The Voyage of Captain John Saris to Japan, 1613 by Saris, Captain John; Edited from Contemporary Records by Sir Ernest M. Satow - 1900

New York: Selmar Hess This heavy volume was one of a series of books on geography, history, and travel published by Selmar Hess of New York. Although undated, my research of similar volumes in this series indicates that it was published between 1866 and 1875. It's notable for hundreds of beautiful mid-19th Century illustrations, many of which are engravings with original tissue guards. However, the illustrations with tissue guards often have foxing, particularly in the margin areas, possibly as a result of acidity in the tissue guards themselves. The other illustrations and pages are mainly free of foxing. Countries and cities featured in this particular volume (Volume 4), include Norway; Tripoli; St. Petersburgh, Russia; Lebanon including Beyrut (Beirut) and the Cedars of Lebanon; Mexico; New Caledonia (French); Portugal; Athens, Greece; The Bermudas; West Indies; British Guiana; Isthmus of Panama; and Denmark. This unusual book is in Very Good - condition. The decorative brown cloth covers… Read More

1871. BUCHANAN, Robert. THE LAND OF LORNE: OR, A POET'S ADVENTURES IN THE SCOTTISH HEBRIDES, INCLUDING THE CRUISE OF THE "TERN" TO THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 2 volumes in one. New York: Francis B. Felt & Co., 1871. 384 pp. 12mo., green cloth with gilt spine lettering and cover vignette. Very good, spine nicked with minor shelfwear at heel and crown. Gilt details bright. Missing front flyleaf. Photo reproduction double portrait frontispiece with tissue guard. Title page bears tiny ink number at top right. Interior clean. Charming book and an appealing copy.

London: Adam and Charles Black, 1908. 1st. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Dust Jacket. Clean and intact. Price and dated inscription in pencil to front endpaper. Decorative blue cloth cover very nice, with cover illustration (of a woman on a horse) clean and bright. Please see image. 70 pages.

Volume 1 of Burney's 5 volume history of the exploration of the Pacific Ocean. 1803. Volume is ex-library copy with library stamps of University of California dated 1870 and found on title page, p.57 and p.131. Soundly bound in modern blue buckram. Collation: Title page, xii, [8], 391 with 5 maps and modern end blanks. Overall condition is good with some condition issues. All repairs described are professionally done. Title page rehinged. Frontis map and map opposite p. 277 are original. Frontis map is rehinged. 3 maps bound at end are professional full size reproductions (image of California map is provided). Appendix (pgs. 385-391) is also professional reproduction. Page 20 has closed tear repaired with rice paper. Water stain at head of spine waxes and wanes on pages 121-146, and 193-249; occasionally encroaching on text. Ink stain margin of p.220-21. Stain of indeterminate origin penetrating margins of p.273-78. On the plus side: binding is sound, volume is (now) complete, pages are wide margined… Read More

Barcelona, Maucci, 1903
8º. 2 vol. Tomo I: XV pp + 421 pp; Tomo II: 291 pp. 243 ilustraciones, 2 panoramas, 3 mapas, 1 plano en color. Holandesa de época en tela, con grabado seco al frente y en verso, lomo en piel con títulos en dorado. Excelentes condiciones. Narración muy completa con episodios de caza, aventuras y técnicas de supervivencia. Contiene fotografía de la isla de Northbrook (75 x 24), foto de la bahía de Teplitz (98 x 24), 1 mapa litográfico de la misma bahía, 1 mapa de la ruta de H. Cagni,

London: Jonathan Cape [1936], 1st printing of the new edition. (4to) 166pp. plus xl plates. Very good, no dust jacket. Rust cloth with gilt titles. The top edge is stained rust, 2 maps, 40 plates, illustrations, folding plan, index. Contributors include M.N. Tod (Inscriptions from Southern Palestine; Greek). Introduction by Frederic Kenyon. Locale: Middle East. (History--Africa).

Cape Town: A.A. Balkema [0-86961-123-2] [1980]. (4to) 456pp. Fine in near fine dust jacket. Illustrations, photographs, maps, plans, bibliography, index. The spine of the dust jacket is very lightly sunned. Locale: Cape Town; South Africa. (Architecture).

New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1894. Presumed First. Hardcover. Very Good +. 2 volumes. Vol 1 - xxii, plus 296 pages. Vol 2 � xii, plus 303 pages. 6 x 9 in. Blue cloth, with gilt lettering and designs on spines, gilt design on covers. Tissue-protected frontispieces in Vol 1 and 2. Numerous b&w illustrations. Condition is VERY GOOD+, with some very slight bending to ends of spines, corners very slightly worn, some faint staining on both covers. Owner�s large bookplate in 1 and 2 (messy glue to one). Very tight, clean copies. ETS.

Near fine: a couple of very minor scratches on spine, a little fraying at head of spine, slipcase shows a little shelf wear. Interior of volume and front and back boards are pristine.This volume was a personal gift from Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (1923 - 2005) to the eminent medievalist Kenneth M. Setton (1914 – 1995) on the occasion of a visit by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace to her hometown of Philadelphia in the 1960's. (Professor Setton was at the time Director of Libraries at the University of Pennsylvania.) Bound into the volume is the prince's card, with a note in his handwriting to professor Setton.This is a deluxe binding on heavy hand-laid paper with deckled edges and gilt page tops. It is one of a limited number of copies; this copy however is not numbered, apparently because it came from the royal family. It appears to be similar to the 400 Papeteries du Marais exemplars as the pages do not bear the watermarked arms of the Grimaldi family. This edition was published on 11… Read More

No Dust JacketBook ConditionFlaw: Gift dedication inscription in red sharpie on last free endpaper (photo). The remainder of this 15-year-old book is "Near New" condition. This massive and beautifully bound presentation style book has been spared no expense in its construction, with every publisher's attention paid to fine detailing. Richly illustrated throughout with B&W and color photos, many never before published. Bi-lingual, Chinese, and English. For anyone looking for a unique gift for a railroad history buff, or those interested in 20th-century Chinese architecture, this is a rare purchase opportunity. Additional descriptions and photos are available on request.From the Preface: "Architecture seems like a history book of wood ad stones. The development of modern architecture in North Chine was indispensable with a railway, that is, the Railway of Chinese Eastern Provinces." "They started operation in 1903.""With a history of over half a century, the CER had played a pivotal role in Chinese… Read More