Aquila Books has published Catalogue 213. Aquila specializes in books relating to the polar regions, north and south, including adjacent areas such as northern Canada, Siberia, and Alaska. Long sought but never truly found expeditions to find a Northwest or Northeast Passage make regular appearances in these pages. So do attempts, eventually successful, to reach the North and South Poles. Klondike Gold Rush material can regularly be found, along with some of the many journeys in attempt to find the missing Franklin expedition in the Canadian Arctic at the middle of the 19th century. These are a few of the items from places where the sun shines constantly, if weakly, or not at all, to be found in this latest Aquila catalogue.
Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen compiled the greatest number of “firsts” of any polar explorer. His 1903-1906 expedition finally traversed the Northwest Passage, an elusive route sought for centuries at enormous costs in money and life. Unfortunately, the passage has never been deep enough or the season sufficiently long for it to be of much commercial use, though perhaps global warming will change that. In 1911, he followed that up by being the first person to attain the South Pole. Then, in 1926, Amundsen took part in the first crossing of the polar ice cap in an airship, designed and piloted by Italian Umberto Nobile. In the process, they crossed over the North Pole. There are doubts and questions about the three previous claimed visits, by land and air, to the North Pole, meaning it is possible that Amundsen was the first to reach that pole as well, as this is the first such visit fully verified. Item 10 is Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth's First Crossing of the Polar Sea, published in 1927. This copy was signed by Umberto Nobile in 1966. Priced at $450.
The image above from the catalogue's cover is that of a 1917 calendar produced by the Northern Commercial Company. It evolved from the old Russian-American Company from the time Russia owned Alaska. By 1917, it became the major retailer in rural communities around Alaska and the Yukon. Indeed, it may have been the only significant merchant in many of these communities. The NCC also operated steamships in Alaska at this time. That explains the steamship depicted on the calendar, while the totem poles list various communities served by the company. In 1922, the company was sold and changed part of its focus, and various transfers since have further changed the business, though it forms part of the history of the current Alaska Commercial Company that still operates stores in rural Alaska today. Item 5. $750. Calendars from 1911 and 1918 are also available.
Item 23 is Reisebestrivelse Til Ostre-Gronlands Opdagelse Foretaget I Aarene 1786 Og 87. That's Danish, and it translates to being an account of travels and discoveries in Greenland in 1786 and 1787. It was written by Christian Egede, and it reports on a Danish expedition to eastern Greenland in 1786 in an attempt to find a lost Norse colony believed to still exist there. Unfortunately, the ice pack was too thick for them to land despite repeated attempts, and no sign of a Norse colony was ever spotted. Nevertheless, the book provides an interesting account of an attempt to rediscover a long lost colony of their countrymen, even if such did not exist. $4,250.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE Le Neptune Oriental
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSAS Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSINI DE THURY Carte générale et particulière de la France.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: JOUY; GARNERAY Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LA PÉROUSE Voyage autour du monde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LICENT Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY Panorama d’Athènes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PEETERS Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PÉRON; FREYCINET Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: STACKELBERG La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: VALENTINER Atlas des Sonnensystems.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
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Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
Freeman’s | Hindman Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana November 14
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14:The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.