The importance of a place for books and collecting: “Meet the rare book and manuscript dealers who can make your collecting dreams come true”. Hordern House are delighted to be featured, along with our friend and colleague Pom Harrington on the other side of the globe, in a worldwide view -- "On the Same Page" -- an article shortly to appear in Christies International Real Estate Magazine.
read more about Christie's International Real Estate Magazine
So said the naturalist John Gould of the astonishing fauna he saw and recorded in Australia and wonderfully noted in a review of our latest catalogue in Rare Books Monthly by Michael Stillman here . More of Gould and his work with both his remarkable wife Elizabeth and fellow naturalist John Gilbert may be seen here
read more about “as if I had been transported to another planet.”
OUR NEW CATALOGUE has just been issued with a mix of subjects, including some fine illustrated natural history material.
Some of the catalogue items are examined in more detail on our website here. There are links to the relevant pages in the catalogue.
The remains of Cook's Endeavour finally identified beyond doubt.
The Australian National Maritime Museum has confirmed that the wreck in Newport Harbour, off Rhode Island, is that of Cook's ship, scuttled in the harbour as part of the American War of Independence in 1788.
See the full story here
Our latest catalogue covers in detail the La Pérouse expedition and its tragic fate: which would remain mysterious for forty years — the eighteenth century’s MH370. The catalogue describes the fourth part of the collection of a long-term client and friend of Hordern House: French voyages to 1800 (with a few additions). The subject matter also includes the voyages of Bougainville and Crozet.
Jacques Arago (1790-1855), eccentric but gifted explorer, and artist on the Freycinet expedition, set himself a very peculiar task. Signing himself “J.cques.r.go”) he set himself the downright weird mission of describing his trip throughout the world without using one very helpful vowel; the title of the work gave his conceit some trouble "Voyage autour du Monde sans la Lettre A.", but for the rest of the text he is good to his word. Thus delightful...
AS THE LOCKS ARE DISCARDED and our Island Home again takes its place on the world stage, Hordern House has chosen a selection of original maps, pictures and engravings that illustrate the diverse legacy of early European explorers and artists who charted and recorded our seas. Please view our latest catalogue here.
read more about Pictorial maritime history: a diverse and beautiful legacy.
Hordern House is pleased to share a collaboration with Michael Reid OBJECT. Travel Through Objects is a collection which has been curated by Michael Reid OBJECT to whisk us away to our past escapes, reminding us of the great explorative thirst humans have had throughout history.
Let’s travel, travel away. Let’s feel the early morning cold nipping air that reminds us we are no longer in a place that’s in time with our circadian rhythm...
Anson’s Voyage was one of the great publishing successes of the eighteenth century. The narrative, based on Anson’s own journal, was the epitome of adventure for the mid-eighteenth-century reader, and it was translated into several European languages and stayed in print through numerous editions for many years.
The voyage of 1740-1744 did not begin well: Anson arrived in Canton in 1742 with a handful of men some of whom had "turned mad and idiots", but his...
This most romantic voyage image from the 1821 French edition of Krusenstern’s Voyage Autour du Monde has been aptly described as giving a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” vision of the Pacific. This is the first French edition of the account of Krusenstern’s voyage: the beautiful atlas of plates, which appears only in this edition, ‘is very important and is difficult to obtain…’ (Hill). From our latest catalogue now online here.
Navigators who saw the future and map-makers who kept their secrets. This recent Financial Review article highlights books from a private collection we are handling for sale. Part 1 Early Voyages can be viewed here and Part 2 Imaginary Voyages here . The third part, currently in preparation, will offer a selection of English voyage books before Cook.
read more about Elon Musk has nothing on these early explorers...
The second part of a catalogue of books from a private collection and features Imaginary Voyages.
A fascinating genre--one of the quirkiest examples included is a 17th Century work in which the narrator of the tale tells of his shipwreck and how he had washed up on a floating island where he was privileged to be allowed an intimate glimpse of an hermaphrodite world. Rare, with the wonderful engraved frontispiece depicting one of the island’s cross-dressing...
read more about Imaginary Voyages and Cross-dressing courtiers
