Search Results: Authors starting with T from Hordern House Rare Books

Papeete, 1854. French manuscript, single leaf 212 mm x 273 mm. A ship's manifest for the barque Selma of Adelaide, including Cognac, beer, Bordeaux, sherry and salted pork, as well as a sizable cargo, inall, calculated at 62,500 francs signed by the French merchants in Tahiti. In November 1853, the Selma, "so well-known in the Adelaide trade... changed hands. Mr Samuel Argyle having become the purchaser for the purpose of working her on a trading voyage to Tahiti and the Polynesian Islands. Her Royal Highness the Princess Tusana [sic] of Tahiti, we believe returns by this vessel" [The Argus 16 November 1853]. This prosperous trade was forestalled a year after the provisioning noted in this manifest. In February 1855 the crew mutinied and Captain Pike gave over the barque to a French man-o-war to take to Tahiti. The Selma was recorded as wrecked off Tahiti in 1855. An interesting document relating to the early days of commercial shipping between Australia and Tahiti. .

A Londra, 1770. Rather worn and stained but nonetheless attractive.. Octavo, xvi, 104 pp.; a fine uncut copy in original soft boards, owner's inscription 'Girolamo Gherardini' on title. Extremely rare Italian translation of Bricaire de la Dixmerie's fictional letter, purporting to be written by the Tahitian Aoutourou to his friends in France. Aoutourou had sailed to France in 1769 with Bougainville where he became a sensation, in much the same way that Omai would become a lion of British society a few years later: not only was Bricaire de la Dixmerie's book the first full publication on Tahiti ever published, but its subject (and supposed author) Aoutourou was still living in Paris as it came off the presses. Bricaire de la Dixmerie (1731-1791) published on everything from his friend Voltaire to life in Spain, but took a particular interest in fantastic travel. Well-connected and well-regarded, he was also a member of the famous Les Neufs Sœurs, the Masonic Lodge where he would have met everyone… Read More

Avignon and Paris: Froulle, 1779. Spine label chipped but in fine condition otherwise.. Octavo, with an engraved frontispiece view of Tahiti; a fine copy in contemporary speckled half calf. First edition: the very scarce and earliest separate serious work on Tahiti (predated only by the Omai-based fictions and the poetical satires on Joseph Banks); it is based for its facts on the reports of Wallis, Bougainville and Cook, and for its philosophy on Montesquieu and Rousseau. 'Taitbout's pamphlet is of interest, not for the originality of its ideas, but because it reveals how notions of geographical control deriving from Montesquieu and applied by the Forsters to the islanders of the Pacific, could provide a rational explanation for the soft primitivism with which Bougainville, Hawkesworth, Banks, Diderot, and others, had endowed the peoples of the Society Islands, and add point and fire to a revolutionary pamphlet...' (Bernard Smith, European vision and the South Pacific, 1985, p. 87). Tahiti was much… Read More

London: Boydell, 1819. Hand-coloured aquatint, 280 x 410 mm., Whatman paper with 1819 watermark; very good. This arresting image, from Webber's wonderful series Views in the South Seas illustratting scenes from Cook's third voyage, depicts the Tahitian chief Waheiadooa (Vehiatua) lying in state. Cook recorded in August 1777 that his curiosity had taken him to view what his fellow officers had described as a "Roman Catholic Chapel", but which he discovered was what was known as a Tupapau in which the remains of Vehiatua were laid; the body, Cook was told, had been there for some twenty months. The structure, beautifully realised in Webber's view, resembled a small neat house decorated with coloured cloth and mats, including a large piece of scarlet broad cloth which had been given to the Tahitians by Spanish missionaries. The plate was issued as one of Webber's Views in the South Seas. Following Webber's death in 1793 the publisher Boydell purchased the majority of his stock at auction and continued… Read More

Venice, 1699. A few short tears at extremities, but in fine condition nonetheless.. Engraved gore sheet, 485 x 335 mm (sheet size); mounted. A gore sheet, designed to be pasted onto a globe, and an important map of Australia: this single sheet by the great Venetian cartographer Coronelli shows the north western coast in some detail. This particular gore is famous for the fanciful depiction of inland Australia, and shows Arnhem Land complete with palm trees, reindeer and elephants. This detailed map was first engraved as a gore - or globe segment - for Coronelli's colossal terrestrial globe of 1688. Measuring over one metre in diameter, this was one of the largest printed globes ever produced; its engraving was of the highest order, and reflected the most up-to-date and accurate information available at the time. It particularly reflects the discoveries made during the first voyage of Abel Tasman in 1642. The gore offered here, with relevant text at the bottom and verso of the sheet, was probably… Read More

Groningen: A.L. Scholtens, 1849. Wrappers a little discoloured; a few spots but mostly excellent.. Small slim octavo, three plates, original blue printed stiff wrappersred, neatly rebacked to match. Uncommon edition of the journals of Abel Tasman, here condensed and edited for use by younger readers. This copy is well preserved in the original printed wrappers and contains three skilfully printed lithographic plates. These depict Amsterdam Island, and also the first contact between Europeans and the Māori at "De Moordenaars-Baii" (Murderer's Bay, now renamed Golden Bay located at the northwest point of the South Island). Of special interest given Tasman's early Australian landfall is the bucolic scene of Tasmanian Aborigines, here depicted in a style reminiscent of the work of nineteenth-century French voyage illustrators such as Charles-Alexandre Lesueur and Louis de Sainson. .

London: Richard Royston, 1682. Head of spine chipped, a good copy.. Two vols in one, octavo as issued, double-page wood engraving; contemporary ownership inscription and bookplate, contemporary black morocco gilt, all edges gilt, An early edition of this popular work, handsomely bound. The Anglican bishop Taylor, a contemporary of John Donne and Sir Thomas Browne, is revered for the tone and sympathetic style of his writings. In this manual for Christian living he discusses the religious life so 'that when we descend to our graves we may rest in the bosom of the Lord, till the mansions be prepared where we shall sing and feast eternally'. Coleridge situated him 'among the four masters of early seventeenth century literature, with Shakespeare, Bacon and Milton' (CHEL). .

London: J. Round, 1740. Worn,, hinges cracked.. Two volumes, folio, engraved portrait frontispiece after Lely; contemporary calf. Apparent third edition thus: Lowndes lists earlier editions of 1720 and 1731, but this edition is not mentioned. Temple, author and talented diplomat, retired from public life in 1681 to his estate Moor Park, where he produced many works of essays, several prepared for publication by his recalcitrant protégé, Jonathon Swift. .

London: Nicol and Sewell, 1793. An excellent copy, completely uncut, in good unsophisticated condition; binding has slight wear at edge of original boards.. Quarto, with a folding map; uncut; in the original blue-grey boards; contemporary simple canvas spine with hand-lettered label; and preserved in a bookform box. A most attractive copy of Tench's important and informative account of the settlement at Sydney Cove, his second book, continuing the story begun with his "Narrative of the expedition to Botany Bay" (1789) and covering the crucial first four years of the English colony. Tench left New South Wales with the other marines on 18 December 1791 aboard HMS Gorgon which had accompanied the Third Fleet and his book was published in November or December 1793, more than a year after his return. Tench's publication paints a comprehensive view of daily life in the settlement through years of hardship and severe shortages. An understanding and intelligent observer of human nature, he gives vivid… Read More

London: J. Debrett, 1789. In excellent condition; some of the uncut edges slightly dusty, a very small brown spot in extreme lower forecorner of eight leaves towards end.. Octavo, complete with the half-title and the final leaf of Debrett's advertisements; an excellent and large copy, edges uncut, in a traditional binding of half calf and marbled boards by Aquarius. A particularly good copy, completely uncut, of the elusive first edition of the first eye-witness account of Australia's first white settlement. The first copies appeared for sale in London on 4 April 1789, before the publication of the official account by Governor Phillip. Tench's book not only predates the other First Fleet accounts, but it is also arguably the most readable and the most sympathetic. John White's journal apart, the others are more or less official in tone; none has the directness of Tench's description of life in the first days of the colony. This first edition has become noticeably rare on the market: surprisingly… Read More

London: G. Nicol and J. Sewell, 1793. Tiny hole in title-page; the map a little spotted; otherwise fine. As often bound without the list of subscribers, only sometimes present.. Quarto, with a folding map; contemporary polished calf, spine renewed to style, gilt in panels with double labels. Scarce first edition of one of the canonical First Fleet accounts, the second of Tench's two books, continuing his narrative to the end of the first four years of settlement in an 'accurate, well-written and acutely observed account of the earliest years of Australia's colonization' (Wantrup). Tench left New South Wales with the other marines on 18 December 1791 aboard HMS Gorgon which had accompanied the Third Fleet, and this book was published in November or December 1793, more than a year after his return. Tench had explored the country around Sydney, discovered the Nepean River, and begun the assault on the still impregnable Blue Mountains. The fine folding engraved 'Map of the hitherto explored Country,… Read More

Paris: Letellier, 1789. Preliminaries browned, scattered foxing, spine worn, joints restored, later endpapers. A good copy.. Octavo; contemporary French mottled calf. One of two French editions of Tench's Narrative published in 1789. This is thus either the first or the second French publication on settled Australia, and one of the very earliest descriptions in French of the appearance of La Pérouse at Botany Bay in 1788. Two French editions of Tench's Narrative were published in 1789, of uncertain priority; the other was published by Knapen fils. This is the more extended version and includes a long, 85-page section about the history of discovery entitled "Récit historique de la découverte de la Nouvelle Hollande et du nouveau Pays de Galles Méridional". The economic historian K.M. Dallas sees this section as significant evidence in the continuing debate about the reasons for the decision to settle New South Wales. This copy, like all those we have examined, does not have a folding map:… Read More

Paris, 1790. Very good copy.. Octavo, two works together; quarter polished calf, rubbed, spine gilt in compartments with morocco label. The second, considerably changed, Letellier version of Tench's account. Letellier had also published a version in 1789: it is not clear whether his edition or that published by Knapen the same year was the first French account of the new colony of New South Wales to appear in print. In this edition the publisher provides Tench's account the first eye-witness account of Australia's settlement - along with the account of La Pérouse at Botany Bay, together with the substantial addition of Patterson's narrative of travels in South Africa. This copy bears the ownership signeture of C. Johannes Brand, superintendent of the East India Company at the Cape of Good Hope. A pencilled note to the front endpaper notes that Captain Cook stayed with Brand at the Cape, and gifted a table to him as a token of appreciation. .

London: J. Debrett, 1789. A lovely copy in very good condition.. Octavo; with the half-title, no advertisement leaf; early half calf and marbled boards, spine with double labels and gilt ornaments in compartments between raised bands. Tench's first work on the colony at Port Jackson, in the important third edition, the first to include his new Postscript, printing a letter from Sydney Cove dated 1 October 1788. This closely-printed letter (pp. 147-8) reports further activity since July and, despite the growing difficulties faced by the settlers, strikes the bright and optimistic note characteristic of the author. The letter is particularly interesting regarding the early settlement at Norfolk Island, and includes the ominous aside that the Norfolk settlers have made every attempt to 'find a landing-place, whence it might be practicable to ship off the timber growing there, but hitherto none has been discovered.' Just six months after the time of writing the Sirius would be wrecked trying to anchor… Read More

Oahu: Na na Misionari I Pai, 1835. Dusted and a little browned, some pages with marked spotting; a very good copy in original reverse calf binding, neatly rebacked to match, a little worn, early 'Society of Inquiry Library' label to front pastedown.. Small octavo, original reverse calf binding. Rare and important: a landmark in missionary publishing in Hawaii, this is the first complete edition of the New Testament in the Hawaiian language, printed entirely by the Mission Press. David Forbes in the Hawaiian National Bibliography gives an excellent and detailed account of the circumstances surrounding the publication. Printing of the New Testament began after the General Meeting in June 1835, where the task of preparing an Hawaiian version was given precedence over any other task the missionaries were working on. The work was actually completed in early 1836. A substantial number of copies was published but, as with many early Hawaiian imprints, the survival rate today is very low. .

London: Bradbury & Evans, 1857. Bindings a bit scuffed and rubbed.. Four volumes, octavo; contemporary green half calf with red labels, spines gilt. Appealing four-volume set of Thackeray, collecting his major works along with more eclectic writings, such as early journalism and stories original published in serial magazines (such as The Book of Snobs which originally appeared in Punch in 1848). Renowned as one of the great social commentators of the Victorian London, this edition offers Vanity Fair alongside other neglected satirical gems including The Fitz-Boodle Papers, Men's Wives and The History of Samuel Titmarsh. .

London: Bradbury & Evans, 1855. Sides a little rubbed, some foxing.. Two volumes, octavo, with a frontispiece and 22 plates in each volume; contemporary half tan calf, marbled board. First edition: this copy is made up from the original parts which were issued serially from 1853-1855. Published under the pseudonym "Pendennis", The Newcomes was regarded by Thackeray as his best work. It is a sustained and devastating attack on Victorian mores: 'The wicked are wicked, no doubt, and they go astray and they fall, and they come by their deserts; but who can tell the mischief which the very virtuous do?'. .

Melbourne: John Ferres, Government Printer, 1880. Single foolscap sheet, fine. Short yet wordy dispatch from the Governor of New South Wales Sir Augustus Loftus. Ordered to be printed 27 May 1880. .

London: W.S.Johnson & Co, 1864. Folio broadside, 505 x 510 mm.; with a central fold, in fine condition. London theatre bill for The Ticket of Leave Man, "a drama of every-day life, in four acts, by Tom Taylor, Esq.". The melodrama was first performed at the Olympic Theatre on 27 May 1863. The plot centres around James "Tiger" Dalton, a notorious criminal mastermind, frames a young bank clerk named Robert Brierly for counterfeit in order to woo his fiancé. Brierly is sent to prison and on his release finds life difficult as a "ticket of leave man" (ex-criminal) The play was made into a film in 1937. .

London: Alexander Hogg, 1804. Very good. Original engraving approx. 120 x 180 mm. mounted and framed. Rare portrait of Mackabarang or "Broken Bay Jack", derived from the work of Nicolas-Martin Petit on the Baudin voyage. The engraved text beneath the portrait of Mackabarang states that Petit was the original artist, but that the drawing was in the possession of "Jas. Thompson". A strange connection, but an interesting one: James Thomson had first come to New South Wales as surgeon of the Third Fleet transport the Atlantic, which arrived in early 1791. He was back in England in early 1793, where he was appointed the Senior Assistant to William Balmain. After his return he remained in Sydney until 1802, when he took leave for England. Remarkably, he and his wife shipped on board Baudin's ship the Naturaliste at least as far as the Ile de France: Thomson sent a letter to Governor King from King Island en route, while Baudin himself let the Governor know about his guest's continuing health in a letter… Read More