Travel and Related Works from the Antiquariaat Forum and Asher Rare Books
- by Michael Stillman
Marie Anne Duboccage.
Item 86 is an account by a most unusual Russian explorer, Vasilii Mikjailovich Golovnin. The title is Recollections of Japan, Comprising a Particular Account of the Religion, Language, Government, Laws and Manners of the People… If it seems surprising the first edition of this work should be in English, it can be explained by Golovnin having spent three years with the Royal Navy, sent there for training by the Tsar. Golovnin set sail for the Pacific from a Baltic Sea port in 1807. When he stopped near Cape Town, he discovered that relations between England and Russia had deteriorated, and the British held him indefinitely. Realizing release was probably not forthcoming, Golovnin was able to effect a daring escape. He made it on to the Pacific and Japan, where the same thing happened. The Japanese determined he had violated their space and held Golvnin prisoner. He remained there three years, during which time he learned much about Japanese culture and natural history. He first published a book about his captivity, but this later title, published in 1819, is focused on Japan and its culture. It includes a long introduction from an anonymous English author concerning that nation's future relations with Japan. €1,250 (US $1,684).
Item 63 is an obscure epic poem about Columbus by the French author Marie Anne Duboccage. Does anyone write epic poems anymore? This format was once used regularly to provide detailed historical accounts, though often fictionalized, as is the case with Duboccage's epic work. The title is La Colombiade, ou la foi portee au Noveau Monde, published in 1756. Not quite up to reading an epic poem in French, I will rely on a description in a 1993 essay by Terence Martin. After explaining life in the Old World in great detail to the natives, in verse no less, Columbus is visited by an angel who predicts what will happen in the years ahead, or at least through 1756. He is told of all the great Renaissance figures who will appear, with an emphasis on the French ones. Much of this, in Mme Duboccage's view, is a result of the doors to knowledge opened by Columbus in his pioneering expedition. If such a prophetic angel visited Columbus, he never mentioned it in his letters, but perhaps if he had, people would have thought him crazy. €1,500 (US $2,016).
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
