Travel
Contact Jonathan Harrison, Alex Day or Andrea Mazzocchi
We stock Western books in European languages, generally – but not exclusively – published before circa 1850. We are especially interested in early travel accounts – from the late fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries – in all areas beyond Europe.
Geographical regions in which we have tended to specialise include the Pacific and its surrounding countries – South America, the Northwest Coast of America, Japan, China, the maritime regions of Asia, including the Philippines and Indonesia, and Australia. Books on Africa, the polar regions, manuscripts and separately published maps are also handled.-
GEE, Joshua.
The trade and navigation of Great-Britain considered: shewing that the surest way for a nation to increase in riches,...
London, A. Bettesworth, C. Hitch … and S. Birt, 1738.
Fourth edition of Gee’s most important work, first published in 1729. Written at a time of declining exports, decaying agriculture and high unemployment Trade and navigation discusses foreign trade with strong protectionist tendencies. Gee is keen to improve trade with the North American colonies,...
£250
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‘G.’ [i.e. Terence Ian Fytton ARMSTRONG].
Annotations on Some Minor Writings of “T.E. Lawrence” by G.
London: W. Graves for Eric Partridge, Ltd. at the Scholartis Press, 1935.
First edition, no. 484 of 500 copies. Annotations was the second bibliographical work on Lawrence to be published, and was written by the poet, author, bibliographer, and bookseller T.I.F. Armstrong (AKA ‘John Gawsworth’), who possessed ‘a bibliographic talent that led Lawrence Durrell to...
£75
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GIOIA [or GIOJA], Melchiorre.
Indole, estensione, vantaggi della statistica. Confutazione dell’ opuscolo che ha per titolo:...
Risposta alle obbiezioni fatte alle Tavole statistiche. Milan, Pirotta and Maspero, March 1809.
First and only edition of this rare work on the nature and necessity of statistics by Melchiorre Gioia, presented by the author to the former Minister for the Interior, Daniele Felici.
£1250
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[GOLD and SILVER.]
Bando generale per gli orefici, argentieri, ed altri che comprano, vendono, ed in qualsivoglia modo...
Rome, ‘nella stamperia della Rev. Camera Apostolica’, 1815.
Rare edict governing goldsmiths, silversmiths, and traders in gold and silver operating in Rome and the Papal States, issued by Cardinal Bartolomeo Pacca (1756–1844) in January 1815 as Camerlengo to Pope Pius VII.
£475
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GONZÁLES DE MENDOZA, Juan, and Robert PARKE, translator.
The Historie of the great and mightie Kingdome of China,...
London, Printed by J. Wolfe for Edward White, 1588 [or 1589].
First edition in English, rare, of the first significant European study of China, ‘one of the outstanding “best-sellers” of the sixteenth century’ (Boxer).
£50000
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[GREAT BRITAIN: PARLIAMENT].
[Drop-head title:] ‘An act for repealing the several duties of customs and excise, and granting...
London, Charles Eyre and Andrew Strahan, 1787.
Rare first edition of the consolidation act that revolutionised British handling of customs and excise and the problem of smuggling, in line with Adam Smith’s 1776 recommendations.
£2750
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[GREECE and TURKEY.]
Sketchbook of a tour in Greece and Turkey.
May–August 1884.
An album of attractive pencil and watercolour sketches by one ‘C.A.E.’, an English traveller on a tour of Greece and Turkey in 1884.
£1500
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[GROUX, Charles Jacques (engraver).]
Planches relatives a l’instruction concernant l’exercice et les manoeuvres des...
Paris, Magimel, ‘An X’ [1801].
Second edition, expanded, of a set of French Revolutionary plates for the instruction of the cavalry. Comprising over one hundred and fifty copper-engraved plates showing cavalry horses, equipment, and manoeuvres, the present work follows a smaller publication by Magimel of the same title, issued...
£275
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GUIGNES, Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de.
Voyages à Peking, Manille et l’Île de France, faits dans l’intervalle des années 1784...
Paris, l’Imprimerie Impériale, 1808.
First edition, the complete four-volume set, containing a survey of Chinese history and customs, a narrative of the author’s journey to Beijing as part of the Dutch East India embassy in 1794–5, and a magnificent folio atlas featuring 97 beautiful illustrations and intricate maps.
£6500
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HAKLUYT, Richard.
The principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation, made by Sea or over-land,...
London, George Bishop, Ralph Newberie, and Robert Barker, 1598 [– 1600].
Second edition, first issue of ‘Hakluyt’s monumental masterpiece, and the great prose epic of the Elizabethan period’ (Penrose), complete with the section on the conquest of Cadiz by Essex (vol. I, pp. 607-619) ordered suppressed by Elizabeth I in 1599 (in ESTC state 1a).
£20000
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[HALE, Thomas, Sir William PETTY, and Samuel PEPYS?].
An Account of several new Inventions and Improvements now necessary for England,...
London, Printed for James Atwood, and are to be sold by Ralph Simpson … 1691.
First edition of Hale’s Account with several rare broadsides on the same topic – the use of milled lead (rather than cast lead, or even wood) for the sheathing of ships as a defence against worm. Thomas Hale operated a lead mill in Deptford (his brother? Charles was a leadworker) and was a...
£2750
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[HAMILTON, Joseph.]
Some short and useful Reflections upon Duelling, which should be in the Hands of every Person who is liable...
Dublin, for the Author, by C. Bentham, 1823.
First edition, scarce, of this Dublin-printed assemblage of impassioned arguments and anecdotes against the ‘desolating vice’ of duelling.
£600
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HANWAY, Jonas.
An historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, with a journal of travels from London through Russia...
London, Dodsley, Nourse, Millar, Vaillant, & Patterson, Waugh, and Willock, 1753.
First edition of Hanway’s narrative of his trade mission to Russia, Persia, and the Caspian Sea, with a contemporary bookplate bearing the names of the prominent Devon merchant and ship-owner Arthur Holdsworth and his wife.
£1400
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HAREL, Charles.
Ménage sociétaire ou Moyen d’augmenter son bien-être en diminuant sa dépense, avec indication de quelques...
Paris, Bureau de la Phalange, à la librairie Sociale, 1839.
First edition of this work by the entrepreneur and inventor Charles Harel (1771–1852), a friend and disciple of Charles Fourier’s, describing Harel’s project for the founding of an utopian community of two hundred people housed in a single building, bound with eight other works in a sammelband...
£975
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HARLINGUE, L. [Albert].
'Baktiaris Persans'.
[Iran, c. 1905-1911].
An impressive press image of the Bakhtiari tribe – revolutionaries in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911 – here posing in strength with their weapons. Their leader, Sardar As’ad Bakhtiari (1856-1917), was a key figure in the Iranian revolution; under his command (and with German...
£1500
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HAWTREY, George Procter.
Caramella. A Story of the Lotus Eaters up to date.
Bristol, J. W. Arrowsmith; London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co., [1899].
First edition of this utopian novel exploring the bliss of Caramella, inspired by the land visited by Odysseus in book nine of the Odyssey, where the crew members he sent ashore consumed the lotus fruit and became addicted, forgetting all thoughts of return.
£250
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HEBER, Reginald, and Nicolas BARKER (editor).
A Letter from India.
The Roxburghe Club, 2020.
'I do not expect that with fair prospects of eminence at home, you should go to the Ganges for a mitre,’ wrote Sir Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, President of the Board of Commissioners for Indian Affairs, in 1819 to Reginald Heber at Hodnet in Shropshire, but in vain. Despite a growing reputation...
£100
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HELMAN, Isidore-Stanislas-Henri.
Faits mémorables des empereurs de la Chine, tirés des annales Chinoises, dédiés à Madame,...
Paris, chez l’auteur … et chez M. Ponce, [1788].
Two handsome engraved works by the French engraver and printseller Helman (1743–1806/9), here on uncut sheets, the first depicting scenes from Chinese history, the second episodes in the life of Confucius (Kong Fuzi).
£6000
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HERSHBERGER, H.R.
The Horseman: A Work on Horsemanship, containing plain practical Rules for Riding, and Hints to the Reader on...
New York, R. Craighead for Henry G. Langley, 1844.
First edition of a rare military manual on horsemanship, with instructions on riding and illustrated cavalry exercises. An instructor at the United States Military Academy, Hershberger ‘endeavored to convey practical information on all equestrian exercises by an easy and progressive method’.
£450
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[HIGHLANDS.]
Fifth Report of the Commissioners for Roads and Bridges in the Highlands of Scotland.
[London, Hansard, 1811.]
A rare Parliamentary report on the construction of roads and bridges in Scotland, with a fine map by Aaron Arrowsmith showing the roads already constructed or under contract (in red) and the roads under consideration (in green).
£300