1. [Autobiography Cities and Men] – Luke, Sir Harry [Luke, Harry Charles].

Cities And Men: An Autobiography [Working copy of Sir Harry Luke with original letters and notes included / With manuscript annotations in the chapter on Cyprus “The Enchanted Island”]. Volume I and II in one.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, Geoffrey Bles, 1953. 22 cm x 14,5 cm. Volume I: 245 pages / Volume II: 256 pages. Original Hardcover. Sir Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. With annotations and markings by Harry Luke. Some rubbing to spine, bumping to boards. Otherwise in good condition.

2. Battiscombe, E.

A Descriptive Catalogue of Some of the Common Trees and Woody Plants of Kenya Colony.

London, The Crown Agents for the Colonies, (1926). 18.5 cm x23.5 cm. 142 pages with numerous photographic illustrations and an Index of Vernacular Names. Hardcover [publisher’s original dark green cloth] with gilt lettering on front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Interior bright and clean. Binding strong and firm. Front pastedown carries bookplate of the Linnean Society of London – dated February 1922. Tipped into the endpaper is a Pro forma-‘with compliments’ letter to the Linnean Society’s Librarian from The Crown Agents for the Colonies on behalf of the Government of Kenya.

3. [Bell, Charles] Simons, Phillida Brooke.

The Life and Work of Charles Bell. Including The Art of Charles Bell: An Appraisal by Michael Godby.

Vlaeberg South Africa, Fernwood Press, no year (c.1998). 28 cm x 24.5 cm. Frontispiece, 176 pages. Numerous coloured and monchrome illustrations. Hardcover / publisher’s original half leather with slate gray boards. Gilt lettering on spine with raised bands. Gilt pictoral on front board. Housed in grey cloth-covered book case with coloured vignette on front board. Fine, absolutely excellent condition throughout. Interior in excellent condition. Hand-numbered 21 of a collectors’ special edition of only 100 copies. Signed by author on the certification page. Presentation inscription in calligraphy to Christopher Robin White. Front endpaper beautifully embossed. Superbly produced work.

4. Brink, J.N.

Recollections of a Boer Prisoner-of-War at Ceylon.

Amsterdam / Cape Town, Hollansch-Afrikaansche Uitgevers-Maatschappij, 1904. 15.5 cm x 23 cm. Frontispiece, 220 pages. Hardcover [very decorative, original publisher’s green cloth] with gilt lettering on spine and front board. Front board is inlaid with illustration. Rear board is inlaid with coat of arms and flags of the South African (Transvaal) Republic and the Orange Free State. Excellent, actually stunning / Fine condition with only absolutely minor signs of external wear. Interior is very bright and clean with sharp corners.

5. Buchanan, R. Ogilvie.

An Economic Geography of the British Empire. With Forty-Nine Diagrams and Maps and Sixteen Numbered Plates in Half-Tone Printed in the Text.

London, University of London Press, 1935. 15 cm x 21.5 cm. X, 346 pages. Hardcover [publisher’s original turquoise cloth] with lettering on spine and bordered front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear and soiling. Binding firm and strong but slightly cocked. Textblock solid with sharp corners. Interior bright and clean. Bookseller’s label on front pastedown.

6. [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. Including 123 Books and Pamphlets, often with multiple annotations and inserted materials / Including the stunning amount of 427 Manuscript-Letters / Typed Letters (among which are also a few Postcards) / Including 95 interesting documents / Inlcuding 171 Items of Ephemera. 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 twenty (20) chapters of Material we synchronised chronologically with Sir Harry Luke’s life [Search for “Library & Collections” and find 20 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.

7. Coudenhove, Hans.

My African Neighbors – Man, Bird, and Beast in Nyasaland. Illustrated.

Boston, Little, Brown, and Company, 1925. 15 cm x 22.7 cm. Frontispiece, XIV, 245 pages. 12 illustrations, including the frontispiece, on 8 plates. Hardcover/ Publisher’s original red cloth with gilt lettering on spine and front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Cracks to valley between endpaper and half-title. Binding still good and firm. Original, armorial bookplate of Somerset Saunderson(depicting the coat-of-arms with the motto: “Je suis veillant”) on front paste-down. Annotation on pastedown, half-title, table of contents and table of illustrations. Several annotations on rear paste-down.

8. [Cyprus / Famagusta / Mudros Content] – [Wemyss, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rosslyn / Governor of Moudros] – Lukach, Harry Charles [later Sir Harry Luke] / [Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss / Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Michael de Robeck].

[Collection of five items of Signed Portrait of Sir Rosslyn Wemyss and Excellent Manuscript-Letter – Exchange with Harry Lukach, later Sir Harry Luke] The collection includes: 1. Original SIGNED Portrait of Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, while Rear Admiral, Senior Officer and Governor of Moudros / Mudros / 2. Together with autographed and signed manuscript-letter by Sir Rosslyn to his friend and subordinate, Harry Lukach [later Sir Harry Luke], who obviously had sent him congratulations when Wemyss was appointed as Admiral Sir Jellicoe’s replacement in December 1917 as First Sea Lord: “My dear Lukach – it was nice of you to send me your telegram but you will realize that I haven’t looked upon my appointment as an object for congratulations, though it is none the less nice that I should receive them from my friends. I had a letter from your father the other day, who told me that he thought it was possible that you decided to get out of your present Job, & that if so I could possibly be [?] for you to do so. If you have any ideas on the subject, do write & let me know, for you may be quite sure that I shall be only too glad to do anything to help you in that direction, for as I have told you before, I think that your powers should be need in some less circumscribed area than where you are at present – All good luck – Believe me – Yours very sincerely (s o) R.E. Wemyss” (dated 5th January, 1918) / 3. Together with Harry Lukach’s answer in a manuscript letter from February 11th, 1918, on Stationery of “Famagusta Club – Cyprus”: “Dear Sir Rosslyn, I am most grateful for your letter of the 5th January, & for your kindness in thinking of me among your many preoccupations. I need scarcely assure you that I am only too anxious to [?] what Service under the Admiralty, if this were possible, as I feel that, although I have recently been given promotion inside Cyprus to the Commissionship of Famagusta, I might perhaps be of more use at present Day in Palestine, the Balkans, or Elsewhere in the Near or Middle East than here. If any Naval Mission in those theatres required someone to do work of a kind for which you thought me fitted, I do not think the CO would think of declining to second me if you were to be good enough to ask for my services, especially as I am known to you personally through having had the privilege of serving on your Staff, Yours very sincerely (so) HCLukach”. / 4. Together with a stunning Typescript-copy of Luke’s application from his post in Famagusta, Cyprus, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies on 31 October, 1918, in which Luke lists his many achievements and asks for an administrative or political appointment in Turkey or Persia “if on conclusion of peace any territories in those countries should pass under British administration or control (this typescript is written while Lukach is Commissioner of Famagusta, Cyprus and he mentions the service under Sir Rosslyn Wemyss) – Luke also includes a typescript of C.D. Fenn for the Chief Secretary to Government in the year 1916 in which the Government confirms appreciation of his valuable service in connection with the administration of Mudros. Luke kept all these items together in his collection with the scrapbook-collection of printed Mudros – Orders he received from Wemyss and de Robeck while on Mudros (see below description of item No.5).

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Mudros, Authority, c. 1918. 33,5 cm x 21,5 cm. Size of the Original Photograph Portrait of Sir Rosslyn Wemyss: Image: 14.5 cm wide x 19.5 cm high, signed in ink and mounted on board which measures 17.5 cm wide x 22.7 cm high. / The Volume with official documents counts c. 100 pages. Original Hardcover. The extremely rare photograph of Sir Rosslyn Wemyss in very good condition and beautifully signed and only with some minor signs of wear / The Mudros – Volume of official orders by Wemyss, de Robeck and Lukach with some minor staining to boards, very occasional only some foxing to pages. Otherwise in excellent condition.

9. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Harry / Lukach, Harry].

Vintage wedding photograph of Harry Luke and Joyce Evelyn Fremlin (daughter of Henry James Leigh Fremlin and his wife, Maud Evelyn Deane). The wedding photograph was taken in 1918, at Larnaca, shortly after the wedding – ceremony “in the little Anglican Church of S.Helena” (C&M, II, 44). At the time, Luke was still commissioner of Famagusta (1918-1920).

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. [Famagusta], 1918. 23 cm x 17 cm. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

10. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles].

Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS) / Autographed Letter Signed (ALS) from Harry Charles Lukach (Sir Harry Luke) to his father. Luke writes on October 4th, using Stationery of “Government House, Cyprus” from his posting as Private Secretary of Governor Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams in Cyprus, where Luke was posted between November 1911 – c. October 1914. At this time Luke is awaiting a promotion [it will come a few weeks after this letter was written and he is updating his father]: “My dear Father, yours of 27 Sept from Vienna just received…..This is our last week on Troodos…in 5 days we go down to Nicosia, where it will be hot for another 3 weeks or so after we get there. I have not yet said anything to Sir H[amilton Goold-Adams] about the S.A.offer; I think that the best opportunity to do so would be when he actually recommends me for a higher post here. This cannot be done at once, as he will first have to get rid of the present holder (the Asst. Secretary), wh[ich he will try to do when he goes on leave. But don’t mention this, as he has not yet tackled the C.O. I enclose a photo taken lately of a shooting match here between Soldiers & Civilians. Sir H[amilton Goold-Adams] shot for the latter, & I was a spectator (in Colonel Glasses). The Soldiers won. Much love to you three – Your loving son Harry”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Cyprus / Government House, 4 October 1912. Octavo. Bifold Octavo, all four pages with manuscript handwriting, signed. Very good condition. From the personal collection of Sir Harry Luke.

11. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles].

Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS) / Autographed Letter Signed (ALS) from Harry Charles Lukach (Sir Harry Luke) to his Father & Mother. Luke writes on August 29th, 1913, using Stationery of “Government House, Cyprus” from his new administrative posting within Government House, Cyprus, where Luke was posted between November 1911 – c. October 1914, still under Goold-Adams. Luke writes: “….the Goold-Adams’ landed in Limasol yesterday….Their new P[ersonal] Sec[retary] is a young Oxford Man called Cunningham – that is all I know about him as yet. I am staying on as Gov[ernment S[ecretary] as guest of the GA’s till I go on leave; I shall probably go down to N’sia to pack next Thursday. My Steamer goes on Sat.8th from Larnaca to Meronia.”

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Cyprus / Government House, 29 August, 1913. Octavo. Bifold Octavo, all four pages with manuscript handwriting, signed. Very good condition. From the personal collection of Sir Harry Luke.

12. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] /

Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS) / Autograph Letter Signed (ALS) from Lieut – Col. Charles William Henry Sealy (‘CWHS’) to Sir Harry Charles Lukach (later Sir Harry Luke), addressed to Luke as Lieut-Commander H. C. Lukach – Chief Secretary’s Office – Troodos, Cyprus). Sealy apologises profoundly for not writing and informs Luke about prices for certain stamps. But the main reason for the letter seems to be an item Luke had waited for from Sealy, an enclosed Manuscript-Family-Tree of the orientalist James Justinian Morier [Author of ‘The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan (1824)’ and fellow Traveller of the Levant and also emplyed as Diplomat]. he letter was obviously started twice by Sealy, at different dates but the letter was finally finished and sent 25th of July, 1916: “Dear Luke, I am a pig not to write – I’m sory & tomorrow I swear I will sit down & [write] you the letter of the year – / Dear Luke, here is some Morier stuff – if you want any more let me know, there is a reasonable notice of him in DNB. Prices of Salonikas are good – a man has offered twenty guineas for a complete set used on an envelope – and one such envelope has actually been sold for £20 and another – just the same – for £25….Long Island overprinted on Turkish – they ask £15 each ! – No job yet – but I worked at Admiralty yesterday to please a pal. Best salams CWHS”. / The enclosed Family Tree tree begins with James Morier’s father Isaac Morier, and his maternal grandfather David Van Lennep, ‘Dutch Consul general in Smyrna President of Dutch Levant Co’. At the foot is a list of seven works by James Morier, with dates. The Morier – Family Tree also includes Clara van Lennep.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. [London], [on stationery of Charles William Henry, 6 Priory Grove, The Boltons, [London], 25 July, 1916. Octavo. 2 pages. Very good condition. From the personal collection of Sir Harry Luke.

13. [Cyprus Content] – Luke, Harry Charles / Jardine, Douglas James / Goold-Adams, Sir Hamilton.

The Handbook Of Cyprus: Seventh Issue (1913). [With manuscript letter by Harry Luke on Stationery of Government House, Cyprus]. With Maps and Plans and twelve Illustrations from Photographs by Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, Edward Stanford, Ltd., 1913. 19,5 cm x 13,5 cm. XI, 307 pages, 12 illustrations, 5 maps and plans (includes the beautiful, coloured map of Cyprus). Original Hardcover / Privately bound full morocco with gilt ornament to board, gilt lettering to spine and raised bands. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. Some rubbing, bumping to boards and spine. Otherwise in good condition.

14. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] / John P. Foscolo [Photographer J.P. Foscolo].

Photographic Postcard of Harry Luke’s Office in Cyprus (probably Famagusta), photographed by J.P.Foscolo. The Postcard with manuscript message, signed by Harry Luke and sent to his mother on 11th of December, 1918 with the message: “This is a view of my Office – H. 11/12/18”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Cyprus / Famagusta, 1918. Postcard size. The photographic Postcard with blindstamped signature of photographer J.P.Foscolo. Very good condition. With two rare stamps (Half Piastre and Ten Piastre, cancelled in Famagusta).

15. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] / John P. Foscolo [Photographer J.P. Foscolo].

Photographic Postcard of St.Sophia, Famagusta, Cyprus, photographed by J.P.Foscolo. The Postcard with manuscript message, sent by Harry Luke to himself at the Armenian Hotel Nicosia. With two Cypriote stamps (5 Paras), cancelled in Nikosia on January 30, 1918.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Cyprus / Famagusta, 1918. Postcard size. The photographic Postcard is No.10 of a series of photographic postcards created by photographer J.P.Foscolo. Very good condition.

16. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] / Norton, E.B. [Artist].

Humorous Postcard “Vituperation”, sent to his Mother & Sister from Cyprus to Paris by Harry Lukach (Sir Harry Luke) during the month of March, 1912, while he awaits news about a new posting: “…no news this week”. Luke clearly used the term “Vituperation” as a hint of knowing that deliberations are going on regarding his next career-move. 1912 was an important year for Luke since he had just started under Goold-Adams in Government House, Nicosia. But he was destined for moving up and “At the end of 1912 [he] became a Junior Assistant Secretary to Government together with Douglas Jardine” (C&M I, 217) after Luke had made the decision “to make my career in the Colonial Service”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Cyprus / [Nicosia], 1912. Postcard size. The Humorous Postcard designed by E.B.Norton. Very good condition. With three rare stamps, cancelled in Cyprus and Paris.

17. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] Hill, Sir George.

A History Of Cyprus: Volume I, II, III and IV. I: To the Conquest by Richard Lion Heart; II: The Frankish Period, 1192-1432; III: The Frankish Period, 1432-1571; IV: The Ottoman Province, The British Colony, 1571-1948. Four volumes (Complete).

Digital Reprint of the Cambridge University Press Edition (1940). [This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010. 23 cm x 16 cm. Pagination: Volume I: XVIII, 352 pages, 16 plates, 3 maps; Volume II: XL, 496 pages, 6 plates, 7 illustrations; Volume III: VI, 702 pages, 14 plates, 4 illustrations, 2 maps; Volume IV: XXXI, 640 pages, 17 plates, map. Original Hardcover. Two corners bumped on Volume IV front board and some mild signs of foxing to cloth. Otherwise this set is in excellent condition.

18. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] Lukach, Harry Charles / Jardine, Douglas James / Goold-Adams, Sir Hamilton.

The Handbook Of Cyprus: Seventh Issue (1913).

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, Edward Stanford, Ltd., 1913. 18 cm x 12,5 cm. XI, 307 pages, 12 illustrations, 4 maps and plans. Original Hardcover. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. Some foxing to pages, slight fading to boards and spine. Otherwise in good condition.

19. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] / Storrs, Sir Ronald Henry Amherst.

Typed Letter Signed / Monogrammed (TLS with manuscript corrections) from Sir Harry Luke to Sir Ronald Storrs. The two – page letter plus addenda was written by Luke in September 1927, during his posting as Colonial Secretary in Sierra Leone, and reached Storrs during his Governorship in Cyprus. Luke writes about [Mr.] St.Barbe Baker and two pamphlets [by Baker] he sent Storrs of which one is “full of a passionate idealism canalized into the planting of trees in dry countries”. Luke continues: “He is now in the Forestry Service in Nigeria….I imagine he would be the very man for countries such as Ubr and Palestine, which wage a constant and unequal campaign against drought and inadequate rainfall. If you were to think it worth while to place him in touch with yourself, he might conceivably be of value in the direction of organizing voluntary tree-planting in the Regno di Cipro. In the matter of the Handbook [of Cyprus] I enclose on a separate sheet a very few corrigenda and suggestions…..” [The Corrigenda on page three of the letter (Addenda) deals with corrections of Date of publications of e.g.: “Cyprus under the Turks” etc.].

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. [Sierra Leone], 13th September, 1927. Folio. 3 sheets. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

20. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] Storrs, Sir Ronald Henry Amherst.

Typed Letter Signed (TLS) from Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs to Sir Harry Luke. The two – page letter was written by Storrs during the finalization of his posting in Jerusalem as Governor of Jerusalem and Judea and reached Sir Harry while he was still Colonial Secretary in Sierra Leone. The Letter touches on the uprooting Storrs and his family feel after 9 years of ‘anchors and tentacles’ [in Jerusalem]. In the letter, which is marked ‘Private – Pl[ease] destroy’, Storrs reports somehow cryptic on a project to get Luke somehow to Cyprus so they can work together again. Storrs reminisces how he looks back with gratitude, pleasure and regret to his collaboration with Luke. Storrs also reflects on a journey: ‘We came out by Paris (where I saw the finest collection of Rhodian plates in the world), Assisi (having named the street here after St. Francis in the spring), Rome (heard Mussolini and saw Gasparri), Athens (warned one or two prominent Cypriots against any political back-chat), Alexandria (to pack my collection of icons and alabaster) and finally Jerusalem whence, on the 29th, H.M.S. Cornflower will remove my wife, self, A.D.C. and about 70 packing cases to Famagusta which we hope to reach on the Feast of St.Andrew, he being, I believe, the Patron Saint of the Island”. In a Post Scriptum Storrs reports.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Jerusalem, 11th November 1926. Folio. 2 pages with original envelope. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

21. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] Storrs, Sir Ronald Henry Amherst.

Typed Letter Signed (TLS with manuscript additions) on Stationery of Government House, Cyprus, from Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs to Sir Harry Luke. The two – page letter was written by Storrs in August 1927, during his posting as Governor of Cyprus and reached Sir Harry while he was still Colonial Secretary in Sierra Leone. Storrs writes: “My dear Harry, Yours of the 18th received with lively satisfaction and the enclosure from the Thegn [Code for “Thane”] shewn to the highly gratified Daisy, who says it is nothing of the documents that emanate daily from the new office within the wall in Jerusalem. …..I am duly exploring the possibilities …..and indeed comic rumour that I am bored with Ubr. On the contrary the charm and interest of the place grow upon me every day and I am encouraged to believe that the Ergs and foot-poundals expended by myself in a variety of directions are already beginning to generate a current of advantage for the Colony: [continued in manuscript handwriting by Storrs]: including the revision to date of yr. admirable handbook [that is ‘Handbook of Cyprus’] (any bequests thereto ?)….”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Cyprus, July 6th, 1927. Octavo. 1 sheet (1 page). From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

22. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry Charles] Michael Kissaun.

Rakkont Ta’ Safra Fl-Art Imqaddsa Minn Patri Frangiskan Spanjol. [Author’s Own Copy / With a Chapter on Cyprus]. Maqlub Fl-Ingliz Minn Sir Harry Charles Luke, C.M.G., B.Litt., M.A. U Migjub Fil-Malti Minn Michael Kissaun.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Malta, Stamperija tal-Gvern, 1937. 22,5 cm x 15,5 cm. [4], XV, 94 pages including 4 photographic illustrations (1. Map of Palestine with Gaza and “Guda” / 2. Portrait of Sir Harry Luke / 3. Image of the Manuscript / 4. Another image of the Manuscript). Original Softcover. Good condition with some rougher signs of external wear. Extremely rare ! From the library of Sir Harry Luke.

23. Drake-Brockman, Ralph E.

British Somaliland. With 74 Illustrations from Photographs on Art Paper, Other Illustrations And a Map.

London, Hurst & Blackett, 1912. 14.5 cm x 22.5 cm. X, 334 pges, 74 illustrations on 49 plates. Fold-out map at rear showing British Somaliland. Hardcover [publisher’s original blue cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Pictorial and patterned design embossed on front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Slight bumps to lower board corners. Discreet bookseller’s label on front pastedown (Newbold’s Bookshop Ltd. – 289 George Street, Dunedin, New Zealand).

24. Drummond, Henry.

Tropical Africa. With Maps and Illustrations.

First Edition. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1888. 13 cm x 19.5 cm. Frontispiece, XI, 228 pages. 6 maps (on five fold-out-sheets). At front 2 fold-out colour maps of East Central Africa and Equatorial. At rear fold-out colour maps of ‘European Possessions and Claims in Central and Southern Africa’. One fold-out colour map of east central Africa within contents. Hardcover / contemporary half leather with marbled paper-covered-boards. Gilt lettering and tooling on spine. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Minor damage to heel of spine. Binding still firm and strong. Foxing to endpapers. Interior and maps in bright and clean condition.

25. [Ecclesiastical Content] – Luke, Harry Charles.

Prophets, Priests And Patriarchs: Sketches of the Sects of Palestine and Syria. [With three original letters].

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, The Faith Press Ltd., 1927. 22 cm x 14,5 cm. IX, 130 pages, 30 illustrations and including the beautiful, large fold-out-plan in colour: “Plan of the Holy Sepulchre and Surroundings”. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective Mylar. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. Some tearing to dustjacket. Otherwise in very good condition.

26. [Ecclesiastical Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry Charles] / Bell, George Kennedy Allen (Bishop of Chichester, later Dean of Canterbury) / Mar Ignatius Elias III (Patriarch of Antioch and Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church) / Davidson, Randall T. (Archbishop of Canterbury / Douglas, John Albert (Dean of St.Luke’s) / R.F.Borough (Chaplain in Constantinople).

Collection of significant Documents and exchange of letters regarding “Intercommunion between the Anglican Church and Orthodox Syrian Church”. The documents and letters show a string of stunning developments during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, between Mar Ignatius and the Archbishop of Canterbury in which the tensions between Churches, the charged atmosphere of the outgoing Ottoman Empire and fragility of the Patriarchate in Jerusalem are manifested in these communications. Striking also the clarity with which is determined that all parties have to avoid to anger the Turks and avoid having the Turks think that Mar Ignatius “is trying to form some political alliance with the British”. See all documents listed below and some highlights mentioned here: Typed Letter Signed (TLS) with manuscript annotations by the later Dean of Canterbury, George Bell, sent to Commander H[arry] Luke while Luke was in Venice during October 2022. The letter is accompanied by two Typescripts of letters between the Archbishop of Canterbury (then Randall Davidson) and Mar Ignatius as well as a highly confidential Memorandum which outlines the very delicate topic of Mar Ignatius asking the Archbishop if he would be “prepared to authorise and arrange that the Syrian Orthodox (Jacobites) in America and elsewhere who were outside the ministrations of their own clergy should be [could be] mininistered to by Anglican Priests”. According to the Memorandum, compiled and sent by Rev. John Albert Douglas, Vicar of S. Luke’s, to “Commander Luke” in October 1922, the highly conflicting topic of “Intercommunion between the Anglican Church and Orthodox Syrian Church”, started “in the autumn of 1920” and the correspondence before us presents the culmination of a two year long, significant correspondence between Lambeth Palace (Archbishop of Canterbury) and the Syrian Patriarchat in Antioch (Mar Ignatios – Elias III). Harry Luke was sought out as intermediate after it became clear that Mar Ignatius had either misunderstood items in the communication or was stalling and the Memorandum suggests that Luke, “possibly with Archdeacon Waddy” should call to Mar Ignatios and “remind him what it was and why it was that the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote to him”. The mediation, hoped for from Luke, was at time clearly based on Luke’s experience in the region and the letter from George Bell suggests he is hought to be the solution to this delicate matter. The Typescript of the Letter from Randall Davidson to Mar Ignatius is of great importance due to the Archbishop and Mar Ignatius firstly establish in no uncertain terms the righteousness of either faith. Randall Davidson, satisfied by this, agrees that “It is now my privilege in consequence of these communications to authorise these recognised members of the Orthodox Syrian Church who, being prevented from access to their own clergy, desire to receive the Holy Communion, or to have their children being baptised, or their marriage solemnized, to avail themselves of the ministration of our clergy”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Canterbury / Jerusalem / Camberwell [South London], June – November, 1922. Octavo / Quarto. Eight Documents [Letters and Typescripts]. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

27. [Ecclesiastical Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] / Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall T. Davidson / Davidson, Randall Thomas (1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, GCVO, PC).

Typed Letter Signed (TLS) from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall T. Davidson, to Harry Luke, then Assistant Governor of Jerusalem: ‘Dear Mr.Luke, I thank you very cordially for your ‘Handbook of Palestine’. I am sure that such a book has for some time been wanted – a book a little different from the mere guide-book. You have now met the need, so far as I can judge, most effectively. I am yours very truly Randall T. Canterbury.’

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Canterbury, Lambeth Palace, 20th of October, 1922. Octavo. One page with original envelope. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

28. [Ecclesiastical Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] Bell, George Kennedy Allen.

Typed Letter Signed (TLS) on Lambeth Palace stationery from Bishop George Kennedy Allen Bell to Sir Harry Luke: ‘My dear Luke – very many thanks for your letter and kind congratulations. I am sending this in duplicate to Jerusalem and to the St. James’ Club. I should greatly like to see you when you are in London if this is possible. I do not disguise the sorrow with which I hear of your impending departure from Jerusalem. The loss of yourself following so soon after Deedes’ [Brigadier General Sir Wyndham Henry Deedes] departure must be a great loss to Palestine and in particular to the Patriarchate. I am also very sorry to hear that Barron [J.B.Barron of the Palestine Land Commision Weights and Measure Commission] is leaving and I wonder what is going to happen to the Commission and all its affairs. I shall be leaving Lambeth on March 31st and spending ten days in the Lakes: then I go down at once to Canterbury where I shall be from April 12th to May 5th. I shall be in London for about a fortnight from May 5th onwards. I would greatly like to see you if you are about at that time. Yours very sincerely, G.K.A. Bell.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Lambeth Palace, 18th March 1924. Octavo. 1 page with original envelope. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

29. [Education of Sir Harry Luke] – [Luke, Sir Harry] Lukach, Harry Charles / [Claude Delaval Cobham (British Colonial Official in Cyprus (Larnaca)] / [Guy le Strange (British Orientalist).

Manuscript letter by british colonial officer Claude Delaval Cobham to Harry Lukach, [later Sir Harry Luke] in which Cobham reflects on a manuscript Luke had sent him for analysis: “My dear Lukach, I return the Ms. I lent it to Guy le Strange who showed it to Ellis [possibly Sir Ellis Hovell Minns], of the B.M. [British Museum] [who are] both skilled analysts”. Cobham continues about the manuscript: “It is a kind of Hagiology, but written by a Druze – hence the [?] of the mad Khalife Hakim bin amr allah as a Saint, and spells Salih, which is a Druze Mack. There are similar Mss. in the B.M. library but Ellis [?] not a Druze one – but they are of no great interest or Value. The writing is neat and very legible….I hope you are well and enjoying yourself. I start, I think, on Thursday for Coblenz and S. Blasien [that is St. Blasien], returning at the very end of August. Yours very truly – C. Delaval Cobham”.

S. James, July 27 (no year but c.1906). Small Octavo. 2 pages filled on one bifolium / Plus Letter from British Museum to Harry Charles Lukach regarding Admission to the Reading Room (19th of July 1906). Excellent letter by British Colonial official in Cyprus, Claude Delaval Cobham. Important letter which states the early influence of Luke in his love for Cyprus because by the time this letter was written and Luke had a relationship with this important scholar, Cobham had already written the important “Excerpta Cypria”. The ALS by Cobham came with a letter by the Director of the British Museum to H.C.Lukach regarding admission to the Reading Room of the B.M.

30. Edwards, Neville.

The Transvaal in War and Peace. With Numerous Illustrations.

First Edition. London, H. Virtue and Company, 1900. 221.5 cm x 27.5 cm. 384 pages. Hardcover [publisher’s original blue cloth] with gilt lettering and design on spine. Large gilt lettering and image of mounted trooper on front board. All edges gilt. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Corner boards only slightly bumped. Interior bright and clean. Prize bookplate of Tonbridge Castle School (dated April 1900) on front pastedown.

31. Eggeling, W.J.

The Indigenous Trees of the Uganda Protectorate. With a Foreword by Sir Arthur Hill, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Entebbe, Uganda, The Government Printer, 1940. 21 cm x 25.5 cm. Frontispiece, XXII, 296 pages. 43 full-page-photographs, numerous line drawings. Colour map of Uganda Protectorate’s annual rainfall tipped-in on front endpaper showing Uganda’s Protectorate with its Average Rainfall. Hardcover [publisher’s original green cloth] with lettering on spine and front board. Tree-like design to front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Some soiling to front board near head of spine. Interior bright and clean. Binding is firm and strong.

32. Elmslie, W.A.

Among The Wild Ngoni – Being Some Chapters in the History of the Livingstonia Mission in British Central Africa.

Edinburgh and London, Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier, 1899. 13.5 cm x 19.5 cm. Frontispiece, 319 pages. 14 illustrations including frontispiece. Folded Map at rear showing ‘Livingstonia Mission.’ Hardcover [publisher’s original tanned cloth] with gilt lettering and pictorial illustration on spine and board. Very good+ condition with only minor signs of external wear. Interior bright and clean.

33. Foran, W. Robert.

A Cuckoo in Kenya – The Reminiscences of a [Irish] Pioneer Police Officer in British East Africa. Illustrated with Photographs by the Author and Others.

London, Hutchinson & Co, no year (c.1936). 15.5 cm x 23.5 cm. Frontispiece, 360 pages. 119 monochrome photographs on 47 plates, including frontispiece. Maps of Kenya on pastedowns and endpapers. Hardcover [publisher’s original green cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Very good condition with some clear signs of external wear. Slightly bumped and rubbed. Very minor staining to front board. Binding still firm and strong. Minor foxing to edges. Interior very bright and clean. Very Rare, rather scarce publication !

34. Gann, L.H.

A History of Southern Rhodesia – Early Days to 1934.

London, Chatto & Windus, 1965. 16 cm x 24 cm. X, 354 pages. Hardcover [publisher’s original green cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Originnal dust jacket. Very good+ condition with only minor signs of external wear. Interior is very bright and clean. Dust jacket very good.

35. Gavaghan, Terence.

Of Lions and Dung Beetles – [A Man in the Middle of Colonial Administration in Kenya].

Elms Court / Ilfracombe, Arthur H. Stockwell Ltd., 1999. Octavo. III, 322 pages. Illustrated with many photographs. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective collector’s mylar. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Signed by the author on the titlepage. Rare publication !

36. Gehrts, M. / [Major Hans Schomburgk].

A Camera Actress in the Wilds of Togoland. The Adventures, Observations and Experiences of a Cinematograph Actress in West African Forests Whilst Collecting Films Depicting Native Life and When Posing as the White Woman in Anglo-African Cinematograph Dramas. With an Introduction by Major H.Schomburgk.

Philadelphia / London, J. B. Lippincott Co / Seeley, Service & Co Ltd, 1915. 15.2 cm x 22.5 cm. Frontispiece, XX, 315 pages. 41 illustrations including frontis. Hardcover [publisher’s original blue cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Gilt pictorial on front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Minor foxing to edges. One illustration slightly detached only. Interior is bright and clean. Binding is firm and strong. Rare in this very good condition. Tiny bookstamp from Chas.E. Lauriat Co. in Washington Street, Boston.

37. Hattersley, Chas. W. / Duta, Henry Wright.

Luganda – Phrases and Idioms. For New Arrivals and Travellers in Uganda.

Second Edition. London, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1921. 10.5 cm x 16.5 cm. 128 pages. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth]. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Interior bright and clean.

38. Hill, F.M.

Permanent Way – The Story of the Kenya and Uganda Railway – Being the Official History of the Development of the Transport System in Kenya and Uganda. Foreword by Sir Reginald Robins, the Commissioner for Transport, East Africa High Commission.

Nairobi / Kenya, East African Railways and Harbours, [1949]. 20.5 cm x 25.5 cm. XII, 582 pages. 18 plates with fantastic monochrome photographs. 2 beautifully coloured fold-out maps within, showing 1. East Africa in 1892 with the proposed Railway / 2. East Africa in 1949 showing the Principal Land & Water Communications with finished Railways and Railways under construction. Hardcover [publisher’s original green cloth] with gilt lettering on spine and gilt design on front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Minor stain to front board lower corner. Binding is firm and strong. Foxing and tanning to edges. Some occasional pencil-markings. Interior is otherwise tight, bright and clean.

39. Hill, M.F.

The Dual Policy in Kenya. Being a collection of articles, published in the Kenya Weekly News, between July, 1943, and March, 1944, on the past, the present, and the future of Kenya Colony.

Nakuru, The Kenya Weekly News, no year (c.1944). 14.5 cm x 19.5 cm. 276 pages. Hardcover [publisher’s original blue cloth]. Poor condition with stronger signs of external wear. Boards are faded. Corners bumped. Boards show smudges and fading. Tears to gutter between pastedowns and endpapers. Binding somewhat shaky but book block intact. Internally clean and bright with sharp corners.

40. Hobley, C.W.

Kenya – From Chartered Company to Crown Colony, Thirty Years of Exploration and Administration in British East Africa. Illustrated from Photographs. With a Foreword by W.G.A Ormsby Gore M.P (Late Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies).

London, H.F. & G. Witherby, 1929. 14 cm x 22.5 cm. Frontispiece. 256 pages. 19 monochrome images on 10 plates. Hardcover [publisher’s original blue cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Spine is slightly sunned. Interior very bright and clean with sharp corners. Tissue guard to the frontispiece in near excellent condition.

41. Holmes, F. Ratcliffe.

Through Wildest Africa – A Story of Travel.

London, Geoffrey Bles, no year (c.1925). 14.5 cm x 22.2 cm. Frontispiece, 318 pages. 20 photographic illustrations on 11 plates. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Map of the Kenya Colony on front pastedown and endpaper. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Very minor foxing to edges. Interior bright and clean and sharped cornered. Preowner’s name on front pastedown.

42. Hotchkiss, Willis.

Then and Now in Kenya Colony. [SIGNED / INSCRIBED by Willis R. Hotchkiss]. Forty Adventurous Years in East Africa.

New York, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1937. 13 cm x 19.5 cm. Frontispiece, 160 pages. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth] with lettering on spine. Edge stained but otherwise in very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Sharp cornered interior bright and clean. Signed / Inscribed by the author on titlepage: “Yours in this great game – Willis R. Hotchkiss”.

43. Johnston, Harry.

Britain Across the Seas – Africa, A History and Description of the British Empire in Africa.

London, National Society’s Depository, no year [1910]. 15.5 cm x 23.5 cm. XIX, 429 pages. 238 illustrations. 7 maps. [Sketch Map of Kaffraria / Political Map of Africa (in colour) etc.]. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Internally exceptionally tight, bright and clean with sharp edges. Front pastedown carries presentation bookplate of Leyland Parish Church Sunday School and Bible Classes awarding prize to J. Pickles for regular attendance.

44. Johnston, Harry.

Pioneers in West Africa. With Eight Coloured Illustrations By the Author.

London, Glasgow, and Bombay, Blackie and Son Limited, no year [c. 1912]. 13.5 cm x 19.3 cm. Frontispiece,336 pages. 16 illustrations in total – 8 colour and 8 monochrome. 2 maps within. Hardcover [publisher’s original navy cloth] with title on spine. Very special combination of an original publisher’s cloth and bespoke, gilt-stamped Mundella School binding (Nottingham). Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Slight foxing to edges. Interior bright, tight, clean and sharp cornered. Front pastedown carries presentation-bookplate of Mundella School, Nottingham, awarding prize to “Leonard John Ross – Second Position on Form List III E. First in Geography, Midsummer 1925 R.B. Wright M.A. (Cantab) [HeadMaster]”. [″Pioneer” Library].

45. Johnston, Harry H.

The Story of My Life.

London, Chatto & Windus, 1923. 15.5 cm x 22.5 cm. Frontispiece, 536 pages. 3 illustrations. Hardcover [publisher’s original navy cloth] with gilt lettering on spine and blind tooling at front board edges. Deckled edges. Unusually excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Very occasional foxing. Interior is otherwise very bright and clean. Binding firm, strong and square.

46. Keane, A.H.

The Gold of Ophir. Whence brought and by Whom ?

London, Edawrd Stanford, 1901. 14 cm x 21 cm. Frontispiece, XVIII, 244 pages. Hardcover [publisher’s original maroon cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Gilt lettering and pictorial on front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Interior very bright and clean. Rare !

47. Le Breton, F.H.

Up-Country Swahili Exercises – For the Soldier, Settler, Miner, Mercahnt, and Their Wives. And for All Who Deak With UP-Country Natives Without Interpreters.

Thirteenth Edition. Richmond, R.W. Simpson and Co., (1956). 12 cm x 17.5 cm. 96 pages. Softcover/ publisher’s original. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Upper corner of front board bumped. Name of preowner on pastedown.

48. Lyne, Robert Nunez.

Zanzibar in Contemporary Times – A Short History of the Southern East in the Nineteenth Century. Illustrated with two coloured maps and numerous photographs.

First edition. London, Hurst and Blackett, 1905. 15 cm x 22.5 cm Frontispiece, XII, 328 pages. 27 illustrations. 2 maps. Hardcover [publisher’s original green cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. The rare first edition in Good+ condition only with some strong signs of external wear. Spine nearly detached. Minor bumps and rubs to board corners. Interior very good. Small library stamp to titlepage (cancelled/discarded). [This copy used to belong to the School of Oriental Studies – Finsbury Circus] Deckled edges. Interior bright and clean.

49. MacDonald, J.R.L. / [Provenance: Edmund Heathcote Thruston].

Soldiering and Surveying in British East Africa, 1891-1894. With Maps and Illustrations.

First Edition. London and New York, Edward Arnold, 1897. 15 cm x 23 cm. Frontispiece, XVI, 333 pages. 12 illustrations, including frontispiece. 8 maps, including fold-out colour map at rear showing “Major MacDonald’s work in British East Africa.” Hardcover [publisher’s original maroon cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Deckled edges. Good- condition. Large yellow ’‘Mudie Select Library”– label on front board. Rear board bears remnant of removed label. Minor staining and rubbing to boards. Tears at gutters between pastedowns and endpapers with exposed cloth front and rear. Binding is shaky but bookblock still solid. Front endpaper partially loose. Armorial bookplate of Edmund Heathcote Thruston with latin inscription (Esse Quam Videri) on front pastedown. Names of two previous owners on half-title page. Occassional annotations throughout the book. Occasional foxing throughout. Rare !

50. [Malta Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] / 400 Year Anniversary of Great Siege of Malta.

Unidentified Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS) / Autographed Letter Signed (ALS) regarding Luke’s resignation [possibly from an order or other form of organization regarding Malta]: “Everyone at the meeting on Saturday was really sorry to hear of your resignation and it was immediately unanimously agreed that you should be invited to be the Guest of Honour at the next Dinner. I think this is particularly appropriate this year, when the 400th anniversary of the Great Siege is being celebrated – and who is there who knows more about the History of Malta than you do !”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. [London], 29th of April, 1965. A4. Two pages on one sheet with envelope. From the personal collection of Sir Harry Luke.