Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2021 Issue

Exploration and Travel from Shapero Rare Books

Exploration & Travel.

Shapero Rare Books has published a catalogue of Exploration & Travel 2021. These are mostly travels and explorations that began in Europe and took place in the 17th-19th centuries. While the majority are in the English language other European tongues are also well-represented. The table of contents has only three headings which show where most of the destinations were located: (1) Africa, (2) Greece, the Ottoman Empire & Central Asia, and (3) the rest of the world. Here is a selection of books from this latest Shapero catalogue of travels.

 

We begin with the first account in book form of David Livingstone's travels in Africa. Long before he was presumably found by Henry Stanley, the missionary explorer was roaming around parts of Africa rarely seen by anyone from the West. However, while a first, it is not a typical explorer's book. As the preface notes, “in giving the world the first authentic narrative of the important explorations of Rev. Dr. Livingstone, the publishers have to acknowledge their obligations to the spirited conductors of the British Banner, in whose columns, in detached portions, this remarkable history first appeared.” In other words, they cribbed the account. The title is A Narrative of Dr. Livingston's Discoveries in South-Central Africa, from 1849-1856, published in 1857. We can be fairly confident Dr. Livingstone did not assist in the writing of this tome nor even proofread it since his name is repeatedly misspelled throughout the book. Item 29. Priced at £1,500 (British pounds or approximately $2,100 in U.S. dollars).

 

Next we have Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African. This is the 1784 third edition. Sancho was an amazing man for his time. He was born a slave on a slaver, crossing the ocean from Africa to South America. At the age of two, his mother died and his father committed suicide. Young Sancho was taken to England and put under the care of three sisters. The Duke of Mantagu was impressed with the boy's intellect and provided him with books. Sancho later left the sisters and settled in the Duke's household. He would go on to be a literary critic, correspondent, and successful grocer. He corresponded with many of the great writers and artists of the day and his opinions were highly valued. Obviously, this was unusual, even unique, for an African in that era. He also wrote letters, gathered for this book, expressing the view that all persons should be treated equally, regardless of race or religion. These letters were compiled in a book to show that Africans had the same intellectual capacities as whites if only given the same opportunities. This would be an important work for the burgeoning abolition movement in England. Item 47. £2,250 (US $3,144).

 

I'm not sure which is the historically most important voyages undertaken, but outside of Columbus and Magellan, these would have to be top contenders. They are the three voyages to the Pacific undertaken by English navigator Capt. James Cook. The first was officially conducted to observe the Transit of Venus, but Cook then opened additional instructions that had him map New Zealand and be the first westerner to visit eastern Australia. On the second, he was sent to determine whether the long assumed huge southern continent existed. After sailing farther south than anyone before and still not finding land, he concluded that no such continent of massive size existed. Finally, his third voyage led him to chart the western coast of North America and visit Hawaii, where, unfortunately, Cook was killed by natives. Official accounts were prepared for each voyage, the first written by John Hawkesworth, Cook not having time before setting out on his second. The second was prepared by Cook, and the third by Cook and Captain James King as Cook did not survive to complete it. Item 117 is the complete set for the three voyages, eight text volumes and the atlas, all in first editions. £35,000 (US $48,933).

 

Next is an overland journey to India in the late 18th century. The title is A Journey Over Land to India, Partly by a Route Never Gone Before by any European... in a series of letters to his son. Comprehending his shipwreck and imprisonment with Hyder Alli, and his subsequent negociations and transactions in the East. The author and traveler was Donald Campbell, the book published in 1796. His route took him to Venice, Alexandria, Cypress, Aleppo, Baghdad, Basra and Bengal, which doesn't sound like the easiest journey, perhaps explaining why no one had ever gone that way before. Eventually he crossed water to India only to be shipwrecked off Goa and imprisoned. Once released, he traveled around India and eventually to China before returning home to England four years after he left. Item 71. £1,000 (US $1,397).

 

This next book is an account of what, at the time, was the farthest journey south ever to that point. However, the captain, James Waddell, was not an explorer. He was a sealer. On his first journey south, he brought back an enormous haul, but competition lessened the success of his second, and on his third, seals had become scarce, leading him to sail father south in hopes of finding uncharted land. He did not, instead finding more water, an area now known as the Waddell sea. However, in the process, he reached farther south than anyone before, besting the record of James Cook. Item 132 is A Voyage towards the South Pole, performed in the years 1822-24. This is a second edition from 1827. It adds an account of his sister ship, commanded by Captain Matthew Brisbane. Brisbane also writes about Tierra del Fuego, the islands located between South America and Antarctica. £3,500 (US $4,891).

 

Shapero Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0)20 7493 0876 or rarebooks@shapero.com. Their website is www.shapero.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

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