Search Results: Titles starting with L from Hordern House Rare Books

Paris: J. Langlume et Peltier, 1835. A little foxing of the text but a very good copy, rubbed. Octavo, with 20 handcoloured plates (including frontispiece), original patterned green papered boards. A charming French account of the peoples of the world written for younger readers and featuring twenty vibrant hand-coloured plates including a Tahitian scene and a depiction of a war canoe from New Zealand. The chapter on Polynesia comprises a rather good description of the manners and customs of Tahiti. The brightly coloured plate, titled Repas d'un chef d'Otaiti, depicts a chief draped in scarlet cloth with three attendants serving and preparing his meal. Some elements of the scene, such as the cocoanut palm and native dwelling at the rear, are reminiscent of the Pacific although the draped apparel of the figures is of oriental influence. The plate depicting the war canoe of New Zealand is based on a study by Sydney Parkinson, and although the cloaks and garments of the figures are fancifully coloured… Read More

Angers: Lachese et Dolbeau, 1889. Octavo, 60 pp.; neatly bound in old quarter cloth, leather label. Scarce offprint from the Revue libérale: a discussion of the early history of Vietnam, and in particular China's attempts to gain control of the country. Fosses concludes that Vietnam would fare much better under "l'influence française". .

Naples: Stamperia Simoniana, 1758. Light browning of a few gatherings, some plates thumbed at margins but a handsome copy.. Folio, with engraved frontispiece and 25 plates, woodcut diagrams and vignettes throughout; contemporary vellum. Splendid edition of Vitruvius, published in large format with 25 detailed plates specially prepared for this edition. This is the best textual edition of Vitruvius, translated and edited by Berardo Galiani, the humanist scholar who reinterpreted the classical architectural canon for eighteenth-century sensibilities. A second edition of this version appeared later the same year in Siena. The Latin text has a facing Italian translation, with the Italian commentary printed below. Vitruvius is the only classical architectural treatise to have survived into the modern era. All printed editions derive from four manuscript copies of which just three are now extant (the manuscript held by the Abbey of Montecassino was destroyed during the Second World War). Some textual… Read More

Paris: Chez l'Auteur, 1652. A little rubbed at right-hand margin yet a lovely impression.. Handcoloured engraved map, 400 x 545 mm. (plate size); mounted. Stately double-hemisphere map by Nicolas Sanson, cartographer extraordinaire and geographer to Louis XIII. Sanson's principal historical importance lies in his role as a disseminator of knowledge: 'His maps, geographical tables and teaching captured the attention of persons no less eminent than Richelieu, Fouquet, the chancellor Seguier, and Cardinal Mazarin...The regard of such illustrés reveals Sanson as an important conduit of geographical knowledge to centres of power in France, which at this time was at its most important period of expansion in Canada, the West Indies, Africa, and the Near East' (Pedley, Imago Mundi 44). As a youth with a Jesuit education, Sanson displayed precocious intelligence and an unusual affinity for mapmaking. These valuable attributes attracted the attention of Cardinal Richelieu, then first minister of the king,… Read More

Paris: Desaint & Saillant, Durand, 1756. Octavo, engraved frontispiece portrait by Tardieu le fils, and 10 engraved plates by Chedel, engraved titlepage vignette, headpiece to dedication leaf and tailpieces at end of each canto; a very attractive copy in contemporary French mottled calf, spine gilt, crimson morocco label. First edition, rare: "an epic poem on the discovery of America" (Sabin). This attractive work contains many beautifully-executed plates, including scenes depicting Columbus' landing in the New World, his introduction to the American court, and a vivid shipwreck. Although the work is very much the product of Du Boccage's agile pen, she shows that she is also familiar with the voyage accounts of Anson and Frezier, among a litany of erudite notes. Madame du Boccage (Marie-Anne Le Page) ran a distinguished salon in Paris, frequented by Voltaire, Fontenelle, and other luminaries. Together with her husband, Pierre-Joseph Fiquet du Boccage, she had a passionate interest in literature, and… Read More

Paris, but Nouméa: Challamel ainé, 1878. Quarto, with a mounted photographic view of Nouméa, five folding maps printed in colour, a folding table and five lithographic plates; with a suite of 73 lithographic illustrations (including separate title-page) comprising a detailed route map of a walk through the island; a very good uncut copy in quarter cloth with leather label, marbled boards. The first major work on New Caledonia, this is also the first book to have been printed in Nouméa, and is rare. An authoritative and detailed account of New Caledonia, it was published at the height of the communard deportations, when French political prisoners were exiled to the farthest reaches of the globe under French influence. Although formally published by Challamel in Paris, this was in fact completely printed in Nouméa with the exception of the five coloured maps, which were prepared in Paris. The second part of the work, a lithographically printed route map of 73 pages detailing a journey around the… Read More

Paris: Marchant, Editeur, 1834. A fine copy.. Octavo, 22 pp.; in the original printed blue paper wrappers preserved in a modern quarter cloth binding. Rare first edition of this very early aeronautical fantasy, an impassioned plea for the aérostation (the hot-air balloon) as the next - and overdue - technological advancement. Poujol (1811-1898) is little-known, but was the author of an Hommage to Victor Hugo and a well-known dramatist at mid-century. This is without doubt one of his most eccentric works, the product of a sunny day in the Tivoli Gardens, in which he pondered the rise of the railway and reflected that air-travel seemed to have fallen out of fashion. Pointing out enthusiasts from Louis XVI to Napoleon, particularly the latter's dream of mounting a surprise invasion of England by air, Poujol published this small philosophical dream in the hope of encouraging renewed efforts by the inventors of the age. It is consequently a highly unusual example of an early work arguing for flight… Read More

Barcelona: por los herederos de D. Agustin Roca, 1834. Spine renewed.. Oblong octavo, engraved frontispiece, title and 32 plates; a fine copy in original printed boards. A very good copy of this rare illustrated Spanish edition of the costumes of the world, after the original French publication La Géographie en estampes ou mœurs et costumes des différens peuples de la terre (Paris, 1815). The French edition seems to have been republished several times, but this is the only edition of this Spanish translation of which we are aware. Each of the four main sections - Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas - has its own engraved map as a section head, the maps with interesting animals in the surrounds: the American map, for example, is surrounded by a turkey, bear, seal, beaver and a llama. The American section includes a diverse range of nationalities, including Canadians, Greenlanders, Cubans, Californians, and Patagonians, but concludes with an engraving showing Tahitians and Sandwich Islanders, with a… Read More

Paris: Théodore Lefèvre, 1856. Rear cover moderately rubbed, touch of foxing affects the preliminaries.. Oblong album measuring 245 x 335 mm., title-page and twelve tinted plates, fine in original decorated papered boards. A particularly attractive French lithographic album of marine scenes by a seasoned voyage artist. As the title boasts, Louis Le Breton served as artist on Dumont d'Urville's second voyage to the Pacific and Antarctic during 1837-1840. He was taken on in 1837 as assistant surgeon on board the Astrolabe. Since he showed a talent for drawing, Ernest Goupil, the official artist on board, took him under his wing and began to train him as a painter. When illness struck the crew of both ships in 1838, Goupil became one of the victims, dying in January 1840 in Hobart Town. Dumont d'Urville then appointed Le Breton as the expedition's artist; on their return to Paris the drawings of both Goupil and Le Breton were used for the magnificent lithographs in the huge publication of the… Read More

Paris: Chez Giguet et Michaud, 1805. Some occasional light foxing, hinges cracked but joints still strong.. Two volumes, octavo, engraved frontispiece and half-title in each volume; nineteenth-century mottled calf, gilt. First edition of Esmenard's epic poem on voyages of discovery generally, and La Pérouse specifically. The work includes a plate of the 'Naufrage des Canots de la Pérouse au Port des Français', showing the tragic events in Alaskan waters in 1786 when the expedition's boats got into serious trouble in (present-day) Lituya Bay with substantial loss of life. A hardy and experienced mariner himself, Esmenard composed the poem while under sail with Villaret-Joyeuse to Martinique. The epic poem demonstrates his broad knowledge of the voyages of the eighteenth century, with references to Bougainville, Malaspina, Byron, Wallis and Surville, as well as sections on the 'immortelle' Anson and 'sage et malheureux' Cook. The work is an homage to the great French sailor La Pérouse, 'maître du… Read More

London: Charles Knight, 1830. Stipple engraving, 140 x 110 mm (plate size). There are relatively few portraits of La Pérouse from the life, due to his unexpected disappearance at sea following his coincidental meeting with the Australian First Fleet at Botany Bay in 1788. After establishing a friendly rapport with the English officers, La Pérouse refitted his ships and sailed for the Solomon Islands, but was never heard from again. Nothing was known of his fate until 1827 when the Pacific trader Peter Dillon found the clues that led to discovery of the wrecks at Vanikoro in the Solomons. His fame only increased as a result of the mysterious disappearance, and there were few images of him to satisfy public interest. This familiar depiction, much used subsequently, is based on a family portrait from the La Pérouse family house in Albi, SW France. .

Paris: Jules Renouard, 1839. Some foxing (more noticeable on some gatherings);A few chips and stains but rather good.. Duodecimo, unopened and untrimmed, in the original printed wrappers, Charming account of the La Pérouse voyage for children, with notice of the later discoveries relating to the great French mariner, including chapters on d'Entrecasteaux, Dumont d'Urville and Peter Dillon. These concluding sections concentrate on the wrecks at Vanikoro and the monument erected there by Dumont d'Urville, with the final section describing the tragic irony of the fact that d'Entrecasteaux had sailed past Vanikoro in May 1793. This work was published by Charles-Claude Ruelle under the pseudonym "Claudius" as part of a longer series of occasional works on all manner of subjects, with separate volumes on for example Columbus, Drake, and Ross, but also on subjects such as electricity, science, the Bible, and French history. This La Pérouse volume seems to be quite uncommon; it is not noted in Forbes'… Read More

Paris & Brussels: G. van Oest, 1925. A fine copy.. Folio, with 70 fine photogravure plates, three of them in colour, and a map; contemporary quarter vellum. A scarce book, evidently produced in quite a limited printing. This is an important study of the Buddhist sculpture of Thailand, handsomely produced and well illustrated. .

Paris: Librairie Plon, 1888. A fine copy.. Small octavo, with seven folding maps; in the original printed pale blue wrappers. First edition: a very scarce publication, by a French naval officer who sailed with the D'Entrecasteaux expedition in the 1790s. Admiral Charles Baudin played a role in the history of both Texas and Mexico: in 1838 he was sent by the government of King Louis Philippe in command of a blockading squadron to Mexico, 'accompanied by the king's third son, Prince Joinville. During the siege, known in Mexican history as the "Pastry War," all of the French provisions (including drinking water) were shipped from Havana. 'President Mirabeau B. Lamar sent Col. Barnard E. Bee to Veracruz to obtain Mexican recognition of Texas independence, but the Mexicans refused to see Bee, who consulted with Baudin and Joinville. Through the blockade of Veracruz, by engaging the military and depriving Mexico of import duties, its principal source of revenue, France impeded Mexico's attempts to… Read More

Sydney: Government House, 1804. Folded and a little aged yet very good condition.. Vellum sheet measuring 330 x 230 mm., with manuscript notations to both faces (including a site-sketch with measurements). Early Sydney lease signed by Governor Philip Gidley King for an allotment in the centre of Sydney Town, with a sketch of the site executed and signed by colonial surveyor George William Evans. Simeon Lord, emancipee (and to become a prominent mercantile figure in the Colony), was apparently keen to acquire this allotment for he paid the considerable sum of £325 for the remainder of the lease in 1807. The location of the lease, in the immediate vicinity of the Dry Store on Spring Row (later Castlereagh Street) was ideal for a merchant. Earlier he had constructed his private residence in close proximity to the Dry Store, allowing officers of merchant vessels docked in the harbour to stay in his house while remaining close to valuable cargo and merchandise held in the Dry Store. King was a pivotal… Read More

Venice, 1430. In fine fresh condition.. Illuminated leaf on vellum, 469 x 353 mm., with illuminated initial "I", 122 x 90 mm. (body of initial); initial on a burnished gold ground and painted in rich colours of blue, red, green and ochre, the initial extended with lush leafy decoration in similar colours with a bird-head terminal to form a full marginal border, several small gold balls around the decoration; square musical notation on red 4-line staves, 7 lines of interlinear text in a large rounded gothic script. Framed. A leaf of exceptional quality from an early fifteenth century Venetian Antiphonal. The extravagantly illuminated initial "I", which includes a wolf's head in the decoration, introduces the text "Ierusalem cito veni", a Responsory at Matins for the Second Sunday in Advent. The very rich colours of the foliate decoration are characteristic of the work of Christopher Cortese (fl.1409-39), the leading Venetian illuminator of his day. .

Paris: Maradan, 1810. Fine.. Six volumes, octavo, engraved frontispiece and title to each volume, 65 engraved plates; uncut, in original bright pink wrappers with original paper spine labels. The first French edition of Thomas Smith's delightful natural history for young people: an immaculate set, in completely original condition. Gumuchian reports that this original edition was such a success that successive editions appeared in the years that followed. This production stands apart from other juvenile natural history primers for the fineness of its engravings, which are of exceptional quality. Some four hundred and thirty species of fish, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds are described, sixty-five of which are illustrated, providing a fascinating cross-section of the contemporary interest in zoos and menageries, with many of the animals shown in less than natural settings (the orangutan is having a cup of tea, for example). Despite this, there are an impressive number of what would have been… Read More

Paris: n.d., 1778. Some spots, but good.. Engraving, 240mm x 188mm. Fine French version of the Basire engraving of the William Hodges portrait, prepared as frontispiece for the French publication of the official account of the second voyage. .

Paris, 1790. Small hole to A4 affecting one word, otherwise fine.. Octavo, 19, [1] pp; disbound from a volume. A very rare early "satire on French politics and English colonization" (Ferguson). Likening those who fled the tumult of the French Revolution to the English convicts transported to Australia, the author petitions them to join the future king of France in the newly established penal colony at Botany Bay: "le vaste continent des Terres Australes leur offre un pays nouveau, asyle fait pour eux." The "count" continues that "c'est la Nation que vous etes dignes d'etentre, c'est la Nation que je suis fait pour commander" (this is the nation that you deserve and that I am meant to command", and explains that in the Antipodes the laws are very different and virtue and vice are often upended. The satire evidently found an audience in Revolutionary France: a second edition was published in 1799. It appeared in the very first years of the English colonisation of Australia, at a time when France had… Read More

Paris: no publisher, 1808. A little rubbed but a very good set.. Two volumes, duodecimo, three folding engraved plates after John Webber, charming early printed prize label to front endpapers; in original tree calf, ornate gilt spines with black morocco labels. A beautiful set of this charming and popular French account of various voyages for children. As the title suggests, much of the material here is taken directly from the voyages of Captain Cook. The three folding engraved plates, all after Webber, respectively depict a Māori war canoe, a walrus hunt and a Tahitian human sacrifice. There were a number of juvenile editions based on Jean-Pierre Bérenger's popular collections of voyage accounts which first appeared in 1780. Bérenger was a Swiss polymath; politically active, he was exiled from Geneva and spent much of his adult life in Lausanne. He wrote several important books on geography and the voyages to the Pacific. This Paris edition is largely devoted to the voyages of Cook and has… Read More