Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2011 Issue

18th Century Voyages and Travels from Hordern House

18th century voyages and travels.

18th century voyages and travels.

Hordern House has released an extensive catalogue of Eighteenth-Century Voyages & Travels. By the 18th century, European sea exploration was already over two centuries old, and most areas of the world were at least roughly understood. However, this was the period of great learning about the world, as explorers now brought back detailed scientific and social data, describing the natural history and peoples of far off lands. It was also the period in which final misunderstood details of the globe were filled in, including a complete look at Australia, the charting of the west coast of North America, and the debunking of the myth of a giant southern continent. It was the period when the Age of Discovery evolved to an age of understanding.

 

Hordern House's catalogue is divided into six sections:  Collections of Voyages, Early 18th Century Voyages, Voyages of Captain James Cook, Late 18th Century Voyages, The Pacific, and Imaginary Voyages. It is filled with important material, first and other early, mostly contemporary editions of accounts of important travels. Hordern House is located in Australia, so these voyages primarily reach the Pacific, but interest in these discoveries reaches far beyond that most isolated of continents. Most of the trips emanated from Europe, and the Pacific covers a wide swathe of territory, including the west coast of North and South America, Hawaii and numerous islands, and eastern Asia. Here are a few of the works of 18th century travel being offered by Hordern House.

 

Perhaps the greatest of all English explorers was James Cook, whose three journeys to the Pacific brought back a wealth of knowledge, particularly about Australia, the American Northwest, and the discovery of Hawaii. It was Cook who disproved the predominant theory that there was a massive southern continent. He disproved if by sailing deep into the territory it was thought to encompass. There are 116 items in this catalogue pertaining specifically to Cook and his discoveries. However, the British Captain made a totally different type of discovery that was of enormous importance to those who embarked on long sea journeys. At the time, the scourge of all sailors was scurvy, a disease caused by lack of vitamin C. It results in various debilitating symptoms, and eventually, death. Fresh fruits, particularly citrus, are the best preventatives, but fresh fruits could not be kept for long periods of time, and voyages those days took months if not years. Cook discovered that sauerkraut and malt did much to prevent scurvy among his men. These may not be as good as lemons and limes, but unlike the latter, it was one of the few pickled foods that lasted long periods of time while retaining some of their vitamin C content. Cook prepared a paper on his findings that was read to the Royal Society by Sir John Pringle, as Cook was off on his third journey by the time the presentation was made. Item 29 is the very rare first printing of Cook's findings, A Discourse upon some Late Improvements in the Health of Mariners, published in 1776. Item 29. Priced at AU $64,000 (Australian dollars, or roughly $68,442 in U.S. dollars).

 

Alexander Dalrymple was the first hydrographer (chart maker) for the Royal Navy, an expert in geography and navigation. However, he made one major mistake, and suffered one major disappointment, and these came together to produce this rare, vitriolic piece:  A Letter from Mr. Dalrymple to Dr. Hawkesworth, occasioned by Some groundless and illiberal Imputations in his Account of the late Voyages to the South, published in 1773. Dalrymple's major mistake was his belief in the existence of a large southern continent. He was the theory's primary proponent. His major disappointment was not being placed in command of the expeditions that were given to Cook. Dalrymple wanted to be elevated to Captain, the Navy declined, Dalrymple turned down the command, which then went to Cook. Hawkesworth compiled the official account of Cook's first journey, Cook being too busy with preparations for his second trip to prepare it himself. This account implied that there was no southern continent, a claim which enraged Dalrymple. Hawkesworth would later respond that the account was based on Cook's observations, not his own. While Dalrymple's diatribe was directed at Hawkesworth, his resentment was likely really intended more for Cook, who won the job he had wanted. A few years later, Cook would return from his second voyage with the final proof needed to debunk Dalrymple's massive southern continent theory. Item 95. AU $132,500 (US $141,747).

Rare Book Monthly

  • Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Th. McKenney & J. Hall, History of the Indian tribes of North America, 1836-1844. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Biblia latina vulgata, manuscript on thin parchment, around 1250. Est: €70,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. Beckmann, Fanferlieschen Schönefüßchen, 1924. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: A. Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1574. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. S. Merian, Eurcarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis, 1717-18. Est: €6,000
    Ketterer, May 26: PAN, 9 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: €12,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Breviarium Romanum, Latin manuscript, 1474. Est: €15,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Quran manuscript from the Saadian period, Maghreb, 16th century. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer, May 26: E. Hemingway, The old man and the sea, 1952. First edition in first issue jacket. Presentation copy. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De re militari libri quatuor, 1553. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer, May 26: K. Marx, Das Kapital, 1867. Est: €30,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Brassaï, Transmutations, 1967. Est: €6,000
  • Leland Little, May 21: Signed Artist Proof of the Monumental G.O.A.T.: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali.
    Leland Little, May 21: Assorted Rare Publications Related to H.P. Lovecraft, Including The Recluse Signed by Vincent Starrett.
    Leland Little, May 21: Two Issues of The Vagrant, Including the First Appearance of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon" in Number Eleven.
    Leland Little, May 21: Rare First Printing of Anne of Green Gables, With ALS from the Author.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, In First Issue Jacket.
    Leland Little, May 21: The Limited Paumanok Edition of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman.
    Leland Little, May 21: Beautifully Bound Limited Flaubert Edition of The Works of Guy de Maupassant.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Bonaparte's Celebrated American Ornithology, With Spectacular Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Rare Complete Set of Jardine's The Naturalist's Library, With Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: Invitation to the Lincoln-Johnson National Inaugural Ball, March 4th, 1865.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Scarce Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name.
    Leland Little, May 21: Picasso's Le Goût du Bonheur, Limited Edition.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli: Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€
    Gonnelli: Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €
    Gonnelli: Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€
    Gonnelli: Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€
    Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€
    Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€
    Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€
  • Swann, May 15: Lot 4: Helena Bochoráková-Dittrichová, Z Mého Detství Drevoryty, Prague: Obzina, 1929. First trade edition, signed by the artist. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 10: Nancy Cunard, Negro Anthology, with a tipped-in A.L.S. to Karl Marx's niece, 1934. First edition. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 14: Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, 1845. First edition. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 17: Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, inscribed first edition, 1959. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 28: Margaret Hill Morris, Private Journal Kept during a Portion of the Revolutionary War, for the Amusement of a Sister, 1836. First edition. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 38: Anna Sewell, Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, 1877. First edition. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 43: Gertrude Stein, Portrait of Mabel Dodge at the Villa Curonia, signed presentation copy with photograph of Stein, 1912. First edition. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 48: Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, first edition in the scarce dust jacket, 1927. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 54: Katherine Dunham, large archive of material from her attorney, 1951-53. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 55: Margaret Fuller Signed Autograph Letter, New York City, 1846. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 92: Sonia Delaunay, illus. & Tristan Tzara, Juste Present, deluxe edition with original gouache, 1961. $20,000 to $25,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 93: Flor Garduño, The Sonnets of Shakespeare, 2006. Limited edition. $6,000 to $8,000.

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