Highlights
Here is a small selection of the highlights offered in 2026 by our exhibitors for you to browse and whet your appetite. These highlights are only a small offering of what will be available at the fair.
Our exhibitors will be uploading more highlights regularly up to the opening of the fair.
If you are interested in a highlight, contact the respective exhibitor directly. Prices are in Australian dollars inclusive of GST.
Richard F. Burton's Translation of the Arabian Nights.
$3500
The handsome H.S. Nichols' Library Edition of Burton's classic work with fine photogravure illustrations. Nichols included reproductions of the original "Kamashastra Society" title pages.
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ANGAS, George French: A unique offering of eighteen original watercolours of Rio de Janeiro and the peoples of Southern Africa, many unpublished, together with a significant autograph letter signed by the artist
$650000
Watercolour and body colour on paper, most approximately 230 × 320 mm (or the reverse). All of these superb images are titled or captioned by the artist, and many are signed.
Eight views show Rio de Janeiro and environs, and were produced in 1845 in preparation for a never-published plate book.
The remaining ten views showing Zulu, Xhosa, Khoekhoe and Cape Malay peoples of Southern Africa, and were painted in 1846 and 1847.
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First Lieutenant John Drummond Naval Commission signed by King George III
$15000
1784. Vellum parchment (sheepskin), measuring 33.5 cm x 25 cm. Folded in thirds to 8vo. Three blue embossed revenue escutcheons. Handwritten in black iron gall ink. Signed by King George The Third (top left) and senior official signatures including General William Howe; Charles (surname unknown); Rear Admiral John Levenson-Gower and Admiralty Clerk (name unknown). Overleaf, three George the Third postage stamps. Good condition. Extremely rare. NOTE: Unique surviving record of (First Fleet) Royal Marine First Lieutenant John Drummond (1760-1827), who was quartermaster on H.M.S. Sirius.
Lyall, Alan. The First Descent of the Matterhorn. A Bibliographical Guide to the 1865 Accident & Its Aftermath
$150
First Edition 1997. Llandysul: Gomer Press.
8vo. original blue boards gilt in dustwrapper; pp. 674, with illustrations.
Signed by the author, Alan Lyall.
A comprehensive account of the tragic descent of the Matterhorn, following its successful first ascent via the Hörnli Ridge in 1865 by a party of seven including Edward Whymper. Four fell to their deaths on the way down, and the ensuing controversy dogged Whymper to the end of his life.
A fine copy.
RUSCHA, Ed. 4 x 6: Zeichnungen von Edward Ruscha.
$1750
Münster: Westfälischer Kunstverein (1986). First edition, numbered & signed issue. [72 pp]. Fine in full blue cloth with silver stamping to spine and front panel. Essay by Marianne Stockebrand in German and English translation. Twenty-four full color reproductions. One of 100 numbered copies SIGNED by Ruscha.
Two of the most influential and early English works on cookery, preserving, and candying, in a contemporary binding
$14000
[Plat, Sir Hugh]. A Closet for ladies and gentlewomen, or the art of preserving, conserving, and candying... 1644. London. Charles Green. [bound with] [Plat, Sir Hugh]. Delights for ladies, to adorn their person, tables, closets, and distillatories, 1644. London. James Young.
A rare contemporary bound sammelband of two scarce 17th century English works (rarely found together) on cookery, household management, and domestic arts, encompassing preserving, candying, distillation, banqueting dishes, medicinal recipes, perfumes and cosmetics.
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![Kreidolf, Ernst: Die Wiesenzwerge. Cöln, Verlag: Schafstein & Co [1902].](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/lindner.mainburg@t-online.de/Kreidolf-Wiesenzwerge-EA-4.jpg)
Kreidolf, Ernst: Die Wiesenzwerge. Cöln, Verlag: Schafstein & Co [1902].
$580
30,5 x 23,3 cm. 24 uncut pages with a colour-illustrated title page, a colour dedication page,10 full-page colour illustrations, 2 text illustrations and 2 (1 colour) end vignettes, illustrated endpapers in dark green and white, original boards.
Hess/Wachter A 3; Bilderwelt 487: “The >Wiesenzwerge< are not merely an idyll of nature-loving creatures; as the quarrel between the two families shows, they are also a realistic portrayal of human life, in which even conflicts are not excluded.” (Hans Ries). – One of th
New English Dictionary - 20 Volumes
$9000
First Edition Set, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 20 volumes. Founded mainly on the materials collected by the Philological Society. Edited by Sir James Murray, sometime president of the Philological Society, with the assistance of many scholars and men of science. Published Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1888 - 1928 (First Volume Published 1888 and last in 1928). A combination of burgundy and red leather hardbound covers. Gilt cornering and lining on covers, and gilt lettering on spine. Very Good - Excellent Condition.
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WALLACE, David Foster. The Broom of the System.
$2750
NY: Viking (1987). First edition. 467 pp. Corner crease to front free endpaper, else fine (with expected page toning) in fine dust jacket. Wallace’s first book.
Laurence Sterne, A sentimental journey through France and Italy
$1250
London, Becket and de Hondt, in the Strand, 1768. Two volumes, small octavo, the issue on ordinary paper (148 x 90mm.), xx, 203; [4], 208 pp., intermittent pale foxing, an attractive set with the half-titles and List of Subscribers, Sterne’s engraved coat of arms v.II D3v, one front endpaper gone, bound without the advertisement leaf in early speckled calf, several corners rubbing, spines gilt, red title labels. Rothschild, 1971: with variant (2) in Vol. I p. 150, and variant (1) in Vol. II p. 133.
The First Modern Scientific Journal Printed in Asia - Batavia (Jakarta) 1779 - "Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap der Konsten en Wetenschappen"
$9000
The “Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap" was printed in Batavia (Jakarta) by the VOC printer Egbert Heemen. Printed in 1779, it is regarded as the earliest modern scientific journal printed in Asia.
This first volume contains a wide range of scholarship produced in the Dutch East Indies, including reports on smallpox inoculation in Batavia, botanical classification of Malay plants, and agricultural studies on sugar production. This copy is missing pages 1-4, but retains its original decorative boards.
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UTAGAWA YOSHITORA, "ACTOR BANDÔ MITSUGORÔ VI AS THE GIRL OYAMA AND NAKAMURA SHIKAN IV AS HOTEI”; 1867.
$980
UTAGAWA YOSHITORA (Edo, active 1850-1880)
“ACTOR BANDÔ MITSUGORÔ VI AS THE GIRL OYAMA AND NAKAMURA SHIKAN IV AS HOTEI”, 1867.
Woodblock printed in colours.
Delightful scene of Kabuki theatre depicting Bandô Mitsugorô VI in the role of the girl Oyama at right and Nakamura Shikan IV in the role of Hotei at left.
NOTE: Original woodblocks printed in colours on rice paper. Signed "Yoshitora ga” (on left sheet only). Publisher: Shimizuya Naojirō. Censor’s seal: Hare 8 Aratame.
OBAN DIPTYCH 362mm(H) x 495mm(L) [2 sheets assembled]
In excellent condition. Very good impression and colours...
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Remarkable Spanish illustrated pedagogical treatise on music, ‘perhaps the most widely dispersed’ instructional manual of the period
$22000
Minguet e Yrol, Pablo. Reglas, y advertencias generales que enseñan el modo de tañer todos los instrumentos mejores y mas usuales como son la guitarra, tiple, vandola, cythara, clavicordio, órgano, harpa, psalterio, bandurria, 1752-1754. Madrid. Joachim Ibarra.
First edition, first issue, one of the most important (if not the most) pedagogical treatise of the 18th century of Spanish musical instruments, namely string instruments, wonderfully illustrated and exceptionally rare, peculiar namely because of its aim to teach students to play music without the assistance of a tutor or teacher.
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Unrecorded issue of important 1590 edition of Dutch "deux aes" Bible in a magnificent contemporary panel-stamped binding with engraved silver furnishings
$80000
[BIBLE - DUTCH]. Biblia. Dat is, de gantsche H. Schrift, grondelick ende trouwelick verduytschet.
Delft, Bruyn Harmansz. Schinckel (colophon: printed by Aelbrecht Heyndricksz.), 1590. 4 parts in 1 volume. 4to (23.5 x 17.5 cm). With a general title page and three part-titles, each with the same woodcut device in a separate elaborately decorated cartouche, 3 engraved folding maps drawn by Petrus Plancius and executed by Baptista van Doetecum and ca. 20 woodcut illustrations in the text.
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Beautiful work on ships and shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age, with over 200 hand-coloured plates
$46000
ALLARD, Carel.
Niewe[!] Hollandse scheeps-bouw, vertoonende een volmaakt schip ... noch een doorgesnede schip ... voorts allerhande scheeps vlaggen.
Amsterdam, Carel Allard, 1705. 3 parts in 1 volume. 4to. With 208 contemporary hand-coloured engraved plates (1 folding, 23 double-page, 184 single page), the title pages of volume 1 and 2 are printed in red and black. Modern gold- and blind-tooled vellum (mimicking contemporary style), a black paper label on the spine with the title and author lettered in gold, green closing ties, dark blue edges. Kept in a marbled paper and cloth clamshell box.
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The second recorded copy of the Kanagawa Treaty, negotiated by Perry and effectively opening Japan to trade with the West
$33000
[USA - JAPAN - TREATY]. Treaty between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan. Concluded March 31, 1854; Ratified August 7, 1854; Proclaimed June 22, 1855.
[Washington D.C., 1855]. Folio. Signed in type by Franklin Pierce as President and by W. L. Marcy as Secretary of State. Original printed self-wrappers, stitched. 5, [1 blank] pp.
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Pastoral Homes of Australia, Volume I, New Series
$3200
Sydney, Melbourne, and London, The Pastoral Review Pty. Ltd., 1929. Quarto, illustrated photographically throughout, pp. [viii] + 540, publisher's morocco over bevelled boards, ruled and lettered in gilt, upper board with blind rule, marbled endpapers, cloth tape on hinges (as issued), all edges gilt, a fine copy. An impressive record of the riches of Australian agriculture, showing the skill and investment which created our unrivalled Merino studs. Featured properties include H. H. Dutton's Anlaby (Kapunda), Samuel McCaughey's Coree (Deniliquin), and Ronald Gunn's Cambalong (Bombala).
George R.R. Martin. A Game of Thrones. Book One of a Song of Ice and Fire
$2500
First Edition 1996. London: Voyager - Harper Collins.
8vo. original red boards gilt in dustwrapper;
pp. [viii (last blank)], 696 (last blank), with two maps.
A very good copy of the first book in the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' sequence. Uncommon and highly sought after.
Betts’s New Portable Terrestrial Globe
$3500
Impressive 21 inch collapsible terrestrial globe made by Betts in the 1870s.
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![The Plains - Gerald Murnane [First Edition]](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/John@sainsburysbooks.com.au/plains.jpg)
The Plains - Gerald Murnane [First Edition]
$800
A fine first edition copy of Murnane's classic of the interior printed in an edition of 1500 by the Globe Press, Fitzroy. This copy with the second version of the dust jacket that was designed by Marius Foley.
Richard Pynson’s De Termino Hillarii (1518): London Printed English Year Book with Sir Thomas Phillips and Lord Kenyon Provenance
$24000
An uncommon early English legal imprint printed by Richard Pynson (c.1449–1529), one of the most important figures in the history of English printing and successor to William Caxton. Appointed King’s Printer to Henry VII and later Henry VIII, Pynson was responsible for many of the earliest and most influential legal, administrative and literary works produced in England. The final leaf of this work has Pynson’s large printer’s device which depicts his initials in a shield supported by two figures.
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Hilda Rix Nicholas: The Pack, 1921
$11000
Hilda Rix Nicholas (1884 - 1961) had returned to Australia in 1918, and then, in October 1919 left Melbourne for Sydney to settle in Mosman, In 1921 she painted A Man One the finest paintings of the Great War, it was the distillation of the grief that the war inflicted on this gallant and talented artist.
Richard Travers, To Paint a War, page 177, the medium for this work is pastel on tinted paper
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