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.
Dracula
$750
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, New edition. [1956]. London: Rider & Co.
12mo. Original red boards gilt in dustjacket; pp. 336 (last blank). Fraying to jacket, but a very good copy. This edition of the seminal vampire tale comes with cover art evoking the film portrayals, rather than the more abstract imagery of earlier jackets. The design closely resembles Christopher Lee’s classic interpretation, though it actually pre-dates his first appearance in Hammer Horror’s 1958 ‘Dracula’ by two years.
Metabolism in Architecture
$350
Details the 1960s Japanese architectural movement which envisioned cities as evolving organisms. Led by Tange, Kurokawa, Kikutake, and Maki, it championed modular, adaptable, and sustainable designs.
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“CARTE DE LA NOUVELLE-HOLLANDE”; LOUIS CLAUDE DE SAULCES DE FREYCINET.
$2750
“CARTE DE LA NOUVELLE-HOLLANDE”
1824
Cartographer: LOUIS CLAUDE DE SAULCES DE FREYCINET
(Montélimar 1779- Loriol-sur-Drôme 1841)
Technique: COPPER ENGRAVING
Rare updated version of Freycinet’s seminal map of Australia which was first issued in 1807 in a larger format in the accounts of the French expedition under the command of Nicholas Baudin.
Freycinet was the cartographer for the expedition...
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The avi-fauna of Australia : comprising Gould’s Birds of Australia and all other birds discovered in the Australian colonies since 1850
$35000
[Sydney?] : [G.J. Broinowski?], 1897. One of the rarest publications on Australian ornithology, one of only two known copies, the only one in private hands.
In addition to its obvious desirability as an Australian colour plate book of almost unprocurable rarity, The avi-fauna of Australia is also meaningful insight into the debt Broinowski felt to Gould, and the respect he afforded the scientific community who contributed to our collective understanding of Australian ornithology.
Provenance:
Quentin Keynes (1921 – 2003), explorer, filmmaker, and great-grandson of Charles Darwin.
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Moby Dick
$39000
Melville, Herman.
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale.
1st edition. 1851. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cochran copy, ex-Fisk Memorial Library, Natchez, Mississippi.12mo. Original brown cloth gilt, publisher’s circular blindstamp upper board in bespoke clamshell case; pp. xxiv (last blank), 636 (last blank), [6 publisher’s catalogue)]. [Tanselle 2]
Despite initial unfavourable criticism, there is good reason why Moby Dick often makes lists of the top ten books ever written. It contains the best exposition of Melville’s philosophical musings, every sentence loaded with import.
THE SECOND ENGLISH MIDWIFERY MANUAL. GUILLEMEAU (Jacques). Child-Birth or, the Happy Deliverie of Women.
$31000
First edition in English. Small 4to. 17 woodcut illustrations in the text. Contemporary limp vellum, title (twice) in early manuscript to the spine. London, by A. Hatfield, 1612.
A very fine copy in contemporary vellum of one of the earliest English midwifery manuals.
The philosophy of Andy Warhol. (From A to B and back again). (Signed copy with drawing of a Campbell’s Soup can)
$7500
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. First edition. Octavo, boards in dust jacket, pp 241; a fine copy; the half-title is signed and inscribed by Warhol, accompanied by an original pen drawing by the artist of a Campbell’s Tomato Soup can, his most iconic image.
Andy Warhol’s seminal self-analysing memoir, filled with his reflections of youth and society which help give an insight into one of the most enigmatic and magnetic artistic figures of the twentieth century.
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GOTHIC REVIVAL ILLUMINATION. FRENCH ILLUMINATOR. A suite of large neo-gothic illuminated initials.
$9250
Full-page frontispiece illustration with floral border and a central figure of a woman holding two shields in silver, blue and red; 29 illuminated initials in watercolour and gouache, gilded, and some partly with gold foil; all on wove paper. 1840-60.
![[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.
The Satanic Verses | Signed Copy | Salman Rushdie
$8000
This immaculate first edition, signed and dedicated by the author, will further become one of the prize editions in English literature. Rushdie is understandably unlikely to ever commit to any public signings again.
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Dante Alighieri: La Commedia. Comm. Jacopo della Lana.
$445000
"La prima edizione commentata della Divina Commedia" (Mambelli), published only five years after the editio princeps (Foligno 1472). An exceptionally large and crisp copy, completely unsophisticated in its first binding
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![雙六式國史早わかり. [Sugoroku - Quick View of Japan's History].](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/books@asiabookroom.com/216826_01.jpg)
雙六式國史早わかり. [Sugoroku - Quick View of Japan's History].
$650
Large colour folding sugoroku game, 93 x 125cm.
This unique and visually rich sugoroku-style educational chart was published in 1927 in Shizuoka by Yamamura Azusa. Intending to present Japanese history through the lens of the imperial lineage, Yamamura sought to make the subject accessible and engaging for children by structuring it as a game. Using the familiar sugoroku board format, he transforms historical chronology into a path of progress, starting with the mythological creation of Japan by the sun goddess Amaterasu at the centre of the chart.
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Signed, First edition of The Book Bag
$1000
MAUGHAM, W.S.
The Book Bag
The Lungarno Series No.9. Florence: G. Oriolo, 1932. First Edition.
“Though I said that affection was the greatest enemy of love, I would never deny that it's a very good substitute.” — Maugham.
No. 29 of 725. Maugham's tale of the too-close relationship of a brother and sister has gained a reputation as one of Maugham's more unsettling works. With its themes of obsession, isolation and taboo relationships, it was first published by G. Orioli, a publisher unafraid to issue controversial works, albeit for a niche market.
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The Beatles: Autographed Magazine by all four Beatles.
$31300
A February 1966 edition of the French magazine ‘La Semaine’ that has been autographed on the front cover by The Beatles in black felt tipped pen. The photo on the front of the magazine pictures the famous image of The Beatles in their famous grey collarless suits which was taken by Dezo Hoffman in his studio in Wardour Street, London, England in April 1963. The autographs were obtained during The Beatles tour of Germany which took place between 24th and 26th June 1966.
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Pennant’ Outlines of the Globe, vol. 4
$4850
The rare fourth volume of Pennant’s Outlines of the globe containing the large map of Australia, titled: Map For Mr. Pennants Outline of the Globe. Beautifully bound in striking contemporary hand painted tree calf
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Charles Troedel. The Melbourne Album, containing a Series of Views of Melbourne & Country Districts.
$12000
Oblong folio, lithographed titling-wrapper on cream paper, bound in as title-page as issued, twelve fine tinted lithographed plates,
Very rare: one of the short sets of twelve elegant tinted lithographs that make up Troedel's Melbourne Album of 1863-4, "perhaps the finest work of urban topography produced in Australia in the nineteenth century" (Wantrup). Notable contemporary artists including Nicholas Chevalier, Eugen von Guerard, Edward Gilks and Henry Gritten contributed to the Album.
![Charles Darwin: Autograph Letter Signed. Down Farnborough, Kent, 8 [Aug. 1850].](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/info@autographenhandlung.de/72885.jpg)
Charles Darwin: Autograph Letter Signed. Down Farnborough, Kent, 8 [Aug. 1850].
$44700
An important letter to Nathaniel Thomas Wetherell which underscores Darwin's belief in the scientific significance of the study of Cirripedia (barnacles).
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The three voyages of Captain James Cook
$50000
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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![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.
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Self Portrait
$270
Series of Friedlander's self-portraits taken over the course of six decades.
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Bib and Bub Painting Book. New Stories by May Gibbs
$1250
Oblong quarto (210 × 305 mm), [24] pages of black and white comic-strip artwork plus text on the covers.
A rare and charming 'colouring book', the last of May Gibbs' Bib and Bub titles.
![Marlborough, His Life and Times [Presentation copy] [OFFERED WITH] A.L.S. from Clementine Churchill and additional Churchilliana](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/orders@archivesfinebooks.com.au/15544_7.jpg)
Marlborough, His Life and Times [Presentation copy] [OFFERED WITH] A.L.S. from Clementine Churchill and additional Churchilliana
$25000
Volume I INSCRIBED, "To Geoffrey Hale from Winston S. Churchill 1955" (on the recto of the frontispiece) : Volume II INSCRIBED, "From Winston S. Churchill 1955" (on first blank) : autograph letter SIGNED from Clementine Churchill to, "My dear Doctor Hale" expressing her gratitude, "for all you did for my sister, not only during her last illness, but also for many years." (Chartwell, 13 February, 1955) : two Christmas cards from Winston and Clementine Churchill (one with autograph note from Clementine), and an invitation and order of ceremony for the presentation to Churchill on his 80th.
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