Highlights

Stockton : Joshua Reeve, December 16, 1774. Manuscript, 3½ pages, [2] sheets, foolscap (260 x 230 mm), written in ink in a uniform, copperplate cursive; old folds (now fragile, one expertly repaired), each sheet with a few small perforations (not affecting legibility), some roughening to the edges and scattered spotting; signed at the foot Joshua Reeve scrpt. Stockton, Decemr. 16 1774. A very early copy of an important, informative letter by James Cook, which contains Cook’s impressions of the indigenous people of New Holland.

1807-1811 A very good set of the first edition of the Nicholas Baudin voyage of the exploration of Australia, written by Francois Peron (1775-1810). With the first printed map of the completed Australian coastline, published prior to Matthew Flinders.

Hamburg : C. Adler, before 1868. Chromolithographed and engraved folding card in the shape of a bouquet of flowers, housed in the original gilt-printed envelope with a lithographed view of Sydney, lettered in gold, the view measuring 520 x 118 mm, the envelope 86 x 142 mm, a fine example. Adler’s Bouquet of Sydney, a highly ephemeral piece, the charming envelope bearing a view of Sydney from the North Shore, housing the fragile and rare diecut souvenir with 26 engraved views of Sydney.

C1928 Stunning Bangkok travel guide by Major Erik Seidenfaden and published by the Royal State Railways of Siam, 1928. Second edition. 8vo, pp iii, 324, xxxii, numerous photographic illustrations, some in colour, numerous maps including large folding coloured plan at rear, adverts. Richly gilt decorated publisher's green cloth.

C1827 The first published map solely devoted to the Brisbane River, showing the results  of John Oxley’s exploration and surveys made in 1823. A finely engraved, large scale chart of the Brisbane .

London : printed by W. Closes and Sons for John Murray, 1866. Fourth edition. Octavo, original green cloth, boards blocked in blind, spine gilt (light bumping to corners, very minor stains), green endpapers, contemporary owner’s inscription in pencil ‘M Purser 1867’ to half-title, pp. xxi; [blank], 593; [blank] 32 (publisher’s catalogue dated January 1865), folding lithographic plate by William West after Darwin, one quire slightly sprung, a fine copy of the fourth edition, entirely unsophisticated, crisp, complete and unrestored.

[Together with] A publicity photograph [21x14cm] of Judy Davis, who plays the heroine, Sybylla Melvyn. [Sydney, 1978]: 77 typed pages, printed one side of paper only. Folio, card covers. a little spotting to edges, very good. The 1979 film was directed by Gillian Armstrong and produced by Margaret Fink. The days of filming are hand written throughout [Day 23, Day 41, etc], and on the back cover 'Mon Nov 20 - Fri Nov 24 Michelago Judy - all scenes'. My Brilliant Career was the breakthrough film for Armstrong, Davis, and her co-star Sam Neill.

The first UK edition published prior to the US edition with the first issue advertisements dated October 1884. BAL 3414. The stapled sequence.

A Near Fine copy of Elizabeth David's second book with a fine unblemished dust jacket.

Syd. Angus & Robertson. 1920.Full morocco with gilt decorated boards & spine. Leather gilt-decorated paste-downs. Decorated endpapers. a.e.g. Gauffered edges. 374pp. Walter Taylor gilt binder's stamp on rear paste-down. A splendid binding by this esteemed binder.

London: George Routledge & Sons, Ltd., 1939. First Edition. 8vo. original brown cloth gilt (a trifle rubbed, prev. owner's name and ownership stamp to FFE, else internally clean) in dustwrapper (price-clipped, a trifle rubbed, slight edge fraying); pp. xxxii, 294 (last blank), with frontispiece, 7 illustrations & map. A near fine copy in the scarce jacket. Phyllis Mary Kaberry was a social anthropologist who dedicated her work to the study of women in various societies. Particularly with her work in both Australia and Africa, she paved the way for a feminist approach in anthropological studies

London: Edward Arnold & Co., 1922-1925. First Editions. 3 vols. 8vo. Original blue, burgundy and green cloth gilt, uncut. A very good set of the foundational works of Himalayan mountaineering literature, recounting the unsuccessful British attempts to climb Mount Everest in the 1920s, forming a very handsome record of the courage and daring of the early Everesters, including a high point of 8,550 m (28,050 ft) achieved by Norton without oxygen, and the loss of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine in their final push for the summit