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

London, 1853. Very good.. Eleven black and white lithographs: numbers 1-5 and 7-9 approx 255 x 330 mm (matted size) and 2 approx 280 x 375 mm (conforming to those prepared for "Fifteen views of Australia in 1845 by G.K.E.F.") and one view approx 250 x 325 mm titled 'King George's Sound W. Australia, Printed by R. Appel's Anastatic Press'; unbound, housed in a blue cloth solander case. George Fairholme (1822-1889), artist, explorer and squatter arrived in Sydney from Scotland in 1839 and with young Scottish friends began the long and pioneering trek into Queensland. He settled at South Toolburra on the Darling Downs staying until 1852. This was the very beginning of white settlement at Brisbane and the Darling Downs and this young squatter is remembered as "a very intelligent gentlemanly man, the most intelligent of any of the squatters" (Henry Stoubart). The eleven lithographs offered include a view of Brisbane showing the first houses to be built. Privately printed by the artist on his return to… Read More

Paris: 8 June, 1854. Old central fold; very good.. Sheet of wove paper 262 x 210 mm., printed with black mourning border. Rare obituary notice for Charles Baudin, who had sailed as a young man on the Baudin expedition to the Terres Australes; Charles was not related to the commander Nicolas Baudin. Baudin (1792-1854) sailed as a midshipman on the Géographe, but on his return became active in the Napoleonic Wars, seeing a great deal of action against the British. He remained loyal to Napoleon (he was one of the officers who tried to convey the Emperor through the blockade after Waterloo), and as a result was sidelined into the merchant marine after 1816. He eventually returned to active service after 1830, and rose to the rank of Rear Admiral, notably seeing action in the famous "Pastry War" against Mexico in 1838. His later career saw him briefly deployed to South America, before he returned to take over the French Mediterranean Fleet. He spent his retirement in Ischia, but as this sheet confirms,… Read More

London: T. Wilkie, 1789. Disbound, front cover rubbed with localised loss.. Folio, eight pages, 288 x 220 mm. Contains a brief but curious account of the landing of the First Fleet relayed via China: "A merchant in Amsterdam has written to London, that the Botany Bay squadron under Commodore Phillips, has reached the place of destination. This intelligence was brought by a ship from China'. The appearance of this passage is evidence of the speed with which information travelled through mercantile networks from the Far East. Two of the First Fleet transports, the Charlotte and Scarborough returned to England via China, to take on a cargo of tea for England under charter to the East India Company. These events are well recorded by Captain Thomas Gilbert, commander of the Charlotte, whose voyage account appeared some seven months after this newspaper bulletin in late September 1789. .

London: sold by T. Wilkie, 1788. Front cover rubbed with slight loss of lettering at the centrefold, otherwise very good.. Folio, eight pages measuring 220 x 290 mm. This issue of the London Chronicle dated 26-29 April 1788 contains a brief but informative dispatch from an unidentified First Fleet officer penned at the Cape of Good Hope and dated November 7 1787. Although the extract is succinct, this issue of the Chronicle represents a very early printing of news relating to the First Fleet, and effectively relays news of the Fleet en-route (although published after the landing and official settlement of New South Wales). A good sense of the primacy of newspaper printings such as this example is given by the fact that news from Botany Bay in book form (namely the "Officer" account and Watkin Tench) appeared in early April the following year. The passage is captioned "Extract of a Letter from an Officer in the Botany Bay Fleet, dated Cape of Good Hope, Nov. 7, 1787". The single paragraph does not… Read More

London: John Stockdale, 1791. Spine a bit rubbed, joints wearing but firm.. Quarto, with 12 folding charts; in contemporary polished half calf, marbled boards. The first English edition of the great work on the French discovery of the Solomon Islands. Fleurieu, the leading light in the early history of French exploration in the South Seas, gives accounts of the voyages of Mendaña, Quirós, Carteret, Bougainville, Cook and others. The maps are based on actual discoveries, and used to illustrate Fleurieu's theories, most of which were ultimately proved correct. Fleurieu's important book was also a direct result of the voyage of the First Fleet to New South Wales: Phillip's Voyage, first published in 1789, had included the journal of Lieutenant Shortland on his return voyage in the Alexander transport from Botany Bay to England, during which he coasted along a group of large islands which he named "New Georgia". Fleurieu, writing in a period of intense international rivalry over Pacific discoveries,… Read More

Paris: Courcier, 1809. Five volumes, octavo, and a quarto atlas; contemporary French quarter calf and papered boards, flat spines banded in gilt with double orange labels, a beautiful set. Fleurieu's narrative of the voyage of the Solide under the command of Etienne Marchand, the first French commercial voyage to the Northwest coast of America, and the second French circumnavigation (some twenty-five years after Bougainville's). Lada-Mocarski commends this book as "a very important and authoritative work for the history of the Northwest coast". Returning from Bengal in 1788, Marchand had come across the voyager Portlock who told him of the lucrative fur trade between the Northwest coast and China. 'The trading firm of Baux in Marseille underwrote a commercial expedition and purchased and fitted out the copper-sheathed ship Solide, which sailed in December 1790 for the Pacific via Cape Horn. At the Marquesas, Marchand took possession of two islands, Uapou and Nukuhiva (which he named Ile Baux), not… Read More

London: G and W. Nicol, 1814. A few spots and a little flecking at the periphery, otherwise very good condition.. Engraved map measuring 668 x 469 mm., neatly backed upon linen. Original engraved chart of the Gulf of Carpentaria published for the atlas volume of Flinders' masterpiece A Voyage to Terra Australis. Charting this region was particularly difficult for Flinders and his officers; beset by scurvy in the tropical heat they soon discovered the timbers of the Investigator to be rotten and the vessel barely seaworthy. This map is one of sixteen published for the atlas, and is clearly identified as its first state by the publisher's details 'G. & W. Nicol, Jany. 1st 1814' engraved to the lower margin. Noted for their accuracy and utility, Flinders' charts were republished and updated by the Admiralty and remained in use for well over a century. Accordingly, examples of the first issue are increasingly uncommon, and it is probable that this unfolded copy backed on linen was used at sea. .

London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1946. A fine copy.. Folio, with a map and wood-engravings by John Buckland Wright; uncut in the original full green morocco gilt by Sangorski. The scarce de luxe issue, one of only one hundred numbered copies in full morocco binding. This important first publication of the manuscript in the State Library of Victoria gives Flinders' account of his 1798 voyage in the Francis that led to his exploration of Bass Strait, and to the discovery of the Illawarra coal seams by Bass. .

London: G. and W. Nicol, 1830. In very attractive condition, the text volumes with much less offsetting from the plates than usual; atlas in fine state.. Two volumes quarto, and atlas folio; the text volumes on large paper and the atlas in the preferred elephant folio size with the botanical plates unfolded; nine plates in the text; the atlas with 16 charts (nine folding), two plates (on four double-page sheets) of coastal views, and ten large botanical plates; text in handsome contemporary half crimson morocco bindings with brown moiré cloth sides, atlas in contemporary quarter red morocco and marbled sides, spine lettered in gilt. A superb set, evidently acquired by George Wyndham (later Lord Egremont) in 1836, with the splendid and large atlas volume containing updated maps appropriate to that date. Showing details of coastal exploration carried out by P.P. King and others in the two decades since original publication, this represents the detailed knowledge of the Australian coastline current at… Read More

Sydney: Hordern House in association with the State Library of NSW, 2002. Octavo, 272 pp., 19 colour illustrations; bound in burgundy cloth with colour illustrated boards and a silk book ribbon. Matthew Flinders: personal letters from an extraordinary life offers the reader a representative selection of over one hundred of Flinders' letters, including many relating to his great circumnavigation of Australia, as well as his time on Mauritius where he was held by the French for over six years. The letters written in Mauritius are published here for the first time, and cover a tragic, though little known, period in his life. Also of particular poignancy are the letters written by Flinders to his beloved wife Ann. After only three months of marriage, Flinders sailed for Australia, and the couple were not to meet again for nine years. Of great significance is the audacious letter written by a young Flinders to the "Father of Australia" Sir Joseph Banks, where Flinders volunteers himself for the formidable… Read More

London: Royal Commonwealth Society, 1962. A few faint spots; the cloth binding a little marked but good.. Folio, frontispiece portrait, with nine maps (two folding maps, one of which in a pocket of the binding); 139 plates, some in colour; original dark blue cloth. First publication of the important series of drawings made by William Westall as artist on HMS Investigator during Flinders's circumnavigation of Australia. The original drawings are held by the Royal Commonwealth Society in London. .

London: Printed by W. Bulmer... and published by G. and W. Nicol, 1814. Text volumes: the two frontispieces and other plates with edge-staining from oxidisation of paper. Atlas volume: a few folds repaired, a couple of the maps with some spotting.. Two text volumes, quarto, with nine engraved plates, in large paper format with generous margins and a few edges uncut; and folio atlas with sixteen large charts either folding or double-page, two double-page folding plates of coastal views and ten folded botanical plates; the text volumes in old half maroon grained calf, the atlas in old half calf. One of the most famous Australian rare books, the full account of the first circumnavigation of Australia. The two extensive text volumes and the accompanying volume of charts of the coastline represent the magnificent achievement that was Flinders's voyage in the Investigator, the full-scale expedition to discover and explore the entire coastline of Australia (the name that Flinders himself preferred and… Read More

London: T. & W. Boone, 1847. Two volumes, octavo, 17 plates and two folding maps, illustrated; in attractive old pale tan half calf, double labels. First edition of this important account of the Fly's surveying voyage of coastal Australia. Jukes' account is particularly significant for his description of the Queensland coast, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Torres Strait, and includes an impressively detailed map of the north-east coast from Endeavour River north to New Guinea. Numerous encounters with native peoples, particularly in the Torres Strait are described in the text and illustrated in the splendid plates, mostly by Harden S. Melville, who who published his own illustrated work on the voyage (Sketches in Australia and the Adjacent Islands, 1849). The Fly, Captain Blackwood, sailed from Falmouth on 11 April 1842 with the cutter Bramble. Jukes sailed as naturalist to the expedition, and with his captain's consent wrote the official narrative. The survey of Torres Strait and of the Great… Read More

Amsterdam: David Mortier, 1732. A few bumps, hinges starting but still firm, an attractive copy,. Small octavo; contemporary French mottled calf, spine panelled in gilt between raised bands, red morocco label. Uncommon fourth French edition, based on the Raguenet edition of 1692, the version thought to have been influenced by a now unknown manuscript version by Foigny himself. The most remarkable aspect of this 1732 edition is that it was published by David Mortier, best known as one of the partners of the great Dutch mapmaking firm Covens and Mortier (the title-page calls him a bookseller at the sign of the "Mappe-Monde"), an association which must explain the renewed interest in Foigny's book while also showing the continued confusion about where the truth really lay. Foigny, a defrocked Franciscan monk, wrote this work while sheltering in Geneva in the 1670s. The inventiveness of the story, into which Foigny has packed any number of incredible creations, has baffled and delighted generations of… Read More

Amsterdam: David Mortier, 1732. Slight wear at extremities; label missing but the underlying type impression serves to replace it.. Duodecimo, contemporary calf, spine panelled in gilt between raised bands. Uncommon fourth French edition, based on the Raguenet edition of 1692, the version thought to have been influenced by a now unknown manuscript version by Foigny himself. The most remarkable aspect of this 1732 edition is that it was published by David Mortier, best known as one of the partners of the great Dutch mapmaking firm Covens and Mortier (the title-page calls him a bookseller at the sign of the "Mappe-Monde"), an association which must explain the renewed interest in Foigny's book while also showing the continued confusion about where the truth really lay. Foigny, a defrocked Franciscan monk, wrote this work while sheltering in Geneva in the 1670s. The inventiveness of the story, into which Foigny has packed any number of incredible creations, has baffled and delighted generations of… Read More

London: for John Dunton, 1693. Some margins cut a little close, small stain on the title-page.. Duodecimo, with the three advertisement leaves at the end; small paper flaw to pp. 177-8; a very attractive copy in full speckled calf, spine ornately gilt, sides panelled in gilt. The very rare and valuable first English edition of this remarkable imaginary voyage, in which Jacques Sadeur makes his way to the southern land and discovers in western Australia an idealised society of large-bodied hermaphrodites who live in harmony with one another. This English language printing of 1693 contains the very first usage of the words 'Australia' and 'Australian' in print. Ordinarily Matthew Flinders is credited as having been the first published author of the name 'Australia', as it appears in his Voyage to Terra Australis. However, Foigny's fantastic story predates this by more than a century. First published in French in Switzerland in 1676 (where it was promptly banned by church authorities), the book was… Read More

Paris: Jean-Francois Bastien, 1790. One or two joints slightly weak.. Eight volumes, octavo, engraved portrait frontispiece in volume 1 and a folding plate in vol. 2; a fine set in contemporary French polished marbled calf; flat spines ornately gilt with double red labels. A very attractive set of Fontenelle's works, including his enormously popular Entretiens sur la Pluralité des Mondes: this utopian analysis of the universe took Europe by storm and was precursor and inspiration to scores of imitations. It was first published in 1686, and first translated into English by Aphra Behn only two years later. Although the Entretiens clearly owes a tremendous debt to the astronomical traditions of Galileo and Brahe, Fontenelle's sensational tale of the inhabitants in 'other planets, in other galaxies, and even on comets, could hardly fail to captivate' (Nina Rattner Gelbart, Introduction to the Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds). In the form of an elegant dialogue between a scientist and a… Read More

Honolulu and Sydney: Hordern House and University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Quarto, 30 illustrations, 548 pp.; half-bound in red Nigerian goat skin. Deluxe issue: one of 50 numbered copies, signed by the author. This is a special issue of the first volume of the Hawaiian National Bibliography. This important work by David Forbes, a leading expert in the field of Hawaiiana, is a record of all printed works touching on some aspect of the political, religious, cultural or social history of the Hawaiian Islands. Volume I covers the period 1780-1830. David Forbes's important bibliography has won both the MLA Bibliography Prize for 2000 and a special commendation from the Bibliography Prize Committee of ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers). .

Sydney: Hordern House in association with the University of Hawai'i Press, 1999. Quarto (250 x 205mm), 548 pages with 30 illustrations; printed in black and red and bound in crimson half morocco. Deluxe issue: one of 50 numbered copies, signed by the author. This is a special issue of the first volume of the Hawaiian National Bibliography. This important work by David Forbes, a leading expert in the field of Hawaiiana, is a record of all printed works touching on some aspect of the political, religious, cultural or social history of the Hawaiian Islands. Volume I covers the period 1780-1830. David Forbes's important bibliography has won both the MLA Bibliography Prize for 2000 and a special commendation from the Bibliography Prize Committee of ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers). .

Halle: Hemmerde and Schwetschke, 1788. Octavo, old stamp on title, minor paper flaw on one leaf; a very good copy in contemporary buff glazed boards, spine lettered in gilt at head. An attractive copy of this very scarce publication, not recorded by the Cook bibliographers Beddie or Holmes, and very important for the natural history of Australia and the southern hemisphere. Forster's manual on biological classification is based on the new species and genera seen by him and his son while naturalists on Cook's second voyage. Forster discusses the voyage in detail, and describes how parts of the work were composed during it. The text is intended to accommodate the significant expansion of the natural kingdom, and particularly the problems of description and classification arising from antipodean species. It presents a vivid picture of the collecting activities, methods, and constraints of the two naturalists. 'We have several useful post-voyage statements concerning the way in which Forster and his… Read More