Rare Book Monthly
Articles - October - 2003 Issue
This Month’s New Catalogues:<br>Travels, Americana, and More
Item 103 from Helen Kahn is LaSalle’s Discoveries in North America.
Item 27 is an unusual title, Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America by William Coxe. It is the first account of various Russian discoveries, including not only Siberia but the Aleutian Islands and other Areas of western Alaska. $1,335.
Item 49 is John Hunt’s The Ascent of Everest. Hunt was the leader of the 1953 expedition in which Hillary and Norgay finally reached the summit of this peak. This first edition is signed by Hillary. $215. Item 88 is Hugh Ruttledge’s Everest 1933. This is the story of an earlier expedition which, obviously, failed. The price of failure is $550. You can read about Ruttledge’s next unsuccessful mission from 1937’s Everest: The Unfinished Adventure. Item 89. $350.
Several books are original books by authors whose names are now geographic locations. Item 58, from 1821, recounts Otto Von Kotzebue’s voyage around Cape Horn and all the way up the western coast of the Americas to Alaska. Kotzebue, Alaska, and Kotzebue Sound are among the most important locations in America on the other side of the Arctic Circle. $9,000.
Item 65 is Alexander MacKenzie’s Voyages from Montreal…He set out for the Arctic Sea via the river now known as the MacKenzie River. $7,865. No need to specify what was named after the author of item 113. A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean…recounts the late 18th century voyages along the Pacific coast of North America by Captain George Vancouver. $7,200.
Items 102 and 103 are Henri Tonti’s An Account of Monsieur de la Salle’s last Expedition and Discoveries in North America. It accounts La Salle’s last expeditions from 1678-1691 along the Gulf Coast, the mouth of the Mississippi, and describes an attempt to establish a colony in what is today Texas. The first French edition, from 1697, is priced at $27,900. The first English edition from 1698 is $14,200.
Item 104 is another major piece: Juan de Torquemada’s three-part work on Mexico. The first volume covers that country’s history, starting in the period prior to its discovery by Spain. This is a second edition from 1723. $18,000.
Helen R. Kahn and Associates can be found on the web at www.hrkahnbooks.com Phone number is 514-844-5344.
