Highlights
Each year our exhibitors bring extraordinarily rare, beautiful and unusual items for sale.
Leading up to the fair, you will find here, highlights, selected by our exhibitors, of the wide range of items that will be on exhibition and for sale at this year's fair.
Bookmark this page and visit again as our exhibitors will be adding highlights over the next two months
If something is of interest, please contact the exhibitor directly. They will welcome your enquiry.
Simon Raven, The Feathers of Death
$1250
Raven, Simon. The Feathers of Death. 1st edition,1959. London: Anthony Blond.
12mo. Original black cloth gilt in dustjacket; pp. 254.
Inscribed by author to endpaper. Toning and spotting, jacket price-clipped. A very good copy.
The author’s first book, a novel involving a same sex relationship in the British army. Simon Raven (1927-2001) is best known for his Alms for Oblivion series and his louche lifestyle, which features strongly in his work.
Peppermint Trees, Melbourne c1860 by William Strutt
$5500
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
View More
Pedro Fernández de Quirós: Manuscript memorial to Philip III of Spain.
$800000
A radical abolitionist in the age of Shakespeare: original Quiròs manuscript memorial arguing against the Black slave trade. [Madrid, possibly before September 1611]. An exceptional document in the history of Portuguese colonization of South America, and one of the greatest rarities in the field of voyages and exploration: an original manuscript petition, not recorded in any other copy, written to the King of Spain by the Portuguese-Spanish seafarer and discoverer Pedro Fernández de Quirós (Queirós), proposing to settle the "Austral lands" for the Spanish crown.
View More
Orbis Terrarum Nova et Accuratissima Tabula.
$11500
Second state of van Loon’s famous, rare double hemisphere map of the world first printed in Amsterdam 1666, issued with the additions of the dedication to Charles II and his coat-of-arms for Moses Pitt’s English Atlas.
View More
Bony Buys a Woman By Arthur Upfield (Signed)
$350
BONY BUYS A WOMAN
By Arthur Upfield
Lond. Heinemann. 1957.
First Edition. Scarce.
Inscribed & signed by Arthur Upfield
Keynes (John Maynard) THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT INTEREST AND MONEY.
$15000
Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1936. First edition. Printing and the Mind of Man 423. *Landmark work by the most influential economist of the twentieth century: 'the work on which his fame as the oustanding economist of his generation must rest' [Dictionary of National Biography].
View More
“NOUVELLE-HOLLANDE; PORT-JACKSON: FAMILLE DE SAUVAGES EN VOfYAGE”; SEBASTIAN LEROY, 1824.
$950
“NOUVELLE-HOLLANDE; PORT-JACKSON: FAMILLE DE SAUVAGES EN VOYAGE.”
1824
SEBASTIAN LEROY [drawn by]
BOISSEAU & FORGET [engraved by]
Stipple engraving printed in colour, [finished by hand-watercolour]
DESCRIPTION:
Early and interesting depiction of indigenous Australians in Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour, N.S.W.
An Aboriginal family in the foreground, walking past a camp in the background where another indigenous family is cooking an animal on an open fire.
NOTE:
Without number 102; From first edition of: “Voyage autour du Monde” by Louis Freycinet.
View More
![[HOOKER (Joseph Dalton), his copy] HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE. Chart of the South Polar Sea.](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/mark@maggs.com/259958_02.jpg)
[HOOKER (Joseph Dalton), his copy] HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE. Chart of the South Polar Sea.
$25000
First edition, first issue. Measuring 632 by 842mm. A little toned with old folds with ms. annotations in blue and red ink, small ink stain to upper margin, a couple of small, closed tears. London, Hydrographic Office, published according to the Act of Parliament, and sold by R.B. Bate [price] 2s.6d, June, 1839.
An important copy of this rare map, owned by Joseph Dalton Hooker, assistant surgeon aboard HMS Erebus on James Clark Ross’s Antarctic expedition of 1839-43.
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
$5500
First edition of the highly influential autobiographical account of De Quincey’s laudanum addiction. The foundation work of drug literature.
View More
The Man with the Golden Gun | Ian Fleming
$1995
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.
View More
![Karski: How One Man Tried To Stop The Holocaust [Inscribed by Jan Karski to Dorothy Madden]](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/orchardbookshopadl@gmail.com/Karski.jpg)
Karski: How One Man Tried To Stop The Holocaust [Inscribed by Jan Karski to Dorothy Madden]
$1500
First definitive account of Jan Karski’s mission to alert the West to the emerging Holocaust. Published shortly after his wife [avant-garde dancer & holocaust survivor, Pola Nirenska] committed suicide in 1992, our copy contains a poignant message penned by Karski to his wife’s former dance colleague [choreographer & modern dance pioneer, Dorothy Madden] which carries a warmth still evident today.
View More
THE FIRST DEPICTIONS OF THE CONSTELLATIONS IN A PRINTED BOOK. HYGINUS (Gaius Julius). Poetica astronomica.
$51400
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.
![中華書局印刷樣本. [Chung Hwa Book Company Printing Samples Book].](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/books@asiabookroom.com/china_highres-5.jpg)
中華書局印刷樣本. [Chung Hwa Book Company Printing Samples Book].
$1500
Delightful sample catalogue from Chung Hwa Book Co. in Shanghai with 38 unpaginated leaves including introduction, awards, and samples demonstrating the types of printing and printed illustrations carried out by this printing company. Chinese card binding with silk ties, 21 x 28.4cm. Presented in blue cloth-covered case with toggles, 29.8 x 21.4cm. The first 2 leaves include the company's logo and a foreword introducing the company and its expansion in just a few short years, up until Minguo 5. Following this there are 7 pages of photographic illustrations of awards received by the company.
View More
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI, "VEDUTA DEL ROMANO CAMPIDOGLIO CON SCALINATA CHE VA ALLA CHIESA D'ARACELI". From "Vedute di Roma".
$2750
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI
(Mogliano Veneto 1720-Roma 1778)
Italian school
"VEDUTA DEL ROMANO CAMPIDOGLIO CON SCALINATA CHE VA ALLA CHIESA D'ARACELI"
[THE CAPITOL AND THE STEPS OF S. MARIA IN ARACOELI]
1757
Etching
DESCRIPTION:
Original etching from the "Vedute di Roma".
"Veduta del romano Campidoglio con Scalinata che va alla che va alla Chiesa d'Araceli".
In this etching Piranesi captures with great power and theatricality one of the emblematic places of Rome: the Capitol, with its famous staircase.
NOTE: Unidentified watermark. Hind 38, ii-iii/v.
View More
Vegetius Renatus (Flavius) THE FOURE BOOKS OF FLAVIUS VEGETIUS RENATUS.
$15000
brieflye contayninge a plaine forme, and perfect knowledge of Martiall policye, feates of Chivalrie, and whatsoeuer pertayneth of warre. Translated out of lattine, into Englishe, by John Sadler. Thomas Marshe, London, 1572. First edition. *The first printed English version of De Re Militari by Vegetius. (Earlier English translations exist in manuscript form). Written circa 390 AD and focusing on military organization (how to set up and fortify a camp, train and discipline troops, how to march, etc.), De Re Militari was highly influential in Europe after the Middle Ages.
View More
Christina, the Maid of the South Seas; a Poem.
$4000
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.
Hobart Town
$2450
Rare c.19th detailed hand coloured engraved panorama of Hobart published in 1879. From the original edition of the Australasian Sketcher.
View More
Ex Libris of Yasushi Ohmoto by Cliff Parfit
$395
The Ex-Libris of Yasuhi Ohmoto. By Cliff Parfit
Tokyo. English Centre. 1982.
16 tipped-in colour bookplates.
Signed by the artist.
Fine in cloth case.
The Beatles: A rare signed „Pixerama“ Foldbook.
$44700
The first four black and white portraits autographed individually in blue ballpoint by John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison; together with a concert programme, The Beatles Show, white covers with orange/black text.
View More
Inheritors: a Novel by Brian Penton.
$850
Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1936. Demy octavo, small bookseller's label on front pastedown, very good in original bright burgundy cloth lettered in gilt on spine with Norman Lindsay dustwrapper, few blemishes but in uncommonly good condition. First edition. Second volume of Penton's unfinished trilogy. Published as Giant's Stride in the UK. Very scarce with the fabulous Lindsay dustwrapper.
Salmon at the Antipodes: Being an Account of the Successful Introduction of Salmon and Trout into Australian Waters. By Sir Samuel Wilson.
$1750
London, Edward Stanford, 1879. Octavo, mounted photographic frontispiece 'Trout Pond at Ercildoune', folding map, index, lemon china clay endpapers, bright original decorated terracotta cloth, lettered in gilt, vignette of a salmon in silver on front board, small lozenge binder's ticket on rear pastedown, near fine copy. 'Third Edition'. Presentation copy.
AUSTEN, Jane - TEMPLE BOOK CLUB. Remarkable manuscript archive of a private subscribers’ library.
$62700
An intriguing collection of book lists, invoices, and receipts from the Temple Book Club, which operated between 1812 and 1819, a period during which first editions of works such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park were acquired at discounted rates and circulated among its members, a select group of barristers from one of London’s Inns of Court.
View More
