New South Wales

Call to the Winds – P.G. (Bill) Taylor – First Edition 1939

Important and scarce aviation book. “Bill” Taylor’s heroic flight with Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm.

First edition Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1939. Octavo, 227 pages, with period photographs of the aircraft “Southern Cross” including the damaged engine and propeller and the life saving thermos flask. Signature on front paste down. Very good copy with an almost impossible to find dust jacket.

Patrick Gordan Taylor (1891-1966) later knighted one of Australia’s greatest aviators. Participated in several major flight firsts with Sir Charles Kingsford, Charlie Ulm and later Richard Archbold. Known affectionately as “Bill” … Taylor joined the British Royal Flying Corps in 1916 with No 66 Squadron. After the war he returned to Australia and the start of commercial aviation activities.

The core of this book is about a 1935 flight, in the Southern Cross, with Kingsford Smith and Ulm from Australia to New Zealand with the view to establishing a mail service between the two countries. Mid Tasman the starboard engine failed. They decided to return to Sydney but encountered high winds. The port engine began to overheat and was running out of cooling oil. Bill Taylor climbed outside the aircraft along the wire below the wind strut, with a thermos flask, drained oil from the broken starboard engine and transferred it to the port engine. He did this six times before they made a safe landing back in Sydney.

Aviation Heroics – Bill Taylor with Kingsford Smith and Ulm – outside the Southern Cross over the Tasman

$180.00

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Original Chart of New South Wales or the East Coast of New Holland, discovered by Lieutenant James Cook, Commander of H.M. Bark, Endeavour -1770

The French version – “Carte de la Nle. Galles Meridle. ou de la cote orientale de la Nle. Hollande, decouverte et visitee par le Lieutenant J. Cook, Commandant de L’Endeavour, vassieu de sa Majeste en 1770

Original copperplate engraving by distinguished cartographer Robert Benard recording Cook’s navigational records, published in Paris circa 1774. Large format 77cm by 36cm, original folds, coloured in outline.

On his first of three voyages James Cook discovered and charted the East Coast of Australia for the first time and this chart resulted from that work. There are many interesting features including Mt Warning, the Glass House Mountains (named as such because they reminded Cook of the view of the coastal Glass Kilns as seen from the water in the South West of England) and the record of the grounding on the reef of Cape Tribulation before recovering the vessel in the Endeavour River in the Far North.

Price $890.00 unframed

James Cook’s Chart of New South Wales

$890.00

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The Women of the 1790 Neptune [Convict Ship] – Anne Needham et al – 1992

Self published by the principal author in 1992. The work follows a further four years research by Anne Needham after she first published on the subject.

Perfect bound large format, card cover, 187 pages illustrated nicely throughout. Scarce and sought after – a very good copy

The seventy-six convict woman are listed on the front cover and the list of free female passengers are listed on the title.

The convict women came from all parts of England. At the end of a good Introduction we see a map with the locations and names. The extraordinary history behind many, if not all, is set out incredibly well in the first 120 pages. Then the voyage out then the goings on at Norfolk Island and New South Wales.

Needham’s well researched history of the women from the Neptune.

$90.00

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The First Fleet: The Record of the Foundation of Australia from Its Conception to the Settlement of Sydney Cove. Compiled from the original documents in the Public Record Office, with extracts from the Log-Books of H.M.S. Sirius – Owen Rutter with engravings by Barker – Mill, Peter – 1937

Published by the distinguished The Golden Cockerel Press, London, 1937. Very good condition. Peter Barker-Mill (illustrator). Limited edition, one of 375 copies.

Tristan Buesst’s copy with his bookplate. Buesst, a legal eagle, was the first President of the Friends of La Trobe Library.

Folio 15 inches. Foreword by the Hon. B.S.B. Stevens, M.L.A., Premier of New South Wales. Five Engravings by Peter Barker-Mill. Four pages of facsimiles between pp. 8 and 9 (not included in pagination). “printed & published by Christopher and Anthony Sandford and Owen Rutter at the Golden Cockerel Press. Printed on Arnold’s hand-made paper in “Perpetua” type.

Original Blue Cloth. Front cover with cream-coloured cloth label decoratively stamped in gilt. Spine decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt. Top edge trimmed, others uncut. A simply beautiful production.

Published to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Foundation of Australia. The Editor has provided a judicious selection of the original documents and created a connected narrative. The Times Literary Supplement referred to the distinction of the printing and binding, adding that it was certainly a volume which all interested in Australia would care to possess and at the same time paying high tribute to Peter Barker-Mill’s imaginative engravings.

$490.00

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The Voyage of HMS Galatea – Visit to Australia – Prince Alfred – 1867

Medal commemorating the Australian visit of the then Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred, to Australia.

Created and cast by Thomas Stokes of Melbourne. There are two slightly different forms, with differing decorative borders.

On the obverse the Duke’s bust in naval dress uniform with Ribbon and Star of the Garter. Legend HRH Duke of Edinburgh. Surrounded by an ornamental border. Reverse with a starboard broadside view of the “Galatea” under steam and sail, the top gallant sails in the act of being taken in. Legend … to Commemorate the Visit of HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh KG to Australia – HMS Galatea 1867.

See the Greenwich National Maritime museum for an example – reference MEC1362.

47mm in diameter, 40 gm white metal. Holed for a loop as usual, a couple of scratches, negligible edge bumps, a pretty good example.

HMS Galatea circumnavigated the World and spent six months in Australia. During his stay the Prince was subject to an assassination attempt by an Irishman – he was shot but the bullet actually glanced off his ribs and he survived.

Historical Maritime Medal – HMS Galatea in Australia 1867.

$125.00

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Australian Born Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry – [Sir] John Warcup Cornforth – Signed manuscript letter

A very special letter (dated 1980) not only because of its truly distinguished author but here we have real content. Letters by Nobel Prize winners are not terribly rare but so often are perfunctory, relating to meetings, events or simply lunch. Here we have real, in depth, chemistry. The receiver, Dr Buckel, a distinguished scientist in his own right, may have been rather embarrassed on receipt. Cornforth believes that Buckel had tackled his work from completely the wrong route … indeed Cornforth is puzzled and goes on to set out in great detail his preferred option(s). In our view the content reveals the manner in which Cornforth visualises the solution to the problem from first principles then more complex mechanisms and solutions and alternative options as his thinking develops. The fact of his genius is plain in the writing. We love it.

The only Australian to date to have won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Dear Dr Buckel

Thank you for your letter of 7 October. I was interested by your account of the work with glutaconate, but rather puzzled that you did not try the degradation to malate in the way you say I suggested. I have forgotten the details of our conversation during your very welcome visit, but certainly I would expect direct oxidation of glutaconate to malate by permanganate to be most unfavourable. This is because in glutaconate one has the combination of a double bond deactivated by conjunction with a carboxyl and a strongly activated methylene group. In these circumstances one would expect permanganate to attack the methylene group to a considerable and perhaps predominant extent, before the double bond was attacked. This is why it would be preferable to use a specific agent first to hydroxylate the double bond. Indeed, it should be possible to proceed in high yield to malic acid by making use of the fact that one of the hydroxyl groups will form a lactone. Thus: … chemical formulae.

He goes on …

The opening of the lactone ring is generally faster than the hydrolysis of an ester group (especially a benzoate) so that if you put the acetyl or benzoyl-lactone in hot water and neutralized the acidity as it appeared you should be able to get a clean ring-opening without other chemical changes. I really think you should try this – it seems so much simpler than the routes you have explored.

I will ask at Sittingbourne if they have any chiral acetate left – I brought none of it here. It will be ten years old now and will have lost nearly half its original radioactivity but a specimen tested for chirality about five years ago seemed not to have been racemized by radiolysis or by preservation in the form of aqueous potassium acetate. However, I wonder if this is the best way to make chiral 4-substituted glutamates and I wonder if you could do this from chirally tritiated malate using R-citrate synthetase and malate dehydrogenase, following this by treatment of the citrate with aconitase, isocitrate dehydrogenase etc. This should give you a totally chiral product whereas by starting from acetate you are at the mercy of isotope effects.

Cornforth goes on to offer his help in finding candidates for research, a task he may achieve on Thursday at The Royal Society where he is attending a discussion on glycolytic enzymes. There it is again proof The Royal Society …is the best Club in the World!

Sydney born Cornforth was totally deaf by the age of twenty but already recognised as and exceptional academic. He went to England, Oxford, along with a similarly gifted chemist Rita Harradence, who he later married. His relationship with Rita started over a broken Claisen flask .. Cornforth was a expert glassblower … something that was essential in the aspiring chemist in the 1930’s. Interestingly, there was no place in Australia where one could do a decent PhD in chemistry at that time. Naturally at Oxford Cornforth was in his element. He went on to be the first to synthesise cholesterol and had a hand in stabilising penicillin building on the work of fellow Australian Howard Florey. Cornforth was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1975 and coincidental with being made “Australian of the Year”. Cornforth also won the Davy Medal, Copley Medal, was Knighted and made Fellow of the Royal Society

Scientific gold – Manuscript letter with considerable scientific content by Australian Nobel Prize winner John Warcup Cornforth

$590.00

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Call to the Winds – P.G. (Bill) Taylor – First Edition 1939

Original Chart of New South Wales or the East Coast of New Holland, discovered by Lieutenant James Cook, Commander of H.M. Bark, Endeavour -1770

The Women of the 1790 Neptune [Convict Ship] – Anne Needham et al – 1992

The First Fleet: The Record of the Foundation of Australia from Its Conception to the Settlement of Sydney Cove. Compiled from the original documents in the Public Record Office, with extracts from the Log-Books of H.M.S. Sirius – Owen Rutter with engravings by Barker – Mill, Peter – 1937

The Voyage of HMS Galatea – Visit to Australia – Prince Alfred – 1867

Australian Born Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry – [Sir] John Warcup Cornforth – Signed manuscript letter

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