Melbourne Rare Book Fair

La Nuova Olanda e la Nuova Guinea delineato sulle ultime osservazioni

$9250

Very rare and important c.18th map of Australia based on Cook’s first voyage observations and one of only a handful of maps to be solely devoted to the Australia continent.

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Doug Scott, The Ogre

$250

Mount of Alex - Arapiles Mountain Books

Scott, Doug. The Ogre. Biography of a mountain and the dramatic story of the first ascent. 1st edition. 2017. Sheffield: Vertebrate Publishing. 8vo. Original pictorial boards in dustjacket; pp. xiv, 178, with illustrations. Signed by the author. A fine copy. A full account of the first ascent of ‘The Ogre’ (Baintha Brakk), a notoriously difficult mountain in the Karakoram, by a British team in 1977, known for the absolutely epic descent by the two summit climbers, Doug Scott and Chris Bonington. This was the last of Doug‘s books to be published in his lifetime.

PSEUDO-ARISTOTLE. Aristotle’s Master-Piece.

$36600

Peter Harrington

Rare early edition of “the first sex manual written in English” (Norman), for centuries the most popular compendium on conception, pregnancy, and childbirth. This copy has contemporary annotations by a husband and wife in the midst of conceiving and giving birth to their second child. Winifred and Francis Witham of South Normanton both inscribed the book in 1699, two years after their marriage.

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The Man with the Golden Gun | Ian Fleming

$1995

Somerset House Books

First Edition, First Impression, Second State, so not the extremely rare first State example so avidly sought worldwide (with a golden gun on the front board). Still, a rare book in this near fine condition, nevertheless and will certainly appeal to specialist Fleming collectors as well as keen Bond devotees.

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さいころ独楽. 日本酒附録. [1930s Sake Advertising Campaign].

$450

Asia Bookroom

Sixteen delightful small porcelain spinning tops measuring 2.0 x 1.7cm in size each accompanied by ten handsome colour printed product labels heightened in gilt with soft purple cord ties (8.3 x 6cm). These sake promotional giveaways and accompanying die-cut cards in the shape of the Order of the Golden Kite are advertisements associated with Meiyo-gura, a sake brand sold in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. The advertisement describes a koma (spinning top), attached beneath the bottle top, which could also serve as a small entertainment item.

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Chart of the N. and W. Parts of Bass’s Straits

$6750

Antique Print Map Room

Rare and important, early c.19th hand coloured engraved chart by Lieutenant James Grant who was given command of the Lady Nelson with the instructions to sail her to Sydney and hand her over to Matthew Flinders.

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Christina, the Maid of the South Seas; a Poem.

$4000

Archives Fine Books

MITFORD, Mary Russell . London: Printed by A. J. Valpy for F. C. and J. Rivington, 1811. First Edition. Mary Russell Mitford's (1787-1855) second published title.A metrical tale based on the first news of discovery of the last surviving mutineer of the H. M. S. Bounty and a generation of British-Tahitian children on Pitcairn Island in 1811. As a manuscript, the work was apparently read and corrected by James Burney who sailed with Captain James Cook and the proofs were corrected by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. A scarce item.

THOMPSON, Theophilus. Chess Problems.

$73200

Peter Harrington

Scarce first edition of the author’s sole work, marking the starting point of chess book publishing in African American history. Born into slavery in Maryland, Thompson became a house-servant following his emancipation and learned the game in 1872 after meeting John Hanshew, later the editor of the Maryland Chess Review. Thompson published this collection of 101 prodigious problems the next year, aged 18.

Expedition Antarctique Belge. Au Pays des Manchots: Recit du Voyage de la Belgica

$1800

The Book Merchant Jenkins

Account of the captain of the RV Belgica, Georges Lecointe, the second in command of the first Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-1899. Considered the first expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. This copy bound in full vellum with a manuscript letter from Lecointe bound in.

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Post Office [1st UK]

$1000

ORCHARD BOOKSHOP

Bukowski's alter-ego Henry Chinaski at his finest [read most disgusting, most hilarious, most obscene, etc]. Post Office was Bukowski's first novel and his best. "It began as a mistake. It was Christmas season and I learned from the drunk up the hill, who did the trick every Christmas, that they would hire damned near anybody..."

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Andy Pollitt, Punk in the Gym

$250

Mount of Alex - Arapiles Mountain Books

Pollitt, Andy. Punk in the Gym. 1st edition. 2016. Sheffield: Vertebrate Publishing. 8vo. Original black cloth in dustjacket; pp. 318, with illustrations. No. 107 of a limited edition of 200 cloth-bound copies signed by the author. A fine copy. The life story of highly talented British climber, Andy Pollitt, and his relationship with Wolfgang Gullich’s 1984 test piece Punks in Gym, an exceedingly difficult rock climb at Mt Arapiles, in Western Victoria, at the time the hardest climb in the world. Publisher, Jon Barton, rates this book his personal favorite among the Vertebrate list.

REMBRANDT HARMENSZOON VAN RIJN [REMBRANDT], “THE FLUTE-PLAYER” (HET UYLENSPIEGELTJE), 1642, Etching and drypoint.

$36000

Sartoni Antique Prints

REMBRANDT HARMENSZOON VAN RIJN (Leyden 1606-Amsterdam1669) “THE FLUTE-PLAYER” (HET UYLENSPIEGELTJE) 1642 Etching and drypoint DESCRIPTION: A young couple resting beside a stream, the man playing flute with an owl perched on his shoulder, the girl making a flower garland at left. Shepherds do more than their fair share of walking, but their lives also provide ample opportunity for relaxation... NOTE: Fourth state of four, without the face among the branches. Barstch 188, Hollstein Dutch 144, New Hollstein 211. Very good impression on 17th century [end of] laid paper.

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THE FIRST DEPICTIONS OF THE CONSTELLATIONS IN A PRINTED BOOK. HYGINUS (Gaius Julius). Poetica astronomica.

$51400

Maggs Bros Ltd

First illustrated edition. Title on a2 printed in red, 47 half-page woodcuts of the constellation and planet figures, partially coloured by an early hand. 4to. (57 leaves (lacks first blank), 31 lines, gothic type, a few words in greek. Late 19th century calf-backed boards, spine with red and green labels lettered in gilt. Venice, 1482.

CHURCHILL (Winston S.) The Second World War: The Gathering Storm; The Finest Hour; The Grand Alliance; The Hinge of Fate; Closing the Ring; Triumph and Tragedy.

$30750

Maggs Bros Ltd

First editions, first printings. Six volumes. Numerous maps and diagrams, some folding and others full-page, throughout each volume. 8vo. Original black cloth, spines lettered in gilt, top edges in red, supplied dust jackets. London, Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1948-1954. Inscribed to Grace Hamblin, "the longest-serving member of Churchill’s secretarial staff."

GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI, "LA TOMBA DI NERONE" [THE TOMB OF NERO]; From "GROTTESCHI".

$2750

Sartoni Antique Prints

GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI (Mogliano Veneto 1720-Roma 1778) Italian school "LA TOMBA DI NERONE" [THE TOMB OF NERO] c.1750 TECHNIQUE: Etching, Burin, Drypoint & Burnishing DESCRIPTION: "The Tomb of Nero", from the series called “I GROTTESCHI” (Grotesques). In 1750 Piranesi collected in a miscellaneous volume published at the expense of the editor Giovanni Bouchard a collection of the works engraved by him up to that moment, some already published, others unpublished. The volume was published with the title serie "Opere Varie di Architettura Prospettive Grotteschi..."

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The three voyages of Captain James Cook

$50000

Douglas Stewart Fine Books

A magnificent set of the official accounts of Cook’s voyages, comprehensively illustrated with maps and plates. Finely bound by the venerable London firm of Morell in the late nineteenth century, this exceptional collection of the complete set of the voyages of Cook is distinguished by its full, wide margins and rich, dark impressions.

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Grecian and Chinese Architecture Hardy Wilson

$900

The Antique Bookshop & Curios

Grecian & Chinese Architecture By Hardy Wilson. 1937 No.93 of 100 copies. 50 tipped-in plates

Peppermint Trees, Melbourne c1860 by William Strutt

$5500

Bridget McDonnell Gallery

Pencil and wash with measurements of 18.5 x 26.3 cm. Signed and inscribed Peppermint Trees, Melbourne. Provenance: Private Collection, North Wales, part of a collection of works by William Strutt and Alfred William Strutt sold at Sotheby's, Chester, March 1991: John Ness Barkes & Edward Barkes

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The Karla Trilogy | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, Smiley's People | John Le Carre

$1800

Somerset House Books

All First editions and First UK impressions. Together, the trilogy is in a near-fine state overall. Arguably the greatest works of fiction dealing with the Cold War ever written, unified by the ubiquitous Smiley and his Russian equivalent Karla.

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Landfall, Environs of Sydney 1971 by Shay Docking (1928 - 1998)

$4200

Bridget McDonnell Gallery

The work consists of pencil drawings on four sheets of paper with measurements of 20.5 x 101.5 cm. The works are signed, titled "Landfall" and dated 1971. Shay Docking's work is represented in the National Gallery, Canberra, all State galleries, many Regional galleries and University collections throughout Australia and New Zealand.

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