William Dye was an American who served in many military and other governmental roles throughout his life. A graduate of West Point in 1853, he served first on the frontier, then with the Union army in the Civil War, back to the frontier, and finally, after leaving the army, joined up with the Egyptian General Staff in 1873. The book here offered, Moslem Egypt and Christian Abyssinia, covers this period of his life. Dye would go on to be Chief of Police in Washington, D.C., and Chief Military Advisor to the Korean Government before he died in 1899. This copy comes with an inscription from Dye. Item 135. £380.

Item 203 is the official Report on the United States Mexican Boundary Survey by William Emory. Included are maps, lithographs, and woodcuts. It was prepared in 1857. £600.

Item 359 offers the first U.S. edition of Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s The Worst Journey in the World. Antarctic 1910-1913. The title is no exaggeration. Cherry-Garrard was the sole survivor of Robert Scott’s ill-fated expedition and the experience left him permanently scarred, wondering if he couldn’t have done more to save his comrades. £1,850.

Bernard J. Shapero can be found online at www.shapero.com And, in a very clever online addition to their printed catalogues, you can go to www.shapero.com/catalogues to see images of each item described in their catalogue.