Highlights
Each year our exhibitors bring extraordinarily rare, beautiful and unusual items for sale.
Here is a selection of the items offered in 2025 by our exhibitors. These may still be available for purchase. If interested, contact the respective exhibitor directlyCloser to the 2026 Fair, new highlights of what will be on offer in 2026 will be posted. Bookmark this page and visit again to see the 2026 highlights.
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
![歌舞伎ミ二紙劇場. [Kabuki Miniature Paper Theatre].](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/books@asiabookroom.com/kabuki_highres-3.jpg)
歌舞伎ミ二紙劇場. [Kabuki Miniature Paper Theatre].
$1500
A delightful miniature paper theatre presented in a beautiful pictorial box (18 x 28cm). Contains a fold out stage, fifteen actors on stands (two extra stands also included), three double sided sheets of stage set illustrations, two sets of theatre curtain illustrations. This colourful kabuki miniature paper theatre was likely produced during the Meiji period. The set includes six different stage backdrops from famous kabuki programmes, including Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami (菅原伝授手習鑑). Players use the paper figures, such as Benkei from Kanjincho (勧進帳), to recreate iconic kabuki scenes.
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![[Meiji Period Japanese Moveable Type].](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/books@asiabookroom.com/220081_01_hr.jpg)
[Meiji Period Japanese Moveable Type].
$3500
411 examples of Japanese wooden moveable type. The moveable type include kanji, hiragana, katakana and numbers both Japanese and Arabic. The pieces of wooden type shows some signs of use but overall a very good collection.
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A Selection of Gollancz SF Classics
Victor Gollancz, the publishing house, strongly associated with Science Fiction and Fantasy literature was originally founded in 1927 and became a prominent UK publisher, particularly through its imprint Gollancz Science Fiction. Notable authors published under the imprint include Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert, J.G.Ballard and Ursula Le Guin.
Strugatsky, Arkady & Boris, The Snail on the Slope. 1st UK edition, 1980, $350
Heinlein, Robert A., Time for the Stars. New edition, 1985, $50
Mitchison, Naomi, Memoirs of a Spacewoman. 1st edition, 1962, $250
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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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.
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.
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Wind in the Willows | Kenneth Grahame | 1908 (First UK Edition)
$5160
1908 (First UK Edition) The first US edition is technically four days earlier and even the second UK edition was printed in the same month and year, too, but this example is the more recognised (and now increasingly rare) UK first edition, so sought after worldwide. No explanation is necessary about the beloved characters Mole, Toad, Ratty and Badger, remembering that it was not until 23 years later that Ernest Shepard did the first illustrations of these characters.
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“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.
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J.R.R. Tolkien
Various items of interest for the Tolkien fan, including an excellent set of The Lord Of The Rings [Second Edition, 1966]; all three De Luxe Editions of Tolkien works [LotR, The Hobbit, Poems & Stories]; and even a scale model of Gandalf from the Weta studio [New Zealand set creators for the epic movie franchise]!
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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The Birds of Australia
$750000
London : printed by Richard and John Taylor for the author, 1848.
The first comprehensive survey of the birds of Australia, with hand-coloured illustrations and descriptions of 681 species, 328 of which were new to Western science and which Gould was the first to describe.
The finest of all Australian colour plate books, and Gould’s ‘greatest achievement’ (Wantrup).
Provenance:
Sir Edward Charles Stirling (1848-1919), Director of the South Australian Museum 1895 - 1913
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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.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Illustrated by Erroll Le Cain.
$3750
LE CAIN, Erroll (Illustrator) THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. ONE OF 100 COPIES. By Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Illustrations by Erroll Le Cain. Calligraphy by David Howells. Paper by Philip H.Rowson. Lond. The Arcadia Press. 1972. Folio. Hand-bound by Zaehnsdorf in quarter vellum with seaweed paper sides. 55pp. t.e.g. Calligraphic text on seaweed paper pages. Ten striking tipped-in colour plates by Erroll Le Cain. No.50 of 110 numbered copies signed by the illustrator, the calligrapher and the paper-maker. Fine in the slip-case. Particularly scarce.
Lolita | Vladimir Nabokov
$530
This is the First UK Edition of Lolita, which is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The protagonist and narrator is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. Remarkably scarce.
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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.
![16回オリンピックメルボルン大会. [Japanese Newspaper Scrap Book on Melbourne Olympics in 1956].](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/books@asiabookroom.com/olympics_highres-3.jpg)
16回オリンピックメルボルン大会. [Japanese Newspaper Scrap Book on Melbourne Olympics in 1956].
$550
Scrapbook assembled by S. Tanaka in December 1965, 26 x 36.3cm, [38]pp, 4 hole string binding, hand-written title on front cover. This Japanese scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings from Japanese sources provides a detailed and engaging record of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, capturing the entire event from its earliest stages to its conclusion. The scrapbook begins with profiles of all Japanese athletes participating in the Games, followed by reports on the opening ceremony, individual sporting events, and the triumphs and disappointments experienced by Japan's competitors.
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An Austen family copy of the first edition in beautiful Regency binding. AUSTEN (Jane). Emma.
$100000
First edition. Three volumes. 12mo. Contemporary tree calf, single-rule gilt border, flat spines elaborately panelled in gilt. London, John Murray. 1816.
From the library of Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen (1829-1893), Jane Austen’s grand-nephew. It is uncommon to find Jane Austen titles in contemporary bindings and even more so with such intimate provenance.
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.
![GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI, "LA TOMBA DI NERONE" [THE TOMB OF NERO]; From "GROTTESCHI".](https://rarebookfair.com/assets/catalogues/sartoniprints@yahoo.it/PIRA-Grottesque1.jpg)
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI, "LA TOMBA DI NERONE" [THE TOMB OF NERO]; From "GROTTESCHI".
$2750
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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F.S. Smythe, The Valley of Flowers
$750
Smythe, F.S. [Frank Sydney]. The Valley of Flowers. 1st limited edition. 1938. London: Hodder & Stoughton.4to. Original cream cloth gilt; pp. xxiv (last blank), 322, with tissue-guarded colour photographic plates + 2 maps. [Neate S133]. No. 105 of a limited edition of 250 large format copies signed by the author. A little toned, but a very good copy. Originally issued in a presentation box with a sachet of seeds, both missing as usual. In 1931, Frank S. Smythe, Eric Shipton and R. L. Holdsworth discovered the valley by chance returning from a successful expedition to Kamet in Northern India.
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI, "VEDUTA DI PIAZZA NAVONA SOPRA LE ROVINE DEL CIRCO AGONALE", from "VEDUTE DI ROMA".
$6800
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI
(Mogliano Veneto 1720-Roma 1778)
"VEDUTA DI PIAZZA NAVONA SOPRA LE ROVINE DEL CIRCO AGONALE"
[THE PIAZZA NAVONA WITH S. AGNESE ON THE RIGHT]
1751
Etching
DESCRIPTION:
Original etching from the series "Vedute di Roma".
"Veduta di Piazza Navona sopra le rovine del Circo Agonale" with Santa Agnese church at right.
Piranesi first general depiction of one of the most emblematic corners of Rome, Piazza Navona, built on the ruins of the ancient Circus of Domitian (or Circus Agonale).NOTE:
Life-time Rome edition on thick laid paper, fourth state of six, with address..
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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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Grecian and Chinese Architecture Hardy Wilson
$900
Grecian & Chinese Architecture
By Hardy Wilson. 1937
No.93 of 100 copies.
50 tipped-in plates
