31


‘his books Are full of lively incident And perceptive Accounts of inlAnd chinA, then little knoWn to europeAns’


109. FORTUNE, Robert. two visits to the tea countries of china and the british tea plantations in the himalaya; with a narrative of Adventures, and a full description of the culture of the tea plant, the Agriculture, horticulture, and botany of china ... third edition. London: W. Clowes and Sons for John Murray, 1853.


£475


8vo in 12s (198 x 122mm), 2 volumes. original white-flecked brown cloth by remnant and edmonds, london, boards with borders blocked in blind, upper boards with central gilt vignettes, spines decorated and lettered in gilt, rust-brown endpapers; pp. i: xii, [2 (illustrations, verso blank)], 315, [1 (blank)]; ii: viii, [2 (illustrations, verso blank)], 298; wood-engraved frontispieces, wood-engraved additional titles printed in red and black, 4 wood-engraved plates, and one folding lithographic map by A. petermann, hand coloured in outline, wood-engraved illustrations in the text, one full-page; extremities lightly rubbed, one board marked, rebacked retaining original spines, some cracking on hinges, some spotting, heavier on first and last ll., a few ll. with short marginal tears, nonetheless a very good set; provenance: henry maxwell, 7th baron farnham, k.p. (1799-1868, engraved bookplates on upper pastedowns; gift from Anna frances esther maxwell, lady farnham (1828-1868) to:) — isaac dixon (presentation inscriptions on front free endpapers ‘isaac dixon from lady farnham, Jan 7 1861’) — John randall (books of Asia), catalogue 28 China, item 61 (loosely-inserted catalogue description).


First edition thus. robert fortune (1812-1880) made his name as a plant-hunter, notably in china, since he ‘spoke some chinese, and was generally able to pass himself off as a native of a part of china other than that which he was visiting. he disguised himself in chinese dress to visit soochow (suzhou), then closed to europeans, and through his resourcefulness and determination was able to survive shipwreck, attack by pirates, thieves, and bandits, as well as fever’ (odnb). this work republishes in edited form the accounts of fortune’s two journeys in 1843-1846 and 1851, which had previously appeared as Three Years’ Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of China (london: 1847, which the odnb describes as ‘a lively account of his adventures’) and A Journey to the Tea Countries of China (london: 1852), together with a new ‘preface to the third edition’. As the author states in this preface, ‘As the style in which these works were brought out did not admit of their being sold at a price within the means of the great mass of the people, who are no doubt much interested in a country like china, and in the cultivation and manufacture of tea, a beverage which is now indispensable to the poor as well as to the rich, — “that cheers but not inebriates,” — mr. murray is of opinion that an edition slightly abridged will be acceptable; one which, while nothing is left out of importance to the general reader, will enable the work to be brought out at a


smaller cost. i have, therefore, gone carefully over the two volumes, and have struck out some things in the first which experience taught me to improve in the second. i have also omitted some meteorological observations and dry botanical details, which, although most acceptable to the scientific and learned, are not very interesting to the general reader. nothing, however, has been omitted which i believe of general interest’. the title-page’s statement that this is the third edition appears to be slightly misleading, since only Three Years’ Wanderings seems to have reached a second edition by 1853.


Although fortune was undoubtedly a skilful horticulturist and botanist, he ‘was also known as an entomologist and as a travel writer, as his books are full of lively incident and perceptive accounts of inland china, then little known to europeans. his introduction of tea plants to british india was of long- term commercial importance, but he is chiefly remembered as one of the earliest of a line of plant hunters [...] to visit china and bring back new plants capable of cultivation in britain [...] his fame was in part assured because his journeys coincided with an unprecedented demand in britain for colourful flowering shrubs and ornamental trees as gardening gained popularity with the middle classes and as formal gardening styles were abandoned. but his successes were also due to his intelligence, perseverance, courage, and determination, which saw him rise from humble parentage to a position of considerable scientific success and the status of “gentleman”’ (odnb). this set was previously in the library of the irish peer, genealogist and politican henry maxwell, baron farnham, who was the conservative member of parliament for county cavan from 1824 to 1838, succeeded to his title in 1838, and was an irish representative peer from 1839 until his death in a railway accident in Wales in 1868.


BM(NH) II, p. 598; Cordier, Sinica col. 2116; Yakushi (3rd ed.), Addenda and Corrigenda f10.


110. FRENCH, Patrick. liberty or death. india’s Journey to independence and division. London: Caledonian International Book Manufacturing Ltd for HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997.


£30


8vo (235 x 152mm). original black boards, spine lettered in silver, brick- red endpapers, dustwrapper, retaining price; pp. xxiii, [1 (blank)], 467, [5 (blank pp.)]; 8 monochrome plates with illustrations recto-and-verso, one double-page and 5 full-page maps in the text after John gilkes; dustwrapper very slightly creased at edges, head of


spine very


slightlybumped, nonetheless a very good copy.


First edition. french’s second book — an account of india’s independence from britain, the events that led to it, and the aftermath — won the 1998 Sunday Times ‘young Writer of the year’ award; his other works have won the somerset maugham Award, the royal society of literature’s heinemann


prize, hawthornden prize. and the


111. FROISSART, Sir John. cronycles. translated out of the french by sir John bourchier, lord berners. Printed at the Shakespeare Head Press, Stratford-upon-Avon, & Published for the Press by Basil Blackwell, Oxford. 1927-28.


£1,500


royal 8vo. 8 vols.; original linen-backed boards, printed spine labels (spare labels tipped in), edges uncut ; over 600 fine armorial bearings engraved on wood by paul Woodroffe, most of which are hand-coloured; an excellent set.


one of 350 numbered sets, printed


handmade paper. for


on batchelor’s Jean


froissart (c.1337 - c.1405) was one of the most important of the chroniclers of medieval france.


centuries,


froissart’s chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of 14th century kingdom of england and france. his history is also one of the most important sources for the first half of the hundred years’ War.


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