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

London: Boydell, 1819. Hand-coloured aquatint, 280 x 410 mm., Whatman paper with 1819 watermark; very good. This arresting image, from Webber's wonderful series Views in the South Seas illustratting scenes from Cook's third voyage, depicts the Tahitian chief Waheiadooa (Vehiatua) lying in state. Cook recorded in August 1777 that his curiosity had taken him to view what his fellow officers had described as a "Roman Catholic Chapel", but which he discovered was what was known as a Tupapau in which the remains of Vehiatua were laid; the body, Cook was told, had been there for some twenty months. The structure, beautifully realised in Webber's view, resembled a small neat house decorated with coloured cloth and mats, including a large piece of scarlet broad cloth which had been given to the Tahitians by Spanish missionaries. The plate was issued as one of Webber's Views in the South Seas. Following Webber's death in 1793 the publisher Boydell purchased the majority of his stock at auction and continued… Read More

England, late-18th to early-19th century. In very good original condition.. Watercolour on paper, 235 x 275 mm, mounted. An appealing and early painting of the crimson rosella or "Pennantian Parrot", skilfully drawn and enigmatically signed in pen "WK'', further captioned "This Species is Often Found about Port Jackson N.S. Wales". While the image has obvious similarity to the engraving that appears in Governor Phillip's account of the new settlement (The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay, 1789), certain details differ from that engraving, notably in the depiction of the tree and in the foreground. The text of the Phillip account (p.154) notes that "This beautiful bird is not infrequent about Port Jackson, and seems to correspond greatly with the Pennantian Parrot, described by Mr. Latham in the supplement to his General Synopsis of Birds, p. 61...". Latham, the great English ornithologist and scientific illustrator, was the first to describe more than a hundred new Australian birds,… Read More

Yantai, Shandong Province, China , 1860. In good condition.. Watercolour, 230 x 380 mm, signed and dated ("Lindesay Brine fecit June 22 1860"); mounted. An attractive and skillfully executed drawing heightened with watercolour. Two Chinese figures carrying baskets have been sketched in the foreground but have not been finished. A European ship and numerous ships either sail or ride at anchor off a promontory hill, probably Tengchow (now Penglai), one of the treaty ports opened for foreign trade following the 1858 Treaty of Tianjin. Lindesay Brine, who entered the Royal Navy in 1847, was the author of "The Taeping Rebellion in China; a narrative of its rise and progress, based upon original documents and information obtained in China" (London: Murray, 1862). This watercolour was made on the spot during his service as commander in the China Seas. The painting is captioned in ink on the image: "HM Gunboat Opossum - Junk by Chefoo - The French Troops are Encamped on the Hill." "While serving in the Far… Read More

The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1952. Very good.. Quarto, unopened, in blue boards; blind embossed printer's device on front board. First edition: an elegant monograph on utopia. This thesis on the development of economics in the English Utopia gives priority to key works such as Bacon's New Atlantis, but also includes chapters on less studied works such as Hartlib's Macaria and Mandeville's Fable of the Bees. In his attractive introduction to the subject, Fuz delineates the economic utopia, whilst alluding to the intangible impetus that utopian writing has provided. Thus, whilst critical of many of the individual works, throughout he is committed to his general statement: 'Utopia is a 'state of mind' and is necessary as an intellectual attitude, as a stimulus to further development or action; and it is always corrective of existing society.' Using this sophisticated sense of the utopia as stimulus rather than manifesto, he concludes 'In spite of their theoretical inconsistencies, the Utopians must… Read More

London: J.H. Bohte, 1838. Very good.. Engraved plate with contemporary handcolouring, 280 x210mm. The graceful Sydney honey-eater engraved by Australia's first professional artist John Lewin, who arrived in the colony in 1800 and established himself as our first natural history illustrator. Aside from being Australia's first natural history publisher, Lewin was an intrinsically skilled naturalist: 'The bibliographical and historical importance of Lewin has been emphasised in recent years, but Lewin the naturalist has been somewhat neglected...[his renditions] are highly competent and show the mind of an excellent observer. Lewin's birds are correct; the feather detail, legs, particularly the positioning of the toes, posture of the bird, the understanding of male and female plumage, the interactions between male and female are accurate and show a keen observer at work. The other important detail in Lewin's illustrations are the plants: they demonstrate an observer who is familiar with his subject's… Read More

London: Fisher Son & Co, 1834. Engraving, 230 x 145mm (plate size). Fine portrait of the great botanist as a young man. Hooker was born at Norwich in 1785. Following his father's fascination with exotic plants, he showed a precocious interest in botany and in 1809, through the encouragement of Sir Joseph Banks, made an expedition to Iceland. In 1815 he married the daughter of the brewer and botanist Dawson Turner, and settled at Halesworth in Suffolk. In these years he laid the foundations of his personal collection (including species recently discovered in Australia) which later formed the genesis of the Herbarium at Kew. In 1820 Hooker was appointed Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow, where he lectured while increasing both university and personal collections through his wide range of contacts throughout the colonies. Hooker's fascination with exotic plants coincided with the settlement of the east coast of Australia. He cultivated close relationships with naturalists such as… Read More

Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1975. Octavo, maps and charts, gilt decorated brown cloth, a fine copy. James Burney sailed as a young man on James Cook's second voyage: his private journals recording his experiences are here reprinted from the manuscript held by the National Library of Australia. .

London: G. Garrard, 1811. In very good condition overall.. Original aquatint, stipple, etching and engraving; 540 x 800 mm., mounted and framed. A large detailed and striking image of the annual sheep shearing festival held by the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, with Sir Joseph Banks a resplendent figure in the foreground. This great agricultural show was started by Frances Russell (1763-1802) who established a model farm at Woburn with 'every convenience that could be desired for the breeding of cattle and experiments in farming'. This included valuable experiments upon the respective merits of the various breeds of sheep. The sheep shearing exhibitions lasted for days and the whole English agricultural world was invited to this splendid event; the week concluded with banquets for the Duke's numerous guests staying at Woburn Abbey. The scene shows an enormous crowd of noblemen, gentlemen, farmers, and agricultural labourers inspecting the numerous sheep and cattle whilst a shearing contest is… Read More

London: David Mallet, 1754. Worn calf.. Five volumes, quarto; a good set in contemporary calf. First edition. Bolingbroke (1678-1751) was a prominent and controversial Tory politician in the reign of Queen Anne. .

London: Cadell and Davies, 1809. Three volumes, octavo, aquatint frontispiece portrait; fine in contemporary sprinkled calf, spines simply ruled in gilt, red morocco lettering pieces and circular green volume labels. Fourth edition, corrected, in a restrained contemporary binding: the works of Sir Joseph Reynolds, the most influential of eighteenth-century English painters. This attractive set includes the famous Discourses of Reynolds: 'a classic of our language ... a model of art criticism' (Cambridge History of English Literature). Also included is Mason's translation of du Fresnoy's 'Art of Painting' with Reynolds's commentary, and a life of Reynolds by Edmond Malone. .

London: S. Briscoe, 1722. Two volumes, octavo, frontispiece portrait; blue morocco gilt, by Smith. First edition thus: expanded from an edition of 1702, it has been conjectured (probably unsubstantially) that this edition was prepared by Defoe. Dashing, profligate and witty, Sedley was a favourite of Charles II. He 'gained a deserved reputation ... for a certain poetic gift' (Brittanica). .

London: Printed for J. White, 1802. Rebacked at an early date, retaining the original labels.. Two volumes, octavo, frontispiece in each volume, one handcoloured and folding, one folding plate; contemporary ownership inscription on each of the titles, contemporary marbled sheep. The Rev. Gilbert White (1720-1793), best known for his Natural History of Selborne - a classic of both natural history and English literature - was in close contact with the leading naturalists of the day: Sir Joseph Banks, Thomas Pennant, Daniel Solander, Forster, William Curtis, and Sir Ashton Lever. He followed Cook and Banks' voyage in the Endeavour closely, and later wrote of an ironic twist: "A gent. came the other day, and said he understood that there was a Mr. White who had lately published two books, a good one and a bad one; the bad one was concerning Botany Bay, the better respecting some parish". .

London: J. Johnson et al., 1803. Ten volumes, octavo, engraved portrait frontispiece and folding table, prize-plate & bookplate, later gift inscription from Buxton to his son; early diced calf with the insignia of Trinity College Dublin to the boards. A fine and most attractive set in original calf, presented as a school prize in 1806 to Thomas Fowell Buxton, the social reformer (and with his own engraved bookplate and later presentation inscription). The set has a school prize plate from its original presentation to Buxton for his progress in the Third Class of Trinity College, Dublin, which he attended from 1803 to 1807. It would be interesting to know whether the works of Bacon had any direct influence on Buxton's career, but he evidently cared for the set as he presented it to his eldest son and the Second Baronet, Edward North Buxton and his wife Catherine, on 12 December 1836. .

London: Baldwin and Cradock, 1835-, 1837. Some foxing to preliminaries; very good.. 15 volumes, small octavo, each volume with engraved title and frontispiece, 11 portrait engravings,, in matching contemporary full polished calf, spines with raised bands, decorated in gilt, black and red morocco labels. A first edition set of William Cowper's (1731-1800) complete works edited by Robert Southey, Poet Laureate, in an attractive binding. 'Cowper's admirable letters, of which several additions have been published, throw light on his simple, gentle, and humane personality. His poetry is notable as heralding a simpler and more natural style than the classical style of Pope and his inferior imitators' (OCEL). The set includes engravings by W. Harvey. .

Edinburgh: Constable, 1826. Some hinges worn.. Uniform partial set, twenty five volumes, duodecimo; all bound without the half-titles and advertisements, handsome set contemporary polished calf. First editions, works include Redgauntlet, A Tale of the Eighteenth Century; Kenilworth a Romance; The Abbot; The Monastery. A Romance; The Pirate. Each with the bookplate of John Selwin. .

London: Bell and Daldy, 1862. Five volumes, large octavo, fine in half polished calf binding by Bayntun of Bath, spines gilt. Handsome collected edition, edited with notes by J. Payne Collier and featuring a special biographical section titled The Life of Spenser. As with the writings works of other Tudor poets such as Jonson and Shakespeare, textual and bibliographic complexities exist, but are ameliorated in this collated edition. Major works include his homage to Elizabeth Regina, The Faerie Queene and the bucolic idyll The Shepheards Calendar. .

London: Law, et al., 1797. Bindings rubbed, preliminaries browned and offset.. Nine volumes, octavo, engraved frontispiece; early half blue straight-grained morocco and marbled boards, a handsome set. A handsome eighteenth century edition of the complete works of the poet and satirist Alexander Pope, containing the pivotal analysis An Essay on Man. Widely read and distributed across the Continent, the Essay elicited a response from Voltaire (La Loi Naturelle of 1756). However, not all criticism was positive, and Pope - a gentleman of sensitive disposition - was crushed by the demolition penned by Swiss professor Jean-Pierre de Crousaz. Not until his Works were first published in 1735 did Pope firmly claim authorship of the work, commenting "if I could flatter myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in steering betwixt the extremes of doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not inconsistent, and a short yet not imperfect system of… Read More

1898. Well preserved, with original manuscript label to reverse of the frame "This sketch of the Hereward wrecked on Maroubra Beach 1898".. Watercolour, 182 x 540 mm, mounted and framed. This watercolour, signed lower left by M. Clarke, was painted as the clipper ship Hereward lay on her side stranded on Maroubra Beach. The ship had blown onto soft sand at the northern end of the beach, luckily avoiding two rocky reefs, and the crew of 25 was brought safely ashore. 'The Hereward was a 1513-ton full rigged iron clipper built in Glasgow in 1877. It had a length of 254 feet, beam of 39 feet, and depth of 23 feet. The Hereward was a trader to the colonies making frequent trips from London to Sydney with general cargo. The fateful trip began in the Dutch East Indies port of Sourabaya, bound for Newcastle to load coal for South America. On 5 May 1898 the Hereward was battling up the New South Wales coast in appalling weather, with wind velocities recorded up to 47 miles per hour. The Hereward was flung… Read More

London, 1785. Fine condition.. Original watercolour on paper with faint outline of engraving, 250 x 360 mm., signed and dated lower right, mounted. An original watercolour by the highly regarded artist William Hayes (1727-1799) Despite a complete lack of training in any field, Hayes discovered a natural aptitude for painting birds. His first book, A Natural History of British Birds, 1775, was fifteen years in the making, and many of the birds were drawn from life either during field trips or from specimens he kept in captivity. Others were drawn from specimens sent to him by the Duchess of Portland's birdkeeper. In the mid-1780s Hayes went to live at Southall, a short walk from Osterly Park. Osterly, remodelled by Robert Adam in the 1760s, was owned by the Childs. Like the Duchess of Portland, Sarah Child was an enthusiastic collector of exotic birds. When Horace Walpole visited Osterly Park in 1773, he admired "the menagerie full of birds that came from a 1000 islands, which Mr. Banks has not yet… Read More

London: J. Round, 1740. Worn,, hinges cracked.. Two volumes, folio, engraved portrait frontispiece after Lely; contemporary calf. Apparent third edition thus: Lowndes lists earlier editions of 1720 and 1731, but this edition is not mentioned. Temple, author and talented diplomat, retired from public life in 1681 to his estate Moor Park, where he produced many works of essays, several prepared for publication by his recalcitrant protégé, Jonathon Swift. .