Recent Acquisitions
July 23rd, 2024
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A note on OCLC
As is now the norm, OCLC counts are tentative, at best, as we recognize that searches using different qualifiers will often turn up different results. Searches are now further complicated by the vast numbers of digital, microfilm, and even print-on-demand copies, which have polluted the database considerably, making it difficult, without numerous phone calls or emails, to determine the actual number of tangible copies. Hence, even though the counts herein have been recently checked, most all should be taken as a measure of approximation.
1. [Beijing Travel Guide.] Guide to "Peking." Published by The Peiping Chronicle. Revised edition. Peiping [i.e. Beijing]: The Peiping Chronicle, 1935.
$350
7½" x 5½", pp. [6], v, [3], 193, [3]; 3 maps (1 folding), and 48 illustrations from photographs (many full-page); original tan pictorial wrappers, spine a little chipped at the extremities but still a very good copy.
With numerous illustrated advertisements, a historical introduction to the city, details on points of interest, cultural institutions, Chinese theatre, shops, foods, industries, transportation facilities, newspapers, clubs and associations, hotels, hospitals, festivals, etc.
2. The races of Afghanistan, being a brief account of the principal nations inhabiting that country. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, and Co.; London: Trubner and Co.; W. Thacker and Co., 1880.
$750
First edition, 8vo, [3], 6-124, [2], 38 (Thacker, Spink ads dated May 1880); original pictorial terracotta cloth stamped in black and gilt on upper cover and spine, in black only on lower cover; small break at the top of the spine, bookplate of the Boston-Library Society (marked 'cancelled'), and their perforated stamp on the title page (also cancelled), otherwise a near fine, bright, sound and clean copy with no external markings.
A preliminary study and the basis for his later An Enquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan (1891). "The author was a medical officer of the East India Company and was employed almost exclusively on the NW-frontier of India, in Kashmir and Afghanistan. In 1857 he was a member of Lumsden's mission to Kandahar, a member of F. Pollock's mission to Sistan in SE. Persia in 1871-72, and finally of Douglas Forsyth's mission to Yarkand in 1873" (Yakushi).
Yakushi B271.
3. Repentance, and other poems. London: Longman & Co.; Hatchard & Son, Piccadilly; and Saunders & Benning, Fleet-Street, 1829.
$400
First edition, 12mo, pp. viii, 118; errata slip tipped in at p. [1]; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; a few smudges, the label a little rubbed; all else very good, sound, and clean.
Mary Ann Browne (1812-1845) published her first book of poetry at the age of just 15 and was only 17 when Repentance was published. In all she published seven books of poetry and many more poems, songs, and musical scores appeared in periodicals.
4. The Grampians desolate: a poem. Edinburgh: printed by John Moir, Royal Bank Close: for Vernor and Hood in the Poultry, London: and Manners and Miller, Edinburgh, 1804.
$400
First edition, 8vo, pp. vii, [1], 316, 4 (Prospectus of a New Agricultural Institution or Fund of Aid for Waste Land Cultivators); contemporary if not original glazed green paper-backed marbled boards, printed pink paper label on spine; spine end a little chipped and spine with vertical cracks; all else very good and sound. Recent bookplate of Norman & Janey Buchan on recto of front free endpaper.
An unusual and possibly bespoke binding. A review of the book from the Monthly Review, pp. 87-90, Sept 1805 is laid in.
"More than half of this work, which is without literary merit, consists of notes. Its object was to call attention to the 'deplorable condition' of the highlands, brought about by the introduction of sheep-farming. A melancholy incident recorded in a note to page 11 led to the establishment of the Edinburgh Destitute Sick Society" (Wikipedia).
5. AB Bookman's Weekly. A substantial run. Clifton, N.J.: 1984-2000.
$150
16 volumes 1984-2000 (complete), 1984 and 1985 in 2 volumes each, none issued for 1999. The premier publication for the used, rare and out-of-print book trade in the years preceding the internet, and a veritable history of the American scene, with numerous advertisements, lists of books wanted and for sale, and feature articles by Jerry Showalter, Peter Stern, John Jenkins, Patterson Smith, Lee Ash, Jack Rittenhouse, Justin Schiller, Anne Bromer, Leona Rostenberg, Peter Glassman, Sally Zeiser, Peter Kraus, Ed Glaser, Bill Reese, Matthew Bruccoli, Madeline Stern, Joel Silver, Bruce Fry, Henry Wessels, John Dann, Charles Blockson, Owen Gingerich, and a host of others. Very good to fine condition.
6. [China..] The temples of the Western hills. Peking & Tientsin: La Libraire francaise, 1923.
$1,250
First edition, square 12mo, pp. [8], 76, [4] ads; folding map, 3 drawings in the text, and 10 mounted silver photographs (including one on the front cover); original brown printed wrappers lettered in black on spine; some minor wear and wrinkling, but on the whole a very good to near fine copy.
The photographs are credited to the author's acquaintances, J. Paterson, Mrs. Calhoun, and Mr. Wetherall, and the professional photo studio, Messrs. Hartung, Peking. The photographs depict temple interiors and exteriors, a portrait of the Abbot of Chieh-t'ai-ssu, and a temple orchestra. The text contains descriptions of the surrounding countryside as well as detailed descriptions of the temples themselves in the mountainous regions west of Peking, "a record of personal impressions and .. aims at giving a general idea of the character and atmosphere of the temples and their surroundings rather than a tabulated series of facts in the manner of a guide book" (Preface).
7. Coins in China's history. Tientsin: published by the Student Work Department of the Tientsin Hui Wen Academy, 1937.
$250
Second and best edition, oblong 4to, pp. [2], viii, 158; numerous illustrations in the text, charts and tables printed in red, orange, green, yellow, and blue, plus a map; original blue moiré cloth stamped in gilt on the upper cover; small cracks at the spine extremities, inoffensive stain on the upper cover, else a very good, sound, and clean copy. Early ownership signature in pencil on the front pastedown of Mary Louise Westlercons (?), University of Shanghai.
The first edition appeared in the previous year in only 138 pages. This second edition is considerably augmented.
8. Tancred: or, the new crusade. By B. Disraeli, M.P. ... Author of “Coningsby,” “Sybil,” etc. In three volumes. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street, 1847.
$250
First edition, 12mo, pp. [2], 338; [2], 340; [2], 298, [12] Colburn ads; original brown paper-covered boards, printed paper labels on spines; vertical cracks along the spines, one label chipped with the loss of a letter, small losses at spine ends, ink splash on fore-edge of volume III; good, sound, and clean in the original binding. Ownership signature of C. C. Eames on the front free endpaper of each volume.
Sadleir 728a (also noting a half-cloth binding); Wolff 1842.
9. In forbidden China. The D'Ollone Mission 1906-1909 Tibet - China - Mongolia. Translated from the French of the second edition by Bernard Miall.. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1912.
$200
Second printing in English, 8vo, pp. 318, [2]; photo-reproductive frontispiece portrait, double-page map and 69 illus. on 33 plates; original red pictorial cloth; spine a little toned, gutter split in a few places but textblock still sound, ads on version of half-title crossed out in pencil with the note "our sheets should be blank - no adv," very good. Includes a chapter on the Dali Lama and the expedition's audience with him.
10. The general history of China. Containing a geographical, historical, chronological, political and physical description of the Empire of China, Chinese-Tartary, Corea and Thibet. Including an exact and particular account of their customs, manners, ceremonies, religion, arts and sciences. London: printed for J. Watts: and sold by B. Dod at the Bible and Key, in Ave-Maria Lane, 1741.
$2,000
"Third edition, corrected." 4 volumes, 8vo, pp. [14], 509, [1]; [14], 438; [14], 496; [14], 464; titles printed in red and black; 15 engraved plates (10 folding) on 14 sheets, 4 engraved folding maps; 2 pages of printed music, 1 full-page illustration, one other illustration in the text; one map with 2 long tears (no loss) and misfolded; 1 plate loose (but present); another plate with 2 tears (but again, no loss); contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, boards worn with loss of paper on volume I, edges rubbed and worn, spine with hairline cracks; in all, a good set, sound and reasonably clean. Together, in a blue cloth folding box, gilt titling on spine.
Early ownership signature of James Giffard. Numerous annotations in the margins in pencil, in Chinese and English, possibly by Giffard, but also perhaps, by Thos. Wm. Clarke whose name appears in volume II.
Translated by Richard Brookes. First published in English by Watts in 4 volumes octavo in 1736, with 15 plates and 4 maps. Lowndes I, 693: "'Dr. Johnson being asked by Boswell whether he should read this work, replied, "Why yes, as one reads such a book: that is to say, consult it.' Duhalde, who was never in China himself, has drawn his materials from a variety of sources, especially from the printed and manuscript account of the missionaries; but he has failed to exercise a sound judgement, and a scrupulous examination into the truth of many facts and opinions which he has admitted into his work." Others have regarded it "as the completest and most valuable history of the Chinese Empire which had appeared up to the time of its publication.
Cordier, see Sinica, 50 and Lust 15 for the folio edition (1738-41).
11. Essays on the principles of morality, and on the private and political rights and obligations of mankind. London: Hamilton, Adams, & Co., paternoster-Row; and by T. Balle, Exeter, 1829.
$750
First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xi, [1], 487, [1]; vi, 475, [1]; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper labels on spines; top of both spines cracked, one repaired with glue, boards a bit spotted; all else very good, clean and sound. Early ownership signature of "W. D. Crewdson, 5 mo. 5, 1829" on both front free endpapers
Dymond (1796-1828) was a British Quaker who viewed war as "an evil before which, in my estimation, slavery sinks into insignificance," and spent what there was of his short life working for peaceful causes. He died of cholera in the United States in 1828. Dymond has three works to his credit: An inquiry into the Accordancy of War with the Principles of Christianity, and an Examination of the Philosophical Reasoning by which it is defended: with Observations on Some of the Causes of War and Some of Its Effects (1823); Observations on the Applicability of the Pacifist Principles of the New Testament on the Conduct of States, and on the Limitations which those principles impose on the Rights of Self-defence (1825); and the last, published posthumously, Essays on the principles of morality, and on the private and political rights and obligations of mankind (1829).
In the March 8, 1834, issue of The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison wrote a brief review. Garrison laments that Dymond, “was—alas! (for he is now dead) a prodigy among mankind – the Lord Bacon of our times. His mind was like the sun in its glory, seldom showing the least obscuration. Its amplitude was vast, its power almost super-human, its perceptions wonderful. The field which he occupies in his essays covers the globe, and embraces the whole human race. . .”
12. Chin Chin Kobakama rendered into English by Lafcadio Hearn [wrapper title]. [Tokyo: T. Hasegawa, 1903].
$225
First edition, first printing, state A, per BAL (no priority); large paper format as described by BAL (approx. 7⅝" x 5¼), pp. [22], copyright notice and colophon on p. [23];outer back wrapper (p. 24]; printed on crepe paper; illustrated in color throughout and in illustrated self-wrappers; light sunning at the edges, last leaf with short tear entering the fore-margin, else basically very good. BAL 7939.
13. The boy who drew cats rendered into English by Lafcadio Hearn [wrapper title]. [Tokyo: T. Hasegawa, 1898].
$250
First edition, first printing, state B, per BAL (no priority); large paper format as described by BAL (7½" x 5⅜), pp. [2], 18, [4]; printed on crepe paper; illustrated in color throughout and in illustrated self-wrappers; light sunning at the edges, else basically very good to fine.
With 22 titles listed in the advertisement for this series on p. [20]; tailpiece (without letterpress) on p. [21]; colophon on p. [22].
BAL 7930.
14. Jehol city of emperors ... Translated from the Swedish by E. G. Nash. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1931.
$225
First edition in English, 8vo, pp. xiv, [2], 278; 62 plates from photographs, full-page map and 3 full-page illustrations; a near fine copy in original terracotta cloth, gilt-stamped spine; dust jacket with short tears and small losses at extremities, and with larger pieces missing from the spine extremities.
15. History of the war in Afghanistan. From the unpublished letters and journals of political and military officers employed in Afghanistan throughout the entire period of British connexion with that country. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty, 1851.
$750
First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xii, 656;vi, 690; contemporary full tan calf, gilt-decorated spines in 6 compartments, red and green morocco labels in 2, marbled edges; top of title page in volume I just loosening, green labels browned, the whole lightly rubbed, otherwise a near fine, clean and handsome set.
"The First Anglo-Afghan War began in early 1839 when the British undertook an invasion of Afghanistan from India with the aim of overthrowing the Afghan ruler, Amir Dost Mohammad Khan, and replacing him with the supposedly pro-British former ruler, Shah Shujaʻ. The British were at first successful. They installed Shah Shujaʻ as ruler in Jalalabad and forced Dost Mohammad to flee the country. But in 1841 Dost Mohammad returned to Afghanistan to lead an uprising against the invaders and Shah Shujaʻ. In one of the most disastrous defeats in British military history, in January 1842 an Anglo-Indian force of 4,500 men and thousands of followers was routed by Afghan tribesmen. The British then sent a larger force from India to exact retribution and to recover hostages, before finally withdrawing in October 1842" (OCLC).
"Deals with the period 1800-1842, with accounts of the Treaty of Goolistan, the siege of Herat; the army of the Indus; the Russian expedition of Khiva; the evacuation of the Balla Hissar; the retreat from Caubul; the effects of the victories; the Manifesto of 1842, etc." (Yakushi).
Yakushi K86.
16. The Rengma Nagas ... Published by direction of the Government of Assam. London: Macmillan and Co. Limited, 1937.
$85
First edition, 8vo, pp. x, 381, [3]; frontispiece, 32 illustrations from photographs on 16 plates; original blue cloth stamped in gilt on upper cover and spine; bottom of spine rather rubbed, some bubbling of the cloth; a very good, sound copy.
17. Gaṅs ti seʼi dkar cʼag: a Bon-po story of the sacred mountain Ti-se and the Blue Lake Ma-paṅ ... Revised, collated, and completed by Ramon Prats ; excerpts in English translated by Namkhai Norbu and Ramon Prats. Roma: Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1989.
$50
First edition, 8vo, pp. [7], xxxiv, 130, [2]; fine in original printed gray wrappers. Issued as volume 61 in the publisher's Serie orientale Roma.
18. The visit of the Teshoo lama to Peking. Ch'ien Lung's inscription. Translated by Ernest Ludwig. Peking: Tientsin Press, 1904.
$350
Pamphlet, approx. 7" 5", pp.[2], 88; 4 pages of facsimiles, text in Chinese and Englus; original gray printed wrappers with an early plastic rebacking, title supplied in ink on spine; very good, clean and sound.
With Chinese text and translation of the "Inscription on the stone tablet in the eastern pavilion of the western Yellow Temple." The inscription refers to the visit of the third Tashi lama to Peking toward the end of the eighteenth century. Also, an "Appendix with explanation of the names of the Dalai and Tashi lamas": p. 49-88.
19. Morfars sagor, eller Berättelser ur Skottlands historia, tillegnade Hugh Littlejohn, esq. af Walter Scott. Öfversättning. Norrköping: Collin & C. [volumes I-VII]; N. Schmidt & C. [volumes VIII-IX], 1828-1833.
$600
9 volumes, 12mo, original gray wrappers with printed paper labels on spines, the spines subsequently covered up with hand-made green glazed-paper spines, decorated at heads and feet, and hand-lettered and numbered in gilt. The new spines are dicey, with numerous cracks and chips, but they do reveal some of the original spines for comparison. Bindings otherwise sound and the text blocks clean. Early ownership signature of Israel Holmgren in volume IV.
Scott’s Tales of My Grandfather (1828-30), all three series, in Swedish.
20. 習字臨本/ Shuuji rinpon [= Handwriting practice book]. [Tokyo]: Monbusho, 1875.
$125
Fukurotoji, 9 x 6 in., 54 leaves; text in Japanese, largely consisting of wordlists of elementary characters separated into categories like animals, weather, colors, and household objects, the whole list repeated twice, once for kaisho (regular script) and again for gyosho (semi-cursive script); original yellow paper wrappers, title sheet and title label on upper wrapper, manuscript English title label on lower wrapper; binding thread snapped and wrappers starting, light tide stain to upper wrapper and first leaf, text otherwise clean and sound, good.
An exemplar of proper handwriting, likely for juveniles. Handwriting was considered a fundamental aspect of education, and such sample books employed accomplished calligraphers to provide example texts for study and copying.
21. The rise of the native press in China. New York: Columbia University, 1924.
$75
First edition, 8vo, pp. 50, [2]; portrait frontispiece; original blue printed wrappers; some chipping at the edges and short tape repairs on verso of the front wrapper, otherwise very good and clean. Presented as a requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Journalism, at Columbia.
22. An English Cantonese dictionary. Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh Ltd., 1931.
$175
Square 12mo, pp. [6], 227, [1]; printed paper wrappers, supplied paper label to spine; light wear to upper wrapper, bookplate of Sinologist Jerome Cavanaugh, with his name excised, paper slightly toned, and a hint of smoke; all else very good.
Wells was "for thirty years a member of the Board of Examiners in Hong Kong, and for four years director of the Cantonese class in the Hong Kong University." Also published the same year by Wing Fat & Co.