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Books > Voyages & Travel (208 items)
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Results Page:
(total 21 pages)
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 TOD, James (1782-1835)
Annals and Antiquities of Rajast’han, or the Central and Western Rajpoot States of India
London: published by Smith, Elder, & Co. and Calkin & Budd, 1829-1832. 2 volumes, 4to (12 x 9 1/2 inches). Half-titles. 3 letterpress tables (1 folding). 50 plates, plans and maps by Edward Finden and others after Captain Waugh, Ghafasi and others (including: 1 folding engraved map, hand-coloured in outline, 28 engraved plates after Waugh [1 folding], 11 engraved plates after Ghafasi, 3 lithographs [1 folding, 2 drawn on stone by Louis Haghe and on india paper mounted]). (Small repaired hole to the inner margin of the frontispiece of vol.II). Later red half morocco over red cloth-covered boards by Root & Son, spines gilt in six compartments with raised bands, the bands highlighted in gilt and blind, lettered in gilt in the second and fourth compartments, marbled endpapers, t.e.g.
First edition of this valuable early study of the history, beliefs and topography of Rajasthan in north west India.
The author went to India as a cadet in the Bengal army of the British East India Company in 1799. He commanded the escort attached to the Resident at Sindhia from 1812 to 1817. In the latter year he was in charge of the Intelligence Department which largely contributed to the break up of the Maratha Confederacy in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, and was of great assistance in the campaign in Rajputana. In 1818 he was appointed political agent for the states of western Rajputana, where he successfully acted as a aribitrator between rival chieftains, settling their feuds. While Resident in Rajputana, Tod collected materials for his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, a work of great importance for South Asian scholars. At the dawn of the archaeological and historical study of India, Tod presents the contemporary geography and a detailed history of Rajputana along with the history of the Rajput clans who ruled most of the area at that time. Tod's work drew on local archives, Rajput traditional sources, and monuments such as the Edicts of Asoka found at Junagadh. He returned to England in 1823 with a wealth of material for what became a fundamental study of Rajast'han's historical development. The work is ornamented with a fine series of plates, the majority of which are from drawings either by a local artist whose name is given as Ghafsi, or Captain Waugh, a friend and kinsman of the author who died just before the work was published. The work was much appreciated in the region at the time, to the extent that the ruler of Udaipur renamed a village in Tod's honour: Barsawada became "Todgarh" (or Tods fort) - a name that it still bears today.
#21757 $7,500.00  
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TOWNE, Henry
"Thoughts at Sea" Sailor's Journal on Board the Brig "Eagle" Off the Coast of South America
Contemporary pencil sketch of brig on front pastedown. Quarto. Original vellum, spine cracked, with cellophane tape repair. Vellum scuffed, soiled, and worn. Edges of several leaves worn, slightly affecting text. Overall very good.
A seaman's interesting manuscript shipboard daily religious devotional, entering one scriptural passage for each day, with frequent reflection and commentary. The writer appears to have been a seaman named Henry Towne, whose name is twice found inscribed and crossed out among various numerical inscriptions (apparently latitudes and calculations of distance) on the rear pastedown, together with a place inscription of "Boston, Charlestown, Masstts." On the front pastedown is a contemporary pencil sketch of brig with a pencil caption reading, "Brig Eagle [/] Tender to Bark Richard [/] Coast Patigonia [/] Falkland Islands 1837 & 8." At the conclusion of the devotional is a brief postscript: "Have just been supplied with Beef, and Bread, by a vessel. both of which we were nearly destitute & what reason for gratitude. 16th Jan at Sea." A most interesting maritime artifact.
#21074$750.00
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TRADING VESSEL ACCOUNT BOOK]
[Manuscript Volume Recording Disbursements, Expenses Incurred, and Money received on the Accounts of the Ships Charleston and John, Trading Between the United States and Europe]
[Various Places including Portsmouth, Liverpool, Russia and elsewhere]: [1800-1806]. [45]pp. manuscript, interleaved with blank pages. 16mo. Original limp sheep notebook. Sheep a bit rubbed. Quite clean and neat internally. Very good.
This is the account book for the American trading vessels, Charleston and John, which carried on a busy commerce between the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean in the years 1800 to 1806. The text is divided into two segments, dos a dos, with the accounts of disbursements and payments beginning at one end, and records of expenses and receivables beginning at the other end of the volume. The places where disbursements are recorded include Portsmouth and Liverpool, England; Belfast, Ireland; and simply "Russia." They record payments made to members of the ship's crew, as well as listing amounts paid for goods and services necessary to the voyage. The portion of expenses and receivables records personal travel expenses for the person who kept the account book (and who was likely the owner or master of the ships Charleston and John). Included are records of expenses in London, "money received on acct. of Ship John," and also at Belfast, Liverpool, and St. Petersburg, Russia. Also recorded are amounts received by the ship for sales of various trade goods. Entries for 1806 record "sails [sic] of the ship, merchant & cargo at Barbados," where the ship traded in cotton, indigo, nutmeg and clove. An interesting account book for an early American trading vessel in Europe and the Caribbean.
#21068$400.00
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 UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION. - Asa GRAY (1810-1888)
United States Exploring Expedition. During the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. Under the direction of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. Atlas. Botany. Phanerogamia
New York: George P. Putnam, 1857. 2 volumes, folio. 4pp. 100 engraved plates. (light foxing). Expertly bound to style in half dark blue morocco over 19th century marbled paper covered boards.
A superlatively rare Atlas of the Wilkes Expedition
The rare unofficial issue of Asa Gray's botanical atlas issued to accompany the narrative of the Wilkes Expedition. This is one of several separate botanical atlases issued as part of the offical publications, this particular volume devoted to tropical flowering plants. Only one hundred anf fifty copies of the unofficial issue were printed.
The United States Exploring Expedition circumnavigated the globe under the command of Charles Wilkes between the summer of 1838 and the summer of 1842. It is usually known by the name of its commander as the Wilkes Expedition. The United States Exploring Expedition "was the first American scientific expedition of any size, charged to 'extend the bounds of Science and promote the acquisition of knowledge,' and was one of the most ambitious Pacific expeditions ever attempted" (Forbes). The Expedition represents "the first governmental sponsorship of scientific endeavor and was instrumental in the nation's westward expansion. Specimens gathered by expedition scientists became the foundation collections of the Smithsonian Institution.Significant American contributions in the fields of geology, botany, conchology, anthropology, and linguistics came from the scientific work of the expedition. Wilkes's evaluations of his landfalls influenced later U.S. positions in those areas" (DAB).
The reports and atlases for the United States Exploring Expedition were published over a long period of time - the Expedition returned in 1842 and the final atlas volume did not appear until 1858. Because of their limited issue and historical importance, all the atlases from the Expedition are highly sought after, though they very rarely appear on the market. This atlas includes one hundred plates beautiful depicting Pacific botanical specimens collected during the course of the voyage.
The botanical report, and the atlases to accompany it, were beset by difficulties from the start. Asa Gray was appointed as the expedition's botanist, but long delays in the expedition's departure caused him to resign. He was replaced by William Rich, who had previously been designated the assistant botanist, though his position was cut due to rearrangements within the scientific corps. When it came time to write the report, Wilkes divided the botanical undertaking into several parts, for fear of its never being completed. In 1846, upon completion of his portion of the report, Rich resigned to join the army. Wilkes, unsatisfied with Rich's work, proceeded to find someone else to do it over, finally settling once more on Gray, who began work in mid-1848. Though Gray's report appeared in 1854, the atlas volume was not completed until four years later, owing to delays with the artist.
The highlights of Asa Gray's life and career (1810-88) are many and well-known: he was the first professor of botany in America, at Harvard University; he initially signed on to the Wilkes Expedition and, though he did not go with the Expedition, nonetheless wrote many of the botanical reports upon its return; and he was Charles Darwin's most important American correspondent and successful champion of the Origin of Species.
An important publication from the most important American naval expedition of the 19th century.
Haskell 63; Forbes 2203; Rosove 355-6.A2
#26358$15,000.00
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 VANCOUVER, George (1757-1798)
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 year 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795 in the Discovery... and Chatham under the command of Captain George Vancouver
London: G G & J Robinson and J Edwards, 1798. 4 volumes (including atlas vol. of plates and maps), quarto (10 7/8 x 8 3/4 inches) and folio (22 x 17 inches). Text: half-titles to vol.I and II, 3pp. errata at the end of vol.III. 1 engraved chart, 17 engraved plates (4 double-page), after J. Sykes. Atlas: mounted on guards throughout, 10 folding engraved charts, 6 engraved plates of coastal profiles (including 2 proofs before all letters, 2 scratch proofs with the names of the artist and engraver but no other lettering, 1 plate as published and 1 plate from the French edition of Vancouver's voyage,) extra-illustrated with 4 plates of coastal profiles, 'gravé par Michel' taken from the French edition. Expertly bound to style in 18th-century diced russia, the flat spines gilt in compartments divided by decorative rolls, red morocco lettering-piece in the second, dark green morocco label with onlaid red morocco circular disc bearing the volume number in the fourth (text vols.) or fifth (atlas vol.), the other compartments with repeat decoration of small tools. Provenance: Robert Ballard Whitebrook (armorial bookplate).
A unique set of "One of the most important [voyages] ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge" (Hill).
A unique set from the library of Robert B. Whitebrook, author of the Coastal exploration of Washington (Palo Alto, Calif., 1959) [Tweney 82], whose M.A. thesis submitted to the University of Washington in 1963 was titled The Pacific Northwest maritime frontier, 1775-1825. The atlas volume in this set includes fascinating proof images of four of the six coastal profile plates which offer a real insight into the working methods of the highly talented engravers who worked on these valuable aids to navigation. The prime aim would, of course, have been to make them as accurate as possible - any mistakes and lives of subsequent visitors to the region would have been put at risk - but, almost by accident, the profiles are also very beautiful images. This beauty that can best be appreciated when the plates are without lettering as is the case with these proofs.
Vancouver was put in command of the expedition on the recommendation of his old commanding officer Alan Gardner. He had served earlier with both Admiral Rodney and on James Cook's second and third voyages, so was well equipped in terms of experience, in addition he was a first class navigator. The voyage was mounted as a "grand-scale expedition to reclaim Britain's rights, resulting from the Nootka Convention, at Nootka Sound, to thoroughly examine the coast south of 60º in order to find a possible passage to the Atlantic; and to learn what establishments had been founded by other powers. This voyage became one of the most important ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge. Vancouver sailed by way of the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, where he discovered King George's Sound and Cape Hood, then to New Zealand, Hawaii, and the northwest coast of America. In three seasons' work Vancouver surveyed the coast of California; visited San Francisco and San Diego ... and other Spanish settlements in Alta California; settled the necessary formalities with the Spanish at Nootka; investigated the Strait of Juan de Fuca; discovered the Strait of Georgia; circumnavigated Vancouver Island; and disproved the existence of any passage between the Pacific and Hudson Bay" (Hill).
Cowan p.654-5; Cox II,p.30; Ferguson 281; Forbes I,298; Graff 4456; Hill (2004) 1753; Howes V-23; Judd 178; Lada-Mocarski 55; O'Reilly & Reitman 635; Sabin 98443; Smith 10469; Streeter Sale 3497; Tremaine 688; Tweney 78; Wagner NWC p.209; Wantrup 63a; Wickersham 6601; Zamorano Eighty 77
#18455$85,000.00
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 VEGA, Garcilaso de la (1539-1616)
Historia general del Perv trata el descvbrimiento del; y como lo ganaron los Españoles. Las guerras ciuiles que huuo entre Piçarros, y Almagros, sobre la partija de la tierra. Castigo y leuantamieto de tiranos: y otros sucessos particulares que en la historia se contienen. Escrita por el Ynca Garcilasso de la Vega
[Cordova: Por la viuda de Andres Barrera, y à su costa, 1617]. Folio (10 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches). Large woodcut vignette on title, some minor worming with occasional loss, title shaved with loss of imprint, a few other leaves shaved with loss of catchwords. Contemporary limp vellum.
A fine unsophisticated copy of El Inca's history of Peru: a fundamental history of early America, here in its second issue differing from the first only in its variant title-page.
The second issue of the second part of Garcailaso de la Vega's famous Historia General or 'Royal Commentaries' which had been published first, a few months earlier in Cordova, in 1616. This issue includes the same text block as the first, with only a variant title page with a different and larger vignette of the Virgin, and the words 'y à su costa' added to the imprint. The first issue is virtually unobtainable and is known in only two copies (at the Bibliotheque Nationale and the John Carter Brown Library). The text and title for the first issue were probably printed in late 1616, indeed the errata leaf includes the date '12. de Novembre de 1616' and the JCB copy contains both the 1616 and 1617 title-pages. For the present second issue, the 1616 title was cancelled and a new re-set title page dated 1617 was added to the original printing of the text.
The two parts of Vega's history are actually considered to be two separate but complementary works, which were originally published separately. This second 'part' is largely concerned with the period between the Spanish conquest and the civil war in the area. The critic, Menendez y Pelayo, called the Historia General or 'Royal Commentaries' "the most genuinely American book that has ever been written, and perhaps the only one in which a reflection of the soul of the conquered races has survived." "Like the first part, the second is a commentary rather than a history, for... "El Inca" quotes largely from other writers ... always carefully indicating the quotations and naming the authors. But his memory was well stored with anecdotes that he had heard when a boy; and with these he enlivens the narrative." (Justin Winsor. Narrative and Critical History of America II, p. 569.
Garcilaso de la Vega, known as 'El Inca', was born in Peru and spent his formative years there, living out his later life in Spain. His father was a Spanish conquistador and a participant in the events that his son chronicles, while his mother was an Inca princess born in Cuzco. "He was a gentleman of refinement and possessed of much learning, speaking Spanish and Quichua from infancy. A descendant of the proud race of the Incas, he was a most industrious and careful historian of the evil fortunes of his race, as well as a chronicler of the victories of the conquerors" (Maggs). Vega's contemporary record of the early Spanish period in Peru is most valuable, as it is based on eyewitness testimony and personal observation.
European Americana 617/55; Field 590 (note); Le Clerc 614; Maggs Bibliotheca Americana VI, 413; OCLC 11494608; Medina (BHA) 658; Palau 354789; Sabin 98755; cf. Winsor. Narrative and Critical History of America II, p. 575
#19267$16,000.00
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 VIERO, Teodoro (1740-1819)
Raccolta di ... Stampe, che rappresentano, figure ed Abiti die varie Nazioni, secondo gli Originali, e le Descrizioni dei piu celebri recenti viaggiatori, e degli scopritori di Paesi nuovi
Venice: Teodoro Viero, 1783-1791. 3 parts in one, folio (16 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches). Engraved title to each part, frontispiece showing 'Europa' in part one repeated in part two, the final part with three frontispieces of America, Africa and Asia, 360 engraved costume plates, most before numbers, captions in Italian and French. Early 19th-century red morocco, covers with vine leaf and palmette panel, spine with repeated foliate panels, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. Provenance: Beriah Botfield, Longleat.
Fine copy of the very rare large paper issue of a noted 18th century work on costumes of the world, including important Captain Cook related images of Pacific natives and early western images of Chinese costume.
Issued in three parts between 1783 and 1791, copies of this work are rarely found complete, as here. The work was issued by the Italian publisher and engraver in two formats: a regular edition (measuring approximately 12 x 9 inches), and large-paper (as here) with the plates comprised of proofs before numbering.
The first two parts, containing 126 and 127 plates respectively, are devoted to European costume, including Turkey. Many of the images of Turkish and Greek costume in these sections are after British painter Francis Smith, who accompanied Lord Baltimore in his 1763-1764 tour of the East. The third volume, containing 107 plates, includes images of Asia (including Russia, China, India, Persia, Egypt, Morocco, etc), Africa, North and South America (including Native Americans of Florida) and the Pacific. The latter includes many images after William Hodges's portraits from Cook's third voyage, including a portrait of Omai. Also of Cook-related note is a full-length portrait of Captain Cook after Gio. Chisor which appears in the first part. The work is not noted in the usual Cook and Hawaii-related bibliographies.
Brunet V, 1212; Colas 3007; Lipperheide 39; Vinet 2106; Hiler, p. 879.
#26933$57,500.00
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WAIT, Benjamin
Letters from Van Dieman's Land, Written During Four Years Imprisonment for Political Offences Committed in Upper Canada
Buffalo: 1843. 12mo. 356pp. plus frontispiece and folding map. Contemporary calf, spine gilt with leather label. Extremities lightly worn. Contemporary ownership inscription on front flyleaf, later ink stamp on verso of flyleaf. Light scattered foxing, but generally quite fresh and clean internally. Very good.
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An interesting and vivid account of the author's imprisonment on Van Dieman's Island as a result of charges brought against him during the insurrection in Upper Canada. Written in the form of letters, this is a minutely detailed description of life in the prison colony, the events leading to Wait's incarceration, and his efforts to lobby for his release.
A crude little map of Tasmania, printed in negative, must be the first chart of that island executed in Buffalo.
Howes W16. Sabin 100969. TPL 2622.
#26441$450.00
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 WEDDELL, James (1787-1834)
A Voyage towards the South Pole, performed in the years 1822-24. Containing an examination of the Antarctic Sea, to the seventy-fourth degree of latitude...
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green,, 1825. Octavo (8 7/8 x 5 1/4 inches). Uncut, small format errata slip after dedication, publisher's advertisements at end dated Christmas 1825. Hand-coloured aquatint frontispiece, 4 uncoloured aquatint plates, 8 engraved maps (6 folding), 2 folding aquatint plates of coastal profiles printed in blue. Period blue paper boards, expertly rebacked to style with muslin, paper label.
First edition of "the true starting point for an Antarctic collection" (Taurus).
Weddell first sailed to the Antarctic in the brig Jane of Leith in 1819-1821 in order to open new sealing grounds near the newly-discovered South Shetland Islands. No printed record of this first voyage was issued. In 1822, Weddell undertook the present important second voyage aboard the Jane, accompanied by the cutter Beaufoy commanded by Matthew Brisbane. They explored the Cape Verde Islands, South Shetland, South Orkney and the South Georgia Islands. The expedition reached 74°15' South -- farther south than any other ship to that point. Remarkably, Weddell reported the seas to be free of ice. The sea directly north of the present British Antarctic Territory identified on one of the present maps as "The Sea of George the Fourth" is now named in Weddell's honour.
Books on Ice 6.1; Rosove 345.A1; Sabin 102431; Spence 1246; Taurus Collection 4; Abbey, Travel 609; Hill 1843.
#25552$4,000.00
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 WHITE, John Claude (1853-1918)
Sikhim & Bhutan twenty-one years on the North-east frontier 1887-1908
New York & London: Longmans, Green & Co. (New York) and Edward Arnold (London), 1909. Octavo. Half-title. Photogravure portrait frontispiece of the author, 40 plates (32 half-tone plates, 6 photogravures, 2 plates printed in red and black [1 of these folding]), 1 folding lithographic map printed in three colours. Original green cloth, upper cover and spine blocked in gilt, top edge gilt (spine faded and somewhat worn). Provenance: Bertha W. Braley (bookplate and signature).
First edition, American issue, of one of the best informed accounts of the area ever published.
White is an important figure in the history of Sikkim and Bhutan: both as the first British Political Officer and also as an explorer and photographer of great ability. This combination allowed him to write with great authority on all aspects of the region. He summarises his experience in the preface: "on the outbreak of the Sikhim-Tibet War in 1888 I was sent as Assistant Political Officer with the expeditionary force, and on the conclusion of peace the following year, I was offered the post of Political Officer in administrative charge of the State of Sikhim ... In 1903, when it was decided to send a Mission to Lhasa, [I was appointed one of the Commissioners, and on conclusion of the Mission I was placed in charge of our political relations with Bhutan, as well as ...[a] portion of Tibet ... My new appointment afforded me many opportunities of visiting Bhutan ... [and during the next] twenty-one years my duties took me to almost every corner of the beautiful mountain countries of Sikhim and Bhutan ... I have tried ... to give a short account of these countries both geographical and historical, as well as of my personal experiences during my various tours."
Neate notes that "White travelled extensively in Sikkim and Bhutan. He was mainly responsible for opening up roads and bridges which made access easier for later explorers. In 1890 he crossed the Guicha La to the Talung Glacier south-east of Kanchenjunga and followed the Talung valley to the Tista, being probably the first European to investigate the gorges between Pandim and the Simvu group."
Cf. Neate W56; cf. Marshall 1077; cf. Yakushi W66 or W134.
#24498$750.00
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(total 21 pages)
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Copyright © 2002-2011 Donald A. Heald
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