NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES OF THE POLAR SEA in the Years 1819, 20, 21, and 22. With an Appendix on Various Subjects Relating to Science and Natural History. Illustrated by Numerous Plates and Maps by Franklin, John - 1823

London: Printed For John Stockdale & George Goulding, 1789., 1789. 4to. pp. xii, 384, xl. 1 large folding engraved general chart, 5 other folding engraved charts & plans, engraved frontis. portrait & 13 engraved plates. contemporary calf, rebacked (slight staining along folds of 2 maps & to top edge of 2 plates – supplied). First Edition. Nathaniel Portlock and William Dixon, both veterans of Captain Cook’s third voyage to the Pacific in 1776-80, were engaged in 1785 by the King George’s Sound Company, to investigate reports of the lucrative fur trade on the northwest American coast and establish a trade on their behalf. Their major accomplishment, however, was the more detailed exploration and mapping of the coast and improving of Cook’s charts of the region. On the voyage out, visits were made to the Falkland and Hawaiian Islands. The two ships later separated and sailed independently for a major part of the expedition, Portlock exploring northward up along the… Read More

London: Moses Pitt, 1686. First Edition in English. Hardcover. Minor soiling and wear, Near Fine. Folio (7-3/4" x 12-1/8") bound in later calf leather recently and sympathetically rebacked with a gilt-decorated spine preserving the original morocco spine label; [xviii], 264, 331-417, [9], 154, [6] pages. Complete with the frontispiece portrait of the author, an additional engraved title-page, a folding engraved map of the Black Sea and surrounding countries, and 16 plates, 11 of which are folding, along with a couple of engravings in the text. Published in English and French concurrently in 1686 as Part I of the Travels. Three other volumes, with the general title page VOYAGES DE MONS. LE CHEVALIER CHARDIN were published in Amsterdam in 1711. The last volume, announced by Chardin in his preface to this edition, was never published. THE CORONATION OF SOLYMAN III. THE PRESENT KING OF PERSIA, at the end of this volume, is a translation of Chardin's LE COURONNEMENT DE SOLEIMAN TROISIÈME, first… Read More

361, 3, 12, 6 p. One of the most rare travel books printed in al Jawa'ib printing house by the author Ahmad Faris Efendi al Shidyaq. In fine modern dark green full leather binding of Islamic Mamluk style decoration. The author who was a well-known sholar in Arabic literature and later embraced Islam, came from a famous Maronite family in Mont Libanon. He moved to Istanbul during the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Aziz era where he established al Jawa'ib printing house to print the first political Arabic newspaper in the same name of the printing house. Approx. 1040 issues were published of al Jawa'ib newspaper, then a collection of important news and articles from the newspaper were published in al Jawa'ib also by Ahmad Faris's nefew, Selim Faris in 7 volumes. (for a copy of Muntakhabat al Jawa'ib see : inventory no. 00060).

London: printed by A. Godbid and J. Playford, for Moses Pitt at the Angel in S. Paul's Churchyard, 1680. First edition in English (originally published in Paris in French the previous year); folio, 2 parts in 1; pp. [22], 14, [4], 15-46, [4], 47-87, [1]; 66, [2]; collating [a]² b-e² chi1, B⁴ C⁴(C3+[chi]1,2) D-F⁴ G⁴(G3+[chi]1,2) H-M⁴, ²B-I⁴, ²K²; preliminary and terminal advertising leaves, 8 engraved folding plates, engraved folding map of Japan (with inset map of Tunquin), woodcut initials and ornaments; "A relation of Japon," (caption title) begins new pagination with quire B; contemporary full calf, later red leather label on spine; very good. A sequel, of sorts, to Tavernier's more famous Les Six Voyages de J. B. Tavernier (2 vols., Paris, 1676), containing an account of Japan, "gathered from merchants and others, and one of Tongking, derived from the observations of his brother Daniel, who had shared his second voyage and settled at Batavia; and it also contains a violent attack… Read More

London : Thomas Bennet; John Nicholson; and Daniel Midwinter, 1705 A good copy of the 1st edition in recent full panelled calf bindings with 9 maps, 21 (of 22) plates, 2 frontispieces (one with loss) and 8 engravings in the text. John Harris (1633-1719) was an anglican priest and scientist, specialising in mathematics. He was admitted as an FRS in 1696. His written works were well-regarded and popular and Navigantium was published in 2 further enlarged editions. The 1st edition is relatively scarce and is sought after particularly for the first printings of the Moll maps. The bindings are in near fine clean condition with gilt-lined raised bands to the spine with gilt decoration in the compartments and title and volume labels. There is light scuffing. Internally new endpapers and blanks have been added. This set has been matched against the reference copy held by the Hathi Trust and matches it apart from a misplaced plate, a missing plate, a small misbound section in the appendix and a misplaced map… Read More

London: Printed For John Stockdale & George Goulding, 1789., 1789. 4to. pp. xii, 384, xl. 1 large folding engraved general chart, 5 other folding engraved charts & plans, engraved frontis. portrait & 13 engraved plates. contemporary calf, rebacked (slight staining along folds of 2 maps & to top edge of 2 plates – supplied). First Edition. Nathaniel Portlock and William Dixon, both veterans of Captain Cook’s third voyage to the Pacific in 1776-80, were engaged in 1785 by the King George’s Sound Company, to investigate reports of the lucrative fur trade on the northwest American coast and establish a trade on their behalf. Their major accomplishment, however, was the more detailed exploration and mapping of the coast and improving of Cook’s charts of the region. On the voyage out, visits were made to the Falkland and Hawaiian Islands. The two ships later separated and sailed independently for a major part of the expedition, Portlock exploring northward up along the… Read More

London: Moses Pitt, 1686. First Edition in English. Hardcover. Minor soiling and wear, Near Fine. Folio (7-3/4" x 12-1/8") bound in later calf leather recently and sympathetically rebacked with a gilt-decorated spine preserving the original morocco spine label; [xviii], 264, 331-417, [9], 154, [6] pages. Complete with the frontispiece portrait of the author, an additional engraved title-page, a folding engraved map of the Black Sea and surrounding countries, and 16 plates, 11 of which are folding, along with a couple of engravings in the text. Published in English and French concurrently in 1686 as Part I of the Travels. Three other volumes, with the general title page VOYAGES DE MONS. LE CHEVALIER CHARDIN were published in Amsterdam in 1711. The last volume, announced by Chardin in his preface to this edition, was never published. THE CORONATION OF SOLYMAN III. THE PRESENT KING OF PERSIA, at the end of this volume, is a translation of Chardin's LE COURONNEMENT DE SOLEIMAN TROISIÈME, first… Read More

London: printed by A. Godbid and J. Playford, for Moses Pitt at the Angel in S. Paul's Churchyard, 1680. First edition in English (originally published in Paris in French the previous year); folio, 2 parts in 1; pp. [22], 14, [4], 15-46, [4], 47-87, [1]; 66, [2]; collating [a]² b-e² chi1, B⁴ C⁴(C3+[chi]1,2) D-F⁴ G⁴(G3+[chi]1,2) H-M⁴, ²B-I⁴, ²K²; preliminary and terminal advertising leaves, 8 engraved folding plates, engraved folding map of Japan (with inset map of Tunquin), woodcut initials and ornaments; "A relation of Japon," (caption title) begins new pagination with quire B; contemporary full calf, later red leather label on spine; very good. A sequel, of sorts, to Tavernier's more famous Les Six Voyages de J. B. Tavernier (2 vols., Paris, 1676), containing an account of Japan, "gathered from merchants and others, and one of Tongking, derived from the observations of his brother Daniel, who had shared his second voyage and settled at Batavia; and it also contains a violent attack… Read More

London : Thomas Bennet; John Nicholson; and Daniel Midwinter, 1705 A good copy of the 1st edition in recent full panelled calf bindings with 9 maps, 21 (of 22) plates, 2 frontispieces (one with loss) and 8 engravings in the text. John Harris (1633-1719) was an anglican priest and scientist, specialising in mathematics. He was admitted as an FRS in 1696. His written works were well-regarded and popular and Navigantium was published in 2 further enlarged editions. The 1st edition is relatively scarce and is sought after particularly for the first printings of the Moll maps. The bindings are in near fine clean condition with gilt-lined raised bands to the spine with gilt decoration in the compartments and title and volume labels. There is light scuffing. Internally new endpapers and blanks have been added. This set has been matched against the reference copy held by the Hathi Trust and matches it apart from a misplaced plate, a missing plate, a small misbound section in the appendix and a misplaced map… Read More

71 pages with two fold-out maps, one fold-out plan, and four fold-out views. Octavo (8" x 6 1/4") bound in vellum like material with hand lettering to spine. (Sabin 77961) Third Vlasblom edition of Schouten's diary. This account of Schouten's voyage was first printed in Dutch in 1617. All editions of great rarity.Willem Schouten, Dutch explorer whose 1615–16 expedition discovered a new route, the Drake Passage, around the southern tip of South America, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific.
The Dutch East India Company held a monopoly on all East Indies trade by ships routed through the Strait of Magellan when, in 1615, an Amsterdam merchant, Isaac Le Maire, mounted an expedition to find a new route to the Pacific. His son Jakob and veteran sea captain Schouten led the voyage that set sail in May 1615 with two ships—the second piloted by Schouten's brother Jan. By December they reached the far southeastern coast of South America, where the smaller ship caught fire and had to be abandoned.… Read More