antiquarian bookseller - Peter Harrington

Peter Harrington Antiquarian Bookseller
161.EYRE, Lieut. Vincent.
86
The Military Operations at Cabul,
which Ended in the Retreat and
Destruction of the British Army,
January 1842. With a Journal of
Imprisonment in Affghanistan.
London, John Murray, 1843 [39624] £250
8vo. Original green embossed cloth, title gilt to spine, block
of Afghans in a sangar to the upper board. Folding map.
Marginally browned, a little cocked, spine sunned and chipped
head and tail, a very good copy.
Second Edition of a classic account, which “traces the
evacuation of Kabul by the British and their subsequently
disastrous attempt to retreat to India … Seriously
wounded, Eyre, his wife, and child were taken prisoners
by Mahmoud Akbar Khan for over eight months and were
not released until September 1842 and the approach of
General Pollock’s forces” (Riddick).
Riddick p.34.
162.FITZCLARENCE,
[George, later Earl of
Munster.]
Journal of a Route across India,
through Egypt, to England, in the
latter end of the year 1817, and the
beginning of 1818.
London, John Murray, 1819 [33855] £2250
Large 4to (320 × 248 mm). Contemporary half calf neatly
rebacked with original spine laid down, red morocco label,
marbled sides, edges uncut. 7 engraved maps and plans,
12 plates, of which 9 are hand-coloured aquatints, 2 plain
aquatints and one line engraving after drawings by the
author, engraved by R. Havell. Charming woodcut book label
of Coddenham Book Society; contemporary Broke family
ownership inscription at head of title. A little offsetting, but
an excellent fresh copy with untrimmed margins.
FIRST EDITION. As his surname indicates, FitzClarence was
the eldest of the ten children born to the Duke of Clarence,
later King William IV, by the actress Dorothy Jordan;
hence he was nephew to the Prince Regent, to whom this
volume is dedicated. Although a distinguished soldier in
his youth, FitzClarence had disturbed his royal relatives
by agitating against his former commanding officer and
was sent to India in disgrace. He returned to England via
the overland route bearing the dispatches of the peace
treaty signed with Maharaja Sindhia. In the long section
on Egypt he describes at length his contacts with Salt
and Belzoni and gives an interesting account of his visits
to the Pyramids with them. This account of his travels
marked the beginning of a series of scholarly interests.
FitzClarence was to become a fellow of the Royal Society,
and of the Royal Geographical, Antiquarian, Astronomical,
and Geological societies of London, and a founder member
of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Abbey Travel 519.
Back from India via the
Pyramids
163.FORREST, Capt.
Thomas.
A Voyage to New Guinea, and the
Moluccas, from Balambangan;
including an Account of Magindano,
Sooloo, and other Islands; …
performed in the Tartar Galley,
belonging to the Honourable East
India Company, During the Years
1774, 1775, and 1776, … to which
is added, a Vocabulary of the
Magindano Tongue.
London, J. Robson … J. Donaldson … G. Robinson … and Edinburgh,
J. Bell, 1779 [21553] £3500
4to, (300 × 233mm). Later half calf on marbled boards, red
morocco label, spine gilt in compartments, slightly rubbed,
upper joint repaired. With engraved portrait after Sherwin,
large folding map and 30 engraved plates and plans, 23 of
them folding, many featuring coastal profiles accompanied by
detailed charts. Two plates rather heavily browned, some light
browning else, short closed tear to the margin of the map, but
internally a good, clean copy.
FIRST EDITION. For some time before entering the service
of the East India Company Forrest had served in the
Royal Navy, in 1757 seeing action under George Pocock
against the French in the Bay of Bengal. 1762 found him
in command of a company ship, “from which he seems to
date his experience when, writing in 1782, he spoke of
himself as having been more than twenty years in “the
country trade”; and as having made fifteen voyages from
Hindustan to the East, and four voyages from England
to India” (ODNB). In 1770 he pioneered the settlement
Catalogue 57: Travel Section 4: Asia including Russia
at Balembangan at the eastern tip of Borneo and from
here set out in 1724 in a native prahu renamed the Tartar
accompanied by two English officers and 18 Malays; “In
this unlikely craft he pushed further east than any of his
company predecessors, eventually reaching Geelvinks Bay
on the North Coast of New Guinea. There he found one of
the few nutmeg forests not under the control of the Dutch.
After exploring Gilolo Passage … between New Guinea
and the Moluccas, he sailed to Mindanao, where the
Sultan gave him a free choice of locations for future British
bases” (Howgego). On his return to Borneo he found that
the Balembangan colony had been abandoned and so
proceeded to the Malay peninsula where, at Kedah, his
two companions refused to proceed further bringing his
odyssey to an end. “The voyage was one of examination
and enquiry rather than of exploration, and the additions
made to geographical knowledge were corrections of
detail rather than startling discoveries, but the tact with
which he conducted his intercourse with the natives, and
the amount of work done in a small boat, deservedly won
him credit as a navigator” (Hill).
Hill 623; Howgego F60.
87