Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2007 Issue
The Polar Regions from Aquila Books
A complete set of Cook's third and final voyage.
The physician on Kane's exploration was Dr. Isaac Hayes, and he was so intrigued by the idea of a polar sea that he led his own expedition to the north in 1860-61. Like Kane before him, Hayes got stuck in the ice, but once again observed some open waters to the north. He returned even more convinced of his completely incorrect belief in the existence of an open polar sea. However, on finally reaching contact with civilization in Greenland after a year away, Hayes discovered that his homeland had broken out in civil war. He returned to the states to serve as a surgeon in an army hospital. In 1867 Hayes published the account of his journey, The Open Polar Sea: A Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery Towards the North Pole, in the Schooner "United States". Item 54. $175.
Here is a remarkable story, and a book whose lack of popularity confirmed how remarkable it was. It is Matthew Henson's biography from 1912, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. Henson accompanied Robert Peary on what is generally believed to be the first successful expedition to the North Pole. Henson was probably the most able among the crew. When Peary made his final push to the Pole, he selected only Henson and a couple of Eskimos to make the last lap. Peary came back a hero, Henson ignored. His book sold poorly. The nation was not ready to acknowledge such feats from a black man. To his credit, Peary readily acknowledged Henson's exploits and wrote the forward to this book. Booker T. Washington provided the introduction. Item 56. $1,500.
Here is a seemingly harmless title with an ominous provenance. The book is The Antarctic Pilot. Comprising the Coasts of Antarctica... Published in 1939 by the British Hydrographer of the Navy, it charts the seas of the southern continent. However, the apparent provenance is not so harmless. It bears the orange label and swastikas of the German War Ministry. Evidently no place on earth was safe from the prying eyes of the Nazis. Item 47. $950.
Aquila Books may be found online at www.aquilabooks.com, contacted by phone at 403-282-5832, or reached by dogsled in Calgary.
Rare Book Monthly
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Sotheby’s Geek Week
14-15 JulySotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000. -
Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000