10th Apr, 2024 10:30 GMT/BST
Whales and Whaling.
Beale (Thomas), The Natural History of the Sperm Whale …. To which is added, A Sketch of a South-Sea Whaling Voyage …
John van Voorst, 1839, ‘second edition’, 12, [2], 393 pages (half title corner clipped), three plates as called for, subscriber’s list, publisher’s four page catalogue bound in at rear (dated April 1838), armorial bookplate, original cloth (re-backed retaining original split back-strip).
[Beale's 1835 booklet ‘A Few Observations on the Natural History of the Sperm Whale …’ was expanded and the account of the whaling voyage added, to create this edition].
Sold for £480
Estimated at £300 - £500
Auction: Books, Maps & Manuscripts, 10th Apr, 2024
The sale includes a sketchbook of drawings of Southern China attributed to George Chinnery. English artist George Chinnery (1774-1852) left an extraordinary record of everyday life in Southern China in the early to mid-19th century, which has become an important source of historical information on the region.
Further highlights include an interesting archive of letters and ephemera relating to the composer and bandmaster Charles Coote (1809-1880), personal pianist to William Cavendish, the 6th Duke of Devonshire, and bandmaster and composer for stage productions put on by Charles Dickens. There is also several collections of 19th century photographs including an outstanding album with many views of Eton College and the River Thames at Windsor, Trinity College Cambridge, Switzerland, Gibraltar and Malta as well as an important photographic record of the Challenger Expedition, generally considered to be the foundation of oceanography.
Single owner collections include a large quantity of books on Polar Exploration and early Whaling. We are also pleased to offer a selection of books from the library of Fred Gettings, prolific author and expert on astrology, symbolism and arcane lore. The library includes many early editions of Nostradamus with several manuscript works on the famous French astrologer.
Viewing
Tuesday 9th April 10am-5pm and morning of sale from 8am
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