Rare travel books in Asia: mission accounts, explorations, colonial Indochina, oriental studies and illustrated works on China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia

First edition, one of 35 copies printed on Japan paper, the deluxe issue, complete with the four states of the etchings (pure etching with remarque, with remarque, before letters, final state), see Vicaire, VII, 534.

(Vicaire mentions a blank leaf and a dedication leaf which appear to be missing here, although the copy is otherwise perfectly complete.)

Contemporary binding in half Empire green morocco, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, minor rubbing to the spine, spine and boards slightly faded, black fillet border on marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt on witnesses, binding...

First edition in book form, illustrated with 5 color plans of Kyoto, Osaka, Yedo, Asaksa, Imato, and Yokohama, a map of Japan, two plates depicting examples of Japanese syllabaries (Katakana and Hiragana), and 476 wood-engraved illustrations within the text (see Cordier, Japonica, 670; Wenckstern I, 5; Nipponalia I, 2036).

Contemporary red half shagreen bindings, spines with five raised bands decorated with blind-ruled fillets and gilt compartments; joints slightly split then discreetly restored at head and tail; boards covered in grained cloth with blind-stamped borders; endpapers and pastedowns of white moiré silk with minor, marginal spotting; all edges gilt.

A handsome...

First edition of the official account of the circumnavigation undertaken by La Thétis and L'Espérance, published by Arthus Bertrand in 1837, eleven years after the expedition's return.

The atlas, complete as issued, comprises 56 plates and maps, including 13 hand-coloured plates: engraved views after the drawings of the Vicomte Edmond de La Touanne, hydrographic charts, a large folding map tracing the route of the voyage, and natural history plates coloured by hand at the time of publication, among them a pair of seals and the celebrated heteradelph Ake.

Paris, Gervais Clouzier, 1666. Quarto, 5 unnumbered leaves and 436 pages.

First edition in French, translated by the Celestine Father François-Célestin Le Comte from Giovanni Filippo de Marini's account, originally published in Rome in 1663 as Delle missioni de' padri della Compagnia di Giesù nella provincia del Giappone, e particolarmente di quella di Tumkino. The translation appeared with two variant title pages, Relation nouvelle et curieuse and Histoire nouvelle et curieuse des royaumes de Tunquin et de Lao, the present copy bearing the latter. Cordier, Bibliotheca...

First edition of this exceedingly rare pamphlet, written by a certain Le Mée from Haiphong, primarily describing the economic resources of Tonkin.

Work illustrated with a large folding map.

No copies recorded in the CCF.

Head and foot of spine chipped, a few minor spots of foxing.

An important and exceedingly rare collection of administrative documents relating to the forest management system established by France in Indochina.

- I. Decree reorganizing the Forestry Service in Cochinchina (1892, 20 pp.).

II. Decree reorganizing the Forestry Service in Cochinchina (1894, 12 pp.).

• - III. Decree of 17 October 1905, amending that of 7 April 1904, regulating the forest regime in Cochinchina (1905, 8 pp.).
• - IV. Decree setting forest tariffs for the year 1895 (1895, 12 pp.).
• - V. Loi nghi dinh phép dang lam (1894, 22 pp.).
• - VI. Decree concerning penalties in forestry matters (1895, 8 pp.).
• - VII...

Good edition, published by J.B. Carpzov, illustrated with a frontispiece and a copper-engraved map of Judea in the text (see Graesse IV, 209).

The work includes numerous passages printed in Hebrew.

See Röhricht, p. 240, for a separate edition of the geographical and topographical prefaces to each gospel ("chorographia").

Contemporary full stiff ivory vellum binding, smooth spine, large later-added brown morocco title label mounted on the back, bookplate pasted on the inside cover, red edges.

Some black stains on the boards.

This is the author's most important work; he also dedicated two other volumes to the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Saint...

First edition with all first printing  features, one of the press copies.

Exceptional presentation copy inscribed by the author to the famous singer Yvette Guilbert, to whom Céline himself sang and offered one of his scandalous compositions, “Katika la putain,” [Katika the Whore] later renamed “À Nœud coulant” [With a Slipknot"] "A madame Yvette Guilbert en témoignage de ma profonde admiration. LFCéline.” 

Beneath Céline's inscription, the actor Fabrice Luchini added: “A Yvette Guilbert in memoriam. FLuchini” ; and on the half-title, actor Jean-François Balmer wrote in turn: “Merci en bon...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a folding copper-engraved frontispiece by Bénard: "Mort du Capitaine Cook à Owhy-hée, Fevrier 1779," and a folding map titled "Carte montrant la route suivie par M. Cook… dans son troisième et dernier Voyage."

See O'Reilly and Reitman, 419. See also Hill, p. 253, for the first English edition. Forbes, Hawaiian National Biography, 45.

Contemporary binding in half marbled calf with vellum-tipped corners, spine decorated with gilt floral compartments, red morocco title label, marbled paper boards, red edges.

Restored loss to the title page. The half-title is lacking in our copy; the boards are modern.

"An...

First edition of this work, primarily focused on Dieppe sailors and trade, which includes particularly compelling passages on the discovery of the Canary Islands, the exploration of the West African coasts, and expeditions to Sumatra (see Frère I, 436).

Contemporary-style binding in half tan shagreen, smooth spine gilt-tooled with double fillets, decorative rolls and black fillets, pebble-grain paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern binding.

Some foxing, mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.

Born in Eu, Louis Estancelin (1777–1858) served as deputy for the Somme from 1830 to 1846.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece engraved by De Launay after Marillier (cf. Conlon, 83:1107; Quérard, III, 174; Barbier, I, 276; Brunet, 5636. Not listed by Thiébaud).

Contemporary full speckled calf, smooth spine gilt in compartments with decorative tooling, green morocco title label, gilt rolls on the caps, gilt fillets along the edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, joints lightly restored, some repairs to the spine, yellow edges.

Joints tender, endpapers slightly soiled at the margins, a few spots to the edges, handwritten ownership note on the half-title.

The author, a traveller and naturalist born in Montargis in 1734 and who died near...

First edition illustrated with 10 plates, including 9 folding ones.

Spine cracked and with losses despite some adhesive repairs; corner losses to the covers.

Section solely devoted to Cochinchina (the second volume, focused on Annam and Tonkin, was published in Hanoi). This series, issued since 1889, replaced the Annuaire de la Cochinchine (1865–1888). It was not until 1899 that the two separate parts of this colonial directory were merged into the Annuaire général de l'Indo-Chine française (1899–1925), later renamed Annuaire administratif de l'Indochine (1926–1943).

Scarce, though in a worn condition.

First edition, illustrated with 10 large folding plates hors texte.

First part: Cochinchina; section covering exclusively Cochinchina (the second part, devoted to Annam and Tonkin, bears the Hanoi imprint), published since 1889 as a continuation of the Annuaire de la Cochinchine (1865–1888).

It was only in 1899 that the two separate parts of this colonial directory were merged to form the Annuaire général de l'Indo-chine française (1899–1925), which later became the Annuaire administratif de l'Indochine (1926–1943).

Spine ends repaired with adhesive reinforcements; a scratch to the upper cover with minor marginal tears.

Rare.

New edition of the French translation.

Bound at the end of this volume are the following two texts:

• Relation du Nouvel Archipel Septentrional, discovered recently by the Russians in the seas of Kamchatka and Anadir. By Mr. J. Staehlin. Translated into English from the original German, and from English into French.
• Account of the singular adventures of four Russian travellers who were cast away on the desert island of Eastern Spitzbergen, with some observations on the productions of this island. By M.P.L. Le Roy. Translated into English from the original German at the request of several members of the Royal Society of London, and from English into...

Rare first edition, printed in a very small number of copies, of this extract from the Revue maritime et coloniale (cf. Cordier, Indosinica, 2385).

Contemporary Bradel binding in full marbled paper-covered boards, flat spine with red morocco label lettered lengthwise; modern binding.

Scattered foxing, two dampstains to the lower right corners of some leaves.

First edition of the French translation of this account of the Lutheran mission’s activities on the eastern coast of India, originally published under various titles.

Contemporary full marbled light brown calf, spine with five raised bands richly gilt with garland rolls and double decorative panels, light brown calf title label, headcap shaved, gilt fillets along the edges, corners restored, red edges, period binding.

Since 1620, the Danish East India Company had held several trading posts and possessions along the Indian coastline, the principal settlement being Tranquebar. Transferred to the Danish Crown in 1779, these outposts became Danish colonies. However, frequently...

First edition (see Cordier, "Indosinica", 2690).

Spine cracked with small losses, internally well preserved.

Rare.

First edition of the French translation under this title, prepared by Louis-Gabriel Galdéric Aubaret; an earlier edition was published in Saigon in 1862 under the title "Code pénal annamite". (Cordier, Indosinica, 1847.)

Some foxing, mostly affecting the second volume, which also shows a small tear at the head of the spine.

The Annamite Penal Code, modelled on the Chinese Code used during the Qing dynasty, consists of two parts: one, called Luât in Annamite and Lu in Chinese, represents the fundamental law; the other, named Lê in Annamite and Li in Chinese, can be translated as "Supplementary Regulations". It is in this section that the provisions specific to...

Very rare first edition.

Two small losses to the head and foot of the spine, printed wrappers slightly soiled.

The presentation of the report is signed by the Marquis de Lafressange, Antony Androuët, the Viscount de Mazenod, and Louis Lapierre.

Rare first edition illustrated with a folding plan of the city of Saigon and a separate map showing the various cultivated products.

Minor stains and insignificant marginal tears on the covers.

A pleasing copy.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies on laid paper, extracted from the Journal asiatique; a single copy recorded in the CCF (Strasbourg).

Rare copy preserved in its original blue paper wrappers, as issued.

Traces of a label on the left margin of the front cover, a pleasing copy overall.

Inscribed by Giovanni Antonio Arri on the upper cover to archaeologist Désiré Raoul-Rochette (1789–1854), then a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.

Very rare original edition illustrated with 2 folding maps out of text.

Two small losses at the head and foot of the spine, otherwise an agreeable interior condition.

The work was composed with the collaboration of Dr. Mougeot.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies.

The work primarily discusses the potential for exporting French goods to Tonkin and China, as well as public works in Annam and the railway along the southern borders of China.

Georges Fillion served as a correspondent for Agence Havas with the French expeditionary corps in Tonkin.

A rare and appealing copy.

Very rare first edition printed by the Bureaux de l'armée nationale (only two copies recorded in the CCF: ASOM and Nanterre).

A pleasant copy.

The pamphlet brings together the texts of two lectures: the first delivered on 19 June 1924 in Hanoi, the second on 10 December 1924 in Paris; both advocate for a systematic effort to provide indigenous populations with access to education.

A former captain in the colonial artillery, Paul Monet (1884–1941) was then head of the Annamite Students' Residence in Hanoi. He would soon gain attention for echoing Roland Dorgelès' stance on the exploitation of indigenous labour by French companies (Les Jauniers...

Very rare first edition of this short treatise advocating the cultivation of jute in Indochina, at a time when British India held an almost total monopoly over its production.

Single copy recorded in the CCF (ASOM).

Upper cover detached, with minor marginal tears and soiling.

Second edition with the text printed in two columns (see Cordier, Indosinica, 2288).

The first edition was published in 1868.

Contemporary quarter fawn mirabelle sheep binding, flat spine decorated with triple gilt fillets, some rubbing to spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, bumped corners.

Théophile Marie Legrand de La Liraÿe (1819–1873), a priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, was sent to Western Tonkin in 1843.

During the French intervention in Annam, he acted as interpreter to Admiral Rigault de Genouilly. After leaving the Missions, he continued in this role for the Governor of Cochinchina.

He died on 7 August 1873 at...

First edition, published in Paris in 1933 by Jules Meynial under the direction of Jacques de Brunhoff. Limited to 500 numbered copies on Arches paper. Illustrated with 48 drawings in black in the text and 32 hors-texte plates after Alexandre Iacovleff, printed in bistre and black.

Original printed wrappers with flaps. Small losses at head and foot of spine, with a restored tear at head; small tears and stains to the lower wrapper. Final endpaper lightly shadowed in places, with a few marginal spots of foxing. An attractive copy.

By the time...

New edition of the French translation, illustrated in the first volume with a folding map of India with hand-colored borders, printed on bluish paper; and in the second volume with a folding map of Arabia, also printed on bluish paper (see Gay 83 and Lorin 2065 for the first edition of 1786).

Contemporary full speckled calf bindings, spine with five raised bands, gilt-tooled compartments with floral motifs, red morocco title and volume labels, gilt roll tooling at head and foot of spine, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Library stamps to title pages, shelf labels at foot of spines, some rubbing to spines and covers with minor surface losses, internally clean...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 105 plates out of text (including 2 folding tables, 21 plans and maps, and 82 views and reproductions of documents). A remarkable record of one of the most significant instances of international opinion manipulation carried out by China and North Korea in the early stages of the Korean War: as early as 1952, North Korean and Chinese officials (including Zhou Enlai) accused the American army of using "insect vectors" on a large scale to spread various diseases among the populations of Korea and Manchuria (plague, cholera, etc.).

The entire operation had been meticulously staged, as definitively revealed by Soviet documents...

First edition of both these rare fascicules; the first is illustrated with three folding plates at the end of the volume, the second with in-text illustrations.

Contemporary half bottle-green calf binding, smooth spine gilt with fillets and dotted rolls, as well as black fillets, some minor rubbing to joints, headcap worn, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

One of only three known contributions to the nascent field of Assyriology by the Austrian numismatist and traveller Isidore Löwenstern (1810–1858), who served as Danish consul in Constantinople.

Bound with, by the same author: Exposé des éléments constitutifs du système de la...

First edition, printed in very limited numbers, of this offprint from the Revue archéologique, illustrated with 12 textual figures and 3 plates; only two copies listed in the CCF (Quai d'Orsay and Strasbourg).

Contemporary Bradel binding in olive green cloth-backed marbled boards, smooth spine with red morocco title label, original wrappers bound in.

Christophe-Edouard Mauss (1829–1914), architect to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was entrusted with several archaeological missions in the East (Thessaloniki, Smyrna, Alexandria), and was later sent by the French government to Jerusalem (1862–1874) to oversee the restoration of the Church of Saint Anne. He also...

First edition of the French translation by David Durand, illustrated with 5 plates (4 folding), including a genealogical chart (cf. Brunet IV, 1203. Hage Chahine, 3949).

Contemporary full stiff vellum, spine with five raised bands, lower joint split, black morocco lettering-piece, bumped corners.

Some inevitable soiling due to the binding, light foxing to initial and final leaves, ff. 107–108 and 109–110 restored and trimmed short.

The De Religione Mohammedica was first published in 1705, and reissued in 1717 in an expanded edition.

The Dutch orientalist Adriaan Reland (1676–1718) pursued a broad range of scholarly interests, but this presentation of the...

First edition of this continuation of the series Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, documenting events from 1767 onward in the missions led by the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (M.E.P.) in Sichuan, Tonkin, Cochinchina, Siam, and along the Coromandel Coast. (cf. Cordier, Sinica, II, 953–957; Cordier, Indosinica, III, 1970–1978; Sabin 40704.)

Contemporary full speckled tan calf, smooth spines richly decorated with gilt garlands, fillets and floral tools, red morocco labels for title and volume number, gilt roll tooling at headcaps, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, single gilt fillet on board edges, yellow edges.

Spines slightly sunned...

First edition, illustrated with a fine engraved frontispiece portrait of Cardinal Casanate, signed by Pet. Paul Bouché, an Antwerp engraver born around 1646 [cf. Bénézit].

Gay 1464.

This engraving is lacking in the copy held by the Bibliothèque nationale.

Contemporary full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands, compartments decorated with gilt floral tools, gilt fillets on board edges, mottled edges.

Restorations to the spine, dampstain to the outer margins of the opening leaves, some leaves slightly yellowed.

“Another edition of this work by Emmanuel Schelstrate, published in Antwerp in the same year, is recorded.”

The author published this...

New edition, the most comprehensive to date, illustrated with 300 engravings, several maps, and followed by 18 appendices (cf. Cordier, Japonica, 694).

The original edition was published in 1899.

Contemporary half havana sheep binding, corners tipped with the same, smooth spine sunned and rubbed, decorated with blind fillets and floral tools, blind-tooled garland framing the bordeaux cloth boards, black paper endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Some minor foxing mainly affecting the endpapers, otherwise a clean and well-preserved copy.

Our copy lacks the atlas of 11 maps, which was not ready in time for printing, as stated on a slip mounted on the first...

Second edition, illustrated with 13 full-page plates printed on various tinted backgrounds. The first edition was published in 1924.

This edition includes a map that was not reissued in the second printing.

The Miao people (known as Méo in Vietnam and Hmong in Laos) are an ethnic group found in southern China and northern Indochina. They speak various loosely related dialects, but without mutual intelligibility.

Today, they are generally regarded not as a single ethnic group but as a broader grouping of distinct peoples. A missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, François-Marie Savina (1876–1941) worked in Upper Tonkin, Hainan (China), and Laos from 1901 to...

Rare first edition of this essential supplement to the Flore forestière (1881–1897) by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Pierre (1833–1905), director of the Saigon Botanical Garden.

OCLC locates copies only at the BnF and the Natural History Museum.

Publisher's binding in brown cloth-backed boards, plain flat spine, paper-covered boards slightly sunned and soiled, title printed on upper board, bumped corners, minor wear to edges.

Text in two columns.

Clean and fresh interior.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with one frontispiece plate in the first volume: "Infantrymen of Sindh in their battle dress", and a large folding map in the second volume: "Map of Beluchistan and Sindh, including parts of Cutch, Seistan, Khorasan, Persia, &c., drawn by Henry Pottinger, Lieutenant of the 7th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry, in 1814" (cf. Quérard VII, 300).

Contemporary full green calf bindings, faded smooth spines gilt with fillets and small ship motifs, gilt rolls on slightly rubbed caps, gilt dentelle frames on covers, marbled endpapers lightly soiled at the edges, bookplates pasted on the front pastedowns, corners bumped...

Rare first edition, complete with its 17 plates, including 2 maps, 2 colored facsimiles of Japanese view and plan (view of Yedo, plan of Nagasaki), and 13 colored facsimiles of natural history drawings. (See Cordier, Japonica, 549 and Sinica, 2128. Numa Broc, Asie, 89-90.)

Some minor foxing, a faint dampstain on the final leaves, small restorations to the verso of the facsimiles.

Contemporary half green shagreen, spine slightly faded, with raised bands framed by gilt fillets, double gilt compartments with decorative tools, boards framed with a blind-stamped fillet, marbled paper boards slightly soiled, combed endpapers and pastedowns, painted edges.

A career diplomat...

First edition published in the Bulletin de la Société des études indochinoises de Saïgon, no. 69.

Other contributions in this issue include poems, an analysis of Le Comte’s book, Lettres sur les moeurs des Chinois, and above all an insightful analytical index of the subjects addressed in the Bulletin of the Société des études indochinoises from its founding (1883) up to 1914.

Small losses and tears to the spine.

First edition of the French translation, made from the second English edition and illustrated with 7 plates outside the text and 1 folding map (Gay 1496 bis).

Contemporary quarter fawn sheep bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and typographic ornaments, brown morocco title label on the first volume, red morocco title label on the second; some restorations and rubbing to spines and joints, marbled paper boards, bumped corners, a few scrapes along the edges.

Some foxing; bookplates mounted to the pastedowns, names carefully erased.

Rare first edition of this important geographical and ethnographic account, intended to provide insight into the conflict between the Afghans and the British, the latter seeking to protect their Indian frontiers from the threat posed by the Russian Empire (cf. Bourquelot V, 637).

This copy retains the folding map bound at the end of the volume: "Carte pour l'intelligence des voyages d'Alexandre Burnes".

Spine faded with small losses, boards lightly soiled at the margins, paper loss to the lower left corner of the half-title page, some scattered foxing.

The author based his work on Elphinstone’s account, whose second edition appeared in 1838, as well as the...

Rare work illustrated with 199 in-text full-page costume plates, as stated in the table (not recorded by Colas. Hilaire p. 14).

Contemporary binding in red half shagreen, spine with four raised bands, triple panels ruled in blind and decorated with gilt central floral tools, some rubbing to the spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, a few small tears to the edges; period binding.

Two leaves have been restored (pages 51 and 147), one marginal tear, otherwise clean and fresh throughout.

A sweeping illustrated survey of the peoples of the world, featuring a substantial section on Oceania.

Among others, it depicts Russians from the Tver region, inhabitants of...

New edition of the French translation, reissued for sale with a substitute title, of this anonymous account first printed in 1793 (Schwab, 612. Barbier, IV, 1097e. Quérard, Supercheries, I, 606e.).

The translation is by Louis Matthieu Langlès and François Joseph Noël.

Contemporary full tree calf, smooth spine with gilt-decorated compartments, gilt fillet at foot, joints rubbed, spine ends worn, maroon morocco title label, endpapers and pastedowns lightly soiled at margins, corners bumped.

The work includes a description of the principal towns and regions visited during the journey from Bengal to Persia: Ceylon, Goa, Bombay, Muscat, Oman, Bushehr, Shiraz, followed by...

First edition, illustrated with 31 plates outside the text, including a map, some folding or double-page. (cf Hague Chahine 1505).

A few insignificant spots of foxing, a pleasing copy overall.

Contemporary Bradel binding in green cloth-backed boards, smooth spine with gilt date at foot, red shagreen title label with a small angular defect, boards covered with 'cat’s eye' marbled paper. Contemporary binding.

The volume is also decorated with numerous illustrations in the text and is an offprint from the Nouvelles Archives des Missions scientifiques, vol. X, documenting the archaeological expedition in the Harra region, conducted alongside Frédéric...

Uncommon first edition illustrated with a double-page plan: "Plan du Saint-Sépulcre, à Jérusalem" (see Röhricht p. 587. Not in Blackmer or Atabey.)

The text is divided as follows: Letters on Italy and Egypt (pp. 5–64), Palestine (pp. 65–604), the Levant and Constantinople (pp. 605–685).

Minor tears to the spine and boards, with some light foxing.

Rare first edition illustrated with three folding plates outside the text.

Spine repaired along the right margin with adhesive strip, minor tears to spine, internally clean and appealing.

In the manner of departmental compendia of customary law published in mainland France, the author records the unofficial legal “usages” adopted in practice within the colony, though lacking legal force. Born in Saint-Denis, Réunion, Georges Garros (1860 – after 1919) moved to Cochinchina in 1892 to open a law practice in Saigon, primarily serving the commercial interests of his Vietnamese merchant friends. He was also the father of the famed aviator Roland Garros...

Rare first French edition of the travel impressions of Prince Soltykoff, more an adaptation than a strict translation (cf. Vicaire, VII, 575. Schwab, 544. Only two copies listed in the CCF).

Illustrated with a two-tone lithographed frontispiece and 20 tinted lithographic plates by Trayer and Émile Beau after drawings by the author.

Contemporary green half-shagreen binding, flat spine decorated with double gilt fillets and broad blind-stamped fillets, dark green paper-covered boards, minor restorations and rubbing to head and foot of joints, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, period binding.

Some superficial wear and very faint foxing, otherwise a pleasant copy in...

Edition not recorded by Leclerc, Rodriquez or Borba de Moraes (cf. Sabin 43770; Cordier, Bibl. Japonica 62-63, and Bibl. Sinica 782).

Some occasional light foxing; minor worming affecting the index leaves at the end of the volume.

Modern Bradel binding in half vellum, smooth spine with red morocco label, marbled paper-covered boards.

A work of major significance for the history of Jesuit missions in the Americas, India, China, and Japan.

First edition, illustrated with 7 plates: a plan of Fort William and a large folding view of Calcutta in the first volume; 5 folding plates in the second volume (including 3 views of Mocha and its surroundings), see Gay 3317bis.

Contemporary full tree calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets, floral tools and geometric patterns, now largely faded, red morocco title-pieces, green bottle-morocco volume labels, some wear to joints, marbled endpapers, red-speckled yellow edges.

Rubbing to the spines, split to one joint.

Rare sole edition of one of the author's two travel accounts. A naval officer and son of a slave trader from Saint-Malo, Louis Ohier de...

Collected edition, bringing together in a single volume the Grammar of the Annamite Language, first published in 1864, and the Vocabulary, issued as early as 1861. (cf. Cordier, Indosinica IV, 2297.)

Spine restored, with minor losses at head and foot; some occasional foxing within.

A naval officer and Orientalist, frigate captain Gabriel Aubaret (1825–1894) served as the first French consul in Bangkok in 1863. His true mission, however, was to negotiate with the imperial court of Hué for the cession of the provinces of Cochinchina to France. On June 21, 1864, Aubaret signed in Hué a new treaty aligned with the terms desired by the court of Annam. The three...

First edition of the French translation by Antoine Gilbert Griffet de La Baume of the first two volumes of "Asiatick researches, or, Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal for enquiring into the history and antiquities, the arts, sciences and literature of Asia, Calcutta, 1788–1790" (cf. Chadenat 4934).

The first volume, Meteorological Journal kept by Colonel T. D. Pearse from 1785 to 1786, is illustrated with 33 full-page plates; the second, Meteorological Journal kept in Calcutta by Henry Trail from 1785 to 1786, with 11 plates and 2 tables, including one large folding plate.

Modern bindings in black half morocco, flat spines ruled with...

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the Emperor of Annam.

Modern binding in full flexible boards, covers in cat's-eye patterned paper, smooth black cloth spine without title, original wrappers preserved in poor condition and laid down.

Désiré Lacroix was a naval artillery captain.

Pleasant and scarce copy, lacking the atlas containing 40 plates.

First edition illustrated with 39 aquatint engravings, 37 of which are hand-colored (cf Atabey, 624. Hage-Chahine, 2388.)

Finely engraved and colored, the illustrations evoke the design of Persian miniatures: portraits (Fath Ali Shah, Abbas I, Nadir Shah), figures in costumes (Persian women, slave and eunuch from the harem, Persian rider…), views and ancient monuments (Tehran, ruins of Persepolis), scenes of daily life (Persian meal, village entertainments, writing master and his pupil, Persians in prayer…), musical instruments, etc.

Half dark green shagreen bindings, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, gilt friezes on the head and tail, cat’s-eye paper boards...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece portrait, six engraved plates by Ambroise Tardieu, and a large folding map, all outside the text (cf. Schwab, p.48, no. 360).

Some foxing, mainly affecting the beginnings and ends of the volumes, otherwise a handsome and attractively bound copy.

Contemporary binding in half aubergine shagreen, spines slightly faded, with five raised bands, decorated with black fillets and gilt floral tools, gilt dates at foot, marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, a few surface abrasions.

The original edition, A History of Persia, was first...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a portrait of the author and 29 engraved plates depicting objects, ornaments, coins, plants, and animals (cf. Cordier, Bibl. Japonica, 447. Gay, 3151. Brunet, V, 850).

Contemporary full marbled calf bindings, flat spines richly decorated with gilt typographic tools, gilt roll tooling at head and tail, brown morocco title-pieces, dark green morocco volume labels, gilt roll-tooled borders on boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on board edges, yellow edges.

A Swedish botanist and naturalist, Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828) studied medicine and natural history at Uppsala and became one of Linnaeus’s most...

Second edition of Lucas’s third journey to the Near East, undertaken between 1714 and 1717 (first published in 1729); cf. Gay, 2122. Chadenat, 5090. Atabey 734. Blackmer, 1038.

The illustrations include two folding maps (Anatolia and surrounding regions by de l’Isle; Lower Egypt and the course of the Nile by Lucas) and 32 plates outside the text: monuments, picturesque views, architectural plans, archaeological artefacts, various inscriptions, etc.

Contemporary half tawny sheep, smooth spines ruled in gilt with triple fillets, headcaps stained, some rubbing, marbled paper boards, sprinkled edges, some wear to the edges of the first volume. 19th-century bindings.

First edition, one of 50 copies printed on pur fil du Marais, the only deluxe copies along with a few not-for-sale copies.
A handsome copy.

First edition, a Paris edition appeared the same year, see Cioranescu, XVII, 26842. Brunet V, 1222, under the entry "Villa," mentions this Paris edition under the title Voyage. Blackmer 505.

Contemporary full stiff vellum, flat spine, inked title at head of spine, speckled edges.

"This work is an abridged version of, or rather based on, Rostagno's Viaggi Dell'… Sign. Marchese Ghiron Francesco Villa In Dalmatia, e Levante, Torino, 1668. Du Cros, who in the preface says Rostagno lent him his manuscript, has produced a day-by-day account of the siege of Candia and of Villa's part in it. Villa took up arms against the Turks in 1665, sustained the siege of Candia for 2 years, and...

First edition of the French translation of this remarkable study originally published in Vienna in the *Mines de l'Orient*.

The work, translated and enriched with observations and explanatory notes, followed by a dissertation on the location of the Pallacopas by J. Raimond, is illustrated with six folding plates at the end (rather than four, as stated on the title page).

Contemporary binding in green half sheep, spine slightly faded, gilt-stamped with a sphinx, gilt title, cat's-eye marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern binding.

Some foxing, mainly affecting the opening leaves.

Rich provides "une description très détaillée...

First edition, illustrated with 3 hors-texte plates (cf. Rodrigues 1357. Borba de Moraes I, 381. See INED 2496 for the 1774 edition).

The plates depict: Brama, god of the Indians – View of a pagoda tower – Snake charmer.

Contemporary-style binding in marbled tawny calf over vellum-tipped corners, spine with five raised bands, ruled in gilt, brown calf lettering-piece, marbled paper-covered boards, red sprinkled edges, modern binding.

Coromandel Coast, European trading posts, military strongholds, Indian religion, medicine, anatomy, caste system, Indian manners, dress, dwellings, gardens, food (and temperance), wedding rituals, funerals, Indian morals, fauna, flora...

Paris, Knapen & Fils, 1782. Octavo, viii, 244 pages and 2 unnumbered leaves of approbation and privilege.

First edition, illustrated with a large folding map entitled "Terres Australes ou partie septentrionale de l'Isle de Kerguelen", surrounded by eight coastal views and profiles. The volume contains the accounts of Kerguelen's two expeditions to the southern seas between 1771 and 1774, a memoir on Madagascar on pages 154-169, and "Observations on the War in America" on pages 121-133. Cf. Sabin, 37618.

Contemporary full mottled tan calf, smooth...

First edition, illustrated with numerous in-text tables.

Spine split with small losses, a restored tear at the foot of the upper cover, minor losses to the lower cover, internally well preserved.

Antoine-Paulin Pihan (1810–1879), who was proficient in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian, held the modest post of compositor in the Oriental Typography department at the Imprimerie Impériale. Yet the volume of his linguistic work reveals an orientalist of far greater depth than his official title suggests. This work documents a remarkable variety of numeral systems (see the alphabetical index at the end of the volume), ranging from Albania to Japan, and from Ethiopia to Mongolia.

First edition, one of 90 numbered copies on alfal paper, the only copies on deluxe paper.
Fine copy, complete with the loose and folding map.

New edition, intended as a supplement to the various collections of *Lettres édifiantes* (see Backer & Sommervogel II, 1075; Cordier, Japonica, 424).

Some foxing, minor scuffs, and small paper flaws on the boards.

Contemporary half grey calf bindings, flat spines decorated with blind-stamped romantic arabesques and gilt fillets, gilt decorative rolls at foot, small green vellum tips, boards covered with geometric-patterned paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges; romantic period bindings.

First reissue of the *Histoire de l'établissement, des progrès et de la décadence du christianisme dans l'Empire du Japon*, originally published in 1715 in three 12mo...

Rare first edition of the French translation (not recorded by Sabin or Cordier).

Contemporary half calf bindings, spines with four raised bands ruled in gilt and adorned with blind-stamped typographic ornaments and gilt fillets, gilt Greek-key rolls at foot, marbled paper boards showing some scuffing with losses to paper at a few corners, marbled edges.

Some foxing.

The Scottish naval officer Basil Hall [Edinburgh 1788 – Gosport 1844], son of geologist and antiquary Sir James Hall, undertook numerous voyages as a Royal Navy officer to the East Indies, the seas of China, Japan, and Korea, the coasts of South America, the United States, and Canada, publishing detailed and...

Very rare first edition illustrated with 4 maps and 2 plates out of text: map of Amsterdam Island, map of part of the northwest coast of America, of the northern mouth of Queen Charlotte Sound, plan of Bokerelle port on the northwest coast of America, sea wolves and sea lions (cf. Sabin 61001. Howes 7897. F. Monaghan 1174. Lada Mocarski 89. Gay 272. Ferguson 980. Hill 230. Borba de Moraes II, 663: "A description of Bahia appears in Vol. I").

Scattered foxing. Minor losses and rubbing to joints.

Contemporary full khaki green calf bindings, spines faded and decorated with raised false bands adorned with gilt garlands, dotted lines, and gilt rules, along with blind-stamped...

New edition, partly original as revised, of this study first published in 1858 in the Revue des Deux Mondes (Sabin 40127. Ryckebusch 5041).

Minor chips to the corners of the covers, some occasional foxing.

A member of one of the oldest families in Martinique, Romuald Le Pelletier de Saint-Rémy (1809–1882) served as president of the Central Agency of Colonial Banks; he wrote extensively on West Indian issues and colonial ventures in South America.

Inscribed by the author Romuald Le Pelletier de Saint-Rémy on the front free endpaper.

First edition, (cf Röhricht p. 499. Hage Chahine 2893.)

Rare, light foxing without significance.

Binding in half green cloth, smooth spine slightly faded, decorated with cold fillets, a slight abrasion near the gilt title, marbled paper boards, sprinkled edges, binding of the period. Preliminary pages, departure of the expedition, Lebanon, excursion to Baalbek and the Cedars of Lebanon, military pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the French garrison in Lebanon.

Rare first edition illustrated with an original frontispiece etching by Raoul Cordier, depicting an authentic portrait of Nasser-ed-Din.

Minor losses and tears to the soiled cover margins, with a larger marginal loss to the rear cover; clean and attractive internal condition.

The only edition of this biography written on the occasion of Nasser-ed-Din Shah Qajar's (1831–1896) second European tour. He ruled Persia from 1848 until his death and was the first Persian monarch to visit the West. The reforms he introduced to the country ultimately led to his assassination by a fanatic.

Inscribed and signed by Edmond Dutemple to Monsieur Brunet, with date.

First edition in French, one of 1,000 numbered copies on Annonay rag paper, the only deluxe paper copies.

Illustrated with numerous photographs. Preface by Maurice Herzog. Foreword by the Duke of Edinburgh.

Publisher’s full flexible boards binding. Lacking slipcase, spine sunned with minor tears at head and foot.

Rare and handsome autograph inscription, dated and signed by General John Hunt: "A M. Robert Moch vous témoignant notre reconnaissance de nous avoir préparé la trace jusqu'au sommet du signal de l'Iséran le 3 janvier - et pour vous exprimer nos regrets de ne pas l'avoir suivie ! John Hunt...

French-language Dutch edition of the Six Voyages, published in Utrecht in 1712 by Guillaume Vande Water and Guillaume & Jacob Poolsum, one of only three French editions of the work printed outside France between the original Paris edition of 1676 and 1724, the others being Amsterdam 1678 and The Hague 1718. Illustrated with a portrait of Tavernier, an allegorical frontispiece signed J. Goeree, and 34 plates, 27 of them folding, depicting among other subjects coins, objects, plans, customs, and precious stones encountered during his travels.

Contemporary full brown calf, preserved in a modern slipcase covered with old...

Work published by the Japanese Ministry of Railways, admirably illustrated with 166 illustrations. This new edition was entirely revised and the illustration is completely new. The Ministry of Railways published this collection from 1923 to 1928; from 1923 to 1925, the collection contained numerous bird's-eye view maps by Yoshida, which were replaced by photographs and now only adorn the pastedowns. This is the first collection to use photography with 126 black and white photographs and 18 hand-colored ones. 22 color prints by Hatsusaburo Yoshida. 7 folding color maps and several black and white maps in-text.
Cloth binding and cardboard slipcase. Pale green cloth covers. Smooth spine...

First edition, with no deluxe copies issued; one of the review copies.

Spine and covers lightly and marginally sunned, a crease mark to the lower right corner of the rear cover, complete with the publisher's review slip.

Signed presentation copy from Jehan Laurent Gheerbrandt to the writer Jean Henri Guillaumet.

Autograph postcard, signed "Alain", addressed to Lucien Daniaux in Papeete, Tahiti, written on the reverse of a photographic portrait of a smiling young Polynesian woman. Stamp of Australian Papua, postal marks, English censorship stamp ("passed by censor").

Sent a few months before his death, this postcard documents the final journey of the French traveller, undertaken amid the hostile climate of the Second World War.

First French edition, with a colour frontispiece, two engraved title pages from the English edition, and sixty-one full-page plates under tissue guards, two volumes bound in one.

Full green glazed calf, covers blind-stamped with gilt-tooled borders, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt fillets, blind-stamped motifs between the bands, gilt fillets on the headcaps, title and gilt-stamped ex-dono inscription ("offert à Madame Ramaeckers") on the spine, gilt-tooled board edges, blind-stamped border on the pastedowns, pink paper pastedowns, gilt edges, a fine Romantic binding attributable to Thouvenin jeune. Binding sunned and lightly rubbed with...

French first edition, translated by Louis Champion de Cicé, of this treatise by Longobardo, bound with Lettre d'Eusèbe romain by Mabillon (Grenoble, Etienne Bon, 1698, 88 pp.); and Lettre à Madame de Lionne by Bernardino della Chiesa (n.p., n.d., 84 pp.)

A rare copy of one of the principal Western sources on Chinese philosophy, written by the Jesuit missionary Longobardo, who succeeded Ricci as superior of the Jesuit China mission. Also with an uncommon Grenoble edition of Mabillon's pamphlet, which opened the debate on the validity of the cult of the catacomb saints. At the end of the volume, in echo of...

New edition of the French translation first published in the author’s collected works, one of 550 numbered copies on pure wove paper, the only issue after 80 copies on Arches wove paper.

Contemporary forest green half morocco over marbled boards, corners, spines lightly sunned with four raised bands, gilt decorative rolls and richly gilt compartments, marbled endpapers, original upper wrappers preserved, top edges gilt.

Rare first edition. The first volume dated 4 August 1876, followed by the second volume published on 6 November with Un drame au Mexique bound in. All first editionswere published in 18° format. 

Half brown shagreen bindings, spines with four raised bands ruled in black and framed in black with with central gilt fleurons, marbled paper boards, paste-down endpapers and flyleaves of hand-marbled paper, sprinkled edges, contemporary bindings.

A handsome first edition copy of this celebrated Siberian adventure, attractively bound in contemporary bindings.

This first appearance of the text in book form was Jules Verne's preferred format, as Jauzac...

First edition, one of 10 numbered copies on Alfama paper, the only deluxe paper issue apart from a few hors commerce copies also printed on Alfama.

Minor, unobtrusive traces of corner creasing to the wrappers.

A rare and pleasing copy.

First edition on ordinary paper.
A fine copy.
Inscribed and signed by François Cheng to a woman named Pascale.


 

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on Holland paper, deluxe issue.

A very small chip at the foot of the spine.

A fine copy, with full margins and in double wrappers.

Duodecimo edition, published in the same year as the first edition, setting out a key episode in the Chinese Rites Controversy, a dispute still ongoing at the time of publication, pitting the Jesuits against the Franciscans and Dominicans.

Contemporary mottled brown sheep, spine with five raised bands and gilt compartments, gilt board edges, red mottled edges. Two early ownership inscriptions, the first on the upper pastedown and the second on the title page, both in brown ink.

First edition for which no deluxe paper copies were issued.

Spine slightly sunned with small losses at head and foot, a slight marginal loss and a transverse crease to the lower cover.

A rare copy of Alexandra David-Néel's second work.