Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2012 Issue

Travel Books and Photographs from The Wayfarer's Bookshop

From Vancouver to New York.

From Vancouver to New York.

The Wayfarer's Bookshop recently printed a catalogue for the New York Antiquarian Book Fair 2012. It is filled primarily with travel material. This makes sense, since Wayfarer's had to make the long trek from British Columbia, Canada, to New York. One suspects, however, they made the journey much more rapidly than most of the explorers found in this catalogue. These are mostly people who traveled the world in the days when journeys were made by boat, powered by sails. The travels were difficult, but the discoveries immense. There was still much new to be found a few centuries ago. The newer material offered is frequently in the form of photograph albums, from the 19th century to the early 20th. Here are some of these early trips.

We begin with Description du Penible Voyage... the second French edition of Olivier van Noort's circumnavigation (published in 1610). Van Noort set out for South America, to do some trading and privateering. He crossed the Strait of Magellan, and up the west coast of America as far as California. He crossed the Pacific to the Philippines, visited Java and Sumatra, and eventually returned home in 1601, three years after he started. Along the way he lost three of his ships and more than 4 out of every 5 men. It was not the most successful journey ever recorded, but it was the first Dutch, and only the fourth circumnavigation. Additionally, it was an inspiration to the Dutch, leading the way to the development of the Dutch East India Company. Priced at $27,500.

Next comes the first French circumnavigation, that of Louis Antoine de Bougainville, from 1766-1769 – Voyage autour du monde... (second and “best” edition). Bougainville settled the Falkland Islands earlier, but the French later agreeing to cede them to Spain, Bougainville delivered their possession to Spain. He then circled under South America and proceeded on to several Pacific Islands. It was his description of Tahiti that led many to conceive of it as some sort of island paradise, home to the “noble savage.” Bougainville did not make many important discoveries, but did bring back a load of information. This copy is bound with the Supplement au voyage de M. De Bougainville... This is not actually a supplement to Bougainville at all. It is the anonymously written account of Cook's first voyage by James Magra. Magra hid his identity as he published it ahead of the official account, against the Navy's rules. It was labeled a supplement to Bougainville in the French edition as it was believed this would help sell more copies to the French. $4,750.

The next major French voyager would be Jean-Francois de la Perouse. La Perouse was on an extensive journey that brought him to the Americas, Hawaii, Russia, Japan, China, and finally Australia. He visited with the British at Botany Bay, and then headed east, never to be heard from again. A few years later, the French sent out a rescue mission, under the command of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux. It never found a trace of La Perouse, but it did come back with a lot of information about Australia and the region. Serving as naturalist of that voyage was Jacques Labillardiere. This is a first octavo edition (1800) of his account, Relation du Voyage a la Recherche de La Perouse... There was also a quarto edition, which may have preceded the octavo, or may have been published simultaneously. $8,750.

Eventually, La Perouse's fate would be learned, though it came quite by accident. Peter Dillon was a trader navigating the south seas 40 years later when he was shown some goods in the Santa Cruz islands. He quickly concluded that these might have come from La Perouse's ships. He asked where they were found, and was sent to Vanikoro Island. He found the remains of the ships, wrecked on a reef, and was told they had gone down in a storm. Voyage aux Iles de la Mer du Sud... is a first French edition of Dillon's account, published in 1830. $2,500.

Here is a photographic album from what is today Zimbabwe and Zambia, but a century ago was Rhodesia. It contains 46 photos circa 1905 from British colonial rule. There are several pictures of Victoria Falls, boaters waiting to take passengers across the Zambesi River, the as yet unfinished Victoria Bridge, and views from the photographer's hotel. The area had become a major tourist attraction. There are also views from Bulawayo and other locations. There is a picture of Rhodesia founder Cecil Rhodes' grave. Rhodes had died only a couple of years earlier. $2,750.

This is a guidebook to Rome, though it may be a bit dated. It was published in 1515. Opusculum de mirabilibus novae & veteris urbis Romae was written by Francesco Albertini, a chaplain in Rome. It was to assist pilgrims to the city. It covers the topography of both ancient and modern Rome, information about the archeological excavations, a description of the Vatican Library, and more. However, what is most notable is his brief mention of Amerigo Vespucci. It translates to, “Albericus Vespulcius...first discovered new islands and unknown countries, as is plainly set forth in his book, where he describes the stars, and the new islands, as is also seen in the Letter upon the New World, addressed to Lorenzo de Medici the Younger.” $5,750.

The Wafarer's Bookshop, of West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, may be reached at 604-921-4196 or wayfarers@shaw.ca. Their website is found at www.wayfarersbookshop.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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.
  • 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

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