Search Results: Titles starting with N from Asher Rare Books

[28], 96 pp.Extremely rare first edition of a list of Dutch data concerning the whaling trade in and around Greenland, compiled by Gerrit van Sante (1728-1779). The book was designed with blank spance to add new data in the years following 1753. The present copy has been updated, probably by the first owner, till the year 1761. Besides the names of the commanders for every Dutch voyage to Greenland and the Davis Strait and the names of the directors for whom they sailed, it also includes an annual record of the number of whales caught, tonnes of blubber and barrels of whale oil, both for each commander individually and for the industry as a whole. "Van Sante understood completely the enormous economic importance of whaling for the Netherlands, and mentions the results of every voyage of every ship" (Catalogue library of G.J. Honig). "Greenland" is broadly interpreted to include the waters around Spitsbergen and Jan Mayen Island, and the Davis Strait fleets (fishing between Greenland and America) are… Read More

60; 67, [1 blank], 88, 40; [4], 84 (lacking pp. 85-102), 42, [2], 70 pp.Rare first and only edition of a catalogue of the plants found on the island of Java, Indonesia. The work was published in three volumes, the first containing descriptions of plants not recorded by Rumphius and Houttuyn and the second and third listing all the plant names Latin, Dutch and Malay/Javanese, with reference to Linnaeus, the Malay/Javanese set in roman type. The volumes were printed at the presses of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Batavia on the island of Java (now Jakarta, Indonesia).Jacobus Cornelis Matthieu de Radermacher (1741-1783), started as a Dutch merchant in service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and rapidly rose in position in the company. He was one of the founding members of Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen and a proponent of the establishment of the botanical gardens of Buitenzorg.With a tiny tear in the second leaf and a couple of minor spots, otherwise in very good… Read More

[2], 97, [13]; [2], 39, [6], [1 blank]; [1], [1 blank], 22 [3], [3 blank]; [1], [2 blank], [1], 86, [10]; [1], [1 blank], 12, [2]; [1], [1 blank], 34, [4]; [2], 47[=49], [5]; [2], 63, [7]; [1], [1 blank], 16, [2] pp.First edition of the 25th volume of the 8vo edition of a collection of travelogues, compiled by the publisher and cartographer Pieter van der Aa (1659-1733). The complete collection, consisting of 28 volumes, covers important voyages to the East and West Indies and other countries from 1246 to "this day" (1696), undertaken by all European countries other than the Dutch. The present volume deals with voyages during the years 1611 to 1616 mostly to the East Indies, but also including an account of an embassy to the King of Ethiopia and the accounts of two voyages of the British Captain John Smith (1580-1631) to New England (West Indies). The majority of the voyages to the East Indies included here were undertaken by the British East India Company, mostly visiting India, including several… Read More

VIII, 208 pp.Rare first and only edition of an account of a journey to Laghouat in the North of Algeria by the Swiss jurist Friedrich Locher (1820-1911). He was send to Algeria in 1862 to liquidate an inheritance in the country and stayed in the area for three months. As expected from a Swiss jurist he gives a pretty formal account, describing the country and its people, architectural curiosities, etc., but he also includes less formal topics like the drinking of camel's milk. Some spots, but otherwise in very good condition.l Kainbacher, p. 282; Playfair 2598; for Locher: Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz IV, p. 698.

48; [14], [2 blank] pp.Extremely rare German account of Captain Cook’s death, published in Tallinn in Estonia, "undoubtedly the first account of Cook's death to be published in book form" (Beddie), together with a letter concerning the 1775 Spanish voyage to the west coast of North America by Bodega y Quadra (1744-1794), also in German, with many references to Cook. The first work opens with a short poem on the death of the English navigator and hydrographer James Cook (1728-1779), who died during a scuffle with the Hawaiian natives on 14 February 1779, after his relations with them had deteriorated. It is followed by a foreword and "a short account of Cook's life, his voyages and his death, with many inaccuracies on his early career" (Beddie), also in German. Much of the information in this small booklet comes from a letter, Auszug des Briefes von Kensington den 4ten Febr. 1780 die Nachrichten von Kapitain Cook betressend.This letter "includes paraphrases of passages in Captain Charles Clerke's… Read More

[36] pp.First and only(?) edition of one of the most important and best argued pamphlets on the Dutch in America, written to promote the establishment of the West India Company and to warn of the dangers and disadvantages of making peace with Spain. Usselincx's writings "are models of precision and of reasoning, clear and concise, the style simple and popular, the plan plainly laid down and well followed out. [They] teem with the most varied information, and possess an historical importance of the first order" (Asher, p. 74). Here he argues that peace with Spain would promote trade in the Spanish-controlled Southern Netherlands at the expense of the Northern, would hinder Dutch trade in the East Indies and prevent them from establishing a West Indian Company.With the number "19" in manuscript on title-page, leaves numbered 46 (title-page) to 63 (last leaf), and with a waterstain at the lower outer corner. Otherwise in very good condition.l Alden & Landis 608/171; Asher 32 (= 26-28/14); JCB II, p. 57;… Read More

[8], 194; [6], 179, [1]; 56; 181, [3]; [4], "152" [= 154]; [1], [1 blank], 39, [1] pp.The first and only Dutch edition of Jonston's zoological encyclopaedia, exquisitely coloured by a contemporary hand. It was first published three years earlier in Latin as Theatrum universale historiae naturalis (Amsterdam, J.J. Schipper, 1657). The 6 parts cover quadrupeds, fish and aquatic mammals, "bloodless" sea animals (mostly invertebrates), birds (including bats), "grooved or twisted" animals (insects, spiders, worms, snails, crustaceans, etc.), and snakes and dragons. The 250 striking plates, while unsigned, were evidently engraved by Matthäus Merian the elder (1593-1650) and his sons Caspar (1627-1686) and Matthäus the younger (1621-1687) (Anker, Bird books 234, and others). Nearly every plate illustrates several animals (with insects sometimes dozens), including various mythological and fantastic creatures, such as a dragon, phoenix, harpy, griffin and mermaid. The present copy is especially valuable as a… Read More

[72] pp, some leaves printed on one side only.Rare 19th-century album with lithographed plates after a 17th-century manuscript with a Swedish account of the Russian State by Erich Palmquist. Palmquist was captain of fortifications in Swedish service. In 1673-1674 he was part of a Swedish delegation that went to Russia headed by Gustaf Oksensherna. Palmquist was tasked with collecting information concerning Russia’s roads and infrastructure, architecture and technical equipment (including weapons). When he returned to Sweden, he compiled the album reproduced here, including several drawings and maps, to report his findings. Sweden’s National Archives retain the original manuscript album, dated 1674, a unique source for information about 17th century Russia and its architecture, infrastructure, civilisation and technology, is surprisingly little known. Limited to an edition of 50 copies, printed in 1898. Copy no. 1 was given to the King of Sweden, no. 2 to the Tsar of Russia. The present copy is no.… Read More

XXII, 387; VI, 474 pp.First edition of an account of the voyage around the world by Captain Sir Edward Belcher (1799-1877), commander of the Sulphur, during the years 1836-1842. Belcher was ordered to follow the trans-Pacific route from South America to England. During the voyage Belcher visited several islands, including the Solomon Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, the Society Islands, the Tonga Islands, the New Hebrides and New Guinea. His party also surveyed various harbours along the coast of California and northwest to Alaska. The book shows several pictures of natives in the Indonesian Archipel and their customs. The steel engravings show Panama (2), Honolulu, Mount Elias, Sitka at New Archangel, the volcano of Consequina, Fort George at Astoria, Port Anna Maria, attack on the war junks, Thoka-nauta or Phillips, natives of Port Victoria, native of New Guinea, bow of a state canoe, Prahu of Geby, native of Celebes, native women of Celebes, attacks on first bar battery, Chinese soldiers with gingals… Read More

[1], [1 blank], XIV, [2], 96, [1], [1 blank] pp.First edition of an early work on endosmosis (the movement of the sap in the stem) by the German silviculturist Heinrich Cotta (1763-1844), with 7 hand-coloured engraved plates of tree branches and bark. Active research on endosmosis was done in Germany by vegetable physiologists between 1804 and 1840. The work opens with a preface, introduction and table of contents, followed by the main text discussing the movement of sap in woody plants and its function. It is "in many respects an instructive work" (Sachs).Some small restorations in the first three leaves, some minor foxing and a large stain at the head of the first few leaves. Binding slightly rubbed. Overall in good condition.l Bradley I, p. 163; Pritzel 4925; Sachs, p. 509.

[8], 216.First edition of a study on larvae and pupae by the German entomologist and botanist Peter Friedrich Bouché (1784-1856), who was the institutional gardener at the Botanical Garden at Schöneberg. It includes many different insects, describing the appearance of their larvae and pupae and the process of their metamorphoses, also depicted on the lithographed plates. The title-page mentions this work to be the first instalment, but no subsequent instalments were published. From the entomological library of Jacques d'Aguilar, author of Histoire de l'entomologie (2006). Somewhat browned, not affecting the plates, otherwise in good condition. Binding very good.l Hagen I, p. 77; Horn & Schenkling 2093.

28 pp. plus 127 plates.Rare edition of a very fine series of attractive animal prints, originally published in 7 instalments, here lacking the general title-page and section 1. The extremely rare first edition, with the title Das in seiner großen Mannigfaltigkeit und in seinen schönen Farben nach Original-Zeichnungen geschilderte Thier-Reich and text in German and French, was published posthumously by the artist's sons Martin Elias (1730-1780) and Johann Jakob (1736-1784), in 1768. The present edition, with German text only and with an etched frontispiece by Martin Elias Ridinger, is divided into 9 sections numbered 2 to 10, ranging from monkeys to big animals such as elephants and rhinos, starting with brief descriptions of the animals followed by the plates, with captions in German and Latin. The plates are printed on paper watermarked “G.R. Thurniesen”, used around 1825. Bridon-White and Graesse both list a variant edition also published by Engelbrecht in Augsburg, 1825, in 7 instalments with… Read More

[11], [1 blank], [2], XIV, 324, [4] pp.First edition of a geographical description of the Indonesian island Java by Reinder Jan Lambertus Kussendrager (1808-1847), a Dutch teacher living in Jakarta (Batavia). It opens with a list of subscribers and an introduction, followed by geographical descriptions of various residencies on Java, with notes on the population, politics, economy, agriculture, etc. Included are Banten (Bantam), Jakarta (Batavia), Bogor (Buitenzorg), Tegal (Tagal), Kedu, Madura, and many others.Head and foot of the spine slightly damaged. Otherwise in very good condition, wholly untrimmed with all bolts unopened.l Tiele, Bibl. 617.

XXVI, 216 pp.First edition of the Dutch translation, beautifully illustrated and hand-coloured, of a popular description of plants and corals of the sea by Luigi Ferdinando Conte de Marsigli (1658-1730), a celebrated Italian geographer and natural scientist. First published at Bologna in 1700, it was the first work to describe what the author himself called "coral-flowers". He minutely and very correctly described and designed them, but he drew the wrong conclusions, seeing them as plants in stead of plant-animals. But even when this was corrected by later scientists like Jussieu and Ellis, Marsigli's book continued to be published for its beautiful plates, and its accurate descriptions. In the present edition the publisher asks his readers just to substitute the word plant for animal.In very good condition, with virtually untrimmed edges. Binding worn along the extremities and sides slightly damaged.l Bibl. Natura Artis Magistra 1390; Nissen, ZBI, 2700; Poggendorff II, col. 59.

[2], 174 [1], [1 blank]; 104; [2], 159, [1]; 176; [2], 164; 123, [1 blank]; [2], 130; 243, [1 blank] pp.First edition of a Dutch encyclopedic textbook on the art of conjuring, anonymously published in 4 volumes over 4 years. The book contains information on "white magic", based on many earlier published works of that time, describing and explaining numerous conjuring tricks with ropes, knives, watches, playing cards, etc, most of them clarified in the illustrations. Also explained are various disappearing tricks, mind reading, chemical tricks, number and word tricks, secret alphabets, etc. The author gives 13 basic rules for performing magicians, which derive from the Testament de Jerome Sharp, which was included in Henri Decremps's La magie blanche dévoilée.Bindings slightly rubbed along the extremities. Otherwise in very good condition.l Buijnsters, Verzamelen van boeken, p. 222; Nijhoff, Sale cat., Oct. 1900 (coll. J.L. Beijers), item 1796; STCN 160528283.

124; 172 pp.First edition of a beautiful, complete set of an important scientific work on insects, with 70 contemporary hand-coloured plates. It describes the Cicadidea and Heteroptera found in all parts of the world, especially in Suriname, Indonesia, South Africa and the Coromandel coast. It is the first serious scientific work ever published on insects of the order of Hemiptera. The illustrations, which show more than 450 insects in great detail, form the main part of the work and are accompanied by descriptions in Dutch and French. These 2 volumes were written by entomologist Casper Stoll (ca. 1725-1793/95) and were later followed by a work about grasshoppers. They were originally published in monthly installments. The present works are commonly bound together. In the present copy, they are preceded by the rare cancelled title-page, with the year 1780, and the general introduction. Stoll was the first entomologist to devote himself to Hemiptera and used Linnaeus' classification to categorise them.… Read More

[10], 466, [6] ll.The first English edition of Ludovico di Varthema’s famous account of his travels to Arabia, Persia and India: a highly important and adventurous narrative, first published in Italian as Itinerario … nello Egypto, nella Suria nella Arabia deserta & felice … in 1510, here published in English with other accounts of travels in exotic lands. All of the early Italian editions of Varthema's Itinerario, separately published, are extremely rare. Varthema, a gentleman adventurer and soldier from Bologna, left Venice at the end of 1502 for the Middle East. Impressed and fascinated, he describes not only rites and rituals, but also social, geographical, and day-to-day details. "I determined, personally, and with my own eyes", he declares in the prefatory dedication, "to ascertain the situation of places, the qualities of peoples ... of Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Felix, Persia, India, and Ethiopia, remembering well that the testimony of one eye-witness is worth more than ten… Read More

80 pp.First edition of an economic survey of the VOC (Dutch East India Company) trading posts and possessions in Asia. As might be expected it centres on Indonesia, but also discusses the activities of the Dutch in other places at length: Ceylon, "one of the main possessions"; Coromandel, where the Dutch brought all goods from the smaller trading posts to their outpost and regional capital Nagapattinam (a woman governed the region!); Malabar, exporting no less than 2 million pounds of pepper, cardamom and other spices yearly; Surat, "a complete disorder".The book provides detailed information about the social-political structures of these trading posts, the valuable goods and materials that the country produces and the way the Dutch operate with the local population. The author is very critical of the abuses in the Dutch East Indies, an observation that was ahead of his time.A French translation (État présent des Indes Hollandaises, contenant une peinture varie et fidelle du gouvernement) appeared… Read More

100 pp.Two very rare pamphlets on the unity and controversies within the Dutch Protestant Church during the seventeenth century by the orthodox-Calvinist minister Guilielmus Saldenus (1627-1694). In the first pamphlet Saldenus tries to restore the peace between the Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants, and in the second he discusses the religious dispute in the Dutch Protestant Church concerning the person of Jean de Labadie, a 17th century French pietist. A third pamphlet bound in between is replaced by modern blank leaves. Good copies.l Ad1: Knuttel 8972; ad 2: not in Knuttel; Tiele; Van der Wulp, etc.

[8], 566, [26] pp.First and only edition of the Dutch translation of A new account of East-India[!] and Persia (London, 1698), a highly accurate account of India and Persia, with numerous anecdotes and told with a fine sense of humour. The account is based on the experiences of John Fryer (ca. 1650-1733), a British East India Company surgeon who arrived in India in 1673, spending time at Masulipatam and Madras on the Coromandel Coast and at Bombay and Surat on the West Coast, with trips to Gokarna, Karwar, Goa and Junnar. From 1677 to 1679 he travelled in Persia, visiting the southern parts of the country and giving an extensive description of Isfahan. In 1677 he sailed through the Strait of Hormuz and visited Muscat, commenting on the city's Imam, religion and merchandise. At the end of 1677 Fryer left Isfahan and returned to India, where he remained until 1681. The text is divided into eight "letters", each devoted to a different region and a different period of his travels, describing the flora and… Read More