Philadelphia: Rosenbach Museum & Library, 1999. First edition. Black soft back with blue dust jacket. Front cover overlaid with an illustration. The exhibition at the Rosenbach featured a copy of Manjiro's own lavishly illustrated manuscript account of his adventures, and this companion book includes full-page colour reproductions the manuscript. In very good / fine condition. 116 pages. 260 x 185 mm (10¼ x 7¼ inches).

In 1843 (at just 16 years old) Nakahama Manjirō became the first Japanese person to live in the United States. Two years earlier, at the tender age of 14, he had been rescued after a shipwreck by the crew of the 'John Howland', an American whale ship from New Bedford, Massachusetts. Having mastered English, sailing the world on whaling ships for several years, and trying his hand at gold mining, Manjirō later risked his life to go back to Japan in an attempt to make his homeland more "hospitable."
After much suspicion, and many interrogations, he was later to become a shōgun's samurai, a teacher of English and American culture, and his translation of Nathaniel Bowditch's 'The New American Practical Navigator' constituted the introduction of modern scientific navigation methods to Japan. His life story is certainly a fascinating one, and number of Manjirō's students would go on to play seminal roles in the Meiji-era modernisation of Japan.
This information has been extrapolated from an article written by Junji Kitadai.

London: William H. Ainsworth, 1827. First edition. Two volumes. In half leather hardback, with marbled boards. Boards are rubbed and Volume 2 has a small area of loss to top corner of front board, shown in photos. Ex- library copy with expected stamps and security to reverse of plates. Some foxing, stains to a few pages, but mostly in a fairly clean condition. Volume 1: The Spanish tragedy. The miracle of the holy hermit. The widow of Galicia. The golden cup and the dish of silver. The tragedy of Seville. The lady in love with romance. The eighth sleeper of Ephesus. Madeline. Masetto and his mare. The story of Michel Argenti. The three jewels. Geronimo and Ghisola. The fall of the leaf. Baranga. Volume 2: The exile. The owl. The German knight. The Florentine kinsmen. The carrier's wife. The two faithful lovers of Sicily. The Venetian countess. A tale of the harem. The chestnut tree. The fair maid of Ludgate. The three brothers. Volume 1: viii, 244 pp. Volume 2: 238 p. + 1 page advertisement. 195 x 120 mm (7¾ x 4¾ inches).

.

Amsterdam: Fw: Books, 2015. First edition. Signed by the author to the front. Red covers, softback. Colour photography throughout. 'Nationalfeiertag', is a book about one of the biggest, and most monitored squares in the world: Tiananmen Square in Beijing. In April and May of 1989 student protests took place and there was a massacre on June 4th. Officials and police attempted to control the images taken, but Katja Stuke filmed a few hours of material at the time and on the Chinese National Holiday in October. From this footage she extracted hundreds of portraits. The book combines these portraits with newspaper clippings which are collected and spread by the June 4th Museum in Hong Kong to keep the memory of the protests of 1989 alive. Unpaginated [560 pages]. In very good condition. 235 x 165 mm (9¼ x 6½ inches).

Paris: H. Laurens, 1946. First Edition. An attractive copy to this guide to painting still life in oils. Pale green soft covers, with vignette to the front cover. Our vignette is of a jug and grapes, and appears to be different to any other copy shown currently online). Slight fading / discolouration. Now protected in archival cover. Internally clean and tidy throughout. Uncut pages. Small closed tear repaired to the front end paper, otherwise excellent. This work conforms with FirstSearch record OCLC: 77435670 - except that OCLC dates the first edition as 1955, whilst our copy states 1946 (we believe - see photograph). 63 pages. 230 by 140mm (9 by 5½ inches).

. Première édition. Un bel exemplaire de ce guide pour peindre des natures mortes à l'huile. Couverture souple vert pâle, avec vignette sur la première de couverture. Notre vignette représente une cruche et des raisins, et semble être différente de tout autre exemplaire actuellement en ligne). Légère décoloration. Maintenant protégé par une couverture d'archivage. L'intérieur de l'ouvrage est propre et bien rangé. Pages non coupées. Une petite déchirure fermée a été réparée sur le papier de la fin de la première page, sinon l'ouvrage est excellent. Cet ouvrage est conforme à la notice FirstSearch OCLC : 77435670 - sauf qu'OCLC date la première édition de 1955, alors que notre exemplaire indique 1946 (nous le croyons - voir la photographie). 63 pages. 230 x 140 mm

Alexandria: 1882. An original, hand drawn sketch depicting a naval brigade clearing the streets of Alexandria. Ink on white paper. This would seem to have been an initial sketch, as the foreground (the brigade with the gun) is well worked, whilst the background is less defined. There are a couple of notes on the sheet. A couple of the figures in the sketch are also labelled Royal Marine and Officer. This would appear to be the first draft of a news report - similar to that which appeared as the front page of the Illustrated London News for July 29th 1882. Sketch is 240 x 160 mm. Good clean condition. It is pasted onto a larger sheet of pale brown card. This is 500 x 320 mm and is creased and darkened, and with a few closed tears. A very nice piece of historical visual documentation. Following the cutting of the Suez canal, British interests in Egypt deepened, and in May 1882 there was an uprising by Urabi Pasha. After an initial heavy naval bombardment, Naval Brigades and Marines were sent ashore to restore order. The revolt was quashed, and Egypt came under partial British control until the Second World War. The drawing clearly shows the use of a hopper fed Gatling gun. This weapon, developed in 1865, was used by the British Army from 1873. This conflict was the first use of the Gatling by the Royal Navy.

.

Haarlem & Rotterdam: 1847. Delightful album in the form of a small cloth covered box. Inside a folded decorative inner envelope, containing a selection of original artwork and keepsakes. In total there are 21 original miniature artworks. Comprising: one double size folded original pencil drawing with tissue guard, and eight other lovely pencil drawings. Also six colour original watercolours - all but one of exquisite flowers. One sepia scene of two hunters. And two watercolours done on rice paper. Also two delightful examples of cross stitch and one decoupage, all in flower designs. There is also one pinprick flower design, which is very intricate and skillfully done. There are three handwritten ink notes inside - all in Dutch. One of the notes signed C. Gleichman, talks approximately: "when you are in Haarlem, you will certainly get other girlfriends, but I hope that you will not forget the Rotterdamische". The other two notes are signed J. Doeleman (Jacobus Doeleman) sent to to his pupil Cornelia (presumably Cornelia Gleichman) from Haarlem. All pages have edges in gilt. Most of the art is dated with personal messages and signatures. 90 x 155 mm (3½ x 6 inches).

.

Rotterdam: W. L. & J. Brusse, 1923. 1st edition, soft cover. A beautiful Nieuwekunst publication displaying 132 black & white plates. These include some fabulous graphic designs of the time. There are also photographs of modern Dutch interior design and decorative arts with designs by C.A. Lion Cachet, K.P.C.de Bazel, Jan Wils, P. Kramer, H.Th. Wydeveld, J.A. Snellebrand & A. Ebink, J. Crouwel Jr., F. Spanjaard, G.A. Roobol, P. Bromberg, B. Bijvoet & J. Duiker, S. van Ravesteyn, J.B. van Loghem, Corn. van der Sluys, J. Mendes da Costa, Hildo Krop, Theo van Reijn, Th.A. Vos, Herman van Remmen, J. Radecker, W.C. Brouwer, Jansen van Galen, Bieling, H. Vaillant, A. Riemans, Toorop, Thorn Prikker, J.H.E. Schilling, Toon Berg, W. Bogtman, R.N. Roland HolstLeo Visser, Jan Eisenloeffel, Jac A. Jacobs, Jan van Ham, Erich Wichman, Arnold Pipers, E. Siewertz van Reesema, Joan Collette, S.H. de Roos, among many others. Also 2 full-page black & white woodcuts memorializing M. de Klerk and K.P.C. de Bazel. List of illustrations, with designers, media or materials, dates. This yearbook of the modern decorative arts in the Netherlands covers interior architecture, furniture, metalwork, glass, ceramics, lighting designs, textiles, stained glass, and typography. In excellent condition, with a touch of darkening to the soft covers, and a little to some pages, but with only a touch of edgewear. Some pages uncut. XV+72 (4) pages text and 83 pages of plates. 260 x 200 mm (10¼ x 7¾ inches).

London: James Hagger, 1862. First edition. Two volumes bound as one. Text volume is Part 1. In part II are 96 fine embossed plates of gold and silver coins, each with a leaf of descriptive text. Hardback in cloth, ex-library copy with usual marks and small security stamps. Boards are a little rubbed, and cloth has been repaired where there was a split on the spine. Inside, some age toning to beginning of Part 1, but Part 2 is very clean. Overall good. OCLC Number / Unique Identifier: 809612966. 230 x 160 mm (9 x 6¼ inches).

. Première édition. Deux volumes reliés en un seul. Le volume de texte constitue la première partie. La deuxième partie comprend 96 belles planches gaufrées de pièces d'or et d'argent, chacune accompagnée d'un feuillet de texte descriptif. Livre relié en tissu, ex-libraire avec les marques habituelles et les petits tampons de sécurité. Les plats sont un peu frottés et la toile a été réparée à l'endroit où il y avait une fente sur le dos. A l'intérieur, quelques marques de vieillissement au début de la première partie, mais la deuxième partie est très propre. Dans l'ensemble, bon. Numéro OCLC / Identificateur unique : 809612966. 230 x 160 mm

London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. New and revised edition from 1904. First edition was 1885. Hardback in publisher's cloth. Gilt titles to spine. Written to draw attention to the great changes - political, religious and social - taking place in India in the late 19th / early 20th century. Boards are a little darkened, but inside is clean and tidy. ix, 251 pp. 200 x 130 mm (7¾ x 5 inches). Nouvelle édition révisée de 1904. La première édition date de 1885. Livre relié en toile de l'éditeur. Titres dorés au dos. Écrit pour attirer l'attention sur les grands changements - politiques, religieux et sociaux - qui ont eu lieu en Inde à la fin du XIXe siècle et au début du XXe siècle. Les plats sont un peu assombris, mais l'intérieur est propre et bien rangé. ix, 251 pp. 200 x 130 mm

Paris: Eug. Rey, 1906. Limited edition guide book to New York, with text and illustrations by Charles Huard. Attractive engraved frontispiece of a lady overlooking New York. The edition was published in a total of 600 numbered copies. 100 on Japon and 500 on velin d'Arches. This is one of the Velin copies. Originally published in pale blue wrappers, which have been retained here. Half vellum binding, with brown label and gilt titles. Marbled boards. Owner's bookplate to the inside front board. The binding is in good repair, with a little marking only. Original wrappers are in good state, with a touch of marking to the original cover only.
Xii. 202, [iv]. pp 200 x 150 mm (7¾ x 6 inches). Guide de New York en édition limitée, avec texte et illustrations de Charles Huard. Joli frontispice gravé d'une dame surplombant New York. L'édition a été publiée dans un total de 600 exemplaires numérotés. 100 sur Japon et 500 sur velin d'Arches. C'est l'un des exemplaires de Velin. Publié à l'origine dans des emballages bleu pâle, qui ont été conservés ici. Reliure demi cuir blanc/vélin, avec pièce de dos et titres dorés. Planches marbrées. Ex-libris du propriétaire sur le panneau avant intérieur. La reliure est en bon état, avec un peu de marquage seulement. Les emballages d'origine sont en bon état, avec une touche de marquage sur la couverture d'origine uniquement.
XII. 202, [iv]. pp 200 x 150 mm

Amsterdam: Wed. Aart Dirksz. Oossaan, 1694. A lovely copper plate engraving of the Nieuwe Kerk. Printed on two sheets, pasted together. A large print, believed to be from the large paper copy of the Beschryvinge van Amsterdam, Commelin's seminal work. Good clean impression on clean heavy laid paper. The paper holds a watermark of three crescent moons. This is often seen in Islamic printing, and was probably from Italian paper stock of the mid to late eighteenth century. Image size 26cm x 34cm. Sheet size 43cm x 50.5cm. A lovely uncoloured example of this engraving. First Edition.

. Une belle gravure sur cuivre de la Nieuwe Kerk. Imprimée sur deux feuilles collées l'une à l'autre. Une grande impression, que l'on croit provenir de la grande copie papier de la Beschryvinge van Amsterdam, l'ouvrage fondamental de Commelin. Bonne impression propre sur un papier vergé épais et propre. Le papier contient un filigrane de trois croissants de lune. Ce type de filigrane est fréquent dans l'imprimerie islamique et provient probablement d'un papier italien du milieu ou de la fin du dix-huitième siècle. Taille de l'image 26cm x 34cm. Taille de la feuille 43cm x 50.5cm. Un bel exemple non coloré de cette gravure.