Travel and Exploration

Seville: Juan Guitierrez, 1561. Small quarto. (8 1/8 x 5 7/8 inches). [9], 219 leaves. Letterpress title with woodcut surround and integral woodcut portrait of the author, 67 woodcut illustrations (including a map of the New World on the verso of leaf i4, woodcut map of Eastern Hemisphere on the verso of leaf i1, 7 personifications of the planets, 12 of the zodiac stars, 1 full-page figure of a man showing the areas of influence of the stars on the body; 39 images connected with lunar and solar eclipses), numerous 4- and 6-line decorative woodcut initials. (Tears to to outer blank margin of title, g4 with early deletion in ink and resultant small hole, v1 with section of lower blank margin torn away). Contemporary limp vellum, yapp fore-edges, leather ties (small tears to spine, vellum crinkled, three ties replaced) Provenance: Episcopal Library, Cordoba, Spain (inscription at head of title "De la Biblioteca Episcopal de Cordoba"); Jesuit College, Cordoba, Spain (inscription at foot of title "Del… Read More

Folio [20 x 30.5 cm], (4) ff. [including half-page engraved portrait on verso of 4th preliminary leaf], 206 pp.; (2) ff. [including second engraved title], 181 pp.; (1) f. [third engraved title], 1-60; 67-86 [i.e., 79] pp., 36 plates and 6 maps. Bound in contemporary vellum over pasteboards, edges of covers frayed and corners exposed; blank right corner of title and of preliminaries slightly dog-eared, some leaves a bit dusty; but generally an exceptionally fresh, altogether unsophisticated copy. Excellent.The preferred large format French language 3rd edition. This is a large and absolutely genuine example of this classic illustrated travelogue to the East and West Indies, termed by Lach "the most important of the firsthand accounts published independently of the great travel collections" (I.198). No other book contained so much practical intelligence on the East and West Indies as Linschoten's. Unhindered by the censorship that affected writers from the Iberian Peninsula, the author included such… Read More

Paris: Jean Gesselin, 1613. 8vo. [8],90,[1]pp. Lacks the world map, as is almost always the case. Titlepage vignette. Leaves A5 & A6 with a small, expert paper repair in lower margin, not affecting text. Twentieth century morocco bound to contemporary style, tooled and ruled in gilt, spine richly gilt Drake's Circumnavigation. The first French edition of Drake's circumnavigation, translated from the account inserted in the 1589 edition of Hakluyt's Principal Navigations. The text is traditionally attributed to Francis Pretty, though it is more likely that the information was compiled by Richard Hakluyt himself from three or more sources (see Wagner, Drake's Voyage). Wagner notes that the additional information found in this French edition but not in Hakluyt is "small but significant" and calls this "the most complete translation of all." Drake's circumnavigation was one of the most important events in maritime history, and this account must have been eagerly read by the French, who would not… Read More

1535. Small quarto. [62] leaves. 19th-century pebbled pigskin, spine gilt. Boards and extremities lightly rubbed. Some minor soiling, a few leaves lightly toned. Two small tears, on titlepage and second leaf, neatly repaired. Men of Cajamarca: two eyewitness accounts of events. As one of the "Men of Cajamarca," Francisco de Xerez holds a very special place among writers on the earliest period of Spanish contact with the Inca of Peru: He was there from day one, a member of the very small band of men who left Panama with Pizarro and Almagro to seek fame and fortune in South America. At Cajamarca he participated in the taking of the Inca leader, Atahualpa, the slaughter of his army, and the sharing of the ransom demanded of the Inca nation for the return of their leader. By training a notary public and practiced writer, he was by choice Pizarro's secretary/confidant, the two having been close since at least 1524, when they met in Panama; and when in 1534 he returned to Spain, he took with him his share… Read More

Paris: Librarie Hachette, 1873. 4 volumes (text: 2 vols., large 4to [13 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches]; atlas: 2 volumes, folio [19 1/2 x 15 inches]). Text: titles in red and black, half-titles. Portrait frontispiece, 1 plate of medals, 12 maps and charts (4 coloured, 6 tinted), numerous illustrations (39 full-page); atlas: 12 maps, (2 double-page); 9 plans (2 double-page); 1 tinted lithographic aerial view; 48 plates on 40 sheets (6 double page, 2 engraved, 10 hand-coloured lithographs, 1 chromolithograph, 27 tinted lithographs). Text: contemporary French dark blue morocco-backed marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt in six compartments with raised bands, lettered in the second, numbered in the third, previous owner's name 'Philastre' tooled in gilt at foot of each spine; atlas: original dark blue cloth-backed pale blue paper-covered boards, letterpress titling to upper covers, longitudinal gilt lettering to the flat spines Provenance: "Philastre" [?Paul-Louis-Felix Philastre (1837-1902)] (binding) Rare… Read More

London: John Murray, 1823-28. 4to. pp. xvi, 768. xxiv, [xxi]-xxiv, 320, clvii, [1], [1 leaf]errata. with half-title & errata slip in first volume. first vol. with 30 plates, engraved by Edward Finden & J.Curtis after drawings by Curtis, George Back & Robert Hood (12 hand-coloured - 9 of these aquatints), 4 folding engraved maps, & 1 text illus. second vol. with 31 plates, engraved by Edward Finden after drawings by George Back & E.N.Kendall, 6 folding engraved maps (l partly coloured in outline) & several text illus. contemporary calf, gilt back (corners worn, plates offset, scattered light foxing)

Cairo: The government press, Bulaq, 1896 Book. Illus. by MUHAMMED SADIQ BEY. Very Good. Hardcover. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 152PP OF ARABIC TEXT. ENGRAVING PLATE SHOWING THE EGYPTIAN MAHMAL, FRONTIS OF THE AUTHOR, 9 PLATES WHICH 8 OF THEM ARE PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATES BY THE AUTHOR ABOUT THE MAHMAL, THE HOLY MOSQUES, AND GENERAL VEWS OF MECCA, MEDINA, AND THE HOLY SITES (THREE PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATES ARE FOLDINGS), 2 FOLDING PLANS OF THE TOW HOLY MOSQUES IN MECCA AND MEDINA, BY THE AUTHOR, THE BOOK INCLUDES THE FOLDING MAP BY SADIQ BEY ABOUT THE ROUTS OF THE HAJJ FROM THE CITADEL OF AL WAJH AND JEDDAH TO MECCA AND MEDINA IN 1886 (1303 AH). FRONTIS IS PARTLY REPAIRED FROM THE OUTER MARGINS OF THE PLATE (DID NOT AFFECT THE IMAGE AT ALL), VERY LIGHT REMAINS OF REMOVED ANCIENT STAMPS OR NOTATIONS ON TITLE PAGE AND OTHER 3 MARGINAL PLACES. VERY CLEAN TEXT AND PLATES, AND THE BOOK IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. MODERN FINE BINDING. SCARCE WITH ALL PLATES, PLANS AND THE MAP..

61 plates ( 58 are of the Ottoman costumes and 3 are of İstanbul of which are two are foldings. Costumes plates except the first plate are hand-colored ). With 6 p. introduction and 61 p. of explanation on the plates. İllustrated by C. Fauconnier and signed by the author. Ex-library or ex-libris. İn later full leather binding. Extreemly rare. See Sotheby's Atabey sale.

A JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, IN HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP ENDEAVOUR, IN THE YEARS 1768, 1769, 1770 AND 1771. (Cook, James) [Magra, James] London: T. Becket and P.A. de Hondt, 1771. 1st edition first printing, 4to, pp. [leaf - title] [leaf dedication with note at bottom Place this next the Title] 130 [2 leaves]. Period half diced Russia and marbled boards, some minor browning in margins or traces of handling on a few text pages, else a large and very attractive copy. The earliest of the series of so-called 'surreptitious' accounts of Cook's voyages, this published anonymously less than three months after the Endeavour returned and two years before Hawkesworth's official account of the voyage. The dedication leaf printed separately from the rest of the text, to the Admiralty, Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Daniel Solander, implied their approval and gave this work the appearance of authority. However, the Admiralty, Banks and Solander immediately published an advertisement denying all knowledge of this… Read More

London: Printed for G.G. And J. Robinson and J. Edwards, 1798. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 4to. A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World; In which the coast of North-West America has been carefully Examined and accurately Surveyed. Undertaken By His Majesty's Command, Principally with a view to Ascertain the Existence of any Navigable Communication between the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans; and performed in the years 1790.. [-] 1795, in the Discovery sloop of war, and the armed tender Chatham. First edition. Three volumes. Lacking atlas volume, else apparently complete. Full speckled calf. Gilt lettering and decoration, gilt panels to boards. Extra-illustrated with unrelated period map at end of vol. III of Central Asia (from Forster, Journey from Bengal to England, London, 1798). [18] engraved plates total. Volume I: [10], xxix, [2 pp. ad], 432 pp. [7 plates]. Pencil correction to List of Plates (l. A3r). Damp staining to head at gutter.… Read More

5 illustrated text-volumes and 3 volumes with original pen- and ink drawings by the traveller (= complete). Text-volumes illustrated with 281 original photographs (each ca 75 x 74 mm to 125 x 82 mm) of places and people and 276 photographs with reproductions of pen- and ink sketches (each ca 126 x 72 mm) pasted onto to 183 plates. 443 unnumb. leaves, including a photo portrait of the author, and 3 maps. Atlas-volumes illustrated with 287 original pen- and ink sketches by the author (each ca 135 x 80 mm), mounted to 36 cardboard leaves with views of towns, landscapes and local residents. Compehensive and detailed description of a world tour by Friedrich Zahn-Geigy (1848-1929), a 23-year-old descendant of a Swiss banker's family from Basle. The journey, not only undertaken for educational purposes solely, but as is related in the text also for business reasons, visiting long-standing business partners and looking out for new fields of business especially in the US and South East Asia, first led them to… Read More

Paris, de l'Imprimerie Impériale, 1808.
3 volumes 8vo of text [197 x 118 mm] and 1folio atlas [415 x 265 mm] of: I/ (2) ll., lxiii pp., 439 pp.; II/ (2) ll., 476 pp.; III/ (2) ll., 488 pp. Atlas : (2) ll., 97 engravings on 65 plates including 4 folding maps.
Bound in contemporary full calf in a design resembling tree roots, flat spines decorated with gilt music instruments, red and brown morocco lettering pieces, library labels on the foot of the spines, sprinkled edges. Atlas bound the same way but in a half-binding with corners of vellum, the spine is decorated as the text volumes. Contemporary binding.
First edition of this fascinating travel account to China.
Cordier, Sinica, 2351 ; Brunet, II, 568.
"Highly valued work, illustrated with 97 beautiful engravings: views, costumes, maps, etc." Chadenat, 590.
Joseph de Guignes (1749-1845), orientalist, sinologist and consul of France in China, spent 17 years in this country.
"The travel account is divided into 3 parts: in the first part, the author… Read More

Lyon, Jean Pillehotte, 1604.
8vo of (2) ll., 953 pp., (47) pp. of table. Few foxing, small wormtrack starting p. 915. Full red morocco, gilt fillets around the covers, ribbed and decorated spine. Elegant binding from the 17th century.
171 x 116 mm.
First edition of the French translation of the most famous work by the Hesuit Jean-Pierre Maffei(1535-1603) "Historiarum Indicarum".
De Backer & Sommervogel, V, col. 299 ; Sabin 43782.
It is one of the earliest missions of Jesuits to the Far East, including the letters and the life of Ignace de Loyola.
The great work of the Italian Jesuit Giovanni Pietro Maffei (1538-1603) about the general history of the Indies, relates the history of the Portuguese Jesuit missions to Brazil, the Indies, Japan and China. It is the first French translation of the work, given by the Perigord canon François Arnault de la Borie.
"Based on primary materials and written in elegant Latin, Maffei's Historiarum Indicarum received an enthusiastic reception all over Europe. The way… Read More

Antwerp, Guillaume Silvius, 1576.
Small 4to [200 x 143 mm]: (8) ll., 325 pp. (some mistakes in the pagination), (15) ll., 60 full-page plates of costumes. Bound in full contemporary overlapping vellum, flat spine with the handwritten title. Contemporary binding.
First edition in Italian, translated from the French edition published at the same date and by the same printer.
Atabey 871; Colas 2203 (second issue); Göllner 1663; cf. Mortimer, Harvard Italian, 319 (1580 edition); not in Blackmer.
The woodcuts are reduced copies, by Antonij van Leest, of the engraved plates of the first edition (printed in Paris in 1567). The second Italian edition, printed at Venice in 1580, contains engraved copies of the original plates, together with seven additional plates.
After having described the customs of Algiers, Tripoli, the Barbary States and Scio where he landed when he was going to Constantinople, Nicolay (1517-1583), a traveler from the Dauphiné, insists on what concerns the Turks, the Greeks and the… Read More

Antwerp, Arnould s'Conincx, 1608.
1 volume 4to [193 x 142 mm] of (12) ll., 191 pp., 239 pp. wrongly numbered 235, 230, (1) l. Bound in full blue morocco, triple gilt fillet around the covers with fleurons at the corners, ribbed spine decorated with gilt fleurons, inner double gilt fillet, gilt edges. Binding signed Riviere and Son.
One of a kind edition cited by Brunet illustrated with dozens of high quality copper engravings representing monuments and cities of the Holy Land.
Brunet, V, 1543.
It contains an original dedication by Jean Zuallart "A très Noble et illustre seigneur de Mérode" (to the noble and illustrious lord of Mérode) dated August 1st 1607.
Jean Zuallart originated from Ath in the Hainaut. He was in charge of travelling with Philippe de Mérolde, baron of Frentzen, throughout Italy and Germany. He tells us that, in 1585, as he stayed in Rome with him, Mérolde asked him to promise to go alongside him wherever his steps may lead. Zuallart kept his word and the baron asked him to… Read More