Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2012 Issue

Africa from Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books

Bestebreurtje54

Africa, from Bestebreurtje Rare Books.

Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books has issued a new collection, titled List 54: Africa. This is Africa primarily from the 18th and 19th centuries, and Africa as seen through the eyes of Europeans. There is a copy of Leo Africanus' work, but otherwise, the writers were Europeans, so their views are more likely those of outsiders than natives. That is not to say they did not spend much time in this continent across the Mediterranean, nor come to know it well, but one's view of a different land can't help but be shaped by the experiences brought to it. That said, we do get early looks at life in Africa, first discoveries of interior lands previously unknown to the outside world, and some tell us of the worst things Europeans (and others) brought to Africa – the slave trade. Fortunately, we also hear from some of those who fought to abolish that horrible practice. Now, we will take a look at some of these books related to Africa.

The most notable of 18th century British explorers to Africa would have to be James Bruce. The Nile was long one of the world's most famous geological features, and yet its source remained unknown to the outside world for millennia. In 1768, Bruce set out to answer this age old question. He did not travel up the Nile from its mouth, but believing the source to be in Ethiopia, attacked the journey from that angle. It took several years, but at last he reached the source. However, credit for discovering the source of the Nile now resides with Speke, almost a century later. Bruce found the source of the Blue Nile, but most now consider that a tributary, with the White Nile considered the main branch. Bruce recounted his adventures in his book Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the Years 1768...1773. Item 39 is a first edition, though it was not published until 1790. Many challenged the accuracy of Bruce's claims (unfairly), leading him to delay for many years before putting his story to paper. Priced at €4,250 (euros, or approximately US $5,650).


William George Browne was an aspiring writer who was fascinated by the travels of James Bruce. Having access to a decent amount of money, he dropped his pen and went off to explore the regions Bruce had visited. He left England in 1792, setting out for Egypt. After a year there, he decided to go deeper into the continent, to Darfur, in today's Sudan. It was a tough place, as it is today. He spent three years there, primarily because he was not allowed to leave. Browne was the first Englishman to describe the place. From there he returned to Egypt and then traveled on to Syria. He returned home in 1798. Browne recounted his experiences in his book Travels in Africa, Egypt and Syria, from the years 1792 to 1798. He never lost the urge to travel, taking several more trips, the last resulting in his being killed by bandits in what is today Iran in 1813. Item 38 is a second and “best” edition, published in 1806. €1,250 (US $1,665).


Here is another travelogue into Egypt and surrounding areas, though an unintentional one: A series of adventures in the course of a voyage up the Red-Sea... Author Eyles Irwin was in the employ of the East India Company when he became embroiled in a controversy involving the British Governor of India. He set off for England to explain his position, but the ship he took was captured by pirates. He was taken to various places in Egypt before a sympathetic shiekh helped him obtain his freedom and make a 340-mile trek across the desert to safety. After 11 months of traveling, Irwin arrived in England, was restored to his position, and spent the remainder of his life both as an official for the East India Company, and as a poet and writer. Item 156. €950 (US $1,266).

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> CASAS (BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS). <i>La Découverte des Indes occidentales par les Espagnols,</i> Paris, 1697. €1,500 to €2,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> GARCILASO DE LA VEGA. <i>Primera parte de los commentarios reales, que tratan del orígen de los Yncas…,</i> Lisbonne, 1609 [1608 au colophon]. €8,000 to €10,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> GARCILASO DE LA VEGA. <i>Histoire des Yncas rois du Pérou. On a joint à cette édition l'Histoire de la conquête de la Floride,</i> Amsterdam, 1737. €800 to €1,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> LAET (JOHANNES DE). <i>L'Histoire du nouveau monde, ou description des Indes occidentales,</i> Leyde, 1640. €8,000 to €10,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> LAFITAU (JOSEPH-FRANÇOIS). <i>Mœurs des sauvages amériquains, comparées aux mœurs des premiers temps,</i> Paris, 1724. €1,200 to €1,500.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> ORRIO (FRANCISCO XAVIER ALEXO DE). <i>Solución del gran problema acerca de la población de las Americas,</i> Mexico, 1763. €1,500 to €2,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> [ROCHEFORT (CHARLES DE)]. <i>Histoire naturelle et morale des Îles Antilles de l'Amérique,</i> Amsterdam, 1716. €800 to €1,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> TURGOT (ANNE-ROBERT-JACQUES). <i>Mémoire sur les colonies américaines, sur leurs relations politiques avec leurs métropoles…,</i> Paris, 1791. €1,000 to €1,200.
  • <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Speed (John). <i>The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine...</i> bound with <i>The Prospect of the most Famous parts of the World,</i> Thomas Bassett & Richard Chiswell, 1676. £20,000 to £30,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> China. De Jode (Cornelis), <i>China Regnum,</i> Antwerp [1593]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> World. Hondius (Henricus), <i>Nova totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula.</i> Auct: Henr. Hondio. Amsterdam, circa 1630. £5,000 to £8,000.
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> World. Blaeu (Willem Janszoon), <i>Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula</i> auct: Guilelmo Blaeuw, Amsterdam [1635 - 58]. £5,000 to £8,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Acosta (Emanuel). <i>Rerum a Societate Iesu in Oriente gestarum ad annum usque à Deipara Virgine…,</i> 1st edition, Dillingen: Sebald Mayer, 1571. £3,000 to £5,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Ruggieri (Francesco). <i>Scelta di Architetture Antiche e Moderne della Citta di Firenze…,</i> 4 volumes bound in two, Florence, Appresso l'Editore, 1755. £3,000 to £4,000.
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Parry (William). <i>Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage,</i> 6 vols in 5, 1st editions, 1821-27. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Hunter (John). <i>A Treatise on the Blood, Inflammation, and Gun-Shot Wounds,</i> 1st edition, 1794. £1,000 to £1,500.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Furber (Robert). <i>The Flower-Garden Display'd, in above Four Hundred Curious Representations of the most Beautiful Flowers…,</i> 1st quarto edition, London, 1732. £1,000 to £1,500.
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Friedman (Milton). <i>A Theory of the Consumption Function,</i> 1st edition, 1957. £500 to £800.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Clarkson (Thomas). <i>The history of the ... abolition of the African slave-trade,</i> 2 vols., 1808. £800 to £1,200.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Civil War Pamphlets. A sammelband of 19 pamphlets relating to events of the English Civil War, 1640-1661. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • <b><center>Swann Auction Galleries<br>Printed & Manuscript African Americana:<br>March 30, 2023</b>
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Victor H. Green, <i>The Negro Motorist Green Book,</i> New York, 1949. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Papers of pianist-composer Lawrence Brown relating to Paul Robeson & more, various places, 1925-54. $5,000 to $7,500.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Freedom Summer archive of civil rights activist Karen Haberman Trusty, Atlanta & elsewhere, 1963-64. $5,000 to $7,500.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> E. Simms Campbell, <i>A Night-Club Map of Harlem,</i> New York, 1933. $8,000 to $12,000.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Archive of letters from the sculptor Richmond Barthé to a close Jamaican friend, various places, 1966-85. $25,000 to $35,000.

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