32
provenance: Edward Baker, Birmingham (contemporary bookseller’s ticket on upper pastedown, claiming that Baker is ‘The most Expert Bookfinder Extant’) — J.D. Kyd, march 1993 (
neat.inscription on front free endpaper).
First edition. Adventure, Sport and Travel on the Tibetan Steppes recounts two major expeditions across the Tibetan steppes and into western china in 1906-1907 and 1907-1908, undertaken by John Weston Brooke and cecil henry meares, who were joined by Fergusson at chentu: ‘The trio hunted wild boar and goral in Wassu province, then proceeded down the min River in search of penyang (blue sheep) but were unable to procure one. in the Taokwan valley, serows were bagged. meares journeyed into changmin territory where he collected a takin. it was during a trip to Lololand that Brooke was murdered, his body eventually recovered by Fergusson’ (czech).
Brooke was also granted an audience with Thubten Gyatso, the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet — ‘his first [audience], i believe, with an Englishman’ (p. 6). Fergusson explains in his preface that, following his return to England, meares ‘wrote certain articles in the home Press on the country through which they had travelled. These created considerable interest, and mr. meares was urged to make of his own and his friend’s experiences some more permanent record. But he had already been enlisted by captain Scott for the [Terra nova] Antarctic Expedition, and must leave England early in the present year for Siberia, there to purchase dogs and ponies for that enterprise; and the task which should have been his has perforce fallen to me. mr. Brooke’s parents have kindly placed at my disposal their son’s diary and photographs taken on his journeys; and of these and my own and mr. meares’s observations of a picturesque country and a singular people, never visited by white men before, i hope to make something which shall commemorate the real begetter of this volume, and interest the general reader to whom adventure, sport, and travel in remote lands are of concern’ (
pp.vii-viii).
The binding of this copy appears to be a variant of that described by czech, and the lower board is plain.
Cordier, Sinica, col. 4396; Czech, Asian, 77; Marshall (1977) 2059; Yakushi (3rd ed.) F43a.
110. FISHER, James. The Shell Bird Book. Ebury Press and Michael Joseph. 1966.
£20
8vo. original cloth and wrapper, maps to endpapers; pp. 344, 20 colour photographs, numerous b&w illustrations; wrapper price-clipped, occasional spotting, very good.
First edition. A popular ornithologist’s guide, including chapters on birds in art and literature and on bird-watchers themselves.
111. FITZGERALD, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. new York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1925.
£3,000
crown 8vo. Finely bound by The chelsea Bindery in full dark green morocco, single gilt fillet border to sides, gilt panelled spine, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt; a fine copy.
First edition. Francis Ford coppola wrote the screenplay for the 1974 film adaptation starring Robert Redford.
112. FLECKER, James Elroy (author). Thomas MACKENZIE (illustrator). hassan. London; William Heinemann Ltd. 1924. £148
imperial 8vo. original bright red cloth pictorially blocked and lettered in gilt to upper board and spine, top edge gilt, pictorial endpapers; pp. [viii] + 155; with 12 delightful mounted coloured plates; a little light spotting, spine slightly sunned, otherwise a very good copy.
First edition illustrated thus. Hassan, or to give it its full title: Hassan, The Story of Hassan of Bagdad and How He Came to Make the Golden Journey to Samarkand is set in the time of the legendary caliph haroun ar Raschid and tells the tale of the lowly market sweet-seller hassan, who becomes involved in the corrupt court of the caliph while pursuing his love interest Yasmin. Disillusioned by displays of sadism and cruelty the main protagonist eventually escapes with the court poet on the golden road to Samarkand. This play was first performed in 1923, to great acclaim, despite attracting the attentions of the then Lord chamberlain who struggled to give it a licence, due to the finer sensitivities of the time. it is written in rich, flowery and poetic language and was heavily influenced by the Aesthetic movement of the 1890s.
FLEminG’S cLASSic AccoUnT oF hiS 3,500-miLE JoURnEY FRom BEiJinG To SRinAGAR, LimiTED To 150 coPiES
113. FLEMING, Peter. news from Tartary: A Journey from Peking to Kashmir. London: Queen Anne Press, 2010.
£125
8vo (209 x 133mm). original red cloth, upper board and spine lettered and decorated in gilt in the style of the first edition binding, colour-printed map endpapers; pp. 382, [2 (blank l.)]; half-tone portrait frontispiece, 16 half-tone plates with illustrations recto-and-verso, one full-page map in the text; fine.
First edition thus, no. 56 of 150 copies. Fleming had first travelled to china in 1931 and returned in 1933 as the Special correspondent of The Times, to cover the war between the nationalists and the communists; ‘After reaching mukden (Shenyang) in manchuria and taking part in a sortie against local bandits, he travelled south, achieving an interview with chaing Kai-shek, the commander-in-chief of the nationalist forces, entering communist-held territory, and finally returning home via Japan and the United States’ (oDnB). in autumn 1934, ‘Fleming once again set off for the Far East with a far-ranging commission from The Times. After a brief shooting trip with friends in the caucasus he travelled on to harbin in manchuria, where by chance he met the Swiss traveller Ella (Kini) maillart. it transpired that they both wanted to walk and ride from china to india, and though they both preferred to travel alone, they agreed to join forces. This epic journey of some 3500 miles on foot or ponies, through the remote province of Sinkiang (xinjiang), with many dangers, hardships, and hold-ups, took them seven months, from February to September 1935. This, the most arduous of Fleming’s long journeys, he chronicled in fourteen long articles in The Times and later in his book news from Tartary (loc. cit.).
This new edition — limited to 150 copies — was published by the Queen Anne Press (of which Peter Fleming’s brother ian Fleming was once managing Director and is now managed by his daughter Kate Grimond and his nephew Fergus Fleming) and was edited by Kate Grimond who wrote a new introduction for it (pp. [5]-[6]). The frontispiece portrait of Fleming and maillart was not included in the first edition, and the photographs have reproduced anew from the original negatives.
Cf. Yakushi F103a (1st ed.).
110
111
112
113
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104