antiquarian bookseller - Peter Harrington

Peter Harrington Antiquarian Bookseller
194.MURRAY, Hugh.
Historical and Descriptive Account of
British India, from the Most Remote
Period to the Present Time …
Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, 1832 [36923] £250
3 volumes, small 8vo. Contemporary half calf on marbled
boards. Folding map frontispiece to vol. I, each volume with an
engraved vignette to the half-title, and 23 other engravings,
4 of them full-page, 2 being deck-plans. Just a little rubbed,
some scattered foxing through the prelims, lightly browned,
but otherwise very good. An attractive little set.
Issued as part of the “Edinburgh Cabinet Library”. Murray,
who heads the list of contributors, has been criticized for
his “encyclopaedic style which, although regarded at the
time as models of scientific geography, rested largely on
factual comprehensiveness, rather than on understanding
of process” (ODNB), but some of his collaborators were
leading authorities in their fields, Whitelaw Ainslie was
the author of Materia Indica, the first full-length study of
Indian medicines and R. K. Greville published widely and
authoritatively on botanical matters.
195.NEVINSON, Henry
Woodd.
The Dawn in Russia, or Scenes in
the Revolution.
London and New York, Harper & Brothers, 1906 [37581] £350
8vo. Publisher’s striking pictorial cloth – taken from a cartoon
in the Revolutionary paper Palumet (The Machine Gun) – title
gilt to spine. Coloured frontispiece and 19 other plates, some
from propaganda publications in two/three colours, folding
map. Edges slightly foxed, otherwise very good.
Second Edition, revised and enlarged; uncommon. An
impressive journalist with Christian socialist sympathies
and an academic interest in military history, Nevinson
witnessed the abortive revolutionary movement of
1905–6 as correspondent for the Daily Chronicle.
196.ORLICH, Leopold von.
Reise in Ostindien in Briefen an
Alexander von Humboldt und Carl
Ritter.
Leipzig, Verlag von Mayer und Wigand, 1845 [39583] £4750
4to (315 × 234mm) Original green embossed cloth, title
gilt to spine, block of the Taj Mahal gilt to to upper board.
10 chromolithographic plates, 5 lithographs and 7 steelengravings,
numerous wood-engraved illustrations to
the text. Some sporadic foxing and browning, but overall
very good, the a little rubbed and with one corner skilfully
repaired.
FIRST EDITION. Orlich was a Prussian officer in the
Emperor Alexander Regiment who sought permission to
join the British army in India in the aftermath of Kabul.
His letters recount his trip to India via Gibraltar, Cairo and
Aden arriving at Bombay. He travelled through Poona and
Karachi, catching up with the British army at Ferozpur in
the Punjab. He provides detailed accounts of the Sikhs
– the First Sikh War was to break out in 1845 – Ranjit
Singh and meetings with Generals Pollock and Nott; a visit
to Agra with a series of superb early chromolithographic
plates of the Taj Mahal; an explanation of the Thugs and
Phansigars; trips to Cawnpore, Lucknow, Allahabad,
Calcutta, etc. An unusually anglophile German, Orlich
settled in London and, fascinated by his time on the subcontinent,
was in the process of writing a History of British
India when he died suddenly in 1859. It was completed
by Carl. Böttger and published in Leipzig 1859–61 as
India und sein Regierung. Uncommon: only two copies
at auction in the last thirty years, both to some degree
defective.
Lipperheide 1495.
197.PALLAS, Peter Simon.
Travels Through the Southern
Provinces of The Russian Empire, in
the years 1793 and 1794. Translated
from the German …
London, Printed for John Stockdale, 1812 [37134] £3750
2 volumes, 4to. Recent antique-style sprinkled calf, red
morocco labels. 52 plates (44 hand-coloured, 21 of these
folding), 28 vignettes (23 hand-coloured), and 3 folding maps.
Some off-setting from a number of the plates, occasional
foxing and browning, largely to the heavier paper-stock used
for the text vignettes, maps browned, as often, else a very
good set, unopened and untrimmed.
Second Edition of one of the chief travel narratives
describing Russia in the late 18th century. Pallas, an
eminent German naturalist, describes what he saw
“with Teutonic thoroughness” (Nerhood). A handsome
production due mainly to the attractive and charming
colour illustrations which appear as vignettes in the text as
well as additional plates. The illustrations depict the natives
of the regions traversed, their costumes and occupations,
the scenery and landscapes. Although the title page calls
for 121 plates, all of those listed are present. Pallas is best
known for his contributions to botany, particularly the Flora
Rossica, and this travel narrative provides a background for
his plant collecting ventures.
Abbey 222; Nerhood 126; Tooley 358.
With hand-coloured plates
Catalogue 57: Travel Section 4: Asia including Russia
198.PARMENTIER, H.
Les Sculptures Chames au Musée du
Tourane.
Paris & Brussels, Librarie Nationale d’Art et d’Histoire, 1922 [39622]
£450
Folio. Near contemporary sheep-backed patterned paper
boards, wraps bound in. Map frontispiece and 30 photogravure
plates. Light browning, spine scuffed and splitting at the head,
boards spotted, but overall very good.
FIRST EDITION. Volume IV in the “Ars Asiatica” series
published under the aegis of L’École Française d’Extrème-
Orient. A trained architect and one of the founding fathers
of the EFEO school of archaeology, Parmentier’s work
on Cham culture and later at Angkor were key in the
interpretation of the early civilizations of Indochina.
199.RANKING, John.
Historical Researches on the Wars
and Sports of the Mongols and
Romans in which Elephants and Wild
Beasts were Employed or Slain. And
the Local Agreement of History with
the Remains of Such Animals found
in Europe and Siberia …
For the Author, Sold by Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, London,
1826 [26476] £875
4to. Original grey boards, paper title label to spine printed in
black. With a map (folding) and 10 plates. Spine professionally
renewed to style conserving the original label, short tear to
inner fold of the map repaired and negligible, otherwise a
superb copy in original condition and rare thus.
FIRST EDITION. With the author’s autograph presentation
inscription on the title page to one Miss Fitzherbert.
Many animals are considered but elephants feature most
prominently.
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