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Military History (55 items)

Large Archive / Collection of Sir Harry Luke's personal letters, photographs and Ephemera from his 39 years of service for the Bristish Colonial Office

4. [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.

EUR 275.000,-- 

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Wemyss, Original SIGNED Portrait of the Sir Rosslyn Wemyss with Mudrous / Mudros Papers

7. [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.

EUR 275.000,-- 

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Nathaniel Hooke - The Roman History, From the Building of Rome to the Ruin of the Commonwealth

20. Hooke, Nathaniel.

The Roman History, From the Building of Rome to the Ruin of the Commonwealth [with the printed Dedication to Alexander Pope]. Illustrated with 17 folding Maps, 4 Fontispieces and 11 other Plates [32 copper-engravings in total].

The Fourth Edition. Four Volumes (complete set with all maps and plates). London, Printed for J. and R. Tonson; Hawkins and T.Longman, 1766 – 1771. Quarto (27 cm x 22 cm). Collation: Volume I: Frontispiece, XLVI, XLVI, 634 pages with 10 plates and 3 maps / Volume II: Frontispiece, XXXII, XXXII, 668 pages with 8 maps / Volume III: Frontispiece, VI, 694 pages with 5 maps / Volume IV: Frontispiece, VII, 464 pages plus 76 unnumbered pages of a General Index and 1 plate and 1 map. Hardcover / Original 18th-century leather with gilt lettering and labels on spine. Interior of this set with all maps and illustrations in excellent, very clean condition. The boards of the bindings with abrasions and some bumping but overall very firm. Some stronger peeling of the leather on board of Volume I, Only three pages with minor tears. The large map of Northern Africa (Palestine, Egypt and Libya) with a minor tear. The stunning maps and plates in timeless beauty. Highly underestimated work, in the shadow of Gibbon but with meticulous detail in presenting the geographical impact of the Roman Conquest. From the library of Daniel Conner (Connerville / Manch House), with his Exlibris / Bookplate to pastedown.

EUR 3.500,-- 

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Bartoli, Colonna Traiana

39. One of the most beautiful works of 18th century Illustrated Italian History – Bartoli, Pietro Santi / Giacomo de Rossi / [Trajan – Caesar Nerva Trajanus].

Colonna Traiana [The rare 18th-century Folio-Edition on Trajan’s Column, in which, atypically, all Oblong-Folio-Planches have a centerfold and which includes the often missing, large 1,1 meter – foldout-plan of Trajan’s Column] – Colonna Traiana Eretta Dal Senato, E Popolo Romano All’Imperatore Traiano Augusto Nel Suo Foro In Roma. Scolpita Con L’Historie Della Guerra Dacica La Prima E La Seconda Espeditione, E Vittoria Contro Il Re Decebalo. Nuovamente Disegnata, Et Intagliata Da Pietro Santi Bartoli. Con L’Espositione Latina D’Alfonso Ciaccone, Compendiata Nella Vulgare Lingua Sotto Ciascuna Immagine, Accresciuta Di Medaglie, Inscrittioni, E Trofei, Da Gio. Pietro Bellori. Con diligente cura, e spesa ridotta à perfettione, e data in luce da Gio. Giacomo de Rossi dalle sue stampe, in Roma, alla Pace con Privilegio del S. Pontefice.

Roma, [Giacomo de Rossi] alla Pace con Privilegio del S. Pontefice, [1751]. Folio: (26.5 cm wide x 37 cm high). All planches usually in Oblong-Folio are center-folded in this version, allowing it to be bound in Folio. Pagination: 9 unnumbered plates, [including titlepage, engraved dedication to Louis XIV, and also the large Trajan-Foldout, measuring 110 cm x 36 cm)], followed by 119 plates folded into 238 plates, [while our copy is lacking the 14 pages with Alphonso Ciacono’s “Historia Utriusque Belli Dacici A Trajano Cæsare” and Index and Colophon at the end of the Volume, this flaw is rather unimportant because this Volume is all about the masterful art of over 125 engravings and the powerful Homage by Pietro Santi Bartoli to Trajan, Rome’s “Optimus Princeps”]. Fully restored Folio in dark green Morocco, bound to 18th century – style by an english master-bindery. Unusually excellent condition with the tiniest of wormhole-damage to the Dedication pages. The plates all in exceptional condition. The large Column-Plate spellbinding.

EUR 8.800,-- 

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Charles Rollin, The History of the Arts and Sciences of Antients (Illustrated Edition of 1768)

45. Rollin, Mr. [Charles].

The History of the Arts and Sciences of Antients [with all 52 plates complete] – Under the following Heads : In Three Volumes. Volume I: Agriculture, Commerce, Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Music, the Art Military / Volume II: Art Military, Grammar, Philology, Rhetoric, Poetry / Volume III: Poetry, History, Eloquence, Philosophy, Civil Law, Metaphysics and Physics, Physic, Botany, Chymistry [Chemistry], Anatomy, Mathematics, Geometry, Astronomy, Arithmetic, Geography and Navigation. By Mr. Rollin, Late Principal of the University of Paris, Professor of Eloquence in the Royal College and Member of the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres. Translated from the French. The Second Edition. Illustrated with Fifty-two [52] Copper Plates, representing the Civil and Military Architecture of the Antients, their Temples, Machines, Engines of War, Painting, &c.

3 Volumes (complete set). London, Printed for J. and F. Rivington, 1768. Octavo. Volume I: [12], 374 pages with 12 plates (as called for) / Volume II: [4], 360 pages with 40 plates (as called for) [pages 71 – 74 and the two plates these two pages are holding, loosely inserted], [Plate on page 104 loosely inserted] / Volume III: [4], 516 pages including a thorough Index. Hardcover / Original 18th century full leather with gilt lettering and ornament to spines of all three Volumes. All Volumes in very good condition with only minor signs of wear. All Volumes firm and all plates complete and in really excellent condition and strong imprints. All plates folded beautifully without tears ! From the library of Daniel Conner (Connerville / Manch House), with his Exlibris / Bookplate to pastedown. Rare in this complete and excellent condition. It is common to find this work with plates missing which makes this complete set extremely scarce.

EUR 1.480,-- 

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[George Crockett Strong] - U.S. Infantry Tactics, for the Instruction, Exercise and Manoeuvres of the United States Infantry

50. [Strong, George Crockett] The Secretary of War.

U.S. Infantry Tactics, for the Instruction, Exercise and Manoeuvres of the United States Infantry, Including Infantry of the Line, Light Infantry, and Riflemen. [with vintage cabinet photograph / Carte de visite of Union Brigadier General George Crockett Strong, loosely inserted and his name signed and dated to endpaper on April 28, 1863 (3 months prior to his death after being wounded during his assault on Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina)]. Prepared under the direction of the War Department, and Authorized and Adopted by the Secretary of War, May 1, 1861. Containing The School of the Soldier; The School of the Company; Instruction for Skirmishers; the General Calls, the Calls for Skirmishers, and the School of the Battalion; Including the Articles of War and a Dictionary of Military Terms.

Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1861. 9.3 cm x 13.5 cm. Fold-out Frontispiece, 450 pages. 77 plates with illustrations of various stances and manoeuvres. 12 additional fold-out diagrams. Hardcover / publisher’s original blue pebbled cloth with gilt lettering and stamp on spine. Blind triple ruling and stamp on both boards. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Corners slightly bumped. Very minor abrasion to cloth at bottom front corner. Very minor closed tear to page 25. Minor foxing occasionally throughout. Signs of dampstaining evident throughout otherwise clean and bright volume. Binding good and firm and tight bookblock. Inked annotation to title page. Ownership annotation to front pastedown. Embossed stamp of Wm B Sprague Jr, 51 State St, Albany on front endpaper. Endpaper also carries pencilled signature of George C Strong dated April 28 1862. Carte de visite of General Strong also loosely inserted.

EUR 1.500,-- 

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