Curiosities

Sarah Island – The Penal Settlement at Macquarie Harbour [West Coast Tasmania] 1831

A short historical brochure produced by the entertaining and hard working Round Earth Company – a good bunch.

Card covers 16 pages, including exterior, nice graphic production with a multi pot purri of facts about this once hell on earth convict establishment – or was it – they had a very nice bakery and a forge to die for – there again probably someone did!

A small item that will be reinvoiced at letter rates – or best with something else related … check our site.

Sarah island – a fascinating place with an equally fascination history – worth the trip out West.

$8.00

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Armorial Book-Plates. Their Romantic Origin and Artistic Development – Signed limited edition [Includes Mawson's Bookplate] Neville Barnett – published in 1932

Sought after reference and a beauty in itself.

Unusual faux snake-skin binding. Excellent condition 172 pages. Signed numbered limited edition of 300 copies.

With numerous book-plate illustrations with 17 tipped in originals from those of great fame (our favourite being that of Polar Explorer Douglas Mawson).

Chapters on the Origins of Armory; the Age of Chivalry; the Pageant of Heraldry; the Romance of Arms; German, French and British Book-plates the latter extensive and importantly Australian and New Zealand Armorial Book-plates.

Collectable work from the doyen of Australian Bookplates – Neville Barnett – Numbered Limited Signed edition with Sir Douglas Mawson’s bookplate.

$190.00

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U.F.O – Evaluating the Evidence – Bill Yenne

Who doesn’t like a good U.F.O book?

Published by Saraband, USA in 1997. Largish quarto, 160 pages, with a multitude of UFO images and related … corny UFO designed end paper … we like them. Nibble on dust jacket otherwise very good. A bit too big for economical Overseas postage.

The author is an aviation / space ex buff so the UFO interested is a related spin off [joke intended]. Some really good stuff in here as well as the usual “cover up” … not sure why government is so obsessed with hiding the truth about UFO … they may be friendly ….

UFO explained – lots of them – look up next time you are out!

$35.00

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Tek Sing Shipwreck Treasure [Recovered by Mike Hatcher] – Shipwreck in the Gaspar Straits 1822

Qing Dynasty decorated footed dish recovered by Mike Hatcher from the Tek Sing shipwreck. A very good clean example.

Niceley decorated and with peony and magnolia flowers and double lines at rim, simple decoration under rim. Strong colouring and no damage which is rare. 10.5 cm in diameter 2.5 cm high. Retains the auction reference sticker from the famous Nagel auction in Germany underneath.

A fine example of a Tek Sing shipwreck bowl

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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 Nagel in Stuttgart, Germany the following year

$140.00

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The True-born English-man: A Satyr – Daniel Defoe – This Copy Published in 1716

A rare item by Daniel Defoe. The scarce “enlarged” edition printed and sold by James Roberts, London in 1716.

Pocket sized 12 mo, 12, 26 pages, bound in contemporary calf backed boards, some age and wear but solid and rare in this original state.

First edition thus. After the accession of Hanover Defoe added a new passage of 49 lines satirising the English temper. It was hastily published and contains a number of hasty error which ironically confirm its pedigree

A True-born English-man, satirical poem of length about xenophobia … a few could learn from it today. Dutch born William of Orange has become King of England, and there was much tittle tattle about his lack of English-ness. Defoe, forever a wit, wrote this is support of old William of Orange, ridiculing the notion of English racial purity. Well the evidence is there.

Defoe … much quoted from his opening rant

“that het’rogeneous thing, an Englishman:
In eager rapes, and furious lust begot
Betwixt a painted Britain and a Scot
Whose gend’ring off-spring quickly learn’d to bow,
And yoke their heifers to the Roman plough:
From whence a mongrel half-bred race there came,
With neither name, nor nation, speech nor fame.
In whose hot veins new mixtures quickly ran,
Infused betwixt a Saxon and a Dane
While their rank daughters, to their parents just,
Receiv’d all nations with promiscuous lust.
This nauseous brood directly did contain
The well-extracted blood of Englishmen.”

Daniel Defoe and his True-born a delicious antiquarian rarity … over three hundred year old!

$280.00

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Carl Zeiss Microscope Vertical Illuminator with Aperture Diaphragm – Original Box – c 1930’s

A scarce period vertical illuminator in original fitted, felt lined box. Box in good order, shagreen a little aged, gilt naming and branding still readable, clasp work. Has kept the device in very good order.

The Zeiss vertical illuminator is used to reflect and control light vertically down the microscope to the specimen for both brightfield and darkfield observation. This model includes an aperture diaphragm which is operated by a lever [all works well which is crucial for achieving proper Kohler illumination. This setup allows for optimised contrast and resolution when observing with reflected light.

Zeiss microscope collectable in good order and with the diaphragm aperture

$190.00

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Sarah Island – The Penal Settlement at Macquarie Harbour [West Coast Tasmania] 1831

Armorial Book-Plates. Their Romantic Origin and Artistic Development – Signed limited edition [Includes Mawson's Bookplate] Neville Barnett – published in 1932

U.F.O – Evaluating the Evidence – Bill Yenne

Tek Sing Shipwreck Treasure [Recovered by Mike Hatcher] – Shipwreck in the Gaspar Straits 1822

The True-born English-man: A Satyr – Daniel Defoe – This Copy Published in 1716

Carl Zeiss Microscope Vertical Illuminator with Aperture Diaphragm – Original Box – c 1930’s

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