense passion for Canadian unity to his duties and was equally at home in English and French. During his tenure, Prince Edward Island joined on federation (1873), and the Royal Military College and the Supreme Court were established. Lord and Lady Dufferin were the first to use La Citadelle in the city of Québec as a second vice-regal residence. Residents of that city long had a particular regard for Lord Dufferin after he persuaded municipal officials not to tear down the walls of the Old City to accommodate the provincial capital's expansion. Lord Dufferin established the Governor General's Academic Medals to reward excellence by Canadian students in high schools, colleges and universities, and they are still awarded today. After serving in Canada, Lord Dufferin was appointed Viceroy of India (1884 to 1888), took up several high-profile ambassadorial posts, and died in Ireland in 1902" (Heraldic Symbols in the Senate Speaker's Chambers/ Parliament of Canada online). He also went on a journey to the North Atlantic in 1856 on the schooner Foam, visiting Iceland, northern Norway and Spitsbergen. His travel account "Letters from High Latitudes" (London, 1857) "was extremely successful and can be regarded as the prototype of the comic travelogue" (Wikipedia)..
  • $750
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[Early Interesting Unsigned Autograph Letter by a Resident of British India, addressed to One of the Strachey Baronets, with the Recommendations to his Cousin on the Best Way of an Overland Travel from England to India, via Vienna, Bucharest, Constantinople, Baghdad and Basra, Advising on the Routes, Dress, Luggage and Ways of Dealing with Native Guides].

[OVERLAND TO INDIA] 1803. Letter. Very Good. No Binding. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. [British India], ca. 1803-1806. Octavo bifolium (ca. 23,5x18,5 cm). 4 pp. Brown ink on laid paper watermarked "1803." Mild fold marks, but overall a very good letter. Interesting content rich letter advising on the best way to travel overland from England to India via the Middle East. Compiled in India, most certainly compiled by an officer of the East India Company, the letter contains some noteworthy comments on one of the two main overland routes to India - via Vienna, Constantinople, Baghdad, Basra and hence by sea to Bombay. Compiled relatively early for such a route, the letter is addressed to "Dear Strachey" (apparently one of the Strachey Baronets) and provides "a few hints for the purpose of enabling your cousin to get hither by land & I trust with less inconvenience than he would experience was he to start without being possessed of my information on the subject." The author advises to choose a route from Vienna to Constantinople via Hermannstadt and Bucharest, not the usual route via Prague and Belgrade as the latter one is unsafe. He also recommends to procure recommendation letters to the Governor of Hermannstadt and the British Agent in Bucharest, and to "not encumbering himself with much luggage, as there are parts of his trip where he will find it totally impossible to convey it; two small portmanteaus ought to contain all that he starts with from Vienna." "At Constantinople the Company's Agent will provide him, with a Tatar's dress (and I strongly recommend him to adopt it for many reasons) and also a Tatar to attend him. With this Tatar a bargain must be made to provide Horses, provisions and every thing required on the road, a part of which Sum is advanced at Constantinople, and the remainder paid at Bagdat, together with a present if the Tatar behaves well. He should on no account carry any money or any thing of value with him from Constantinople, for in his poverty consists his safety, or rather in the expectation of the Tatar to gain more by landing him is safety at the end of his journey that by destroying him on the road. He will obtain letters of credit at Constantinople to Sir Harford Jones at Bagdat, and Sir Harford will procure boats or other conveyances for him from Bagdat to Bassorah from where he will have many opportunities of coming to Bombay..." "He must be prepared to meet with many difficulties, to undergo considerable fatigue, as he will be obliged to ride from Constantinople to Bagdat, and during which he will fare very badly indeed, - neither he can carry above six changes of linen in addition to his European stock in the before mentioned two portmanteaus. I carried no change!!! And never was any one so miserable, but I believe I should have suffered more from the encumbrance of much baggage. From Constantinople he might take the route by Antioch to Aleppo and thence over the Great Desert to Bassorah, but I found this so much worse than that by Bagdat, that I do not recommend his attempting it. The route by Diarbekin, Mosul and Merd in to Bagdat is far preferable, villages and caravanserais are met with the whole way". Overall a very interesting letter. Sir Harford Jones (1764-1847) mentioned by the author, was an East India Company assistant and factor at Basrah (1783-94), and its president in Baghdad (1798-1806). He acquired great proficiency in oriental languages, and with the assistance of Robert Dundas's patronage he was appointed envoy-extraordinary and minister-plenipotentiary to the court of Persia, where he remained from 1807 to 1811. In 1807 he was created a baronet in recognition of the importance of the mission. His main achievement was the Preliminary treaty of 1809 which effectively barred France from the route to India. He began the involvement of British military instructors in the Persian army and he prevented peace between Persia and Russia. <...> Throughout life he cherished a warm interest in the welfare both of Persians and Indians." (Oxford DNB)..
  • $1,500
  • $1,500