Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - October - 2011 Issue

Travel Books from Bestebreurtje Rare Books

The Death of General Wolfe.

The Death of General Wolfe.

Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books has issued List 48: New Acquisitions. One Hundred Interesting and Rare Books on Travel. Actually there is a bonus here as there are 104 items (unless four are too common or uninteresting to qualify). Many of the travels emanated from the Netherlands, as befitting a Dutch bookseller, but not all, and the places visited go all over the world. This catalogue will be welcomed by those with an interest in travels and explorations, primarily from the post-Age of Discovery era (1700 forward).

Now that we have said most travels described came after 1700, we will start with one that preceded that date by almost four centuries. However, the account would not be printed until five centuries later. The title is Voyages d'Ibn Batoutah, texte arabe, accompagné d'une traduction published 1854-1874 (four volumes). It is bilingual, printed in both French and the original Arabic. The traveler was Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan born in 1304, not quite a contemporary of Marco Polo, but one whose life overlapped with the later years of the famed Italian explorer. In 1325, Battuta participated in the Hajj, the sacred Muslin pilgrimage to Mecca. He did not stop there. Battuta kept traveling, all over the known world of the time, the Arabian Peninsula, Near East, India, China, Southeast Asia, and back to Africa and Muslim Europe (Spain). He would not make it home until almost a quarter of a century later, whereupon he quickly set out again for another five years. He would not settle down back home until 1354, after which he made no more notable journeys. He had a story to tell that would rival that of Marco Polo, but Ibn Battuta did not keep notes, and never set his account down in words. Fortunately, he dictated his remembrances to another, and they floated around in manuscripts for centuries before being printed. As with Marco Polo, it is questionable whether he actually visited all of these places, as some accounts were clearly lifted from earlier writings. However, his travels still must have exceeded those of just about anyone who lived up to that time. Item 43. Priced at €795 (euros, or approximately $1,153 in U.S. currency).


Ibn Battuta traveled much of the coastal areas of northern and eastern Africa, and even penetrated the continent to Timbuktu, but travels deep into the heart of the continent would come later. Perhaps the most famous of these explorers was the missionary David Livingtone. Livingstone started out hoping to convert the natives, but not being very good at that, he devoted most of his energy to unlocking the secrets of what was then, to Europeans, a dark continent. He would drift out of contact with the western world until his famous discovery by Henry Stanley, who presumed right when he found Livingstone. Item 58 is The last journals in Central Africa, from 1865 to his death. Continued by a narrative of his last moments and sufferings, obtained from his faithful servants Chumah and Susi by Horace Waller. Poor health made Livingstone's last years difficult, and after he died, his faithful servants undertook the long trek of bringing his remains home to England. Offered is a first American edition, published in 1875. Item 58. €195 (US $282).

Item 49 is a second edition (published in 1898, a year after the first) of the account of a most uncommon traveler of the time: Travels in West Africa. The author was Mary Henrietta Kingsley, and she was not accompanied by a husband or any other man, most unusual for a woman going to places out of the way and often unexplored at this time. Miss Kingsley, an Englishwoman, was the daughter of an extensive traveler, a man who at one time accompanied Custer in the American West (fortunately not in his final battle). As her parents aged and became ill, Miss Kingsley was devoted to their care, but after they died, she set out on her own. Her target was Africa, and she visited and lived in several backcountry locations, learning about and developing an appreciation for the local customs. This too was unusual, as most in England saw themselves as far superior to Africans, while Miss Kingsley felt that native customs were appropriate for the local environment. She would return to Africa a few years after her travels to serve as a nurse during the Boer War, but contracted typhoid and died in 1900. €150 (US $217).

Rare Book Monthly

  • Dominic Winter AuctioneersApril 9Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints Dominic Winter AuctioneersApril 9Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Johnson (C.). A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most Notorious Pyrates, 1724. £3,000-4,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ordonez de Cevallos (Pedro). Viage del Mundo, 1st edition, Madrid: Luis Sanchez, 1614. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: North America. Merian (Matthaus), Virginia..., 1627 or later. £1,500-2,500
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: World. Waldseemuller (Martin), Tabula Nova Totius Orbis, Vienne: 1541. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Erasmus (Desiderius). The ... paraphrase of Erasmus... 2 volumes, 1st edition, 1549. £3,000-5,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Bible [English]. [The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament, 1562]. £3,000-5,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Smith (Lucy). Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, 1st edition, 1853. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Derain (Andre). Pantagruel, signed limited edition, Albert Skira, 1943. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Austen (Jane). Pride and Prejudice, illustrated by Hugh Thomson, Large Paper edition, 1894. £1,500-2,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ellison (Ralph). Invisible Man, 1st edition, New York: Random House, 1952. £200-300
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Taschen Collector's Edition. Annie Leibovitz, limited edition, 2014. £1,000-1,500
  • Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 1: Bob Dylan, his high school classmate's yearbook with his senior portrait, signed and inscribed to her, 1959. $10,000 to $20,000. Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 1: Bob Dylan, his high school classmate's yearbook with his senior portrait, signed and inscribed to her, 1959. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 1: Bob Dylan, his high school classmate's yearbook with his senior portrait, signed and inscribed to her, 1959. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 1: Bob Dylan, his high school classmate's yearbook with his senior portrait, signed and inscribed to her, 1959. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 4: Various entertainers, Group of 30 items, signed or inscribed, various dates. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 27: John Adams, Autograph Letter Signed to Benjamin Rush introducing Archibald Redford, Paris, 1783. $35,000 to $50,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 36: Robert Gould Shaw, Autograph Letter Signed to his father from Camp Andrew, Boston, 1861. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 53: Martin Luther King Jr., Time magazine cover, signed and inscribed "Best Wishes," 1957. $5,000 to $7,500.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 127: Paul Gauguin, Autograph Letter regarding payment for paintings, with woodcut letterhead, 1900. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 169: Suck: First European Sex Paper, complete group of eight issues, 1969-1974. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 173: Black Panthers, The Racist Dog Policemen Must Withdraw Immediately From Our Communities, poster, 1969. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 187: Marc Attali & Jacques Delfau, Les Erotiques du Regard, first edition, Paris, 1968. $300 to $500.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 213: Andy Warhol, Warhol's Index Book, first printing, New York, 1967. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 215: Cookie Mueller, Archive of 17 items, including 4 items inscribed and signed. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 249: Jamie Reid, The Ten Lessons / The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle; Sex Pistols, chromogenic print with collage, signed, circa 1980. $20,000 to $30,000.
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    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
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    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Bonhams, Apr. 8: First report outside of the colonies of the American Revolution, from American accounts. Printed broadsheet, The London Evening-Post, May 30, 1775. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce, James. The earliest typescript pages from Finnegans Wake ever to appear at auction, annotated by Joyce, 1923. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce's Ulysses, 1923, one of only seven copies known, printed to replace copies destroyed in customs. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: ATHANASIUS KIRCHER'S COPY, INSCRIBED. Saggi di naturali esperienze fatte nell' Accademia del Cimento, 1667. $2,000 - $3,000
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    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Aristotle's Politica. Oeconomica. 1469. The first printed work on political economy. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: John Graunt's Natural and political observations...., 1662. The first printed work of epidemiology and demographics. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: William Playfair's Commercial and Political Atlas, 1786. The first work to pictorially represent information in graphics. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Anson's A Voyage Round the World, 1748. THE J.R. ABBEY-LORD WARDINGTON COPY, BOUND BY JOHN BRINDLEY. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: La Perouse's Voyage de La Perouse autour du monde..., 1797. LARGE FINE COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Francesca Woodman's Some Disordered Interior Geometries, 1981. Untrimmed publisher's proof sheets. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Charles Schulz original 8-panel Peanuts Sunday comic strip, 1992, pen and ink over pencil, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy as a psychiatrist. $20,000 - $30,000

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