antiquarian bookseller - Peter Harrington

Peter Harrington Antiquarian Bookseller
CARRIED ON THE FIRST BYRD
ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION
215.CHERRY-GARRARD,
Apsley.
The Worst Journey in The World.
Antarctic 1910–1913.
New York: George H. Doran Company, 1922 [37155] £1750
2 volumes, 8vo. Publisher’s linen-backed boards with paper
labels to the spines. With maps and illustrations by the late
Doctor Edward A. Wilson and other members of the expedition.
Both volumes hinges cracked and a little shaken, light browning
throughout, some marginal finger-soilling, half-title of vol. II
torn and repaired, externally rubbed and soiled.
FIRST EDITION, American Issue, bound from the English
sheets. Both volumes inscribed “Property of George A.
Thorne Jr., Little America, Antarctica, 1928–30” on the
front free endpapers. George “Mike” Thorne was part of
the geological party of Byrd’s first Antarctic expedition
and has a peak in the Queen Maud Mountains named
after him. A Christmas card loosely inserted into vol. I
explains that, “These books belonged to your Uncle Mike.
He had them with him during the two years he spent on
his Antarctic Expedition… All the men on the Expedition
were interested in these books and read them so that is
the reason they are so worn.” An allusive memento of
polar exploration.
FIRST OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE
COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
216.COLLINS, David.
An Account of the English Colony
in New South Wales: With Remarks
on the Dispositions, Customs,
Manners, &c. of the Native
Inhabitants of the Country. To which
are added, some Particulars of New
Zealand; complied, by Permission,
from the MSS. of Lieutenant-
Governor King.
London, T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1798 [14075] £3750
4to (288 × 221mm). Contemporary full mottled calf, slightly
worn, rebacked and recornered, red morocco label, later
ownership inscription of “John Clark Hill – By Purchase.” Map
frontispiece, large folding map, 18 plates (including 8 of the
Yoo-long Erah-ba-diang initiation ceremony), 4 illustrations
to the text. Some marginal browning, plates hygroscopically
damped and spotted, but overall a very good and sound copy.
FIRST EDITION. Collins served in America as a marine,
fighting at Bunker Hill and assisting with the evacuation
of the Loyalists at Boston, later taking part in the relief
of Gibraltar under Lord Howe. After a period of half-pay
he was appointed judge-advocate to the detachment of
marines attached to the First Fleet, eventually serving in
the colony from 1788 to 1796. His administrative skills,
reliability, and level-headedness secured his the position of
confidential secretary to Governor Arthur Phillip and in the
aftermath of the Governor’s departure in 1792 his integrity
enabled his to resist succumbing to the “corruption that
arose… when the officers of the New South Wales Corps
gained power” (ODNB). On his return to England, again
placed on half-pay and having been denied advancement
beyond the rank of captain despite his excellent services,
he turned to his pen for support. Based on his journals
the present work offers “a well-illustrated chronological
account, with a wealth of information about events and
people, much of it available nowhere else. A gregarious
man, Collins had a keen eye for detail and a lively curiosity.
He depicted the lives of the white settlers and devoted
attention to the Aborigines, providing a description of their
language and culture that was for long the best available.”
Described by Hill as “the first offical account of the colony.”
The illustrations include a number of early views of Sydney
and Parramatta, portraits and customs of the aborigines,
and a Maori chart of New Zealand. The illustrations were
engraved from watercolour drawings made by Edward
Dayes from sketches made in the colony by a convict artist,
Thomas Watling.
Catalogue 57: Travel Section 5: Australia and Antarctica
108 109
Hill 335; Howgego H2.
217.HAYES, J[ames] Gordon.
Antarctica. A Treatise On The
Southern Continent.
London, Richards Press, 1928. [37310] £275
8vo. Frontispiece and 15 other plates, 14 charts and diagrams,
6 of them folding, four of these in an end-pocket. Light
browning, otherwise very good in a contemporary red half
morocco prize binding, crest of Highgate School gilt to the
upper board, top edge gilt, a little rubbed, spine a touch
sunned.
FIRST EDITION. “… he has produced a work of real
value… he has gone deeply into the subject and he shows
good judgement in the selection and analysis of material.
Moreover his book is readable” (from a contemporary
review in the Geographical Journal).
218.HUNTER, John.
An Historical Journal of the
Transactions at Port Jackson and
Norfolk Island, with the Discoveries
which have been made in New
South Wales and in the Southern
Ocean since the Publication of
Philip’s Voyage, compiled from
the Official Papers; Including the
Journals of Governors Phillip and
King, and of Lieut. Ball; and the
Voyages from the first Sailing of the
Sirius in 1787, to the Return of that
Ship’s Company to England in 1792.
London, John Stockdale, January 1, 1793 [22032] £4750
4to (300 × 240 mm). Skilfully rebound to period style in full
sprinkled calf, red morocco label, raised bands with double
gilt rules either sides, covers with gilt decorative roll border.
Engraved portrait frontispiece of Hunter by R. Dighton after
D. Orme, engraved title with vignette, 13 engraved plates, 2
large folding engraved maps. A little occasional foxing, chiefly
to the margins of the plates, a little offsetting from the plates;
but an excellent copy, tall and mostly untrimmed, retaining a
high proportion of deckle edges.
FIRST EDITION, a tall copy retaining the date at the
foot of the title page which is usually found trimmed.
“Hunter gives an excellent account of many activities,
particularly exploration and the settlement at Norfolk
Island, which are treated more cursorily by the other First
Fleet chroniclers. The engraved plates and maps, many of
the latter from original cartography by Hunter, Dayes and
Bradley, are very fine. The plates include the well-known
‘View of the Settlement at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, 20th
August 1788’ (the first published engraving of Sydney)
and P G King’s ‘A Family of New South Wales’” (Hordern
House, Australiana 1784–1830, p. 67). “His journal is
a very valuable work on the early history of the English
settlement in Australia” (Hill).
Ferguson 152; Hill 857; Wantrup 13.