Melbourne Rare Book Fair

Phantastica: Die Betaubenden und Erregenden Genussmittel

$800

First edition of the psychedelic classic by German pharmacologist Louis Lewin (1850-1929). Set the standard for the classification of psychoactive drugs: Inebriantia (Inebriants such as alcohol or ether), Excitantia (Stimulants such as Khat or Amphetamine), Euphorica (Euphoriants and Narcotics such as Heroin), Hypnotica (Tranquilizers such as Kava), Phantastica (Hallucinogens or Entheogens such as Peyote or Ayahuasca). Later translated into French, Italian, and English, the 1931 English edition said to be Aldous Huxley’s introduction to drug literature.

View More

Thunderball | Ian Fleming

$2100

Somerset House Books

First Edition, First Impression of the ninth book in the James Bond series, or the first in the Blofeld trilogy, is excellent for the ardent Bond followers in such a good state.

View More

雙六式國史早わかり. [Sugoroku - Quick View of Japan's History].

$650

Asia Bookroom

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.

View More

Post Office [1st UK]

$1000

ORCHARD BOOKSHOP

Bukowski's alter-ego Henry Chinaski at his finest [read most disgusting, most hilarious, most obscene, etc]. Post Office was Bukowski's first novel and his best. "It began as a mistake. It was Christmas season and I learned from the drunk up the hill, who did the trick every Christmas, that they would hire damned near anybody..."

View More

Ex Libris of Yasushi Ohmoto by Cliff Parfit

$395

The Antique Bookshop & Curios

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.

“NOUVELLE-HOLLANDE; PORT-JACKSON: FAMILLE DE SAUVAGES EN VOfYAGE”; SEBASTIAN LEROY, 1824.

$950

Sartoni Antique Prints

“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

Chart of the N. and W. Parts of Bass’s Straits

$6750

Antique Print Map Room

Rare and important, early c.19th hand coloured engraved chart by Lieutenant James Grant who was given command of the Lady Nelson with the instructions to sail her to Sydney and hand her over to Matthew Flinders.

View More

Vegetius Renatus (Flavius) THE FOURE BOOKS OF FLAVIUS VEGETIUS RENATUS.

$15000

Kay Craddock - Antiquarian Bookseller

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

PSEUDO-ARISTOTLE. Aristotle’s Master-Piece.

$36600

Peter Harrington

Rare early edition of “the first sex manual written in English” (Norman), for centuries the most popular compendium on conception, pregnancy, and childbirth. This copy has contemporary annotations by a husband and wife in the midst of conceiving and giving birth to their second child. Winifred and Francis Witham of South Normanton both inscribed the book in 1699, two years after their marriage.

View More

"THREE ABORIGINAL CHILDREN", B. E. MINNS.

$330

Sartoni Antique Prints

BENJAMIN EDWIN MINNS (Dungog, 17 November 1863 – Taronga Zoo, 21 February 1937) "THREE ABORIGINAL CHILDREN" 1926 ETCHING & AQUATINT DESCRIPTION: Original etching by B.E. Minns depicting 3 indigenous Australian children sitting on their knees in the outdoor with an arrow and a boomerang at right. Signed by the artist in pencil lower right and on the plate. NOTE:Etching and aquatint on copperplate printed on cream laid paper Signed by the artist in pencil lower right and on the plate. SIZE: 124mm(H) x 173mm(L) [plate] 202mm(H) x 254mm(L) [sheet] CONDITION: In perfect condition.

View More

The Man with the Golden Gun | Ian Fleming

$1995

Somerset House Books

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

La Nuova Olanda e la Nuova Guinea delineato sulle ultime osservazioni

$9250

Antique Print Map Room

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.

View More

Dickens (Charles) A TALE OF TWO CITIES.

$7500

Kay Craddock - Antiquarian Bookseller

With illustrations by H. K. Browne. Chapman & Hall, London, 1859. First edition in book form. Smith, Part I, 13, with all the internal flaws called for, but without the advertisement catalogue found 'in some copies'. *A Tale of Two Cities originally appeared in the weekly journal All the Year Round, from April 30 to November 26, 1859. It was also published in eight monthly parts (the last part being a double number), from June to December 1859. This was the final work illustrated by Browne for Dickens.

View More

Clark: Foreign Field Sports, Fisheries, Sporting Anecdotes, &c. &c. ... With a Supplement of New South Wales

$7500

Michael Treloar Antiquarian Booksellers

London, Published and sold by Edward Orme, 1814 and 1813. The 'Supplement of New South Wales' ('Field Sports &c. &c. of the Native Inhabitants of New South Wales, with Ten Plates, by the Author, dedicated, by permission, to Rear Admiral Bligh ...') is described by Jonathan Wantrup as 'the very first book on the Australian Aborigines, a fact not often acknowledged'.

View More

"QUEENSLAND CENSUS DISTRICTS AND SUB-DISTRICT 1891"; Collection of 76 [of 77] folded maps. Printed at the Govt. Engraving and Lithographic Office.

$6500

Sartoni Antique Prints

"QUEENSLAND CENSUS DISTRICTS AND SUB-DISTRICT 1891" Printed at the Govt. Engraving and Lithographic Office. W. KNIGHT [engraver] DESCRIPTION: "QUEENSLAND CENSUS DISTRICTS AND SUB-DISTRICT 1891", 76 [of 77] folded maps. 60 [of 61] numbered and 16 unnumbered maps, + index map and index list; with the original cover labeled: "MAPS to company REGISTER-GENERAL REPORT CENSUS 1892". Map n:5 [Etheridge] missed.

View More

THOMPSON, Theophilus. Chess Problems.

$73200

Peter Harrington

Scarce first edition of the author’s sole work, marking the starting point of chess book publishing in African American history. Born into slavery in Maryland, Thompson became a house-servant following his emancipation and learned the game in 1872 after meeting John Hanshew, later the editor of the Maryland Chess Review. Thompson published this collection of 101 prodigious problems the next year, aged 18.

The Origin Of Species By Means of Natural Selection | Charles Darwin

$2950

Somerset House Books

According to the well-credentialled Forum Auctions in London:- “The printing of 1876 is the final text as Darwin left it. The issue was limited to 1,250 copies only. This number is as small as any, being equalled only by that of the first edition and is remarkably hard to come by (Freeman pp 80-81 of F401)" So, this copy is a very good example of the Sixth 'Eighteenth Thousand' Edition but note: the actual print number as quoted has recently been disputed elsewhere and possibly may have been as many as 2000 copies. Still, very scarce with about 150 years of age patina.

View More

Inheritors: a Novel by Brian Penton.

$850

Kenneth Hince Old & Fine Books

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.

Metabolism in Architecture

$350

Sainsburys Books

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.

View More

Horace (Quintus Flaccus) QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS.

$5500

Kay Craddock - Antiquarian Bookseller

[Text in Latin]. Joannis Baskerville, Birminghamiae, 1762. First Baskerville edition. *Formerly from the library of Jeanne-Annette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764), the chief mistress of French King Louis XV. Madame de Pompadour was an influential patron of the arts and accumulated an extensive library of over 3,500 books on topics including history, philosophy, theology, music and poetry. Many were bound for her by the leading French bookbinders of the time.

View More

The Satanic Verses | Signed Copy | Salman Rushdie

$8000

Somerset House Books

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.

View More

Andy Pollitt, Punk in the Gym

$250

Mount of Alex - Arapiles Mountain Books

Pollitt, Andy. Punk in the Gym. 1st edition. 2016. Sheffield: Vertebrate Publishing. 8vo. Original black cloth in dustjacket; pp. 318, with illustrations. No. 107 of a limited edition of 200 cloth-bound copies signed by the author. A fine copy. The life story of highly talented British climber, Andy Pollitt, and his relationship with Wolfgang Gullich’s 1984 test piece Punks in Gym, an exceedingly difficult rock climb at Mt Arapiles, in Western Victoria, at the time the hardest climb in the world. Publisher, Jon Barton, rates this book his personal favorite among the Vertebrate list.