Non-fiction

Knights Errant of Papua – Lewis Lett – First Ed 1935

Published by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London a first edition 1935. Octavo, 238 pages, end paper map and frontispiece of native police in marching order. A special introduction by Sir Hubert Murray which provided a very good overview in the absence of a formal contents page by Lett. A few superficial marks here and there still a pretty good copy.

Longtime expat Peter Villier Best’s copy with his stamp. Peter was with the Australian Petroleum Co and spent time in the Civil System and at BP and Steamies.

Lewis Lett had been in Papua New Guinea for over twenty years before he wrote this book. He knew Hubert Murray well and many of the Patrol Officers who had adventured into the unexplored regions. This is a book about those adventurous officers … the “Knights Errant’.

Some amazing stories from the early ascents of Mount Victoria and Mount Albert Edward by Sir William MacGregor, the crossing of the island by Karius and Champion and the well documented patrols of Monckton, Beaver, Griffin et al. Interesting that despite the dangers in what were often first encounters very little violence is noted and not from any “cleansing’ of history. Patrol leaders had one common thread and that was an ability to remain calm and communicate carefully without undue irritation.

Knights Errant is a unique work that brings together many adventures in very readable form.

$60.00

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Unexplored New Guinea Wilfred Beaver – First Edition 1920

A scarce first edition… a record of the travels, adventures and experiences of a resident magistrate amongst the headhunting savages and cannibals of the unexplored interior of New Guinea.

Beaver was twenty-seven years resident magistrate in the Western District.

Published by Seeley, Service & Co, London in 1920. Thick octavo, 320 pages. Nicely illustrated with 34 photographs taken by the author and 4 maps. With a focus on the extreme West – the Fly River, Kiwai Island, The Girara Tribes, The Bamu, Gama and Turama. Much on religious beliefs and practices. A very good copy.

Another rare PNG book at Voyager – Beaver up the Fly

$160.00

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Among Papuan Headhunters – E Baxter Riley – First Edition 1925

A very good copy of Riley’s Papuan classic about the people of the Fly River.

The long subtitle says it all – “An account of the manners and customs of the old Fly River head-hunters, with a description of the secrets of the initiation ceremonies divulged by those who have passed through all the different orders of the craft, by one who has spent many years in their midst.”

Published by Seeley, Service & Co, London. Thick octavo, 316 pages. Extremely well written in depth with very good photographic images … the head being treated perhaps the most confronting. 50 illustrations and 2 maps one folding. A hint of an old embossed stamp on title, the odd superfluous mark, otherwise a really nice copy.

Edward Baxter Riley (1868-1929) was put in charge of the Fly River Mission on the island of Daru in 1901. This followed the death of the great James Chalmers who was killed and devoured in the region. Riley, originally a pharmacist became an expert in Papuan languages, particularly Kiwai and, has since been highly regarded for the work put into this classic anthropological account.

Scarce essential Fly River extensive work

$160.00

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Lady Nelson (Tasmania) Ship’s Manual.

Published by the Tasmanian Sail Training Association in 2003 a first printing.

A Training Manual and guide to the operating systems aboard the Sail Training Vessel Lady Nelson.

Anyone who has been to Hobart has heard of the Lady Nelson a magnificent working replica of her 1799 namesake which had such an important place in Australian maritime history … more so Tasmania.

The original vessel a unique sliding keel design was built at Deptford, London. She sailed for Australia under the command of Grant and was the first vessel to pass west to east through the Bass Strait. Grant completed significant coastal charts of the southern mainland regions … the advantage of the sliding keel was the vessel could get in close in shallow water. Later the Lady Nelson was to play an important part in the history of Tasmania or Van Diemen’s Land as it was then known … including being part of relocation of convicts from Norfolk Island.

The replica is a beauty and the manual does it justice. Just under 200 pages, octavo, spiral bound. It starts proper with a useful history of the original vessel and, the replica which was launched in 1988 having taken two year to build.

The manual comprises sections … Basic re rigging, mooring lines, heaving, helming, knots, lookout duties. Then intermediate … preparing for sea, sails and handling, anchoring, bells etc, closing down, man overboard! fires. The advanced section … emergency steering, fuels systems, freshwater systems, sullage and bilge, alarms etc. Safety includes first aid and “abandon ship!” … and a final catch-all includes a glossary of terms and a useful “where is it” for those on the find.

An interesting book for anyone interested in the maritime and especially anyone coming to Hobart who wants to achieve a greater experience of the grand Lady herself

A scarce and interesting item the Lady Nelson Manual

$40.00

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Bligh’s Bad Language – Passion, Power and Theatre on the Bounty – Greg Dening

A first edition of a special Bligh book.

Published by Cambridge University Press in 1992. Octavo, 445 pages with illustrations, charts and diagrams. A very good copy … as new except for a hint of a score mark on the front dust jacket, now protected in Brodart.

What was going on in England and in the Navy. Was Bligh bad tempered of just ill prepared for what unfolded. Dening a Professor of History at the upmarket Melbourne University provides and extensive view on the reality of the Bounty Mutiny …

Bligh misunderstood and misunderstanding

$30.00

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Aphrodite’s Island – The European Discovery of Tahiti – Anne Salmond.

The author a distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Auckland University.

Large thick octavo, 537 pages, nicely illustrated. Published by the University of California Press. Los Angeles and London in 2010. A fine copy. A heavy book which may require and overseas postage surcharge.

Comprehensive and sophisticated drawing on many references including Tahitian oral histories and artefacts as well as European manuscripts. A book that explores Tahiti and the European interactions with an outward perspective. The perceptions of the Tahitian and the fascinations of the Europeans.

Tahiti and the arrival of the Europeans – a comprehensive work by Salmond

$40.00

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Knights Errant of Papua – Lewis Lett – First Ed 1935

Unexplored New Guinea Wilfred Beaver – First Edition 1920

Among Papuan Headhunters – E Baxter Riley – First Edition 1925

Lady Nelson (Tasmania) Ship’s Manual.

Bligh’s Bad Language – Passion, Power and Theatre on the Bounty – Greg Dening

Aphrodite’s Island – The European Discovery of Tahiti – Anne Salmond.

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