Exploration and Travel from Shapero Rare Books

Shapero Rare Books has issued their catalogue of Exploration & Travel 2023. That date is for the catalogue, not the travels as the great majority precede the twentieth century. They have divided the listings into geographical sections and here are those they cover: (1) Voyages, the Americas & Polar Exploration, (2) Africa, (3) Greece, Russia & Europe, (4) Turkey, Middle East & Central Asia, and (5) China, India & South East Asia. Whatever area you collect, they probably have you covered. These are a few selections from the travels and explorations.

We start with one of the most famous explorations of discovery, but it was not a search for new lands or even gold. It was to find a missing person. The missing person was the missionary explorer David Livingstone, and the searcher journalist Henry Morton Stanley. While Livingstone was a Scotsman and Stanley an American, the search took place in the deepest jungles of Africa. At the time Stanley set out on his search, 1871, Livingstone had already spent most of several decades in Africa. While officially there as a missionary, he had become more of an explorer, traveling deep into lands unknown to westerners. He stayed on despite terribly ill health. However, by 1871, he had slipped beyond the eyes of those in the West, leading Stanley's employer, the New York Herald, to fund the expedition to find the noted missing person. He finally found Livingstone near Lake Tanganyika, and delivered the now immortal line he may or may not have actually said, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” This is Stanley's account, published in 1872, How I Found Livingstone. Travels, Adventures, and Discoveries in Central Africa, including Four Months' Residence with Dr. Livingstone. Item 64. Priced at £2,250 (British pounds or approximately $2,703 in U.S. dollars).

This is an account of one of the more difficult voyages, one that did not turn out well for most of the crewmen but very well for their captain. The title is A True and Impartial Journal of a Voyage to the South-Seas, and Round the Globe, In His Majesty's Ship the Centurian, Under the Command of Commodore George Anson, by Pascoe Thomas, published in 1745. Anson led a flotilla of six ships from England toward South America. His aim was to harass Spanish shipping, the two nations being rivals for the wealth of the New World. He lost a couple of his ships to being unable to make it around Cape Horn, another wrecked, most of his men either dying by accident, more to disease, and some after making it ashore in South America, with most slowly making their way home. Eventually, two other ships were abandoned and only Anson's ship, the Centurian, made it home. Meanwhile, they had little success in harassing Spanish shipping around South America. The journey was headed for total disaster when they chanced upon a Spanish ship loaded with silver on their way back. They pirated it and returned to England after circumnavigating the globe. While most of the crew either died or made it back with nothing to show for their effort, Anson became a wealthy man as a result of his piracy. Author Thomas also made it back alive as he was fortunate enough to be serving on the same ship with Anson. Item 2. £1,750 (US $2,103).

If there is one mutiny onboard that immediately comes to almost everyone's mind, it is the one that took place on the Bounty, though it was well over two centuries ago. On a mission to bring breadfruit trees from Tahiti to the Caribbean, the mutineers seized control of the Bounty from Captain William Bligh. They evidently preferred life in Tahiti to being at sea or returning to England. The South Seas have their charm. Once the mutineers took control, they put Bligh and 19 others on the open longboat and sent them out to sea, not expecting they were likely to survive. The mutineers and four loyal to Bligh (the longboat not being able to handle any more) returned to Tahiti. Eventually, the mutineers, a few Tahitian men and a lot of Tahitian women, set sail again until they landed on Pitcairn Island, where they burned the ship so they would not be seen. Meanwhile, Bligh managed to lead the small boat on a 3,600 mile journey to rescue. That in turn sent a mission out to recapture the mutineers, some of whom were found, while others lived out what proved to be not very long lives on Pitcairn. That takes us to the trial, and a very rare first account, Minutes of the Proceedings of the Court-Martial held at Portsmouth, August 12, 1792 on Ten Persons charged with Mutiny on Board His Majesty’s Ship the Bounty. With an Appendix containing a full Account of the real Causes and Circumstances of that unhappy Transaction, the most material of which have hitherto been withheld from the Public, published in 1794. The primary author is Stephen Barney who took minutes of the trial while representing one of the ten defendants (who was convicted and sentenced to death only to later be acquitted on a technicality). Four others were acquitted, three of whom were loyal to Bligh, three were hanged, the others pardoned. The appendix is particularly interesting as it was written by Edward Christian, brother of the leader of the mutiny, Fletcher Christian. Edward Christian argues that the cause of the mutiny was not the superior lifestyle of Tahiti but because of the terrible treatment by Bligh. He described Bligh as a brutal authoritarian who called his officers, “scoundrels, damned rascals, hounds, hell-hounds, beasts, and infamous wretches” and threatened to kill them. However, the public was sympathetic to Bligh considering his amazing journey to save his men in the longboat. Fletcher Christian died on Pitcairn, under uncertain circumstances, sometime before 1808. Item 5. £40,000 (US $47,332).

Next we have a look at Moscow two centuries ago. Naturally, they are not photographs. This is a book of hand-colored plates of major, and some more obscure places in the city. The title is Historical Sketches of Moscow, printed in 1813. Landmarks depicted include the Kremlin and the Great Square, along with less known sights such as the Old Wood Theater and Piratskiy Palace. There are scenes of activities such as at Ice Hills during the Carnival. Interest in Moscow was particularly intense at this time as Napoleon had recently been defeated there. The book was published Rudolf Ackermann, who was noted for producing exceptional plates of views. Item 67. £6,500 (US $7,691).

This describes explorations in Africa during the 19^th century, Travels, Researches, and Missionary Labours, during an Eighteen Years' Residence in Eastern Africa. Together with Journeys to Jagga, Usambara, Ukambani, Shoa, Abessinia, and Khartum; and a Coasting Voyage from Mombaz to Cape Delgado. Published in 1860, it is the work of J. Lewis Krapf, who like Livingtone was a missionary who was perhaps a better explorer. Krapf spent almost two decades in Africa and his missionary work brought him into the interior of Africa along with coastal locations. He provides much information about the people who inhabited the places he visited. Krapf is most noted for being the first European to view Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya. Some English explorers found his account unbelievable as they could not believe there was a snow-capped mountain on the equator. Item 50. £1,500 (US $1,775).

Shapero Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0)20 7493 0876 or rarebooks@shapero.com. Their website is www.shapero.com.

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