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We've enjoyed another bright week in the office. Amongst some of exciting works we've listed this week, we've had first editions of 'Now We Are Six' signed by both A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, George Orwell's 1984 and Thomas Hardy's 'Jude the Obscure'. And for an office first, we were lucky enough to list two vinyl records, which accompanied the 1949 work 'Hunting by Ear: The Sound of Fox Hunting' in a lovely box. We were only disappointed than in amongst all of our treasures in the office, we didn't have a record player to hear the sound of fox hunting ourselves! A less literature-heavy week, here were a few of our highlights.
Etiquette Approuvée Pa Sa Majesté L'Empereur
A truly unique find we were thrilled to add to our collection was an 1889 pamphlet given to important French soldiers to instruct them on how best to display themselves and act before the Japanese Emperor and his Imperial Court. Titled 'Etiquette Approuvée Pa Sa Majesté L'Empereur', the work is in French, with a Japanese translation bound to the rear. It was remarkable to imagine someone leafing through its contents, all the while apprehensive to meet the most important man in Japan. Franco-Japanese relations began to grow during the latter half of the nineteenth century, with French artists seeking inspiration from Japanese culture in the form of Impressionism and Japonism, and Japan relying on France to aid their modernisation to become a greater world force, in particular regarding their military power. This pamphlet gave instruction on different scenarios, including meeting the Emperor, meeting his children and his wife, as well as in regard to meeting with the Emperor in private. A fascinating piece of political world history.
Another extremely scarce and unusual work was 'The Rune Poem'. Printed as a limited edition in 1989, the work is unusually bound in cork. Its contents comprises the Old English rune poem, which dates to around the eighth or ninth century and is a poem written in Anglo-Saxon runes. Important due to its runology and the lore it details, the original manuscript was lost in the Cotton Fire of 1731. Thankfully, a facsimile had been published by George Hickes some twenty-six years prior to the fire, which also destroyed a number of important early manuscripts collected by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. All copies since, this included, come from Hickes' facsimile. Our beautiful cork-bound copy of 'The Rune Poem' has been illustrated charmingly and signed by Nicholas Parry, making it a most special edition.
Ghosts, Helpful and Harmful
The final significant work to treat the legend of the pig-faced woman as fact, a 1924 first edition of 'Ghosts Helpful and Harmful' was rather exciting for us to add to our library. This is an extremely scarce work by Elliot O'Donnell (1872-1965), an author who wrote a number of important occult works in particular about ghosts; all of his works, of which there are nearly fifty, are very hard to come by. We found it fascinating to read about the pig-faced woman, who featured in legends dating from the seventeenth century and was a rich woman with a human body and the face of a pig. Originally, her appearance was allegedly a result of witchcraft, when on her wedding day, her husband was presented with the choice as to whether he would rather his new bride appear beautiful to him but pig-like to others, or beautiful to others and pig-like to him. Various alleged pig-faced woman have been whispered about over the centuries as being factual, many of them living across London. One rumour placed a pig-faced woman in Manchester Square, Marylebone in 1815; she was the talk of the town, widely reported as existing in newspapers and believed to be fact by many thousands. A rumour spread soon afterwards in Paris; it was a hoax begun by a scorned lover, who spread a rumour that his ex-lover's address was the home of the pig-faced woman. She was forced to move house after being inundated with letters and crowds gathered outside. In this scarce work, O' Donnell describes factually how the ghost of a pig-faced woman led a reverend's family into sinning with drunkenness and animal cruelty before revealing her face, causing his family to flee. A riveting and important occult work by a reputable ghost hunter.
Truths About Whisky
Written by some of the most expert distillers of Irish whisky, whose whiskies remain amongst the most popular, 'Truths About Whisky' is another lucky find, with only two copies held institutionally worldwide. This work details the fascinating history of Irish whisky and its qualities, including the fraudulent practises seen in the trade. John Jameson, the founder of the Jameson Distillery Bow St., which produced Jameson's Irish Whisky, and George Roe, founder of the Thomas Street Distillery which was possibly the largest distillery in the world, were amongst the brains who put this work together. An outspoken work which demonstrates the growing pains suffered by the industry at the time, this is an extremely scarce and important piece of distilling history, and is complete with four charming folding plates illustrating the various distilleries of Dublin.
Finally, our header this week comes from a fantastic and colourful 1951 first edition of 'Travelers of Space', a collection of short stories from the world of science-fiction.
Through the Rooke-ing Glass No. 11
We've enjoyed another bright week in the office. Amongst some of exciting works we've listed this week, we've had first editions of 'Now We Are Six' signed by both A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, George Orwell's 1984 and Thomas Hardy's 'Jude the Obscure'. And for an office first, we were lucky enough to list two vinyl records, which accompanied the 1949 work 'Hunting by Ear: The Sound of Fox Hunting' in a lovely box. We were only disappointed than in amongst all of our treasures in the office, we didn't have a record player to hear the sound of fox hunting ourselves! A less literature-heavy week, here were a few of our highlights.
Etiquette Approuvée Pa Sa Majesté L'Empereur
A truly unique find we were thrilled to add to our collection was an 1889 pamphlet given to important French soldiers to instruct them on how best to display themselves and act before the Japanese Emperor and his Imperial Court. Titled 'Etiquette Approuvée Pa Sa Majesté L'Empereur', the work is in French, with a Japanese translation bound to the rear. It was remarkable to imagine someone leafing through its contents, all the while apprehensive to meet the most important man in Japan. Franco-Japanese relations began to grow during the latter half of the nineteenth century, with French artists seeking inspiration from Japanese culture in the form of Impressionism and Japonism, and Japan relying on France to aid their modernisation to become a greater world force, in particular regarding their military power. This pamphlet gave instruction on different scenarios, including meeting the Emperor, meeting his children and his wife, as well as in regard to meeting with the Emperor in private. A fascinating piece of political world history.
The Rune Poem
Another extremely scarce and unusual work was 'The Rune Poem'. Printed as a limited edition in 1989, the work is unusually bound in cork. Its contents comprises the Old English rune poem, which dates to around the eighth or ninth century and is a poem written in Anglo-Saxon runes. Important due to its runology and the lore it details, the original manuscript was lost in the Cotton Fire of 1731. Thankfully, a facsimile had been published by George Hickes some twenty-six years prior to the fire, which also destroyed a number of important early manuscripts collected by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. All copies since, this included, come from Hickes' facsimile. Our beautiful cork-bound copy of 'The Rune Poem' has been illustrated charmingly and signed by Nicholas Parry, making it a most special edition.
Ghosts, Helpful and Harmful
The final significant work to treat the legend of the pig-faced woman as fact, a 1924 first edition of 'Ghosts Helpful and Harmful' was rather exciting for us to add to our library. This is an extremely scarce work by Elliot O'Donnell (1872-1965), an author who wrote a number of important occult works in particular about ghosts; all of his works, of which there are nearly fifty, are very hard to come by. We found it fascinating to read about the pig-faced woman, who featured in legends dating from the seventeenth century and was a rich woman with a human body and the face of a pig. Originally, her appearance was allegedly a result of witchcraft, when on her wedding day, her husband was presented with the choice as to whether he would rather his new bride appear beautiful to him but pig-like to others, or beautiful to others and pig-like to him. Various alleged pig-faced woman have been whispered about over the centuries as being factual, many of them living across London. One rumour placed a pig-faced woman in Manchester Square, Marylebone in 1815; she was the talk of the town, widely reported as existing in newspapers and believed to be fact by many thousands. A rumour spread soon afterwards in Paris; it was a hoax begun by a scorned lover, who spread a rumour that his ex-lover's address was the home of the pig-faced woman. She was forced to move house after being inundated with letters and crowds gathered outside. In this scarce work, O' Donnell describes factually how the ghost of a pig-faced woman led a reverend's family into sinning with drunkenness and animal cruelty before revealing her face, causing his family to flee. A riveting and important occult work by a reputable ghost hunter.
Truths About Whisky
Written by some of the most expert distillers of Irish whisky, whose whiskies remain amongst the most popular, 'Truths About Whisky' is another lucky find, with only two copies held institutionally worldwide. This work details the fascinating history of Irish whisky and its qualities, including the fraudulent practises seen in the trade. John Jameson, the founder of the Jameson Distillery Bow St., which produced Jameson's Irish Whisky, and George Roe, founder of the Thomas Street Distillery which was possibly the largest distillery in the world, were amongst the brains who put this work together. An outspoken work which demonstrates the growing pains suffered by the industry at the time, this is an extremely scarce and important piece of distilling history, and is complete with four charming folding plates illustrating the various distilleries of Dublin.
The Battaile of Agincourt
Finally, something a little older never fails to enthrall, and a beautiful copy of 'The Battaile of Agincourt' dating to 1627 did not let us down. Penned by Michael Drayton, a contemporary of Shakespeare, this work contains the sole reference to Shakespeare as being a poet besides the work of Ben Jonson. This is an important collection of poetry, containing the poems 'Nimphidia', an early example of fairy literature, as well as 'The Battaile of Agincourt', detailing the famous victory of the Hundred Years' War. Some fifty years after the death of William Shakespeare, it was alleged by John Ward, Vicar of Stratford, that 'Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting and, it seems, drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted', although whether this was the case or not, who can say. As ever, we heartily enjoyed reading the verses of Drayton on paper that is nearly four hundred years old; this collection is most characteristic of his work, which spanned all manner of poetry, including sonnets, pastoral verses and satire. A scarce and culturally significant poetry collection we're thrilled to add to our offerings.Finally, our header this week comes from a fantastic and colourful 1951 first edition of 'Travelers of Space', a collection of short stories from the world of science-fiction.