Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2012 Issue

Africa from Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books

Africa, from Bestebreurtje Rare Books.

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

  • 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.
  • Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Peter Max, Portrait of Mary Tyler Moore (Versions 1,2, 5, 6), 2001. Estimate $10,000-15,000
    DOYLE: The iconic screen-used wall-mounted "M" from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Estimate $5,000-8,000
    DOYLE: The Mary Tyler Moore Show by Al Hirschfeld. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Annie Leibovitz presents Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke for Vanity Fair. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    DOYLE: Al Hirschfeld presents Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in the CBS Wednesday Night Lineup. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    DOYLE: Richard McKenzie, Portrait of Mary Tyler Moore. Estimate $1,000-2,000
    Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Three Original Bill Hargate Costume Designs for The Mary Tyler Moore Hour. Estimate $600-800
    DOYLE: The famous Bonnie and Clyde "Wanted" broadside. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE: Ticket to the Final Episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show Estimate $400-600
  • 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

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