Melbourne Rare Book Fair

Doug Scott, The Ogre

$250

Scott, Doug. The Ogre. Biography of a mountain and the dramatic story of the first ascent. 1st edition. 2017. Sheffield: Vertebrate Publishing. 8vo. Original pictorial boards in dustjacket; pp. xiv, 178, with illustrations. Signed by the author. A fine copy. A full account of the first ascent of ‘The Ogre’ (Baintha Brakk), a notoriously difficult mountain in the Karakoram, by a British team in 1977, known for the absolutely epic descent by the two summit climbers, Doug Scott and Chris Bonington. This was the last of Doug‘s books to be published in his lifetime.

Ongeluckige voyagie van het schip Batavia uytgevaren onder’t beleydt van den E. Francois Pelsaert,

$55000

Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Amsterdam : Gillis Joosten Saeghman, [c.1663]. A rare early illustrated edition of Pelsaert’s account of the wreck of the Batavia. The infamous story of the wreck of the Batavia was first published in Amsterdam in 1647, and the first edition is of the utmost rarity. Five editions followed in the seventeenth century, including two pirated versions, and all of these are considered rare. The Saeghman edition is held in only two Australian collections (neither in Western Australia) and a handful of libraries internationally.

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Karski: How One Man Tried To Stop The Holocaust [Inscribed by Jan Karski to Dorothy Madden]

$1500

ORCHARD BOOKSHOP

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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A Winter Ship

$5750

ORCHARD BOOKSHOP

Plath’s first independently published poem - one of only 60 copies. Depicting a desolate scene across an unnamed harbor, this beautifully produced booklet is a true literary treasure.

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COOK, James - SAMWELL, David. A Narrative of the Death of Captain James Cook.

$365800

Peter Harrington

First edition of this black tulip in the history of Cook. Samwell sailed with Cook as surgeon on the Discovery and his is the “fullest, most detailed and most objective” account of Cook’s death, scrupulously gathered from eyewitnesses (Holmes). We have traced five copies only at auction in the last 50 years, including the present copy.

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A treatise on the culture of the vine

$35000

Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Australia [i.e. Sydney] : R. Howe, Government Printer, 1825. The first edition of the first Australian book on wine. In the introduction Busby explains that Australia had a viable future as a major wine producing country, a statement that justifies the epithet for him of ‘prophet of Australian viticulture’.

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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.

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[Flemish Book of Hours]. Book of Hours (use of Rome).

$267000

INLIBRIS

An outstanding, unpublished Book of Hours with 14 high-quality illuminations, produced around the year 1500, at the apogee of Flemish book illumination. The quality of illumination is remarkable, both in the borders and the full-page miniatures. The execution is neat and flawless. At least three different miniaturists worked on the illumination cycle of this precious Book of Hours. One main hand, however, executed almost all of the images, even the small ones, excepting only the Holy Face at the beginning and King David in Prayer towards the end of the book.

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J.R.R. Tolkien

ORCHARD BOOKSHOP

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]!

ONE OF TEN KNOWN BOOKS FROM SIR WALTER RALEGH'S PRISON LIBRARY IN THE TOWER OF LONDON. [RALEIGH (Walter).] VIGNIER (Nicolas, the younger). Theatre de L‘Antechrist.

$72000

Maggs Bros Ltd

First edition. Small Folio. 692, [14 (index/errata)] pp. Diagonal closed tear from a paper flaw in EEe2. Contemporary limp vellum, sewn on four tawed leather slips, the covers tooled in the centre with the armorial crest of Sir Walter Ralegh. [Saumur] 1610.

中華書局印刷樣本. [Chung Hwa Book Company Printing Samples Book].

$1500

Asia Bookroom

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.

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Harry Potter Bundle (First Editions) | JK Rowling

$2450

Somerset House Books

This is a very rare complete set in perfect new condition. A magnificent gift for the dedicated Potter enthusiast. In slipcase volumes, the box set is also still sealed in the publisher's cling wrap cellophane.

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Expedition Antarctique Belge. Au Pays des Manchots: Recit du Voyage de la Belgica

$1800

The Book Merchant Jenkins

Account of the captain of the RV Belgica, Georges Lecointe, the second in command of the first Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-1899. Considered the first expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. This copy bound in full vellum with a manuscript letter from Lecointe bound in.

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John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism

$9500

Michael Treloar Antiquarian Booksellers

London, Parker, Son, and Bourn, 1863 [first edition in book form]. Mill's definitive statement on moral philosophy. The text was first published as a series of three articles in 'Fraser's Magazine' in 1861; this first edition in book form is rare.

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

Asia Bookroom

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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Purdey's The Guns and the Family

$400

Sainsburys Books

History of the sporting shotgun and rifle maker firm, James Purdey & Sons. Limited to 250 copies, hand-bound in navy morocco, signed and numbered by the author and second generation proprietor, Richard Beaumont.

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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 Karla Trilogy | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, Smiley's People | John Le Carre

$1800

Somerset House Books

All First editions and First UK impressions. Together, the trilogy is in a near-fine state overall. Arguably the greatest works of fiction dealing with the Cold War ever written, unified by the ubiquitous Smiley and his Russian equivalent Karla.

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Crown Lands of Australia - Inscribed

$500

Sainsburys Books

Well-bound copy of Campbell's Crown Lands of Australia with inscription from the author to the previous owners, The Geelong Mechanic's Institure.

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City of Brisbane, Queensland.

$4750

Antique Print Map Room

Very rare, large c.19th hand coloured panorama of Brisbane depicting the wharves at Petrie’s Bight, from a vantage point near All Hallows School, by Albert Henry Fullwood (1863-1930).

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"THE GREAT COLORPLATE BOOK OF THE NORTH PACIFIC" (Forbes). CHORIS (Louis). Voyage Pittoresque autour du monde ...

$250000

Maggs Bros Ltd

First edition. Rare coloured issue. 105 lithographed plates, folding map & 2 further maps. Folio. Contemporary diced calf with gilt border, rebacked, lightly worn, some toning and spotting to plates & pale dampstaining to final six, repaired tear one plate. Paris,1822. “One of the very valuable and fundamental works on Alaska, California, and the Hawaiian islands” (Lada-Mocarski).

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee | Dee Brown

$3900

Somerset House Books

An American bestseller in hard cover for over a year post publication, selling many millions of copies and was translated into seventeen languages, Brown became a celebrated author of both fiction and non-fiction until he died in 2002.

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Lucio Fontana

$150

Sainsburys Books

Scarce monograph on the Italian avant-garde, abstract artist.

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ZLATA' PRAHA, Viktor Oliva, Czech painter and illustrator.

$750

Sartoni Antique Prints

VIKTOR OLIVA (Nové Stašecì, [Bohemia] 1861- Prague 1928) Czech painter and illustrator “ZLATA' PRAHA” c.1894 LITHOGRAPHY Original colour lithograph advertising “Zlata' Praha” (Golden Prague), a Czech illustrated literary magazine founded by poet Vítězslav Hálek, published between 1864 to 1929. An elegant woman dressed in red in a golden frame, wearing an eccentric hat and walking with a copy of "Zlata' Praha" under her left arm. Published by Imprimerie Chaix (Atelier Chéret), Paris. NOTE: Original colour lithograph printed on "Arches" paper.Blank at verso; before stamps (before publication)

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