Highlights

LEWIN, John William (1770-1819) A natural history of the birds of New South Wales ... London : Henry H. Bohn, 1838. Folio, original publisher’s binding of quarter crushed morocco, spine lettered in gilt ‘Lewin’s Birds of New Holland’, green cloth covered boards, yellow endpapers, pp [iv], 26 etched plates with original gouache hand colouring, interleaved with accompanying letterpress text. A fine example, in original condition, of one of the rarest illustrated works of Australian natural history.

First edition, first issue of Pine’s Horace: a particularly fine example of this masterpiece of book-design and ‘remarkable enterprise in engraving’ (DNB). With every page fully engraved -- including not only the plates, portraits, vignettes, initials and other decorations, but all text too -- it is a tour-de-force of the art, and one of its most famous exemplars. This first issue is identified by having the uncorrected reading ‘Post est’ in the caption to the Caesar medallion on p.108 of the second volume (in later issues it would be corrected to ‘Potest’). The extensive lists of subscribers

London, R. Alistair McAlpine Publishing Ltd, 1971. The standard edition, limited to 2890 copies, but here with a large original crayon drawing signed by Sidney Nolan.

[Rio de Janeiro], Confraria Bibliófila Brasileira ‘Cattleya Alba’, [1944]. Number 48 of only 200 copies of this deluxe privately printed edition, signed by the illustrator Martha Pawlowna Schidrowitz and translator Álvaro Moreyra. Entirely printed on undyed silk (unsurprisingly, this is the first such book printed in Brazil!), and bound in padded boards of the same material, with a matching box. The 52 hand-coloured plates, styled on the 52 cards in a deck, feature characters from the book and important Russian landmarks.

Volcanic landscape by this important artist, often featured in exhibitions in Public Galleries in Australia and New Zealand but still little known in her home state. Shay Docking (1928 - 1998) was born in Warrnambool and grew up at Tower Hill. Her views of Tower Hill are in the Warrnambool Gallery collection. This was from her Volcanic Plains Series 1979. It is Pastel and acrylic on paper on board, 76.2 x 97.8 cm, Signed. See recent article by Rhonda Dredge, Inner City News A dramatic modernist with a fluid line https://www.innercitynews.com.au/a-dramatic-modernist-with-a-fluid-line

With a Foreword by T. E. Lawrence. First edition. With a typed four-page letter, signed, from the author to Captain Michael Scott. The letter is accompanied by a signed Christmas card from Thomas, presumably to Michael Scott.

Original painting for the Poster produced for The Gould League of Victoria in 1977 by Peter Trusler. Titled Common Sea Birds, it is an oil on board measuring 79 x 52 cm and is signed and dated. It has come from the collection of Margaret Cameron by descent to The Ornithological Society, Brisbane

London, M'Lean et al, 1826. Frontispiece to volume 1 reproduces the allegorical engraving from the 1628 edition. There were 6 revised editions during Burton's lifetime, 1576-1639, but the book was not in print between 1676 and 1800. This is probably the 8th edition. Fans of the book have included Samuel Johnson, Samuel Beckett, and Nick Cave

Reval [Tallinn, Estonia] ; und Leipzig : bey Albrecht und Compagnie, 1780. [Bound with] Briefe aus England ... Reval [= Tallinn, Estonia] & Leipzig, Albrecht und Compagnie, 1780. Two works in one volume. “Undoubtedly the first account of Cook’s death to be published in book form” (Beddie). An extremely rare German account of the death of Captain James Cook in Hawaii on 14 February 1779, published in Tallinn in Estonia, together with a letter concerning the 1775 Spanish voyage to the west coast of North America by Bodega y Quadra (1744-1794), also in German, with many references to Cook.

Hand drawn and written book from Ure Smith for the occasion of Ashton’s birthday in 1904. 16 illustrations in ink, 4 in colour. All signed Syd Smith. “To the finest and best man, I know… Mr Julian Ashton.” Ure Smith went to the Julian Ashton School from 1902 until 1906.

Botanical copperplate engraving of Digitalis (Foxglove) from the first edition of Abraham Munting's opus magnum, 1696. The illustrations are remarkable for their elegance and originality. The plant dominates the foreground, filling the entire page. It is presented in a delightful pastoral scene with a farmhouse and cattle. The latin name is written on an elegantly fluttering banderole. Excellent condition, sharply printed with a clear plate mark on watermarked paper.