1. [Commonwealth & Colonial History & Law] – Luke, Sir Harry [Lukach, Harry] – ‘the most unwasted life of any man I have known’ – (Sir Ronald Storrs on Sir Harry Luke)

Very Large Archive / Collection of British Colonial Official & Lieutenant-Governor of Malta, Sir Harry Luke. The Archive is Sir Harry Luke’s very personal and one might say, confidential collection of original autographed letters, correspondence and books he surrounded himself with at the end of his life. The Archive includes important and meaningful personal and official letters from important historical figures in the Arena of the Middle East and especially Palestine with for example interesting legal insights into the Jewish-Arab conflicts of the 1920s, as well as working-copies of books which Luke wrote himself at every location he was posted to during his career. In order to understand the vastness of the Archive you need to visit our website and see the nineteen (19) chapters of Material we synchronised chronologically with Sir Harry Luke’s life [Search for “Library & Collections” and find 19 chapters at the bottom of that page]. The Archive contains an unbelievable and impressive array of several highly interesting letters and correspondence regarding key historical events as disparate as the Mudros/Gallipoli-Campaign under Rosslyn Wemyss, the Jaffa Riots, the Western Wall Riots of Jerusalem in 1929 as well as information on diplomatic activity prior to the Suez Crisis, descriptions of locations like Guadalcanal prior to the War in the Pacific, detailed information on personell at Gardner Island / Phoenix Islands during the vanishing of Amelia Earhart, to only name a few bizarre coincidences. The books contain manuscript annotations and preparatory notes for later editions as well as many letters written to Luke regarding the many postings he served at during his long career in the Colonial Service. The Archive includes several hundred pages of correspondence between Luke and other officials within the Colonial Office, often in multi-page letters. Also included is proof of Luke’s connections to the Ecclesiastical World of the Vatican and Lambeth Palace, his diplomatic abilities are praised in letters from friends and officials alike. Luke received cordial letters from Queens (Queen Salote) as well as polarizing letters from Politicians. Included are manuscript notepads as well as confidential reports from other diplomats on locations where Luke was soon to be taking office, e.g. British Western Pacific Islands. The Archive is unique in its form because it represents not only the correspondence between Luke as an official but also allows us a view into the life of a Career Diplomat of the last days of the Colonial British Empire who develops a deep connection with everyone he served with and under. Luke did not only keep correspondence with famous friends like Ronald Storrs but also emotional letters from those who served under him and respectfully stay in touch beyond the termination of Luke’s service. Many letters to family colleagues in the Colonial Office, Politicians, Priests with political functions, are preserved with Luke’s original typescript-answer or initial letter. The official and often explosive and historically meaningful content with striking relevance for reinterpreting Mediterranean, Middle Eastern Conflicts etc. makes this archive a must for research and posterity. This is not just any diplomat’s archive. The majority of these letters are unpublished but are waiting to be discovered (see for example the long letter by Sir Kenneth Roberts-Wray on the Palestine Commission. Also included his Luke’s very valuable, handwritten manuscript-notebook of colonial postings-recipe-collections together with his working copy of the very special cookery book “The Tenth Muse”. The majority of the collection is now catalogued and visible on our website. A collection of c. 89 letters and 43 items of Ephemera has not been catalogued yet.

England / Palestine / Israel / Malta / Cyprus, Fiji / Sierra Leone etc., 1898 – 1968. Octavo / Quarto / Folio. c.15000 pages (books) / Collection of hundreds of Letters (see images) / Photographs and ephemera etc. Original Hardcover / Softover – Bindings (also private interim-bindings), often with the rare dustjackets in protective collector’s Mylar, some without dustjackets. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Please check our website under “Libraries & Collections” and see detailed listings of books and letters, all categorized.

2. Hulot, Le Baron / Rabot, Charles.

La Géographie – Bulletin de la Société de Géographie. Tome I – Tome XXIX (29 Tomes / 29 Volumes). Collection of 29 Volumes comprising of the complete set from the year 1900 until the year 1913. Each year has two half-year volumes (Semestre) with many large fold-out maps in colour. [With very interesting original articles in first edition: Fanny Bullock-Workman – Exploration du Nun-Kun / Roald Amundsen – Vers le Pole magnetique boreal par le passage du Nord-Ouest / Charles Rabot – Le desastre de l’expedition Robert Falcon Scott etc.]

Paris, Masson et Cie, 1900. Quarto. Tome I – 1er Semestre 1900 (506, 2 pages with 31 maps) / Tome II – 2e Semestre 1900 (528 pages with 26 maps) / Tome III – 1er Semestre 1901 (574, 6 pages with 30 maps) / Tome IV – 2e Semestre (487 pages with 13 maps) / Tome V – 1er Semestre 1902 (503, 2 pages) / Tome VI – 2e Semestre 1902 (436 pages) both Volumes with many maps and gravures and photographs) / Tome VII – 1er Semestre 1903 (487, 1 pages) / Tome VIII – 2eme Semestre1903 (420 pages plus an appendix “Liste des Membres Decembre 1903” (47 pages that list hundreds of members like Henry Morgan Stanley, Fridtjof Nansen, Brito Capello, Ferdinand von Richthofen etc.) Both Volumes with many maps and illustrations/ Tome IX – 1er Semestre 1904 (496 pages) / Tome X – 2eme Semestre 1904 (418 pages) Both Volumes with many maps, illustrations and photographs / Tome XI – 1er Semestre 1905 (504 pages) / Tome XII – 2eme Semestre 1905 (483 pages) Both Volumes with many maps, illustrations and photographs / Tome XIII – 1er Semestre 1906 (511 pages) / Tome XIV – 2eme Semestre 1906 (426 pages) Both Volumes with many maps, illustrations and photographs / Tome XV – 1er Semestre 1907 (495 pages) / Tome XVI – 2eme Semestre 1907 (458 pages) Both Volumes with many maps, illustrations and photographs / Tome XVII – 1er Semestre 1908 (520 pages) / Tome XVIII – 2eme Semestre 1908 (444 pages) Both Volumes with many maps, illustrations and photographs / Tome XIX – 1er Semestre 1909 (502 pages) / Tome XX – 2eme Smestre 1909 (428 pages) Both Volumes with many maps, illustrations and photographs / Tome XXI – 1er Semestre 1910 (480, 2 pages plus an appendix “Liste des Membres Decembre 1910” that list hundreds of members and also some new members like Sven Hedin and Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, Robert E. Peary etc.) / Tome XXII – 2eme Semestre 1910 (470 pages) Both Volumes with many maps, illustrations and photographs / Tome XXIII – 1er Semestre 1911 (519 pages) / Tome XXIV – 2eme Semestre 1911 (436 pages) Both Volumes with many maps, illustrations and photographs / Tome XXV – 1er Semestre 1912 (472 pages) Tome XXVI – 2eme Semestre 1912 (456 pages) Both Volumes with many maps and gravures and photographs / Tome XXVII – 1er Semestre 1913 (515 pages) / Tome XXVIII – 2eme Semestre 1913 (432 pages) both Volumes with many maps and gravures and photographs / Tome XXIX – 1er Semestre 1914 (480 pages with maps, photographs and illustrations) / Hardcover – All 29 Volumes in beautiful buckram bindings from the Alpine Club London with the Library Signet of the Alpine Club to the lower spine. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. All bindings firm and unbroken. The original publishers interims brochure has been bound in and shows wonderful examples of advertisings for expeditions, camping. Advertisements from famous companies like Ponthus et Therrode – Constructeurs d’Instruments de precision successeurs de A. Hurlimann et de A. Berthelemy (Theodolites – Sextants – Cercles – Niveaux etc.) The magnificent folded maps all included. Volume 20 with minor damage to a few pages that were unopened ! A most important periodical of the early 20th century that was subscribed by nearly all of the important explorers at the time (From Shackleton and Stanley to Peary). The early discoveries colonial expeditions are all described in this periodical. This is a unique opportunity to acquire a corresponding set with the excellent provenance of the worlds oldest and still most important mountaineering club (The Alpine Club, London).

3. [Seymour, William Deane, Cobh] Wilson, Colonel Sir Charles W.

Picturesque Palestine – Sinai and Egypt [Volume III and IV of the First Edition in Full Red Morocco, from the library of Captain William Deane Seymour of Cobh [Queenstown, Ireland] with his bookplate to endpaper – these possibly working copies for his later work “A Tour in Syria and Palestine”].

First Edition. London, J.S.Virtue and Co., [1870]. Folio. Volume III: VI, Map of Palestine, 240 pages with numerous text-illustrations on wood and full-page steel-engravings / Volume IV: VI, Map of Egypt and Sinai, 236 pages with numerous text-illustrations on wood and full-page steel-engravings. Very decorative full red Morocco with gilt lettering and ornament, bound by Francis Guy, Cork. Bindings rubbed with some minor wormhole-damage to Volume IV. PAstedowns and endpapers a little stained and dusty but interior absolutely excellent besides some foxing to tissue-guards.

4. Payne, John.

Volume I (of III) of the “Universal Geography” [Including Asia, Africa and Voyages of English Navigators] – formed into a new and entire system; describing Asia, Africa, Europe, and America; with their subdivisions of Empires, Kingdoms, States, and Republics: the extent, boundaries, and remarkable appearances of each country; cities, towns, and curiosities of Nature and Art. Also giving a general account of the fossil and vegetable productions of the Earth, and of every species of animal: The History of Man, in all Climates, Regions and Conditions; Customs, Manners, Laws, Governments and Religions: The State of Arts, Sciences, Commerce, Manufactures and Knowledge. Sketches of the Ancient and Modern History of each Nation and People to which is added, A Short View of Astronomy, as connected with Geography; of the Planetary System to which the Earth belongs; and of the Universe in General. With a set of Maps, drawn from the best Materials, every one of which is very neatly coloured; and a great Variety of Copper-Plates; descriptive of the most remarkable curiosities in the world. With an Appendix in two Parts, containing I. The History of the Voyages round the World, and toward the North and South Pole, which have been made since the year 1764 by English Navigators and II. A Digested and Geographical Account of the most considerable Islands and Countries which have been either discovered or explored during those Voyages, collected from every writer upon those subjects. Part I on the Appendix includes: 1. The First Voyage round the world, performed by Commodore Byron, in the Dolphin, accompanied by the Tamar Sloop / 2. Captain Wallis’s Voyage round the World, being the Second performed in the Dolphin / 3. Continuation of Captain Carteret’s Voyage round the World in the Swallow / 4. Lieutenant Cook’s Voyage round the World, in the Endeavour Bark (First Voyage, Second Voyage and Third Voyage including a stunning engraving of Cook, together with Portraits of inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, Mangea and Ulietea) / The Appendix Part II contain a Geographical Account and Description of the Islands which have been lately discovered or visited in the South-Sea, proceeding from East to West (Easter Island / The Society Islands / The FRiendly Islands / The New Hebrides, Mallicolo and New Caledonia / New Zealand / New Holland / The Sandwich Islands //

First Edition. Dublin, Printed by Zachariah Jackson (Great Ship-Street), 1792. Quarto. XV, 894 pages with a list of subscribers and eight fantastic full-page copper engravings (NO MAPS in this Volume) / Frontispiece (The beautiful Frontispiece-plate is cleanly detached and now comes with this beautifully restored book framed): Plates included are: 1. Frontispiece: Vegetable Productions constituting important Articles of Commerce: Nutmeg Tree / Bohea Tea Plant or Thea Bohea / The Cotton Shrub / The Nutmeg enclosed in the Mace and Nutmeg Kernel / Flower of Tea / The Cotton Shrub – This plate is hand-coloured ! / 2. The Artificial Sphere (Globe) with the Solar System and Divisions of the Earth / 3. [Kamtschatka] – A Kamtscadale Travelling in Winter / An inside View of a Winter-Hut of the Kamtschadales / 4. Animals in the Southern Parts of Africa (The Rhinoceros Bicornis / The Buffalo / The Hippopotamus, called by the Hottentots the Seacow) / 5. The Country contiguous to the Cape of Good Hope – Hottentots and their Huts &c. &c. / 6. Portrait – Collection on one plate of Captain James Cook – Killed on the Island of Owhyhee – 14th of February 1779 (From a painting by Dance in the possession of Sir Joshua Banks) – other portraits on that page include A woman and a man of the Sandwich Islands / A Man of the Magea – Omai or Omia , a Native of Ulietea / 7. Portrait – Collection on one plate of: Poulaho – King of the Friendly Islands / A Man of van Diemen’s Land / A Woman from van Diemen’s Land / A Woman of Prince William’s Sound / A Man of Prince William’s Sound / 8. Portrait-Collection on one plate of: A woman of Otaheite Island (Tahiti) bringing a present / A Woman of Otaheite (Tahiti) dancing / An Otahetian (Tahiti) in the Dress of his Country / A New Zealand Warrior completely armed (Maori) // Hardcover / Professionally restored original 18th-century leather with original gilt ornament and new labels on spine. Binding rubbed but after the masterful restoration in very good condition. Some of the plates slightly loose but not detached. Very few minor wormhole damage to the last 250 pages. Rare with the plates ! From the library of Richard Meade, Ballymartle, with his original bookplate to the pastedown. One of the early accounts of english Navigation and Discovery.

5. [Marriott Mena House Hotel] Bentley, Arthur, J.M. / Griffinhoofe, C.G.

Wintering in Egypt. Part I.: Under the Shadow of the Pyramids. Part II.: Hints to Invalids.

London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. Ltd., 1894. 26.5 cm x 18.5 cm. Frontispiece, VI, 188 pages.18 illustrations including a map of the region around the Pyramids of Gizeh Mena Hotel, Bulak. Hardcover [publisher’s original green cloth] with gilt lettering and gilt embossed pictoral on front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Lower corner boards slightly bumped. Marking on front paste-down. Valleys between pastedowns and endpapers show tears. Binding a little shaky but overall still firm and strong. Interior is clean and bright. Extremely scarce publication !

6. Day, Samuel Phillips.

Tea – Its Mystery and History – With a Preface in Chinese and English by Lo Fong Loh. Illustrated [by J.F.Weldon].

Vintage First Edition / Original 19th century Edition. London, Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1878. Small Octavo. Pagination: Vintage Portrait-Frontispiece, Fac-simile of Mr. Lo Fong Loh’s Prefatory Notes in the chinese Hing Shoo, or running hand, [II], 92 pages with six full-page illustrations and several vignettes. Hardcover / Original publisher’s decorative cloth with gilt lettering and ornament to spine and front board. Tiny stamp of preowner on endpaper and verso frontispiece: “Agnes Jeffery Cox”. Unusually excellent and firm, overall very good+ or even better condition of one of the rarest and most sought after books on tea. In this condition scarce !

7. [Henry, David / Power, Francis / Carnan, Thomas / Sir Christopher Wren] Anonymous.

An Historical account of the Curiosities of London and Westminster, In Three Parts. Part I. Contains a full description of the Tower of London, and every thing curious in and belonging to it. Part II. Contains The History of Westminster-Abbey, from its foundation to the present time ; with its Antiquities, Tombs, and Inscriptions. Part III. Treats of the Old Cathedral of St. Paul’s and the new ; together with a full account of the Monument, London-Stone, the City-wall, Gates, and other Antique [Roman] remains.

With three separate titlepages. London, Printed for Francis Power and Thomas Carnan, 1785 – 1789. Small Octavo (11,5 cm x 17 cm). Part I: IV, 64 pages / Part II: IV, 139 pages plus 5 pages of a thorough Index / Part III: IV, 56 pages. Hardcover / Original half-vellum with marbled paper-covered boards. Binding with some minor signs of wear. Binding and spine firm. Overall in very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Name of preowner Mary Gray written in ink on titlepages.

8. Naser al-Din Shah Qajar [Nassereddin Shah Qajar, the King of Persia].

Two vintage photographs of the visit of the Shah to England in 1873. The Two photographs show: 1. Forerunners of Shah crossing Artillery Square” and 2. The Shah crossing Artillery Square”.

London / England, Artillery Square, 1873. 21.5 cm x 16 cm. 2 photograph sheets. Original Softcover. Both photographs frayed but in overall good condition. condition with only minor signs of external wear. Two extremely scarce and early photographs of a state visit under Queen Victoria.

9. Pemberton, A.C. / Harcourt Williamson, Mrs. / Sisley, C.P. / Floyd, Gilbert.

The Complete Cyclist. Illustrated. Edited by B. Fletcher Robinson.

London A.D. Innes & Co. 1897. 13 cm x 20 cm. Frontispiece, 400 pages with numerous photographic plates and text-illustrations / humorous woodcuts (the photographs show for example Victorian cyclists in Hyde Park / Photograph of a group of Cyclysts after a “Gymkana” / Professional Cycling Race past the Grand Stand by the Wall Brothers, St.Kilda / Military Cyclist tilting at the Ring, etc.). Hardcover [publisher’s original cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Gilt lettering and design on front board. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Interior is bright and clean. Occasional minor foxing. Very rare, early publication on cycling in the victorian society ! [The Isthmian Library – No.2]

10. Haberland, Detlef.

Von Lemgo nach Japan – Das ungewöhnliche Leben des Engelbert Kaempfer 1651 bis 1716.

Bielefeld, Westfalen Verlag, 1990. 19.9 cm x 30 cm. 223 pages. With many black and white illustrations. Original Hardcover. Very good+ condition with only minor signs of external wear. Some minor wear to cover. Otherwise very clean and bright. Contains label on front endpaper ’ Bücherstube Ilona Hodes’.