We here at Rooke Books feel as though we've taken a week-long trip to London, with many topographical works on the capital city having been added to our library, as well as numerous fine bindings and ornithological works. As for our highlights this week...

The Poems of Robert Louis Stevenson

Although to all appearances, this work is a classic copy containing the poetry of writer Robert Louis Stevenson, we enjoyed opening it to find some pressed leaves pasted to the front endpaper of the work. The leaves had come all the way from Samoa, Polynesia, the resting place of the author of this work. Although remembered as one of the most important Scottish writers of all time, Stevenson's legacy has had an effect like nowhere else on the town of Vailima, Samoa. He set off from San Francisco in 1888 to undertake a Pacific voyage before settling a year later at Vailima, where they built the islands' first two-story house. The author considered Samoa his true home, and would exchange tales with the locals, before fighting for the Polynesian islands, their culture and independence. Upon his untimely death at his home at the age of forty-four, the Samoan locals had a watch-guard remain with his body, before they carried him upon their shoulders to Mount Vaea, where he was buried. The leaves inserted into our 1900 copy of Stevenson's poetry were picked in 1914 from a tree planted by his grave by the Samoans. Tragically, five years after his death, the Samoan Islands were split between Germany and the United States. We found the inclusion of this plant a tender nod to the legacy of one of the most renowned authors of all time. 

Fruits of Entreprize Exhibited in the Travels of Belzoni

Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778-1823) was an important Italian explorer and pioneering Egyptologist, and we thoroughly enjoyed listing an extremely scarce copy and first edition recounting his travels in India and Nubia. This work was published in 1821, after the subject's ground-breaking excavations in Egypt, which included the unearthing of an enormous bust of Ramesses II, still displayed at the British Museum. He set out for West Africa in 1823, reaching the Kingdom of Benin, where he was either killed by dysentery, or murdered in a robbery. Containing thirteen exquisite hand-coloured plates, this is a beautiful account of Italian exploration.

Our other works on voyages can be found here, as well as works on archaeology.

Curses, Lucks and Talismans

A particularly scarce copy of J. G. Lockhart's work exploring British families' heirlooms and the curses, or lucks, associated with them. This work includes a description of the curse of Cowdray House, the ruins of a great Tudor house cursed by a monk that 'by fire and water, thy line shall come to an end at it shall perish out of this land'. The original manor was built from 1273, and saw a number of Royal visits in the sixteenth century. Later, Guy Fawkes was employed as a footman, resulting in the 2nd Viscount being briefly imprisoned for complicity in Fawkes' later plot. The house was finally gutted and left ruined by fire in 1793 during restoration work; only three paintings and a few small pieces of furniture were saved. Not even a fortnight later, the 8th Viscount drowned whilst attempting to cross the Rhine Falls, with the title passing onto a descendent of the second Viscount, who died childless, rendering the peerage extinct and bringing to fruition the curse undertaken some two hundred and fifty years ago.

This is a compelling work which similarly details the positive outcomes of noble families as it does the less cheery ones, complete with an even more scarce dust wrapper in excellent condition.

Feel free to peruse our other occult and esoteric works.

The Tower Menagerie

We have also listed a first edition detailing the wild animals once held at the Tower of London, including elephants, lions, hyenas and tiger, as well as the less exotic ravens which are known for dwelling there. Lions were certainly being kept there as early as 1210, during the reign of King John. Henry III was presented with three leopards, a polar bear (which became popular after being spotted fishing in the Thames whilst chained to the land) and an African elephant, which died after a few years, either because of being fed red wine or because of the colder climate. By 1800, the menagerie consisted of tigers, leopards, a baboon, monkeys and a grizzly bear. It was closed after the death of George IV, with the menagerie being moved to London Zoo, opened two years prior. This is an intriguing account of the wild animals as once dwelt at one of the most important and bloody Royal residences in England.



Finally, our header this week comes from our signed first edition of Cecil Beaton's New York, lavishly illustrated and with a colour frontispiece.