Asia

The Search for Mallory & Irvine – Peter Firstbrook.

A very good copy of this BBC sponsored climb to find any evidence of the disappearance of Mallory and Irvine in their “so close” attempt to conquer Everest in 1924. Some believe they did.

A first edition of the record of climb undertaken in 1999 and published later that year. Octavo, 224 pages, many photographs both from 1924 and 1999, good maps etc. Very good condition.

Few adventure readers do not know of the Mallory mystery and a pity that his buddy Irvine does not quite get the same billing. Less know about this book and we hope it does not spoil the drama to tell you that they did find Mallory and albeit a bit grotesque there are images of his frozen body and the belongings on him at the time of death – no climber of the day left without Swan Vestas matches.

This is a special book in that it puts certain things to bed once and for all … it’s also a great record of the events at each end of a 75 year timeline. We love it.

Mallory resolved and a super Everest account.

$30.00

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Tibetan Journey – George Patterson

A 1956 edition by the Readers Book Club in super condition.

Octavo, 260 pages, maps, illustrations from original photographs.

When the Chinese took over Tibet, Patterson had been there as a missionary and had to make a dash back to India – hence the Tibetan Journey. It makes for a great read given the urgency and circumstances.

A more than necessary Journey through mysterious Tibet

$25.00

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The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600-1800 – C.R. Boxer

Published by Hutchinson, London 1n 1965, a first edition. The author Charles Boxer was the Professor of Portuguese at Kings College, London at the time – he would likely have been the Dutch Professor also .. if they had had one.

Large octavo, 326 pages, illustrated throughout, very good dust jacket, a lightly embossed stamp on title,. A very good copy of a special work now hard to find.

Not your usual narrative, this book looks at the reasons behind the rise of the Dutch as a major seafaring nation from the mid 1600’s for over a century. Peace was signed after an eighty year war with Spain in 1648 and for the Dutch the seagoing expansion was near to phenomenal in terms of speed and ambition. Useful appendices include a chronology 1568-1795 which provides a framework …

The author Charles Boxer was an incredibly colourful character. Born into a military family (although his mothers family had been early sheep farmers in Tasmania). He enlisted and found himself in Japan in the 1930’s. Then a full blown spy in Hong Kong at the beginning of War II, imprisoned by the Japanese for three years. He married the most beautiful woman in Hong Kong , Ursula Tulloch, but left her for a life with the equally glamorous American writer Emily Hahn. Back in England his depth of knowledge was recognised in receiving the Lisbon sponsored Professorship which he made is own.

The Dutch … their power at sea and what was behind it …

$40.00

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Solo to Sydney [From London in a Single Engine Aircraft] – Francis Chichester.

This edition published by Conway Maritime Press, Greenwich in 1982. Octavo, 208 pages, loads of illustrations, map, table of flight times / distance per sector. Very good condition, excuse the gift inscription front ends.

This book was originally published in 1930 immediately after Chichester had flown solo from London to Sydney in a single engine aircraft.

A thoroughly readable account and twenty-three sectors leads to a lot of adventure and colour along the way.

Francis Chichester in the air before the sea …

$30.00

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The Travels of Marco Polo – Manuel Komroff

Our favourite edition of the Travels of Marco Polo edited and introduction by Manuel Komroff.

Published by Garden City, New York, a first in this form 1930. Large royal octavo, xxxii, 370 pages including the index. Embossed black cloth covered boards with gilt titles and design to spine. Dust jacket complete but protected in unremovable protection. Top edge stained blue as required. Illustrated by Witold Gordon with 32 full page coloured designs. A little age and a few spots – still a very worthy copy.

The work leans on two earlier translations by British orientalists. First, that of William Marsden (1754-1836) published in 1818 … importantly Komroff identifies a missing part of this work. Secondly, that of Yule (1820-1889) published by Murray in 1871 elements of which Komroff provides important revisions.

After an excellent 32 page introduction the work follows the traditional plan … Prologue … Book I – Account of Regions Visited or Heard of On the Journey from the Lessor Armenia to the Court of the Great Khan at Shangtu; Book II – Account of the Great Kublai Khan, His Capital, Court and Government. Also, of Cities and Provenances Visited on Journeys Westward and Southward; Book III – Japan and Archipelago, Southern India, and the Coasts and Islands of the Indian Sea; Book IV – The Wars Among the Tartar Princes and Some Account of the Northern Countries. Index etc

New York born, Manuel Komroff (1890-1974) was a multi-talented writer and translator. He spent time in Russia during the Russian Revolution. The illustrator, Witold Gordon (1885-1968) was born at Warsaw and after emigrating to New York became a recognised artist. At the time of this book he was commissioned to do the murals at the Radio City Music Hall and in 1939 completed a 6,000 square foot mural for the New York World Fair. The works in this book are considered his finest examples of his modernist aesthetic style.

Marco Polo – The Best Travels – Nicely Illustrated.

$90.00

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Tek Sing Shipwreck Treasure – Dish decorated in Lotus, Lingzhi and Peach – 1822

Qing Dynasty decorated dish recovered by Mike Hatcher from the Tek Sing shipwreck of 1822. Nice condition.

Beautifully decorated with bands of lotus flower around a central spiral and set in alternate designs of lingzhi fungus and fruiting peach. Similar decorations to external rim, potters mark at bottom. Bright and clean. 15cm in diameter 6cm high, weighs 220gm. Retains Nagel auction sticker.

Price $240.00

Bright well decorated treasure from the Tek Sing
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The Tek Sing Shipwreck – Background

The Tek Sing (Chinese for “Bright Star”’) was a large Chinese Junk which sank in 1822 in the South China Sea at the Belvidere Shoals. She was 50 meters long, 10 metres wide and weighed a thousand tons. Manned by a crew of 200. The great loss of life has led to the Tek Sing being referred to as the “Titanic of the East”.

Sailing from the port of Amoy (now Xiamen), the Tek Sing was bound for Jakarta, with a cargo of porcelain goods and 1,600 Chinese immigrants. After a month of sailing, Captain Lo Tauko took a shortcut through the Gaspar Straits and ran aground on a reef and sank in 100 feet of water.

The next morning and English East Indiaman captained by James Pearl sailing from Indonesia to Borneo passed through the Gaspar Straits. He found debris from the sunken Chinese vessel and survivors. They managed to rescue 190 people.

In 1999, marine salvor Mike Hatcher discovered the wreck. His crew raised what has been described as the largest cache of Chinese porcelain ever recovered. It was auctioned by Nagle in Stuttgart, Germany the following year

$160.00

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The Search for Mallory & Irvine – Peter Firstbrook.

Tibetan Journey – George Patterson

The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600-1800 – C.R. Boxer

Solo to Sydney [From London in a Single Engine Aircraft] – Francis Chichester.

The Travels of Marco Polo – Manuel Komroff

Tek Sing Shipwreck Treasure – Dish decorated in Lotus, Lingzhi and Peach – 1822

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