J.H. Abbott and Co. Tanners & Curriers. Manufacturers…
Bendigo: circa 1890. Quarto; stapled as issued, four leaves (including wrappers). Illustrated price-list from Bendigo boot and shoe manufacturers. More
Australia
"Habitans de la Nouvelle Hollande."
circa 1830.
Aborigines of New Holland
Handcoloured wood engraving, 100 x 75mm; Very good. Charming French hand-coloured woodcut depicting a man and woman of "New Holland". It was most likely printed as part of a series of costume plates, and may be the same as a similarly-sized woodcut of the... More
Copies of Instructions… for promoting the Moral and Religious Instruction of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of New Holland or Van Diemen's Land.
London: 23 September, 1831.
Macquarie, Brisbane & Darling on schools for Aborigines
Foolscap folio, 19 pp.; Later half roan, spine lettered in gilt. An excellent copy of a rare report, printing a decade of major dispatches from New South Wales Governors on the subjects of the Aborigines of New South... More
The Settlers' Synopsis of the Land Laws of New South Wales.
Sydney: Law Book Company, 1906.
Significant association copy
Octavo, original purple cloth (a bit flecked), interleaved with lined blanks. This copy is inscribed by the author to Australian pastoralist Henry White, whose racehorses were acclaimed on the Australian turf, with winners in the 1896 Australian Jockey Club Derby and 1900 Doncaster. More
Lecture II: On the Due Observance of the Sabbath.
Sydney: James Reading, n.d. but, 1841. Duodecimo, 24 pp.; original plain blue paper wrappers. Very scarce Sydney printing of the Reverend Adams' lecture on the Sabbath. Adams, a seaman's chaplain, delivered this sermon in the Scot's Church, Sydney on 25 July 1841. It was the second in a series of... More
Modern Voyages:
Dublin: Chamberlaine and Rice, P. Wogan and others, 1790.
Rare poetic epitaph for Captain Cook
Two volumes, with both half-titles; contemporary mottled calf, flat spines gilt and with double red and green morocco labels. A fine and attractively bound set of voyages collected and edited for the enlightenment of younger... More
Narrative of Shipwreck of the "Admella"…
Melbourne: J. H. Moulines and Co. for the Committee of the 'Admella', November 1859.
Iconic Australian shipping disaster
Octavo, frontispiece and folding map; in original blind blocked plum cloth with dramatic gilt vignette to front board bearing the slogan 'Hope to the Last.'. Only edition: the harrowing tale of the... More
Report of Commission appointed by the Governor-in-Chief to inquire into the Loss of the "Admella"…
Adelaide: W.C.Cox, Government printer, 1859.
The tragic wreck of the Admella
Foolscap folio, 36, [iv] pp., last blank, large folding map; wrappers thumbed. Uncommon: official report of the Commission tasked to investigate the appalling loss of the steamship Admella off the coast of South Australia in 1859. The tragedy marks... More
Viagem ao interior da Nova Hollanda, obra moral, critica e recreativa…
Lisbon: Vicente Jorge de Castro, 1841.
Portuguese public servant's imaginary voyage to the interior
Three volumes bound in one, small octavo; some wear to the edges of the boards and a library reference at head of spine, an attractive copy in contemporary quarter calf. A rare Portuguese imaginary voyage to... More
Viagem ao interior da Nova Hollanda, obra moral, critica e recreativa… Por V.J.A.
Lisbon: Vicente Jorge de Castro; Sociedade Propagadora dos Conhecimentos Uteis, 1841.
The pernicious contagion of immorality
Three volumes bound in one, small octavo; in contemporary marbled sheep preserved in folding cloth case. A rare Portuguese imaginary voyage to Australia, not recorded by most of the commentators on the genre. In... More
The South Australian Almanack and General Colonial Directory, for 1849.
Adelaide: Andrew Murray, 1849.
With map of the "Settled portions" and details of mines
Octavo, folding frontispiece map with outline colouring, xl, 220 pp., (including directory and advertisements), with a folding table of goods and prices bound in; in plain brown cloth (if not original certainly of the period). A... More
The Royal South Australian Almanack and General Directory for 1840…
Adelaide: Robert Thomas and Co., December, 1839.
The second South Australian almanac
Octavo, 150, xii pp., original printed limp linen wrappers; folding Sangorski quarter brown morocco case. Ferguson notes this is the second South Australian almanac.The work includes the important and very early botanical series of lectures by George Stevenson... More
Nouvel Alphabet. Instructif et pittoresque...
Paris: Théodore Lefévre, circa 1880.
Kangaroo with a striped tail
Quarto; frontispiece, 48pp., handcoloured illustration throughout, original papered stiff boards. French children's primer, comprising an illustrated alphabet, grammatical games, and short tales of moral instruction. The illustrated examples accompanying the alphabet are entirely birds and animals, and refreshingly the letter... More
Alphabet de l'Histoire des Animaux, orné de 27 gravures.
Paris: Brianchon Libraire, circa 1820.
French menagerie, with kangaroo after Stubbs
Octavo, 6 pp., handcoloured engravings throughout; in original pictorial wrappers. Very early fully engraved Abecedaire for children containing a quaint illustration of the kangaroo derived from the classic image by George Stubbs. The rear cover has a particularly good... More
Complete set of French nineteenth-century children's alphabet blocks.
France: circa 1870.
Three-dimensional alphabet game
Game comprising 24 timber blocks, each papered with illustrations on each face, with six chromolithographic paper guiding sheets each measuring 177 x 262 mm., original box with papered lid. French alphabet blocks, comprising a game for children wherein the blocks are rearranged on their... More
Historiale description de l'Ethiopie…
Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1558.
One of the great Renaissance travel books: the Southern Cross, Ethiopia & Prester John
Small octavo, printed in italic and roman letter, xxx, [2], 341 leaves numbered on rectos only, with a woodcut of the stars of the Southern Cross and six woodcut plans of Ethiopian... More
Australien Natur och Kultur - Studier och Minnen.
Stockholm: Hugo Gebers förlag, 1915.
Eucalypts and minerals, gold and sheep
Octavo, with 48 plates and two colour maps, original green cloth with attractive gilt blocked kangaroo motif. An excellent copy of this generously illustrated survey of Australia's agriculture and natural resources by the long-serving secretary of the Swedish Society... More
A Ramble in Malta and Sicily, in the Autumn of 1841.
London: Tyler & Reed for Smith, Elder & Co, 1842.
Angas' first illustrated work
Royal octavo, chromolithographic additional title by Angas, printed by M. and N. Hanhart, engraved dedication plate, 12 tinted lithographic plates by Angas, two wood-engraved illustrations; in original green cloth, all edges gilt. First edition of Angas'... More
Captn James Cook F.R.S
Philadelphia: (Dobelbower, Key and Simpson), 1796. Engraved portrait, 155 x 100 mm. Oval engraved portrait of Cook in profile.Originally issued in The World Displayed, or A Curious Collection of Voyages and Travels Selected and Compiled from the Writers of all Nations by Smart, Goldsmith & Johnson. More
Promotional booklet; drop-title "South Australia"… "By an Old Colonist".
Adelaide: no publisher, circa 1858.
'England in miniature - England without it's poverty'
Duodecimo pamphlet, as issued without wrappers, 12 pp. (last blank), blue tinted paper stock. Scarce pamphlet printed to promote the colony. Anonymously compiled 'by an old Colonist', the booklet comprises various parts gleaned from several sources. First... More
The History of New Holland, from its First Discovery in 1616, to the Present Time.
London: John Stockdale, 1790.
An essential book for First Fleet collectors
Quarto, paginated [lxxix] - clxxv; folding map; later black half roan, bookplate of Henry White. An essential First Fleet book, widely considered the best guide to the establishment of a penal colony in New South Wales: 'an extremely interesting... More
The History of New Holland, from its First Discovery in 1616, to the Present Time…
London: John Stockdale, 1787.
First Fleet sails for New South Wales
Octavo, with two folding handcoloured maps; bound in contemporary marbled boards (rebacked retaining original crimson label) from the Westport House library with Browne family armorial bookplate. Published on the eve of the departure of the First Fleet for New... More
The History of New Holland, from its First Discovery in 1616, to the Present Time…
London: John Stockdale, 1787.
First Fleet sails for New South Wales
Octavo, with two folding maps, finely handcoloured in outline, pp. i -xxiv, (lacks advertisement leaves), 254; modern half calf, marbled boards. First edition. Published on the eve of the departure of the First Fleet for New South Wales, this... More
Physionomies Nationales des Peuples…
Paris: Delaunay, c. 1810.
Peoples of the world, and their characters shown on their faces
Duodecimo, 25 engraved plates (all hand coloured); mottled pink wrappers. First edition of this fascinating French physiognomical study of the peoples of the world, which compares the facial structures and features of various European races... More
Impressment order to Captain Charles Windham…
London: Office of Admiralty, 10 December 1745.
With a particularly good example of Anson's signature
Printed sheet completed in manuscript, 395 x 235 mm. A rare example of one of the Admiralty-printed orders relating to impressment as promulgated in 1745. This particular example was made out to Captain Windham commanding... More